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yourfangirlfriend · 3 years

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It’s Nothing Serious - Chapter Three

Brought to you by: insomnia and the note that I had hurt someone with the last chapter. Also sorry I wrote this on my phone so typos.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

It’s.

Not.

Serious.

So, the next morning when you’re coming out of your apartment and you turn and see a leggy red head with her hand draped around his waist, you keep your eyes averted. You think quiet thoughts. You contemplate making a face like you forgot something so you can rush back inside and wait for them to pass. But just before you can imagine what facial expression could best convey “aw fuck, forgot my wallet” he turns and you catch his eye.

For half a second, its tense. Then, in an act that even amazes you, you smile at him, like he hadn’t just used you and your body and your fucking beer (which was expensive, by the way) as therapy nights earlier.

”Hey Javi,” you say. You pull the key from the door and stand up straight.

“Hey,” he says softly, not sure if he’s just been caught or if you really are this casual. To seal the deal, you check to make sure his date is looking up and elsewhere before you point to her and make a show of checking her out. Turning back to Javier, raise your eyebrows and hold up your hand, curling your forefinger down to your thumb in the universal sign of nice (👌). The dumbfounded look on his face makes you genuinely laugh, and you stride past the two of them with a smile.

“See you later, neighbour.” You call back without turning around. You don’t wait for a response before you let the door close behind you, and you’re stepping out into the sunshine.

You’re surprised you don’t fall asleep at your desk that day. Your neck is still aching from your sleep on the couch Sunday night, probably the second worst decision you made with your body all weekend. When you return to an empty stoop, you’re almost grateful he’s not there, sitting casually like he had just happened to choose that spot to sit and smoke. God, you really had been easy for him. One night of getting drunk and giving in and now you had to spend the rest of your tenancy pretending to be the cool girl neighbour who doesn’t care that he wallmate fucked her and chucked her.

Twice.

Its not surprising, really. Men have done this before to you, and while it sucks you should know better by now to view these kind of guys as the ones you use just as much as they use you. The only thing really hurting here, you think, is your stupid ego. It’s not even like you were going to try and date the neighbour. You didn’t really want to date anyone.

You stop in your tracks, midway up the stairs.

Yeah, actually- what were you complaining about?

You had a hot neighbour who was good in bed and showed he had no qualms about letting you crawl in with him. He wasn’t pressuring you to tell him how you felt, or dragging you out on dates you didn’t want to go on, or playing passive aggressive little mind games with you. He was just fucking you. And sharing cigarettes. Sure, maybe he came over and dropped some heavy emotional labour on your lap every once in a while, but he had paid you back for your time by making you cum so hard you honestly think you lost vision for a few seconds. And you actually did like hanging out with him on your little routine smoke breaks. Yeah. Yeah! This actually worked out really well for you, now that you thought about it critically.

Pleased with yourself, you wander over to your corner and pull a cigarette from your purse, bringing it to your lips. Just as you light it, from the corner of your eye you see a patch of blue walking your way. You look up and see Javi just as he notices you, making his way towards the steps. You smile and press the lighter into your pocket.

”Hey stranger,” you tease. His face is still a bit confused as he looks up at you once, ascending the steps.

“Hey,” he says, coming to stand beside you. He reaches into his own pocket and pulls out his pack. He pats himself down and you roll your eyes, pulling the lighter from your pocket and holding it out to him. He smiles when he sees it and takes it from your hand and, despite yourself, you smile too.

”Thanks,” he says before clicking the lighter and holding the cigarette out. He hands it back to you and the two of you stand in silence for a moment, watching the sunset across the sky.

”Some kid got glue in my hair today,” you say, taking another drag. You turn to look at him. “Lorenzo.”

“The one with the eye?”

You he told him about Lorenzo’s fake eye.

”Yeah,” you say, trying not to seem to impressed he remembered. “Took forever to get it out.”

Javier nods, taking a long drag.

“We arrested Escobar today,” he deadpans.

“ What.”

He turns back and smiles.

“I’m fucking with you.”

You smile, letting out a huff as you shake you head.

”Got me.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

You turn and see the preschool teacher - Maritza, you think - standing to your left. You had been in such a daze as you waited for the coffee machine to finish you hadn’t noticed her come and stand next to you. She was a cute, small woman with big brown eyes and severe bangs, and the way she looked at you now reminded you of a little kid waiting for their parent to give them the present behind their back.

”Probably getting drunk at home and watching bad tv,” you say, turning to face her. “What’s up?”

“A few of us are going out tonight,” she says. “We thought you’d like the join.”

You stop and think of all the reasons going out now, on a Friday night, with a group of other women, in the middle of one of the deadliest cities in the world, would be a bad idea. But you also think of the three day old arepas waiting for you at home and the empty, stale apartment air you’d be eating them in. Your last few months had fallen into such a boring routine (with obvious exceptions) that you had completely forgotten going out was even a possibility. You told yourself you would wait until you had a group of friends to go out with, just to make it safer, but the only person you had gone out with was Javier, just that once.

“Come on,” she said, her round face breaking into a cute smile.

You found yourself smiling back.

”Yeah, why not?” you say.

Maritza tells you she and her friends will catch a taxi over to yours around 8. Ridiculously, you feel giddy as you catch yourself hurrying home. While you had only had a few pleasant exchanges with Maritza over recess, she had the kind of chaotic energy that accompanies all women who voluntarily spend most of their time with children under the age of six, and in your experience those were the bitches who always got the wildest. You were negotiating with yourself how drunk you’d let yourself get when you turned and walked up the stairs, barely noticing Javi in your smoke spot before he called out to you.

”Hey hermosa,” he said. You snapped your head back up, your concentration on whether or not there was really that much of a difference in your behaviour depending on three to four drinks shot. You were just compromising with yourself that it really depending on the liquor when he had called out to you.

”Hey,” you smile, coming to a stop beside him. He holds out a cigarette to you and you take it, popping it in your mouth. Before you can ask he’s got the lighter, and you lean in for a light.

“Want to grab a drink tonight?” He asks once you’ve settled into your spot beside him. You shake your head.

”Can’t. Got plans.”

”Oh yeah?” He turns to consider you. You give him a nod, unable to suppress the smile.

”Girl’s night,” you say. “Preschool teacher asked me to join.”

”The one with the bangs?”

You had told him about her bangs.

”Yep. The popular girls noticed me.”

“Where are you going?” He asked.

You shook your head. “Nope. You are not invited.”

He smiled. “I wasn’t-”

“Oh sure,” you say.

“You should just be safe, is all.” He says. “Stay out of certain places, you know, walk home together.”

“Believe it or not, this is not my first night out of the house ever.”

He frowns. “It’s dangerous. Just be smart.”

“Thanks mom,” you take a drag and turn towards him, your arms crossed. “And what shout I tell Bobby if he wants to go all the way?”

He scoffs and you break out in a grin. Shaking his head, he tosses his filter and moves around you, making for the door.

”Fucking smart ass.”

You’re always too eager to be on time. It’s a bad habit. It always ends with you showing up to parties too early and then it’s just you and the host making small talk over the fruit salad they thought they had at least another half hour to make. Whatever. Tonight that means you just get to spend the next hour looking really hot in your own apartment.

You find yourself standing still for a moment, wondering what you should do. Sitting down and reading seems like a weird thing to do when you’re dressed like this, but neither does sitting and watching tv. You wish for a minute you had been more picky about make up or hair but everything has set and you don’t want to risk fucking with it. You make for your kitchen and pull the bottle of tequila from the cabinet, reaching to grab a glass. You take a quick shot and are about to pour another when an idea runs through your head. You walk down and across to the wall opposite of the couch and knock three times.

You hear faint movement from the other side and grin to yourself.

“Javi?” You call.

A moment later, you hear a muffled “Yeah?”

“You want a drink?” You wait for his response, but instead of answering you hear his door open and close. You smile, pulling another glass from the cabinet when there’s a knock on your door.

“It’s open,” you shout, pouring two fingers into one of the glasses. A moment later he walks in, his eyes on the floor.

“You should really lock that,” he says, turning to watch you walk down towards him with two drinks. His eyebrows raise as he looks you up and down, and even though you’re supposed to be the cool girl who is very unaffected by her hot neighbour who she just sometimes fucks, it makes swell with some pride.

“I’ll be fine, I’ve got a cop next door.” You hold out the glass for him. His eyes flick back up from your waist as he reaches out to take it, wetting his lip with a dart of his tongue.

“Can’t get over here that fast enough.” He says.

“Hm,” you walk over to the wall. “Two knocks for ‘help’, three for ‘I’m fine.’” You demonstrate.

“Or you could just lock your door,” he looks at you over the rim of his glass. You roll your eyes.

“Such a cop,” you toss back your out drink. You wipe your mouth as he watches. “My parents would kill me.”

“Drug traffickers?” He asks

“Almost. Hippies.”

He cracks a smile at that. “This when you tell me your real name is Moonbeam or something?”

“It’s Starlight, actually.” You sit on the couch and gesture for him to join you. He follows your lead, sitting in the exact spot where only a week earlier he had post coitally confided in you. You try and ignore it.

“I’m an agent,” he corrects you.

You kiss your teeth. “Even worse. They’d keel over if they found out baby Starlight fucked ‘the man’.”

“You haven’t for a while,” he says, reaching out to lay a hand on your ankle. You’re embarrassed by how the electricity shoots up you leg, directly to the apex of your thighs.

You laugh. “A week is not a while.” You kick your feet onto the floor and stand, walking back to the kitchen for more drink.

“You sure you want to go out tonight?” He turns and watches you as you pull the cork from the bottle and pour yourself a third drink. So much for that negotiation. You wonder if you can buy bread on the way there. Surely. “My offer for a drink still stands.”

“Mmm, I wonder what that’s code for.” You sit down on the other side of the couch and, feeling bold, stretch your legs out again. “Thank you, but I already told them I’d go.”

He shrugs, bringing the drink back up to his mouth. “Gonna be a boring night,”

You tap his thigh with the tip of your heel. “First I need to be safe, now it’s going to be boring?”

He shrugs again. “Just saying. When you’re disappointed later, you know where I’ll be, hermosa.”

You’re not disappointed.

You and Javier drink for a while longer, swapping stories about Texas and being an expat and dumb, innocuous work shit when you hear a cacophony of giggles followed by a rapid series of knocks at your door. You stand and grab your purse, Javier following in your step as you swing open the door and see Maritza with her two friends, tipsy and giggling on your mat.

“Heyyyyuu guapa,” Maritza says. You’re thankful you weren’t the only one drinking early. The woman behind her- tall and beautiful, you’ll learn her name is Alessa- offers you a small bottle of liquor. You raise you hand to take it as all three of their eyes flick towards the man approaching from behind you.

“Ladies,” he says, hovering behind you. You can’t see his face, but you know the smug bastard is loving every second of this. You recognise the look that flashes across their faces as their eyes flick from him to you, and you smile as you take a quick swig from the bottle.

“Javier was just leaving,” you explain, reaching back and ushering him out by the shoulder.

“Does he have to?” The third girl - Lisa - asks. Alessa gives her a quick seat on the arm.

“He does,” Javier answers, nodding. “You ladies have a good night.” His eyes meet yours for a brief second before he’s turning and walking to his apartment. The girls watch him as he disappears inside as you lock your own door, and when you turn around to tell them you’re ready, the looks on their faces are demanding answers.

Fuck it. You’re drunk.

“Yeah, I am.” You laugh, and all three of them squeal.

Fuck. You had forgotten how fun this was.

The taxi ride over had been a whirlwind of questions and much to the annoyance of the driver, you answered each and every dirty one with as little detail as to remain polite but still subtlety brag that you indeed were fucking the hot guy in your apartment. You missed having girlfriends to gossip with, to giggle over sex and boys. Alessa was married without any kids, but she turned out to be the most curious about you and Javier’s situation. Even though there wasn’t much to tell, you were high on the attention and leaned into each question, a little surge of what could only be feminine pride exploding in your chest when the women blushed at your answers and squealed in delight.

Maritza had said she knew the owner of the club( “she’s lying, she doesn’t know shit.” Lisa laughed with you as she handed you the bottle) you arrived at, and disappeared for a few minutes before reappearing at the back and waving the three of you in. Turns out the owner was actually the janitor, but the result was the same: four passes inside without having to pay. (“Not that we would,” Maritza had said. “But just in case.”). It was thrilling, sneaking through the dark hallways, each of you with their hand on another woman’s shoulder as you giggled, trying to keep quiet. You were drunk enough that you let Alessa pull you onto the dance floor as Maritza and Lisa went to the bar to get drinks. The lights and sounds were overwhelming and you felt blissfully lost in the sea of bodies that, to you, seemed to flow together. When the girls returned, some fruity concoction in their hands, you were already sweating for exertion, and felt larger, warm hands encircle your waist.

For a brief, fleeting second, you thought Javier had followed you to the club, but upon turning around you realised it was very much not Javier. This guy was younger, maybe even a few years younger than you, with big hazel eyes that somehow - alcohol? Magic? - shone through the pulsing lights of the club. Deeming him handsome enough to allow it, you turned and began to grind against him, for a few songs. Finally, during a lull in the music, he leaned forward.

“You’re a shit dancer,” he said

You laughed before reaching back up and pulling him back down to whisper in his ear. “I’ve got better rhythm on my back.”

Messy. But it got the point across.

You felt his thumb on your chin, tilting you up to face him. When he kissed you, he tasted like chapstick and cheap beer. It wasn’t warm or soft or desperate, but it was nice. And nice was enough for you tonight.

The girls behind you cheered in approval when they saw you. Blushing, you turned back to face them, grinding your ass against the growing hardness in your partner’s jeans. At some point during the night you were separated, but you quickly forgot about him when it was Lisa’s turn to pull a man. Doing your friendly duty, you cheered along with Alessa and Maritza as you watched her lead the tall stranger back to the bathrooms, only to reappear fifteen minutes later slightly rumpled but much happier. She did three shots after that.

The night continued to go well- true to you hypothesis, Maritza was a wild card. At some point she managed to crawl on the bar and convince three different men in soccer jerseys to take a shot from between her breasts, before reaching behind the bar and stealing a whole bottle of vodka while the barkeep was distracted. It was only about fifteen minutes before she had passed the bottle to every member of the soccer team when the manager finally noticed and kicked the whole group of you out.

As you stood outside, the four of you giggling and hovering around the equally drunk soccer players, you felt a hand wrap around your waist. Turning, you recognise your dance partner from earlier.

“Hey,” you say. Behind you, your new friends are busy flirt-arguing with the soccer captain.

“Hey,” he says back. “You want to get out of here?”

You give him the once over. He’s cute, toned, and he’s wearing the same jersey as the rest of the teammates. You laugh and look over to the line of taxis, wondering if you’re really about to take this guy up on his offer.

“How old are you?” You ask.

“25.”

You shake your head. “You look like trouble.”

“I am.” He smiles, and you catch those hazel eyes once again.

Fuck it.

You catch a taxi pretty easily, and once you two are in the back seat he’s all over you, pulling you against him to kiss your neck and fondle at your top. For a grown man, he acts like a boy getting to touch his first tit. You send an apologetic look to the driver when you arrive at your apartment after he pays, but quickly forget your embarrassment when he catches you around the waist and pulls you into a sloppy, messy kiss. You’re giddy off the drink and the energy of the night and kiss him back with equal finesse. After a moment you realise you’re still in the street and reach down to take his hand. You’re just outside your apartment door, shamelessly making out, when Javi’s door swings open.

Oh. Oh to be able to record the way Javier’s face falls the moment that cocky smile and planned, snide comment he had ready dies upon seeing another man draped around your back, sucking at your neck. He must have heard you return and come out to bully you into admitting it wasn’t really a fun night without him, and now he’s standing frozen, the extra cigarette you imagine was meant for you caught between his fingers. The man currently sucking a welt onto your neck looks up.

“You want a picture or something?” He asks. You swat his arm and turn, unlocking the door to your apartment quickly before they can engage in some bullshit machismo. You reach down and take your companions hand and urge him to follow you in before shooting Javier an apologetic look.

“Sorry Javi,” you say. “We’ll keep it down.”

And you shut the door behind you.

Look. You weren’t trying to get revenge. It just turns out Isaac (that’s his name) is really, really good at sex. That, or you’re really really drunk. Either way, you’re not the quiet partner you usually are. It doesn’t help that he, unlike the last person you slept with, has a young, heavily exercised back and can flip you into positions like the two of you are competing in couples ice dancing at the fucking Olympics. You even remember, in between rounds, to shove a sock between your headboard and the wall. Not that that really helps, when you’re about eight tequila drinks in and a young, stupidly ripped athlete is railing you from behind.

You also really, really didn’t think that in the morning you would be even awake enough to fuck, let alone do the breathy moaning that’s falling out of your mouth now as he hoists your leg over his side and pumps into you, flicking at your clit like he’s playing a guitar. You honestly, in your still drunk haze, forget that Javier is even on the other side of your wall.

When the two of you finally finish and Issac turns down your offer for breakfast, you throw on a sundress and walk him to the door. The two of you pause before opening the larger door outside, and he leans down to kiss you and assure you that, although it’s such a bummer his team has to go back to Cali, he had a great time with you. You play along, letting the kid have his ego stroked, and kiss him before he turns and heads out the door, into the morning and out of your life. Still smiling to yourself, you don’t realise Javier is standing in his doorway, lit cigarette dangling from his lips with his arms crossed.

“When’s the wedding?” He asks, and you know he’s trying to play it off, to be the cool guy in all of this. But you also hear that buried edge in his voice, and you know you’ve gotten under his skin.

Smiling, you saunter up to him and pluck the cigarette from his lips, holding his gaze as you take a long, large inhale.

“Oh Javi,” you sigh, exhaling. “It’s not serious.”

#javier peña x reader #javier peña #javier peña x oc #narcos #it's nothing serious #fic

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netflixaddictedd · 4 years

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10 lesbian books you should read

Leah on the offbeat: When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. She’s an anomaly in her friend group: the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended. (Make sure to read Simon vs the homosapiens agenda before Reading this)

Her royal highness: Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. Heartbroken and ready for a change of pace, Millie decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better. Soon, Millie is accepted into one of the world's most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Here, the country is dreamy and green; the school is covered in ivy, and the students think her American-ness is adorable. The only problem: Mille's roommate Flora is a total princess. She's also an actual princess. Of Scotland. At first, the girls can't stand each other, but before Millie knows it, she has another sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend. Princess Flora could be a new chapter in her love life, but Millie knows the chances of happily-ever-afters are slim . . . after all, real life isn't a fairy tale . . . or is it?

The price of salt: Therese, a struggling young sales clerk, and Carol, a homemaker in the midst of a bitter divorce, abandon their oppressive daily routines for the freedom of the open road, where their love can blossom. But their newly discovered bliss is shattered when Carol is forced to choose between her child and her lover.

The miseducation of Cameron Post: When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both. Then Coley Talor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship, one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self even if she's not quite sure who that is.

Late to the party: Seventeen is nothing like Codi Teller imagined. She’s never crashed a party, never stayed out too late. She’s never even been kissed. And it’s not just because she’s gay. It’s because she and her two best friends, Maritza and JaKory, spend more time in her basement watching Netflix than engaging with the outside world. So when Maritza and JaKory suggest crashing a party, Codi is highly skeptical. Those parties aren’t for kids like them. They’re for cool kids. Straight kids. But then Codi stumbles upon one of those cool kids, Ricky, kissing another boy in the dark, and an unexpected friendship is formed. In return for never talking about that kiss, Ricky takes Codi under his wing and draws her into a wild summer filled with late nights, new experiences, and one really cute girl named Lydia. The only problem? Codi never tells Maritza or JaKory about any of it.

Annie on my mind: Liza begins to doubt her feelings for Annie after someone finds out about their relationship, and realizes, after starting college, that her denial of love for Annie was a mistake.

Tell me again how a crush should feel: Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is a relief. As an Iranian American, she’s different enough; if word got out that Leila liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when beautiful new girl Saskia shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would. As she carefully confides in trusted friends about Saskia’s confusing signals, Leila begins to figure out that all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and some are keeping surprising secrets of their own.

It's not like it's a secret: Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend. When Sana and her family move to California, she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known. There are just a few problems: Sana's new friends don't trust Jamie's crowd; Jamie's friends clearly don't want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore. Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy…what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.

Juliet takes a breath: Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland, Oregon, to intern with her favorite feminist writer--what's sure to be a life-changing experience. And when Juliet's coming out crashes and burns, she's not sure her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan--sort of. Her internship with legendary author Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women's bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff, is sure to help her figure out this whole "Puerto Rican lesbian" thing. Except Harlowe's white. And not from the Bronx. And she definitely doesn't have all the answers . . .In a summer bursting with queer brown dance parties, a sexy fling with a motorcycling librarian, and intense explorations of race and identity, Juliet learns what it means to come out--to the world, to her family, to herself.

Style: Kyle Blake likes plans. So far, they’re pretty simple: Finish her senior year of high school, head off to a good college, find a cute boyfriend, graduate, get a good job, get married, the whole heterosexual shebang. Nothing is going to stand in the way of that plan. Not even Stella Lewis. Stella Lewis also has a plan: Finish her senior year as cheer captain, go to college, finally let herself flirt with (and maybe even date) a girl for the first time and go from there. Fate has other plans for Kyle and Stella when they’re paired up in their AP English class and something between them ignites. It’s confusing and overwhelming and neither of them know what to do about it. One thing they do know is that their connection can’t be ignored. The timing just isn’t right. But is there ever a good time for falling in love?

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mismilk · 2 years

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pov Abigail ...: My mom is calling me, I'm just getting ready because today was Sunday nothing strange, today I have thought of Aser a pajamas with Leni and Melanie my brother on the contrary VAT to have a game with Mario and Roger, the truth is that I do not know how to do Today in addition to Maybe the sleepover is going to play with the boys, well now I'm going down the stairs - Hello mommy- I greeted my mother Maritza Esposito - Hello daddy - I greeted my father Aaron James -Victor?) Peterson.

Storyteller...:

Hello dear- the pronunciation came from the father of the Peterson family, who was Aaron James-victor himself. You had your free time, he dedicated himself to art and if it wasn't art, it was to go to a specialized and specific psychologist for him and for other patients - hello dad - Abigail and Ethan would say to insomnia - good morning my precious twins - Maritza said that nickname he had given his children

- Hi mom - Ethan and Abigail said - Aaron woke up yet? - Maritza asked her husband - well, he should- - she couldn't finish her sentence - hello! - A little girl spoke but it was not a girl but Roboot - Hello mya - Aaron and Maritza spoke with the Roboot girl- Good morning - I spoke with the biggest Roboot, Miss Díanne - Hello mom- Aaron spoke- Grandma! - Ethan and Abigail spoke. They are a strange family but it was not something new in the end - hello. - Another roboot spoke, it was more or less than Luci and me but in a robotic way she stayed there because she was my best friend - hello Luci - everyone spoke, - so what can you do today? - Maritza spoke,

Povs Abigail: ....

I was walking towards melanie's house, mya and Luci do not accompany me since they have their own friends, the truth is that it feels strange to be alone here, I am just a little scared because my father is a bit paraonic and he. I said weird things, but it's better now, I still don't understand, why would my grandmother and my aunt be roboots? Or because I don't have a grandfather, I always talk about this with Ethan but Ethan is already with his friends.

- An hour has passed, Abigail and the girls have played, jokes and more, the night has already fallen and everyone is sleeping, but the next day shocking news has been seen ... what will it be? -

Author's note: this is all for now, you will always see a small note from me at the end of the chapters, sorry if the chapter was short, until later

#abigail peterson #ethan peterson #melanie bales #leni bales #roger bales #mario smith #aaron james peterson #maritza esposito #HKids au #mismilk

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all-drarry-to-me · 3 years

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Queer book recommendations 📚

Okay, so I received this super nice ask, kindly requesting another list of book recommendations, but when I finally got around to answering it, Tumblr (being the hellsite that it is) ate the ask. Emi, I hope you know how thrilled I was to see that in my inbox — not only have you read some of my favorite books based on my recommendation, but you liked them enough to ask for more! I’m happy to put together another list, and please feel free to message me at any time to talk about books!

Without further ado (and in no particular order), here’s part two of some of my favorite queer books:

1. All for the Game trilogy by Nora Sakavic: I could talk about this series for ages. Listen, I know it’s problematic: they’re not the most well-written books, the plot is insane and there’s a whole host of trigger warnings that go with the series. It focuses on college athletes, who come together through Exy, a made-up sport that the mafia is involved in. Somehow, despite all of that, I managed to fall in love with the series quite quickly. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before, and the characters — even with their numerous flaws — really drew me in. The found family trope is so well executed (I couldn’t help but root for the Foxes throughout the series), then I absolutely love the way they handle consent. Of the core characters, there’s two who are gay and one who’s definitely on the ace spectrum, though it’s not outright stated in the book. And while I said they’re not the most well-written series, which I do stand by, there’s also a handful of BEAUTIFUL lines from the books.

2. “Running with Lions” by Julien Winters: This is the only other sports-themed book on the list, I promise! Some of my love for this book likely stems from my own years running around the soccer field — this takes place at a summer training camp, but that’s definitely not the only reason it’s on this list. I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers, and while this is more ex-friends to lovers, there’s definitely some animosity to be worked through when Emir unexpectedly shows up at the soccer camp. I love the way he and Sebastian bond, and the way their friendship evolves before becoming a more romantic relationship. There’s some standard coming-of-age vibes within the book, but the plot and the characters are interesting enough to help set it apart from others in the genre.

3. “Orlando: A Biography” by Virginia Woolf: This one is a little different than the others on the list, but I wouldn’t recommend it any less. I feel a little in love with Virginia Woolf over the past year and, of her books that I’ve read, this one really stands out. It’s from the 1920s and features a main character who lives for 300+ years — and who’s trans (Orlando is born male, then wakes up one day as female). With the way time works and the plot itself, it’s a bit strange, but I found it captivating, and the whole thing is a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, another writer with whom Woolf was in a relationship with. (Don’t get me started on their relationship — there’s a book of love letters between the two of them that’s achingly beautiful, but the book is hard to find.)

4. “Upside Down” by N. R. Walker: This is trope-y and wonderful and I would highly recommend. It has issues with pacing, but it made me genuinely happy as I was reading it. I finished it in a day, maybe two, because I couldn’t put it down — and I have two of the author’s other books in my Barnes & Noble cart as I’m typing this. In “Upside Down,” both of the main characters are ace; one is sure of his identity and the other is just starting to figure it out, and they work to navigate that together. It’s sweet and a quick read if you’re looking for something fairly fluffy.

5. Iron Breakers trilogy by Zaya Feli: If you take the plot from Captive Prince and mix it with the writing of All for the Game, that’s a close approximation of Iron Breakers. The main character is hard to like at times (he has a lot of growing up to do) and the plot isn’t groundbreaking — there’s a lot of similarities to Captive Prince — but there’s also a lot of positives the series has going for it. The world building is really interesting, the love interest is wonderful and the series has some compelling twists. The first book is free through Nook and I bought the second two immediately after finishing it, then could not put those down until I was done!

6. “Olivia” by Dorothy Strachey: There’s not enough wlw romance on here, which is one of the reasons I wanted to add “Olivia.” It’s another one that’s slightly different than the others on the list; it was originally published in the 1940s and is loosely based on the author’s own life, telling the story of a girl who goes to finishing school and falls in love with her teacher. It’s the story of first love, and forbidden love at that.

7. “Cemetery Boys” by Aiden Thomas: This book absolutely worth a read — Yadriel is trans, and is trying to prove to his family that he’s a “real” man by summoning a ghost to help solve his cousin’s murder. Instead, he summons Julien, then proceeds to fall for the ghost while trying to help Julien figure out how he died. Thomas creates such an interesting world within the book and the three main characters (Yadriel, Julien and Yadriel’s cousin/best friend Maritza) are so much fun together.

8. “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli: Look, I think most people have heard of, if not read, this book but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it on my list. It was actually recommended to me last time I made a queer rec list and it didn’t disappoint. In some ways, it’s a relatively standard coming out novel, but it has some really interesting differences. The way in which Simon is forced to come out makes the plot unique, and I love how supportive Simon’s family is — there are so many books where the character comes out and is subsequently kicked out, and it was nice to see a different take (I may have cried a little at that point, but that’s neither here nor there). If you haven’t read it, I’d definitely recommend.

9. Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo: This is like, “Ocean’s Eleven,” but with teenagers. I liked the first book slightly better than the second, but they’re both great — they focus on a group of six planning an elaborate heist, with Kaz as the leader of their little gang. Each character is really well-developed, and both the plot and the world-building are first class. There’s a mlm romance on the side, so this one’s a bit more subtly queer than some of the other recs, but they’re still great books.

10. “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by T.J. Klune: This book is wonderful in so many ways. It’s focused on Linus Baker, who’s sent on a classified mission to a magical orphanage, where six “dangerous” children live with their caretaker, Arthur Parnassus. The characters — all of them, big and small — are compelling and interesting; they’re well-thought out and unique, which I think is a huge strength of Klune’s, visible in this book and the others I’ve read by him. Linus and Arthur are a bit older (in their 40s) and I love the way that contributes to their relationship and their character development, then the plot is somewhat simple, but the characters and the world are compelling enough that you don’t need any major twists or turns.

Next on my to-read list is “The Mercies” by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, which I’m absolutely psyched about, and I’m counting down the days until “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston is released.

(You asked if I've read anything by Seanan McGuire — I haven't; any recs for what to start with?)

Please let me know if you ever want more recs and I’ll be happy to throw some titles out there, and I'd love to know what you think if you end up reading any of these!

#dot posts #reading

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richincolor · 4 years

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We have eight books on our calendar that are releasing tomorrow, and there’s something for everyone! Which ones are on your radar?

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee HMH Books for Young Readers

“All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the guard towers, the city, the country that hates us.

We are not free.

But we are not alone.”

Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco.

Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted.

Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.

In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Like Spilled Water by Jennie Liu Carolrhoda Books

Nineteen-year-old Na has always lived in the shadow of her younger brother, Bao-bao, her parents’ cherished son. Years ago, Na’s parents left her in the countryside and went to work in the city, bringing Bao-bao along and committing everything to his education.

But when Bao-bao dies suddenly, Na realizes how little she knew him. Did he really kill himself because of a low score on China’s all-important college entrance exam? Na learns that Bao-bao had many secrets and that his death may not be what it seems. Na’s parents expect her to quit her vocational school and go to work, forcing Na to confront traditional expectations for and pressures on young women. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Wayward Witch (Brooklyn Brujas #3) by Zoraida Córdova Sourcebooks Fire

Rose Mortiz has always been a fixer, but lately she’s been feeling lost. She has brand-new powers she doesn’t understand, and her family is still trying to figure out how to function in the wake of her amnesiac father’s return home. Then, on the night of her Deathday party, Rose discovers her father’s memory loss has been a lie.

As she rushes to his side, the two are ambushed and pulled through a portal to the land of Adas, a fairy realm hidden in the Caribbean Sea. There, Rose is forced to work with a group of others to save Adas. Soon, she begins to discover the scope of her powers, the troubling truth about her father’s past, and the sacrifices he made to save her sisters.

But if Rose wants to return home so she can repair her broken family, she must figure out how to heal Adas first. –Image and summary via Goodreads

Never Look Back by Liliam Rivera Bloomsbury YA

Eury comes to the Bronx as a girl haunted. Haunted by losing everything in Hurricane Maria–and by an evil spirit, Ato. She fully expects the tragedy that befell her and her family in Puerto Rico to catch up with her in New York. Yet, for a time, she can almost set this fear aside, because there’s this boy . . .

Pheus is a golden-voiced, bachata-singing charmer, ready to spend the summer on the beach with his friends, serenading his on-again, off-again flame. That changes when he meets Eury. All he wants is to put a smile on her face and fight off her demons. But some dangers are too powerful for even the strongest love, and as the world threatens to tear them apart, Eury and Pheus must fight for each other and their lives. — Cover image and summary via Bookshop.org

Micah: The Good Girl (Flyy Girls #2) by Ashley Woodfolk Penguin Workshop

Micah Dupree had always liked being the “good girl.” She was happy painting, going to church, and acing her school projects. After all, she had a perfect older brother to live up to. But when he unexpectedly dies, Micah’s world is turned upside-down. With her anxiety growing, a serious boyfriend in the picture, and new feelings emerging, Micah begins to question what being the “good girl” really means…and if it’s worth it, anyway.

With simply stated text and compelling characters, Flyy Girls is a series that’s perfect for readers of any level. — Cover image and summary via Bookshop.org

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam Balzer & Bray/Harperteen

The story that I thought was my life didn’t start on the day I was born

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.

The story that I think will be my life starts today

Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?

With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both. — Cover image and summary via Bookshop.org

Lux: The New Girl (Flyy Girls #1) by Ashley Woodfolk Penguin Workshop

Meet the Flyy Girls. The group of girls who seem like they can get away with anything. Veteran author Ashley Woodfolk pens a gorgeous and dynamic series of four Harlem highschoolers, each facing a crossroads of friendship, family, and love.

Lux Lawson is on a spree. Ever since her dad left, she’s been kicked out of every school that would take her, and this is her last chance: Harlem’s Augusta Savage School of the Arts. If this doesn’t work, Lux is off to military school, no questions asked. That means no more acting out, no more fights, and definitely no boyfriends. Focus on her photography, and make nice friends. That’s the deal.

Enter the Flyy Girls, three students who have it all together. The type of girls Lux needs to be friends with to stay out of trouble. And after charming her way into the group, Lux feels she’s on the right track. But every group has their secrets, including Lux. And when the past starts catching up with her, can she keep her place as a Flyy Girl? In this searing series opener, Lux takes center stage as she figures out just how hard it can be to start over.

With simply stated text and compelling characters, Flyy Girls is a series that’s perfect for readers of any level. — Cover image and summary via Bookshop.org

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas Swoon Reads

A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas’s paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys, described by Entertainment Weekly as groundbreaking.

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave. — Cover image and summary via Bookshop.org

#we are not free #like spilled water #wayward witch #never look back #micah: the good girl #punching the air #lux: the new girl #cemetery boys

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bonesgadh · 5 years

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My thoughts on the final season of Orange is the New Black:

Obviously, some heavy spoilers below:

If you ask me, Piper’s storyline outside Litchfield was, for the most part, a complete waste of time. Instead of having her getting stoned with her brother or going to that pointless retreat, why didn’t they have her doing something productive like helping other former inmates or writing her book?

Speaking of the book, I’m high-key disappointed they gave the memoir storyline to Judy fucking King. Call me cheesy but I was looking forward to the show ending with Piper writing her book just like she said she would in season 6. Such a missed opportunity.

I really, really wanted Taystee to be cleared of Piscatella’s murder. I don’t understand why they gave so much importance to Suzanne writting what really happened and Taystee showing the text to her lawyer if it wasn’t going to make a difference in the end. Chekhov’s gun, anyone?

I’m so relieved she didn’t kill herself. I guess as long as there’s life there’s hope fucking Cindy will confess the truth and justice will be served. In the meantime, I was happy Taystee found a new meaning to her life and decided to help other inmates have a better shot at rebuilding their lives after prison.

Daddy’s death caught me by surprise. That said, I didn’t notice her absence at all for the reminder of the season. I guess she was a one-hit wonder character.

I have the feeling they had no idea what to do with Frieda so they just had her do weird stuff like accumulating trash.

Thank Christ they got rid of Badison so early in the season. Cringiest, most annoying character in the history of television.

Aleida is so stupid lmao. I get she wanted to protect her daughter from that pedophile but she fucked up. I was rooting for her to rebuild her life and I was disappointed at her.

I liked Suzanne coming to terms with her sentence and being more comfortable around people and making new friends. It’s what she deserves.

Why is Cesar out of jail? Didn’t Aleida say he was supposed to stay there until he was an old man?

So Yadriel isn’t Pepa’s biological father?

Shani, man. Her relationship with Nicky was so cute and you could tell she was different from Nicky’s other flings. She didn’t act like a stallion around her, she was sweet and considerate with her and her backstory was very sad. I’m pissed they weren’t endgame because they made such a good couple.

There was no need to kill off Lorna’s baby. That was unnecessary roughness.

What happened to Maritza left me devastated. That final sequence of her getting into the plane and all the other women who were deported as well slowly disappearing until there was no one left gave me fucking chills. It was tough to watch but it had to be done to make a point of how a good portion of the immigrants who get deported are young adults who have never lived anywhere else besides the US, but still they are not considered citizens.

I absolutely adore Fig. Her character development was one of the best in the show. Also I LOVE HER RELATIONSHIP WITH CAPUTO OMG.

Piper’s sister-in-law is annoying af. I bet she is one of those anti-vaccinations freaks.

Alex looked so damn hot in her flashback oh my god.

Goodall is adorable! For real, what a gorgeous baby.

I was not expecting CO Fischer to make a comeback.

Healy is still a piece of shit.

I can understand why Piper developed feelings for Zelda. She represented the potential life she could lead now that she was a free woman, the opportunity to start over and leave prison behind (like Sophia advised her to). However, there wasn’t anything exciting about being with her, it was way too safe and that’s the exact opposite of what she had with Alex.

Polly is even more annoying than she was before but Larry didn’t get on my nerves this time around, which surprised me. Maybe because his little prep talk is what pushed Piper to follow Alex to Ohio or maybe it was the nostalgia. Idk, but they brought him back in a nice way.

I felt really bad for Vinnie. He wasn’t only grieving for his son but he also had to see Lorna fall into that complete state of denial.

Sophia’s comeback was everything. She looked like a goddess and she seemed so happy and in control of her life. I thought we wouldn’t see her again after she got released from prison but I’m glad they managed to bring her back even for a couple of scenes.

Totally random statement but Piper looked very attractive at the benefit gala and the morning after. I don’t know if it was the hair or the way they did her eyes but she was smoking hot.

Danielle Brooks is the best actress in the show. Don’t @ me.

McCullough is the archetype of the psycho ex. I legit thought she was going to shoot Piper when she confronted her at her house.

Alex knows Piper so damn well. She is aware of the fact that Piper tends to run away from stuff when things get complicated and her choosing to have an affair with McCullough was her way to try to protect herself. Then again, I really thought they had moved on from that phase.

Fig lying about being pregnant to help that woman get an abortion was such a strong moment. Also her calling out the double-standard of the guard who was opposed to the woman aborting but wanted her to get deported? Legends only.

Lorna is such a racist but I can’t bring myself to dislike her. If anything I’ve always felt a bit sorry for her.

Linda is such a bitch.

Tamika was the only warden who actually cared about making a difference. I’m sad she got fired because of something that wasn’t even her fault but her good deeds made a profound impact.

McCullough is so damn unstable but I can’t blame her for developing such strong feelings for Alex. She’s quite irresistible.

Alex acting all unattached and cold as she was breaking up with Piper was painful to watch. I knew it wasn’t real but for a hot second I thought that was it for them.

The ICE storyline was out-of-this-world amazing. So powerful and brilliantly done, quintessential OITNB.

If you had told me six years ago I would cry like a baby with Pennsatucky’s death I would have laughed at you.

But for real, POOR PENNSATUCKY. I’m sorry she had to die for Taystee to stay alive.

Because of the ‘a fan-favorite character dies in the final episode to mark the end of the show’ trope I had the feeling they were going to kill either Red, Alex or Taystee. I was legit surprised when the final death was revealed to be Pennsatucky.

That Poussey flashback had me in tears.

Alex and Nicky’s goodbye scene was so sweet and I love they talked about eventually reuniting. They were my brotp.

What Larry told Piper when she visited him at his place was very interesting. When Piper told him she loved Alex he told her he believed her, but that he also thought she loved what Alex represented. I believe that was true at some point—well, for most of the series—and, unconsciously, Piper believed that as well. But, if anything, what they went through in season 7 helped Piper realize she did want to be with Alex. The extra limb analogy was amazing and I don’t think Jenji could have picked a better way to explain their relationship.

Hellman is the new warden? Gross.

My favorite part about the old inmates’ cameos was that they were shown doing the same stuff they did in Litchfield: Boo being tired of everyone’s bullshit, Yoga giving the mandala talk to new inmates, Gina feeling exasperated and Norma calming her down, Watson running and Alison checking her time, Angie and Leanne being stupid, Brook mooning over stuff.

I only missed two characters making a cameo: Sister Ingalls and Miss Claudette. I know most fans wanted to see Bennett again but fuck that coward.

Also wtf happened to Bayley? I kinda wanted to know.

Karla’s story broke my heart. I’m glad they included her character because her story is the story of millions of immigrants that are separated from their children, forced to return to their home countries and endure harsh conditions while trying to make their way back to the US.

Blanca really went out there and said “fuck it” to the american dream, didn’t she? In my opinion she had the best ending out of all the characters. I’m so happy she reunited with Diablo and is ready to live her life with him at last. My girl deserved it.

Maria’s storyline was so ‘meh’. It was way too similar to her season 6 storyline.

My mom Gloria had the second best ending. I was afraid they were going to punish her because of the phone thing but thankfully asshole Luschek finally did something right. I was rooting for her to have a happy ending and I’m glad she got it.

Also was that little girl living with Gloria and her kids her granddaughter? Because she was definitely younger than her sons but Gloria’s flashback stated her daughters are older, so I’m confused.

I really need to know if Aleida killed Daya. I hate it was left so open.

Flaca choosing to help immigrants was so sweet. I bet one of the reasons she did it was to stop them from suffering Maritza’s fate.

Fig and Caputo are adopting!

Cindy did not deserve a good ending after she ruined Taystee’s life. That made me so angry. I was really hoping she would confess the truth.

In the end, McCullough made Alex a favor by having her transferred to Ohio. She went back to minimum security, she was with friends and people she knew and far away from all the crap in max.

What happened to Red and Lorna was devastating. Red losing her identity and her memory was so tragic because of what a badass she was. Also I knew Lorna would lose it after her son’s death but it was heartbreaking. They deserved better.

It sucks balls Nicky lost every person who was important to her but despite that I liked her ending because, even though she suffered heartbreak after heartbreak, she found a way to keep herself sober and now she will help others the way Red helped her. It was the best way she could honor her.

Despite literally everyone around Piper advising her to leave Alex behind and forget about her (from her parole officer to her dad to Larry to Sophia) the fact that she chose to follow Alex to Ohio was a pleasant surprise to me. It showed her growth and how much she really wanted to be with Alex, and that she was not a mistake in her life but her life. I was never a Vauseman shipper but even I knew they had to be endgame, any other ending wouldn’t have made any sense. I feel bad for the shippers because it was a very tough season for them but love prevailed, so congrats.

I didn’t catch the Piper Kerman cameo until I saw someone mentioned it on twitter. That was so cool! Also I don’t know if this was intentional but I liked the visual parallel between Larry Smith & Piper and Piper Kerman & Alex. Larry waited for Piper for as long as she was in jail and never abandoned her, so I choose to believe Kenji and Co. are hinting at Piper doing the same thing for Alex.

It was a good decision to show us a glimpse of Piper’s new life. She has a stable job, a new home, she is studying about criminal law and using her time in a productive way, and also she looks happier than we ever saw her.

In conclusion, I liked the season very much. Orange is one of my favorite shows and I think they ended it in a very nice way. It was very well executed and, unlike other final seasons I have watched over the years, it never felt rushed to me. It was the best season in at least a couple of years and I’m in love with the series finale, I stand by my original statement that it is the best one I have ever seen.

I give it a solid B+, four-out-of-five stars, 8.5 out of 10.

Orange forever, indeed.

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abbatoirablaze · 1 year

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Ex Wive's Club, Chapter 8

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: mentions of children with disabilities, handicaps, or defects, low-key gaslighting, name calling, aggressive situations, mentions of cheating.

“Hey-hey…I got your text is everything okay?”

Sasha was biting her lip, new tears threatening to spill over her cheeks. But she stopped when she saw a one year old happily sitting in her car seat, staring at herself in the mirror.

“I-yeah-oh god…I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you trek all the way down here,” she bumbled, “I thought you said that you didn’t have your daughter, and I-Andy-“

“Hey, it’s okay!” Curtis said reassuringly, cutting her off. He reached out and pulled Sasha into a hug, being sure to wrap her up in his large form. For a moment, she felt safe in the grizzled father’s arms. He was like a giant teddy bear shielding her from the nightmarish episode that she’d just had with Andy, “don’t feel bad about calling me. I was out in the city picking up Maritza anyways…”

“I thought-you said-“

“Lily is notorious for that,” he sighed, letting go of Sasha and taking a step back to look at his daughter. She looked up at him through thick lashes and gave him a large smile. He held up the sign for ‘I love you’ and mouthed the words. Her smile got even bigger. For a moment Sasha’s heart melted as she watched the little interaction. He gave a soft sigh and looked back at Sasha, “my ex-wife. She uh-she’s great for saying that she wants to spend time with Maritza, and then she realizes that she’s got nothing in common with her. She never bothered to learn sign language, and a lot of the time, she just yells at her, like if she yells loud enough she’ll suddenly be able to hear her.”

Sasha felt her stomach drop, “Th-that’s horrible.”

“Well it’s one of the many reasons I’m glad her father gave me the options he did when he did.”

“Your divorce.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, tight-lipped in his answer. He looked at the diner, “do you maybe want to grab a bite to eat? I don’t think that Lil fed her.”

“Oh, uh sure…I-I’ve got nowhere else to be. Not really,” she said with a frown, “my uh-Andy kicked me out.”

Curtis’ brow furrowed, “Your husband kicked you out?”

“He-he hired a PI I guess…they got pictures of you kissing me last night…Andy thinks I’m cheating on him, and he served me with divorce papers this morning.”

“Jesus…Sasha, I’m sorry…where do you live?” he asked, “I-I’ll go talk to him. I’ll tell him it was a mistake. I kissed you! You pushed me away!”

“Andy’s not the kind of guy that would believe that,” she replied with another frown, “his first wife was cheating on him with her assistant…and…well…our relationship has been rocky at best.”

“Yeah…I know what that’s like. It’s pretty hard to look past infidelity.”

“Isn’t that why you’re divorced from Lily?”

“One of many reasons,” he reiterated. He went around to Maritza’s side of the car and began unbuckling her, “we can talk about our miseries together over breakfast…I’ll buy.”

“Curtis, you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s the least I can do,” he replied with a sad frown as he picked his daughter up. She giggled and waved at Sasha, “baby girl, this is Sasha…she’s going to eat with us!”

The one year old seemed to comprehend some of what he was saying, especially when he pointed at Sasha, and then to the diner, and she held up her hands and put them to her mouth like she was taking a bite out of a sandwich.

“That’s it baby…food.” She squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her on the cheek and began heading towards the door, “coming, Mrs. Barber?”

“Why not!” she shrugged. She followed Curtis into the diner, making idle conversation with him until the waitress came over. They were quick to order a few coffees and French toast with sausage, which Curtis ended up cutting into extra small bites for Maritza to grab and eat at her leisure. The conversation seemed to flow naturally, comfortably between them, and she found herself not even remembering why she had been so upset in the first place.

She’d learned that Curtis was a wood shop teacher at a private high school. The same private high school that the famed Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four taught at. And that his ex-wife only managed to get partial custody because of the fact that she was sleeping with Thor from the Avengers.

Her heart went out to the man; the tired, hard working father who seemed to give every ounce of his spare time to his deaf daughter. The little girl in question seemed remarkably well adjusted for some of the horror stories that Curtis had shared with her.

And so she, without reserve, spilled all of her woes. How she and Andy slept together before she was eighteen, and how Andy was the father of one of her best friends. How her own father was Steve Rogers, and that she vaguely remembered meeting Curtis’ ex-wife in passing; and was largely unimpressed by her.

But then she told him about how she came to be where she was. How she didn’t even really know much about her children. How her postpartum had made it so difficult to forge bonds with them that she genuinely worried that they would hate her in the future. And how she found herself in group only because of three years ago when her daughter was undergoing a lot of tests because she became obsessed, thinking that something was wrong with her.

“But was something wrong?”

“Yeah…” she scoffed, “Andy won’t acknowledge it, but Ashley was born with a heart defect. I wasn’t wrong when I thought she stopped breathing as a three year old in her sleep. Who knew my paranoia would pay off, right?”

“Your daughter has a heart defect?”

“ASD…yeah…she hasn’t had open heart surgery or anything, but I get to be the bad guy!” she admitted with a frown, “she’s six now…and when she wanted to join the soccer team last year…I got to tell her no. When she went to kindergarten I had to come in telling them that she couldn’t have recess like normal kids, that they can’t push her. Because if they do, and her heart misses it’s rhythm because it’s racing, she could literally go into cardiac arrest. The doctors say that as she gets older it should close on it’s own, and they looked at both Andy and I…turns out growing up in a Russian orphanage they don’t tell you everything that’s wrong before you get the kid…I gave it to her…”

“You were adopted.”

“Come on, you don’t think Steve Rogers would have actually had a kid, did you?”

“Don’t you have younger siblings?”

“Yeah…” she admitted with a sigh, “one of my best friends ended up marrying…and divorcing my dad. She had my two sisters with him. Both of them have the serum running through their veins. Then he cheated on her with an old flame and had a little boy. He’s just regular…”

“Sounds like quite a family history…”

“Guess you could say both of our histories are pretty ripe with interesting things,” she laughed sadly, “and a lot of infidelities.”

“Yeah…” he chuckled, “look, I don’t know if it will do anything or not, but at least let me talk to your husband…man to man…let me explain that it wasn’t what he thinks happened.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea in the slightest, Curtis…”

“What harm could it really do?”

“HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE WITH HIM!” Andy all but screamed as he threw family photos on the lawn, “DID WE MEAN NOTHING?”

“Andy, stop!” she begged, trying to stop the oncoming rush of her soon to be ex-husband as he charged towards Curtis, “Curtis and I aren’t together, an-“

“BULLSHIT!” he spat. He pushed forwards, pressing Sasha nearly between himself and Curtis, “how long you been fucking my wife, huh?”

“Andy, I need you to calm down,” Curtis said calmly, taking another step away from him, “you’re scaring the children in your home, and my daughter in my car. I made a mistake and thought Sasha was single. I misread the cues and I kissed her! But she told me that-“

“You’re un-fucking-believable, Sash,” Andy scowled, his glare turning from Curtis to her as he cut him off, “had him come up here just to tell me that you cheated on me. Like the pictures weren’t enough?”

“Andy, he’s right, you’re scaring Michael and Ashley. Please…calm down, for them,” she begged, her hands going to either side of his arms and gently squeezing his biceps. She could feel the rage sitting just beneath the surface with him, “Andy, I’m not here to fight. I’m trying to give you space, but I need to get my stuff-“

“Your stuff!” he scoffed, glaring to the garbage bags that were sitting on the corner of their driveway, “I already packed up your shit you lying, cheating whore.”

She took a sharp breath in, looking to where her stuff had been mercilessly tossed, held in black garbage bags, “Andy…”

“I took out the trash today, sweetheart,” he growled, his nostrils flaring as he spat on the ground behind him. She frowned, looking to the broken frames that held family photos of her, Andy, Ashley, and Michael, “all of it.”

Her eyes went to the bay window in the living room while Andy shook her hands off of him. Michael was holding Ashley against his chest, and both of them were sobbing. Andy had already yelled at them to leave the two of them alone and not touch her when she tried to use her key. He’d been in the middle of tearing any family photo that included her from the walls when she had pulled up.

“This isn’t what I wanted, Andy!”

“Have your little boyfriend get all of your shit and leave my property,” Andy growled, “what you don’t get before the garbage truck comes in an hour is gone…”

“Andy!”

But he’d already turned his back on her and was storming towards the house once more.

“If I see you anywhere near my house again, I’m calling the cops, and I’m filing a restraining order!”

“The children, Andy-“

“I’ll see you in court for them, Sash. Until then, they’re staying here!” he hissed, slamming the door. Her eyes returned to her two crying children for only a moment before Andy pulled them away from the window and closed the blinds.

Tears ran down her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her veins. She didn’t have to turn around to know that each one of the neighbors in her little cul-de-sac had been watching the scene unfolding from behind their own blinds and curtains.

It wasn’t until she felt Curtis’ large hands on her shoulders, guiding her towards the trash bags that she felt the breakfast she had itching to come back up.

She was being forced from her home.

From her husband.

From her children.

“I-I was trying,” she cried, turning towards Curtis, “I-I was doing everything to be the best wife for him.”

“Come on, sweetheart…”Curtis sighed, knowing that there was no right way to tell her that her marriage was dead and that she had to salvage what she could for the time being, “get your car unlocked. I’ll start grabbing bags.”

Chapter 9

Tag List: @Cjand10, @huntress-artemiss, @lohnes16, @tenaciousperfectionunknown, @teambarnes72, @elbell20-blog

#ex wives club #exwivesclub #ex wives #soft curtis everett #curtis everett #snowpiercer au #snowpiercer #andy barber #defending jacob #chris evans characters

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idga-buck · 4 years

Text

use somebody || six

pairing: harry x plus-size!reader

word count: 2,700

warnings: mentions of sex, douchebaggery, and shitty attitudes toward women

summary: this thing with harry is about to take a turn as long as his friends don’t get into his head

challenge: @baezen‘s the Other Guys Writing Challenge

gif: @sebastiansource (I know it’s TJ, okay? There is 9 minutes worth of Harry in Spread and not a lot of gifs to back it up, so suspend your disbelief)

Back in the Present

“Marissa’s pissed at me, so-“

“Maritza,” Harry corrected mindlessly and Nikki waved him off.

“Whatever… I’ll be over,” he looked around the open aired dance floor for a few seconds before selecting a hiding space, giant smirk on his face. “there.” Harry didn’t bother looking. “Don’t let them get too close.”

“Sure, man, just-“ Harry didn’t have to finish his sarcastic drone before the last of his friends had disappeared between writhing bodies. He was avoiding a woman he exploited and Harry had no moral obligations to help Nikki stay invisible so he could keep playing his dangerous game. Finding wealthy women and using them for sex and a comfortable place to stay as long as the sex was still good. It wasn’t the most honorable living, but the guy hadn’t fallen into the six figure modeling contract he expected when he stepped off the bus from Kansas. “Sorry, Dorothy,” Harry scoffed.

“Dorothy…” your voice had Harry scrambling to find you behind him, relieved to see your face and to see you in a good mood. “How many girls you got on the hook, Harry?” You were teasing him and he would welcome that on any holy or unholy day.

“Just enough,” he responded, taking hold of your arm and shuffling himself closer to you rather than pulling you towards him.

“I’ll bet,” you laughed and he felt the overwhelming urge to kiss you right then. He probably would have too, if Marcus with his beautiful dark skin and his velvety voice hadn’t slid in just to disrupt him. He started to introduce himself, but Harry jumped in, speaking over his friend and reclaiming the power position as he made short and meaningless introductions for you. You smiled, but took a step toward Harry and it didn’t go unnoticed by either man. Harry tossed his arm around your shoulders proudly, more than pleased with the impressed smirk on Marcus’ perfect face.

Another voice jumped into the fray, pulling your attention, as your friend Maritza came barreling through the crowd, visibly upset. She’d just seen Nikki’s ass hanging out over his jeans while pinning someone new to the side of a jacuzzi tub and was making no efforts to hide his sluttiness from the strangers around her. You shrugged and let her pull you away from the men, sympathizing as best you could, but Harry could tell you were as annoyed by the situation as he was. Like middle school, but worse. Horny Patron soaked middle schoolers.

“So,” Marcus crossed arms and nodded to where you’d disappeared, knowing smile on his face. You don’t know anything.

“Shut up,” Harry grumbled without letting his friend speak and turned away to find the bar, unfortunately finding Nikki in the process.

“Hey, have you seen-“

“Yeah,” Marcus laughed. “And she’s pissed.”

“She’s always pissed at stupid shit,” Nikki insisted while stripping off his sweater in the middle of the party to flip it right side out again. In true Nikki fashion, he took his time doing so, pausing to wink at a couple girls caught ogling him. Classy.

“Because that’s what you do,” Harry pointed out. “Stupid shit. I mean, this is a new record. Kicked out in a week?”

“Three,” Nikki corrected, making Marcus laugh and clap him on the back of the head.

“So who’s next, Don Juan, got yourself another pretty woman in need of her own Julia Roberts?” Marcus probed, wiggling his eyebrows while he surveyed the party scene as if looking for clues.

“I thought Julia Roberts was Pretty Woman,” Nikki tried to defend himself.

“Yeah,” Harry piped up, “but you’re the whore.” Nikki’s very fake laugh was aggressive, but not as loud as Marcus’ real one. Soon their attention was turned to Harry, whose sudden silence was easily noted.

You’d emerged from whatever corner Maritza had you in and without your friend in distress, Harry was ready to get back to you.

“Harry’s the one with a mark,” Nikki teased, clicking his tongue against the inside of his teeth and Harry wanted to punch him for it. “Hear she’s got expensive taste though.”

“It’s not like that,” Harry insisted.

“It should be,” Nikki’s hand on his shoulder, stopping him as he tried to leave. “I wouldn’t roll around with all that, but-“

“Hey, now!” Marcus was quick to smack Nikki at the base of his skull.

“Shut up,” Harry snapped, but even Marcus came to your defense and he was pleased. Not all the guys he hung out with were terrible. It made him feel less terrible too.

“I’m serious man,” Nikki urged again, rubbing the back of his head and ignoring everything else. “She could buy out Marissa-“ there was no point in correcting him again. “Like that,” Nikki snapped his fingers and laid his hand on Harry’s chest, like they were having a heart to heart. “Play your cards right,” Harry shook his head no. “Think about it. Quit the job you hate, get a nicer place, import another Bolivian tree frog or whatever you’re into-” What an ass. Harry threw his arms up to shove Nikki away, but the wannabe model persisted. “Seal the deal, man, girls like that…” he shook his head and Harry frowned at it. “She’d be lucky to have a face like this wanting her,” Harry pulled away but Nikki was quicker, shooting up a hand to cup his jaw and squeeze his cheeks.

“I’m out of here.” He pushed past his friends, ignoring the continued encouragement and annoying conversation as he slipped through the crowd. He knew where to find something better. And a much better ending to his night if everything went well. He wanted to talk to you again, hang out again. He definitely wanted to kiss you again. More if you’d allow it.

You looked happy to see him and after three random encounters that always left his chest feeling heavy and his pants feeling betrayed, it was really all he could ask for. After informing him that his friend was a tool, to which Harry emphatically agreed, you two lingered on the topic of their short lived relationship. He’d seen you at her place a couple times over the course of Nikki’s scam and despite the messy ending, he was thankful to have had those chances to get even closer to you.

Once you were stretched out on the couch, making yourself at home, when the couple in question got into a fight that led them into another room for some screaming followed by loud make up sex. Harry stumbled upon the scene accidentally, but was driven directly into your side without hesitating. You laid next to each other on the ridiculously deep modular sectional, heads meeting in the corner of the L shape with your legs tossed out perpendicular to each other. He mimicked an awkward grunting noise that made you laugh and you responded with an exaggerated sigh that was pornographic on all counts, he had the semi to prove it. Not wanting to act on it in the middle of a stranger’s giant sunken living room, Harry laughed it off. Soon both of you were moaning loudly and obnoxiously in the hopes of embarrassing your friends into finishing quickly, but it didn’t work. Your stomachs ached, full with laughter, and soon enough, you -inspired by elation and the gentle warmth of amusement- had rolled over to kiss Harry right there. Without pausing to question the gift, he grabbed at the back of your neck and tried to maneuver his body under yours, but slid off the sofa as a result of his wiggling. You giggled at him and stayed on the cushions above him, while he stayed seated on the floor, leaning back into the corner of the sectional to kiss you again. It was slower and more focused than before and soon both of you were lost in it. By the time Nikki and Maritza emerged from whatever sex closet they’d just destroyed, your hand was under his zipper, rubbing him gently over his boxers. Harry had murder in his eyes when you jumped back, pulling away your wet lips and soft hand at the sound of their vengeful moaning- returning the favor for their friends at the worst possible moment.

The next was a dinner, small and remarkably classy for a shit like Nikki to pull off. Over cheese plates and fruit bowls and wine he’d probably never get again, Harry got to know the people in your circle better. They all smelled like money and he smelled like the CK One his grandmother sent him two Christmases ago. It was cheap next to them, but again your presence pulled him out of the sense that he didn’t belong. Your dry humor and willingness to call someone out for being ridiculous was the best part of the night. At least until he found you just outside the bathroom and pushed you back in for a moment alone. He kissed you hard and eager and your fingers curled around the embroidery on the front of his best shirt. You stayed like that, hushing each other as he pushed your dress up over your thick thighs until someone knocked and Harry’s fingers froze between your legs. In a moment of teasing bravery, he pushed hard against you, hoping his fingers would land in the vicinity of something good. Mid sentence, asking whoever it was for a few more minutes, you gasped and dug your nails into the back of his neck. Found it. The interruption left, but the moment was quickly closing in around him. Are we doing this? He’d asked hopefully. Not here. You were pulled out of dinner early by a phone call and Harry kicked his tires when he finally left, the night taking a swift nosedive after you were gone.

Harry would have liked to revisit that moment or any of the ones before it. Talk about going somewhere private so as not to be interrupted like usual. But you were too annoyed at your friends’ naivety and he let you vent. It sounded like you’d seen it happen to more than one of your friends and he was just thankful they weren’t all with Nikki. He was sure it would kill his chances, just by association. A cute guy with nothing, but his smile, charms his way into a big open floor plan and a cozy bed. After a couple months of endless sex and pricey accommodations, feeling like the real California king and not having to worry for anything, he’d find some extracurricular activities and engage until he was caught. Your friends were the ones left to foot the bill, emotionally and physically. You calmed yourself down quickly and apologized for shitting on his friend. Harry said it was fine and he meant it.

He liked you. It was simple enough. He liked talking to you, liked imagining what it would be like to get you naked again. You made him laugh and made him nervous in ways he didn’t expect. He’d really liked kissing you and while admittedly not great at reading women, he’d bet you liked kissing him too. It was sort of a risky move, but he didn’t have any others so when you didn’t turn down the friendly hug he went in for, he swallowed the minuscule amount of pride he had left. Go for broke.

“Is your house ready?”

“Ready for what?” You laughed, pulling out of the hug, but keeping on hand on his ribs. If it was an attempt to keep him at arm's length, it backfired. He loved the feeling of you touching him so freely. You looked surprised that he recalling all the work being done and he hoped it sounded sincere, not creepy.

Harry recited what he remembered. Taking you back to a hotel, not your house. Then later, the first time you reconnected post awkward morning jilting, Harry had taken you back to a friend’s place. He also learned it was because a pipe burst in your master bathroom. After fighting and winning a drawn out claim with your insurance company, you’d been staying with Sherrie while you waited for fresh plumbing and new hardwood floors. When the damage had professionals tearing into your walls anyways, you jumped at the opportunity for a fresh layout and knocked down the wall between your kitchen and the rest of the house. That old college friend, Darius, offered up his kitchen as inspiration for the redesign and that was how Harry found you again. Over an expensive meal, he realized exactly how picky you were when it came to kitchens and he listened intently to everything wrong with your friend’s. Too commercial. Too impersonal. The soul of the home shouldn’t look like that. Harry offered the only plausible conclusion. Your friend Darius was a vampire, soulless and in need of many easy to clean surfaces. For the blood, of course. You’d been frozen in the warm candlelight and the seconds you took to process his joke felt like hours, but when you finally broke out into a laugh, a big one, Harry felt like he’d won a gold medal.

You were still listening to him go on with details from your own life, but he was running out. At least you weren’t running away.

“You remember all that?” You asked and Harry nodded, more than a little proud of himself.

“I listen,” he shrugged like it was nothing, but it wasn’t nothing. He had selective hearing, especially when it came to women. A habit he’d resigned himself to never breaking and always having to play catch up in a conversation. That’s how they ended up in arguments and how he was left looking dumb, nothing to say to someone who -to his knowledge- hadn’t said anything that required memorization. But he was really trying with you. Maybe the sting of a recent break up and her cruel words about his cavalier attitude had spurred him on. Being compared to his buddy, Nikki, was the nail in the coffin. He was trying to do better, be better. You were the first person to test his new efforts on and as he shamelessly glanced down to your chest, he didn’t mind the position he was in. “You’re easy to listen to,” he added and it felt more like the truth. You had a natural way about you and it made him feel like you were close friends after only just meeting. He felt it at Taix too, where it should have been awkward and stilted platitudes, stale get to know you questions. It wasn’t like that. He didn’t even know what you did for work, but he knew it had to be good money and that he’d call you if he ever got into a fight with his landlord. You seemed able to pull the best out of people without backing down or letting them walk all over you. It was hot. And sweet. Just like you.

The party was still ongoing and somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry registered that Garrett’s accent had slipped from some heavy northern english brogue into something offensively resembling Jamaican. He wasn’t bothered at his friend’s proximity and had no desire to look for them. Not when your hand was still on his ribs, absentmindedly thumbing the space just below his nipple. Your touch was both grounding and incredibly distracting. It took a lot of effort not to sound too eager when he asked to see the changes in your home. He had no idea what it looked like before, but he was very invested in this renovation project and was dying to see the results. He’d even ask for a tour of the whole place… stay too late, maybe pour a drink like he’d been there a hundred times just to make you laugh at him again. You were visibly thinking, milling the idea around while his hands slipped to your shoulders, thumbs resting against your collarbone.

He took his time leaning in, but when your fingers dipped under the waist of his jeans to pull him in closer he lost all restraint. Kissing you was way too good and if you said no now, Harry thought he might die. It’d been years since a girls lips got to him like this. The first wasn’t enough. Not he was being driven mad by all the build up, the accidental run ins, the inside jokes. He felt like a teenager again content to make out until his lips turned blue, terrified of what came next and whether or not he would be any good at it. You’d pulled away again and looked up with him, some unreadable glance that had him on pins and needles awaiting the final blow.

“Wanna get out of here?” you smiled suggestively.

And that gold medal feeling was back.

#use somebody #harry x reader #plus size!reader #sorry to all the hp blogs that get diverted to this shit show #sebastian stan character fic #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan characters #sebastian stan fanfiction #nerdy frog dad #you are a sensitive guy #togwc #the other guys writing challenge #baezen

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youhavereachedtheendofpie · 3 years

Note

Talk to me about Diana’s hobbies? Does she have a favourite thing to cook?

🥰Thank you for asking! And phew, the more I think about this the more it's turning into a detailed essay on how she grew up, so here you go:

The thing about hobbies is: you need time and money for most things, and as we know she grew up poor. Not desperately poor, but definitely in a household where they had to be thrifty always. Add to that the security situation of political violence, rising gang violence/an escalating drug war, and being a girl growing up during the 60s and 70s. And because she’s her parents’ only child they were especially protective of her. Like, she definitely didn’t have a sheltered upbringing, but being safe, keeping away from trouble and protecting yourself were definitely things they instilled in her. Add to this that she’s more reserved and introverted by nature and there aren’t going to be that many outside activities. In the show we see kids running around in the streets constantly, at all hours - that wasn’t her life. Her parents weren’t very strict on many things, but being home on time was one thing on which they would not budge.

I already touched on a few things in passing: her love of music, her love of poetry and literature in general, a general appreciation for culture and the arts. These were also things she got from her parents, who valued culture and education very highly, so if there ever was a bit of money left over, or a way to hustle up something, you can bet they took little Diana to a museum or concert or the theater or an exhibition downtown. So, no music lessons, but sitting in front of the little old radio trying to find the best station for listening to fresh new music was definitely a thing for her. She loves music and and even now, as an adult, she’ll try out new tunes all the time. Playing sports outside is also a no, because security concerns. She appreciates art, but doesn’t really have the talent to create herself. Knows how to sew though, because her mother taught her. Then, between school, homework, watching Maritza (and often other younger neighborhood kids), and chores it doesn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies either. Reading is one that works well with these time constraints and her temperament, and it is something you can easily do at home, and of course her parents encouraged it. The books were >90% from the library, and even now she doesn’t actually own more than a handful of really treasured favorites. Going out also wasn’t really a thing she did until she moved away to go to university in Bogotá (on a scholarship). Now clubbing or alcohol-fueled student parties are definitely not her speed, but she gained a real taste for going out with a group of friends, like to a nice bar or such. Preferably with live music. Dancing optional but certainly enjoyed.

Now, for food. The thing is, cooking and eating were definitely communal activities. Her parents both cooked, together if possible, and taking turns when not, and they involveed her as early as possible. She definitely handled knives as a toddler. Like, not the sharpest knives, but knives you could cut with. As a consequence she hates cooking (and eating) alone. Knows all the traditional dishes, especially from the Medellín region (Colombian cuisine has some really distinct regional variations, it’s fascinating!). Makes arepas after her father’s recipe only. Below are some screenshots from Netflix’ Street Food: Latin America episode on Colombia (the whole series is very interesting, definitely recommend it!) and now I’m hungry lol. These are definitely all dishes Diana can make with her eyes closed. From scratch. Her rompe colchón is great (and her dumb ex could never appreciate it >:C ). When it comes to cooking, these are four main things:

hates cooking and eating alone, but will go all out when preparing food for someone else

used to having to improvise based on what ingredients were available/affordable

focus on making dishes that are filling and rich in energy so they sustain you for as long as possible

likes to experiment and try out foreign cuisines

So really, it’s not so much about the dishes themselves for her, but about the community and the intimacy of sharing a meal with loved ones, and showing them you care about them through food.

#pie replies #like gloss tag #don't tell on me with netflix for this pls XD #I did pare it down otherwise this would have been a whole historic dissertation #keeper0fthestars

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saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

It Had To Be You

Ch.18: Fallout // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Belén and Barry finally get to go on their first date together and from there on, they start to realize how much they actually need each other. It especially rings true when Barry makes a discovery about the night his mother died.

The night was young and Central City was busy as ever. Everyone was busy. In a local liquor store there was a young man aiming a gun at a poor girl behind a cash register.

"Give me the money and maybe you get to live!" the man ordered the sobbing girl who scrambled to get the money out of the register.

There was a strong force of wind that knocked open the door of the liquor store...and shattered one side of the glass display.

"Sorry about that!" A woman in a white and black one-suit quickly exclaimed. Her black heeled boots clinked against the floor as she walked up, her white cape doing a small 'whoosh' noise at the same time. "Please, ignore the cape - it wasn't my idea."

"Hey I thought it was a great idea!" Cisco was quick to defend himself over the comms. "The Incredibles didn't make sense on that matter, honestly."

Behind Nina Clarke's black mask, she rolled her eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" the thief in the store demanded.

"The Tempest," Nina still couldn't get over the name Cisco branded her with, but it kind of had a killer vibe to it. She thrust a hand forwards and with her great wind knocked the thief - along with the cashier girl - down.

"You weren't supposed to knock the girl down, Nina," came Cisco's light scold.

"Sorry!" Nina flew over the counter and picked up the girl. "But you're alright," she assured the blonde.

"Get the thief, Nina!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Oh, got it!" Nina smiled at the girl and rushed to collect the thief on the floor.

After dropping the thief at the CCPD, Nina continued to be on the look out for more attention-needng situations. Peace lasted for about five minutes before Cisco warned her there was an ongoing speed chase across from her location. With a great big sigh, she soared up into the sky and made to follow. With her extraordinary wind power, she was able to force the criminals' car to stop on a swerve. She was just handing over the criminals to the policemen when Cisco announced there was a suicidal situation not too far from her point.

"You're killing me!" Nina complained but once again stormed up into the sky. "I thought I was supposed to practice in the training area. I just think you're keeping me out there so you have something to do back at STAR. Labs."

Cisco took that with mild offense as he bit off a red liquorish. "Not true," he said calmly. He was alone in the lab but couldn't be more comfortable. Caitlin was having her own dinner with her new, not-dead fiance and probably catching up. Professor Stein had been taken home yesterday and so far, everything was well. No one questioned the explosion that happened two days ago on account of the army declaring it a 'nuclear test'. Although that only meant they would soon be coming to them to really investigate.

Nina rolled her eyes and without giving the jumper on a building's roof a warning she swooped down and grabbed him by the arms. She lowered him down until they were close to Eddie who had been in charge of the scene. "Please don't let him back up there," she told him.

"Who are you?" Eddie took possition of the jumper, eyeing Nina nonetheless.

"The Tempest. I'm just here to help," Nina smiled.

"Where's the Flash?"

"...busy."

Confused, Eddie then asked, "What about the Azalea?"

"Busy too."

"With what?"

Nina swayed her head. "With dates…" With that, she soared into the sky again.

~ 0 ~

"Okay-" Belén rushed into her room where Maritza and Axel were plopped on her bed, "-how's this one?" She stopped in front of her long mirror and patted down her dark scarlet, mid-length dress. She turned back and waited for her sister's opinion.

"It's too...plain…" Maritza concluded after a long sway of head.

Belén sighed, letting her hands drop. "Really?"

"Yes, I think you can make a better impression," Maritza smirked.

Blushing, Belén went back to her closet and started looking yet again for a new outfit.

~ 0 ~

Barry sped up and down the stairs with new outfits for Joe to see. Wearing a long white, button up shirt with a gray vest and dark jeans, he awaited for Joe's opinion. Joe read off a newspaper and gave a thumb's up after one glance, but he was clearly over the situation. Not even Iris put so much thought into clothes like this. Changing his mind again, Barry shook his head and went back to his room. By the time he came back for one more opinion Joe had switched to work.

Without even looking up, he dead seriously warned, "If you change one more time, I'm gonna shoot you."

With a big breath released, Barry sped back up the stairs to hopefully find the right clothes that wouldn't require a second opinion. When he finally returned - at a normal pace - downstairs, Iris was just coming in from a day at work. Soon as she saw him, her lips stretched out into one of her signature smirks.

"There he is..." she began.

"Please don't," he decided to beg even though it was futile.

"Now you treat her nice-" she came up to him and pretended to adjust his blazer, "-and try to keep your dorky jokes at a minimum, you're not that funny."

"Iris-" he rolled his eyes.

"And make sure, for the love of God, not to talk so much about science," she gripped his blazer's lapels, face scrunched, "It's not interesting."

With a smirk, Barry pried her fingers off him and responded with, "I'll have you know she likes when I talk about science."

Iris laughed as he went around her to the door.

~ 0 ~

Belén returned to her bedroom in a new outfit, already weary of so many she had gone through. However, the moment she walked in Maritza gasped and loudly.

"That one! Oh, that's pretty!"

Belén sprinted up to her mirror and studied herself. She patted down the shiny, silver skirt and tilted her head. "You think so?"

"Definitely," Maritza gave a thumbs up. "If you want a guy's opinion let's ask Axel." At the sound of his name, Axel looked up from the tablet Maritza had given him. "Axel what do you think of Auntie Belén's clothes?"

"Pretty!" He cheered. "Are you going to a party?"

"You look really good, Belén, honest," Maritza assured as Belén had turned back to her mirror and stared at herself unsure of her decision.

"You think?" Belén eyed herself up and down, trying to find even the most minuscule flaw before she had to leave. A black laced, long sleeved blouse was tucked under her shiny, fold-over, silver skirt.

"Oh yes," Maritza got up from the bed and walked up behind her younger sister. "But if I say we do something like this with your hair," she grabbed Belén's hair and moved it up into a high pony tail, leaving some strands to frame Belén's face. "Show a little more shoulder," she laughed at Belén's blush. Because Belén's black laced blouse was indeed an off-the-shoulder type but with her hair down, it wasn't really noticeable.

"Mar, it's just a date. I..." Belén saw her sister's smirk in the mirror and laughed. "Oh my God, it's just a date - nothing else is going to happen but a date!"

"Hey, I am not judging," Maritza let go of Belén's hair to raise her hands. "But, I mean, don't be scared to show off your best features."

"Do you know how many jokes there are about my legs?" Belén turned around and gestured to her legs. "Cisco can't get over them."

"Well...you do have nice legs..." Maritza said briefly.

"Yes, thank you," Belén turned back to her mirror. She shifted from one side to the other, and Maritza nearly lost it when Belén raised her hair into a pony-tail. "Shut up!"

Maritza just couldn't help herself.

"Auntie Belén, are you going to a party?" Axel looked up after his mother had returned to the bed.

"No, sweetheart, I'm...I'm just going to have dinner with Barry," Belén gave the boy a smile through the mirror as she picked up her hair. Maritza still giggled here and there.

"Why can't you have dinner here?" Axel asked. "We could watch a movie too! Oh! Can we watch Toy Story!?"

"Maybe another time, Axel," Maritza patted her son's shoulder. "Your auntie just wants to spend some time alone with Barry." Belén couldn't help her blush as she did her hair. She was going to spend some time alone with Barry. Sure she'd spent time with him but as friends and they were usually training. This would be so different. They were going to have dinner together, probably somewhere romantic. They were going to possibly hold hands...maybe kiss.

Belén's eyes widened at that idea. Kiss? Kiss. She might be kissing Barry tonight. That...that might be fun. Might? the voice in her head scoffed at her. It will be fun. A deep warmth filled Belén's cheeks the more she thought about it.

However, she was pulled out of those thoughts when the doorbell rang. Axel looked up from his tablet, excited suddenly. "Ding-dong!"

Maritza laughed as her sister scrambled to get her purse and small-heeled black shoes from under the bed. "Have a nice time!" Maritza was able to call out before Belén slammed the door of the room and ran to answer downstairs.

Taking a deep breath and collecting herself, Belén stepped outside to the front porch where Barry awaited her. He nervously stood there, in a white buttoned-up shirt and black tie, matching with a black blazer and dark pants.

"You're on time," Belén said to him, still mildly surprised.

"Yes I am," Barry proudly agreed. "I had a purpose this time!"

"Aw, and was I that purpose?"

"Yes!" Barry awkwardly fumbled with a single Azalea in his hand.

Belén gasped and reached for it. "Please tell me this was for me because it's really, really, cute!"

"Y-yes," Barry nodded, quickly allowing her to take it. "Is it dumb? I thought about getting a full bouquet, but then I thought that was weird-"

"They sell bouquets now?" Belén raised her eyebrows. "I grow mine in the backyard because it's so difficult to find them in the stores."

"You haven't seen them yet?"

"Seen…?"

"Flower stores are selling them for the Azalea now. Fresh every day!"

"No way! Seriously!?"

"Yeah, I can take you tomorrow if you'd like…?"

"Yes, please!" Belén neatly tucked the flower behind her ear and smiled. "Ta-da!"

"You look wonderful," Barry said, looking her over.

"Thanks, and you look handsome yourself," Belén said as she took his offered arm and began walking towards the sidewalk. She then clearly looked him over, admiring his casualness yet dressed-up appearance. "I don't think I've seen you all dressed up," she laughed.

"Christmas?" Barry tried to be casual and not act like he was beginning to match the color of his Flash suit.

"Right," Belén said thoughtfully. "It's kind of fuzzy to be honest, considering all that happened. Please tell me I didn't wear a Christmas sweater…"

"No, no, you looked hot," Barry said without thinking. He nearly had a heart attack and began stuttering for a plausible excuse. "I-I meant, you know...s-scientifically...speaking…"

It was a bit difficult trying to swallow down her laugh as she stopped walking to face him. "Scientifically speaking?"

"Ah...aha," Barry nodded. He looked at her knowing fully well he was now definitely matching the redness of his Flash suit.

Rather slyly, Belén stepped closer to him and looked up at him. "And what does 'scientifically speaking' mean exactly?"

"U-uh...well, you know, there's a basis in science for, um...for every emotion," Barry began, thinking of something smart to say, hopefully to impress her at the least, "Impression, and, um, and awe…and like…"

"But as a scientist, don't you guys like...not believe in anything that involves attraction?" Belén raised one eyebrow.

"Well, I-I…" Barry slowly answered. He was transfixed with her perfume scent he suddenly got a whiff due to their closeness. She smelled like sweet jasmine flowers.

"So then what happens when you actually like someone?" Belén asked, actually curious of the matter. "Is it just chemicals for you? How do you explain it?"

"It cannot be science," Barry released a breath after a moment. He upheld her look and realized how crazy beautiful her eyes were when they were filled with curiosity. "At all."

"Ooh, nice answer," Belén laughed but nonetheless blushed.

Barry smiled down at her and mumbled something about a place to eat - nothing Chinese of course.

~ 0 ~

"Oh, spicy!" Belén nearly dropped the portion of food she had eaten off her fork. But even as she chewed it was harder not to spit it all out.

From across the table, Barry tried not to laugh at her. "Bells, just spit it out." She shook her head. "Here-" he reached for a napkin and held it out for her.

Defeated, Belén took it and returned the mighty spicy chicken into it. "Well that's unlady-like," she said with heavy embarrassment. "I'm so sorry." Here they were in a lovely restaurant with good food and she begins to ruin it by spitting out food.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Barry assured her, amused as she took a long sip of her drink. "Not a fan of spicy food, then?"

"Mmm, not exactly," Belén said afterwards, the redness on her face fading as she calmed. "I can handle Azalea poison, apparently, but I lose it at spices."

"I didn't know that…"

"Now you do, I guess."

Barry agreed, and then suddenly realized, "I don't think we know much about each other, actually."

In the beginning it was easy to tell Belén thought he was crazy but the more she considered it the more she realized he was sort of right. "I guess we've been busy that...we never actually stopped to get to know each other. Although we do have lots of history now. Question for a question?"

"Ladies first," Barry motioned for her to go ahead.

"Okay, um..." Belén got to thinking for a second, "Have you traveled anywhere before?"

"Besides Star City?" Barry asked, already smiling of embarrassment because that was answer was going to be a big fat 'nowhere'. He was that lame. "And the occasional speed ins for food?"

"Yes," she chuckled. "I mean a proper vacation outside of your boundaries."

"Nowhere - I have never gone anywhere."

"Not even with your family?"

"No," Barry got to thinking about his time with his parents and couldn't remember a vacation outside of Central City. Joe had always been pretty busy after it was him living with Joe and Iris. "What about you? Traveled anywhere interesting?"

"Well, I have family in Italy - from my Dad's side - so I've been there a couple times."

"You've been to Italy?"

"Yeah..."

"Like...Italian Italy?"

Belén laughed. "I don't think there's any other Italian place, Barry."

Barry cleared his throat, embarrassed once more. "Right."

"What's your question?"

"I already asked you mine..."

"No, you just turned my question back to me. C'mon, ask me something," Belén reached for her drink and took a small sip from it.

"Will I ever be able to see those videos you promised of your aerial dancing days?"

"Um..."

"You have to answer," Barry warned once he saw her attempt to eat up some more to avoid answering. "You once said you would-"

"Well, that was before you asked me out!"

"What!? What's that gotta do now!?"

Belén put her fork down and playfully huffed. "You were a friend, I could mess around like I do with Cisco. Now...I'm a little more self-conscious. What if you think I'm bad but you don't want to say it?"

Barry leaned over the table, fairly amused. "I don't think so. I bet you were crazy talented at it. Won't you show me one little ten-second video?"

Belén shrugged slowly, "I...guess we can, sometime." Barry smirked and went back to eating. "My turn! Is it true you tried to take up boxing when you were little?"

Barry almost dropped his fork, making her giggle. "I'm gonna need you to stop talking about me with Iris."

"So it is true!"

"Joe was teaching us and-"

"-Iris kicked your ass-"

"Stop talking about me with her!"

Belén laughed. "How old were you?"

"I don't know, eleven? I don't know," the speedster gave a shrug of his shoulders, eyes looking down at his plate.

"I bet you were cute trying to hold up the gloves," she mimicked with balled fists, managing to elicit a little smile back. "I'm asking for pictures-"

"No you are not," Barry pointed his fork at her. She had to laugh again and it only faded when she got some looks from a nearby table. "My turn," Barry reminded, although slightly more serious now. "And you don't have to answer if you really don't want to, but..."

Belén's eyes slightly widened as she realized the topic of the conversation. "You want to know about my change…"

"Look, I know it's a delicate matter for you, but I want to be there for you and to do that I need to know about it. I promised you I wouldn't say anything and I've kept it."

"This isn't a matter of whether or not I trust you," Belén clarified, "It's just...it's embarrassing."

"But see that's what I disagree with most, Bells. You have these extraordinary powers and there's a side you don't want to use because it's not aesthetically pleasing to you?"

"It's hard, alright? There you go-" she gestured to him, "-clad in leather with a handsome face, being a hero. Now imagine me, going out there in a form that's all green and...scaly…"

"And being a hero," Barry finished for her. "Green or not, you are pretty, you are fantastic."

"That's very sweet for a first date," Belén smiled softly.

"This isn't because we're on a date. It's me, Barry, trying to make my friend, Belén, see how unfair she's being to herself," he didn't know if it was too early or awkward but he reached across the table and took her free hand. "Because I don't like it when you are upset."

The words left an odd feeling in Belén's stomach, but she knew it was a good one. He looked so sincere that all she wanted to do was get up and hug him. But, was that too forwards on the first date? She wasn't sure. She settled for words. "You are so sweet," she whispered. And at that moment she was so sure this is the place she wanted to be at, with Barry. Looking down a moment, she took an ounce of courage and began to speak slowly, quietly too. "It was...weird, at first. I mean, things were really weird for me in the beginning because I didn't have help. There were moments where I felt like I wasn't going to be able to hold in the change so I had to...run...make any excuse to be on my own."

"The change came with no pattern?" asked Barry, intending on being the utmost analytical in order to be able to help her.

"Well, I think it has to do with my emotions," Belén bit her lip. "I started noticing that whenever I felt unusually stressed my hand…" she started flexing her left hand like it was going to happen to her right then, "...it would start changing green. It was all sorts of emotions. Sometimes I was just stressed from classes, or from work. Other times one of my friends would piss me off. Then, there were other times where...I felt scared." She paused, looking distant in memories. "Usually I was scared. There were so many things changing and I couldn't understand anything."

"Why didn't you tell anyone at STAR Labs?" Barry had to ask again.

"Many reasons," Belén sheepishly smiled. "At first, things were focused on you, being in your coma. I didn't want to take away any time that could help you. Then, when things got a little...less stressed, I started to get to know them - Cisco, Cait, and Dr. Wells. I was embarrassed." She certainly wasn't going to include the fact going on a date with Cisco made it even more difficult to come clean about herself. That wasn't first date topics.

"And what about me? You didn't feel comfortable with me?" Barry tried his best not to look nor sound judgmental. He was determined to hear her out and provide comfort and hopefully solutions for her.

"Well…" Belén made a face that Barry just had to laugh at a little. "You were complex, alright?" She said and began to pick at her plate with her fork. "In the beginning you were just Iris' adoptive brother, a guy I happened to meet."

"And afterwards?" Now slightly more curious of the answer, Barry leaned on the table.

Belén smiled, her face warming as she explained. "You became a goddamn mess in my life."

"Oh-" Barry faked an offended face, "-thanks. That's just...great. Yeah."

Belén giggled and picked up her glass to take a drink. "Your fault for embedding yourself into my life. You decided to help me as the Flash, remember? You started this."

"Not true," Barry crossed his arms. "You started it when you helped Iris look after me in my coma."

"Well, you started it when you told Iris you'd help me with my article so ha! I win!" Belén exclaimed, and rather loudly that she got several looks from other tables. "Oops," she said after a moment, looking at her plate with a red face.

Barry leaned back on his chair and with a very wide smile stared at Belén, and a part of him struggled not to laugh. "So…" he began again, and still mildly embarrassed she looked up, "...what if, you let me help you now?"

"Barry, I don't want anyone to know," she said quietly.

"Between us," clarified Barry. "Just us. No one else."

That seem to make Belén relax a little, but, not entirely understanding, she questioned it. "How's that?"

"I think it would be good to see what sort of abilities this 'change' allows you to do. Maybe it could even help with the abilities you already have. And, Bells, it's always good to make sure your emotions don't run your powers. You run them, not the other way around."

"I don't know…"

Barry reached for one of her hands on the table and looked her in the eyes. "It's okay to be scared, but this time you wouldn't try to handle them alone. I will be there, and I will help you if you need it."

The weight of his words settled on her and the only thing she thought at the moment was of relief. She didn't even question it, she loved it. "O-okay…" she shakily nodded, "Small steps?"

"Absolutely," Barry nodded. "Trust me?"

A smile spread across Belén's lips as she considered those words. "Trust you, Barry Allen? Story of my life."

~ 0 ~

Strolling down the city park, Belén listened to Barry tell a fascinating (or at least that's what she made it look like) story about one of his failed science experiments from when he was in middle school. The truth was, she had never seen someone talk so passionately about a middle school science project like Barry was. It was endearing.

"And I actually thought making sun prints would be easier but I ended up using the wrong sort of paper - well, Joe got me the wrong ones." Barry rambled on and on, hands in his pockets. "See, cos you need a special kind of sheet so that the print can be made. Although, you do have to dunk the object you were using into water so you can…" He glanced at Belén who was looking up at him with a wide smile, and suddenly he flushed. Iris' words about not talking about science came back to him. "This is...not the sort of talk for a first date, huh?" A light chuckle escaped Belén's mouth as she looked away. "Yeah, total dork." Barry released a large sigh and a mild blush of red.

"No, it's adorable!" Belén laughed and, with his help, got up on the park's fountain. She slowly walked along the ledge while holding onto Barry's arm just in case she slipped.

"But it's boring, and boring is not what I'm aiming for tonight."

"Aw, don't get upset," Belén stopped walking and turned to face him. "It's adorable, okay? How have you not been snatched up already?" she chuckled while Barry awkwardly fumbled with his words. "I mean, you're incredibly intelligent, you're cute, you're so sweet. What's the problem?"

Barry rubbed the back of his head, feeling more embarrassed than earlier. "I...I don't know? It just hasn't happened yet."

"Really? So what about that Clara girl I heard about?" Belén crossed her arms, pretending to be serious.

"I hate Iris," Barry flatly said. He shook his head and shed a little bit of light for her to understand. "Sometimes, it's just been me not going for it. But...you know, for a lot of my childhood and teen years it's been difficult getting through when everyone recognizes you as the kid who's dad murdered your mom."

Belén's eyebrows rose in surprise, no longer playful of the subject. "Oh Barry, I'm so sorry. I...I didn't think…"

"It's fine, you wouldn't have thought about it, I get it." Barry quickly said, definitely not wanting this date to turn gloomy, and yet the more he spoke the harder it became to shrug it off. "It's not so much the issue right now, because it's been a long time since the case, but back then everyone knew who I was. No one except Iris would want to be around me."

"That must have been terrible…" Belén whispered. She noticed Barry purposely trying to avoid her gaze, despite being close. She wanted to make him feel better, but...what words of comfort could she say to someone who experienced all that he had? It was plain awful. Do what you do best, be weird. She put on a smile and spoke, "When I was little, I used to hide inside refrigerators as a game."

The reaction was almost instant. Belén laughed as Barry tried to process what he'd heard, his eyes widening then squinting with confusion was just too funny. "What!? You did what!?"

"I used to hide inside refrigerators when I played hide and seek with my brother," Belén repeated, her laughter turning into a series of giggles. "Rayan could never find me."

"Well - yeah, I would think he couldn't! Who hides inside fridges!?" Barry exclaimed.

Belén's hand shot high in the air. "Right here!"

"Belén - what?" Barry couldn't help laughing too. "You're...you're just..." Belén lowered her hand and cheerfully smiled. Barry stared at her, his own smile softening. He reached to touch her cheek and felt her warm blush under his fingers. His mind flashed back to the night they had returned from their unplanned karaoke night with Caitlin. Belén had looked just as pretty then as she did now...and he wanted to kiss her now just as much as he had before.

He leaned forwards only a bit, stopping to see how Belén reacted, maybe she would stop him? It appeared not. She seemed entranced; her eyes flickered between his eyes and lips. A good part of her was impatiently waiting for Barry to just kiss her already, but since he was slow - the irony - she did it herself.

She kissed him and felt that sense of desire finally quenched. Barry felt the same; he savored it. His fingers once again came to rest over her cheeks, stroking her skin in circles even when they broke apart. They shared one look and smiled at each other. At the same time, their eyes lowered once again to each other's lips and made it clear - without actually saying a word - it was not over. This time Barry kissed her first. Belén was all too happy for a second one and let Barry feel it when she smiled through their kiss. Barry wrapped his arms around Belén's waist and slowly pulled her off the fountain's ledge to hold her closer to him.

Belén was bright pink on the face when she pulled away, but no one could take her smile away. Barry cleared his throat, fumbling to come up with something good to say after that but as luck would have it...he had nothing but stutters.

"The girls missed their chance because now I'm snatching you up," Belén beat him to it again. She leaned on him, grinning from ear to ear. "Is that alright with you?"

The same grin covered Barry's face. "Definitely."

~ 0 ~

The next day, Belén reported for work in her most cheery mood ever. She walked over to her desk and put down her purse. Just as she was about to start on her work, she Noah and Mason stopped by. "I'd say good morning but I think it's about to change," she said directly towards Mason. "Morning, Noah," she purposely greeted the younger colleague with a smile.

"Don't be mad," Noah chuckled, coming closer to her. "But Mason had a really good idea for a next story."

Belén once again suspiciously looked at Mason. "You're not our mentor."

"It's an interesting one you definitely want to look into," Mason said, quite sure of himself as he put down a blueprint on her desk.

Belén's eyes flickered between the blueprint and Mason. "Um, why is there a blueprint of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator on my desk?"

"To help the story," Mason said like it were obvious and that she should have seen it before.

"Do you actually know anything about physics?"

"Not a thing. Might as well be in Dothraki."

"So then what the he'll are you doing?" Belén dreaded to ask the two men.

"Belén, he's just doing his job," Noah replied. "Maybe there's a little more we don't know about yet."

"I can guarantee you we do," she picked up the plans and rolled it up as if it were a scroll then held it for Mason to take it back.

"What's your reasoning?" Mason challenged.

Belén knew it was best if he didn't know about her good knowledge of STAR Labs or she would never get rid of him. "Dr. Wells said he was warned of disasters. The story finished there and then."

"Yeah. Why do you think he did that?"

"Because he's a good person?"

"Is he?"

"I happened to know of a person - specifically Iris' - friend that was saved because of this lab. So, excuse me, but we're done here." With her hands, Belén shooed him away. Afterwards, she sharply looked to Noah. "That is the last time I want to hear about this."

Noah smiled a fake smile and left. But as he turned away he showed his true feelings- anger. He, like Mason, knew there was something very differently going on in that building. It was why he offered himself for the story, despite having a different mentor. Perhaps if Belén realized how twisted STAR Labs was she would learn where her true place was.

"Hey," Iris greeted Belén just as she plopped down on her desk chair. She cast a suspicious look at Mason with his rolled up blueprints. "What was that about?"

Belén shook her head and hands to signal she didn't even want to go into that subject again. "Useless stuff. I'm sorry that guy is your mentor."

"He's not that bad," Iris shrugged, by now used to Mason's behavior.

"Oh no, he's bad," Belén shook her head again then leaned back on the chair. "My first day he said to me, and I quote, 'You are a talentless twat'."

"More or less what he said to me," Iris mused, taking a seat on the edge of Belén's desk. "I guess that's just his way of greeting newbies."

"I could have done without that type of greeting," Belén shook her head but then took a moment to remember she was not going to let anyone, including Mason, bring her down. Things were just too good right now.

Iris couldn't read minds, but with the big grin on Belén's face, she could almost pass as one. "Soo...I fell asleep before Barry came home..." Belén cleared her throat and tried to focus on turning on her computer. "What happened?" Iris didn't hesitate to sit herself on Belén's desk and wait for the story to be told. "Was it fun? Did he talk a lot about science because I told him not to-"

"He-" Belén cut her off with a small chuckle, "-talked about science-"

"Oh, Barry-" Iris gave a shake of her head.

"-and he was lovely," Belén finished, once again returning to her ever-lasting smiles. "He was so lovely, I...I really did have a good time with him."

"I can tell," Iris waved a finger at Belén's face, making the ombre-haired woman laugh. "In all seriousness it does make me happy to know it worked out. It just had to."

"Well, thanks to you and Caitlin - little matchmakers," Belén pretended to huff with annoyance.

"Yeah, you'll thank us on your wedding day, you'll see!" and Iris laughed to the point of almost falling off Belén's desk after seeing Belén go incredibly red on the face.

"Go to work, Iris!"

When Iris finally left her, Belén intended on working and working. There were plenty of articles to write based on the latest meta attacks. It was exceptionally a busy day since the Tempest had made her debut. Nina was on almost every blog - including Iris' - on the internet. So far, the people were fascinated with a flying metahuman helping keep the city safe. It was definitely a treat getting to write about such a close friend that Belén never noticed the time flying by. It was Barry who managed to pull her out of her working mode.

"Barry, hi!" Belén got up from her desk just as the speedster came up to her. At first she wondered how to greet him - a hug? A kiss? Oh my God she was just making this more difficult. Why was it difficult? She didn't remember being like this with her previous boyfriends. Well none of them were like Barry, she thought and decided she was right.

"I wanted to see if you could come with me to Professor Stein's," Barry said, and with the unusual dispirited aura around Belén assumed something new had happened and that it was no good.

"So, you wanna tell me what's going on?" Belén asked as soon as they were walking in the streets.

Barry sighed and began to retell the story. This wasn't the type of conversation he wanted to have with her, especially the first one after their date. Sometimes, he didn't like this metahuman, weird life he had. "Joe reopened the investigation for my mom's murder and somehow he and Cisco got a...a machine-"

"You're dumbing it down for me," Belén flatly said, sarcastically smiling at him. "Thanks," she laughed afterwards and gestured for Barry to continue.

"Uh, well, basically, through holograms, they discovered that, somehow, I was there that night - this me," he gestured to himself.

Belén made a face, and a thoroughly confused one as she processed what that meant. "But...but if...if you were there…" she pointed at Barry, "...does that mean you...time traveled?"

Barry awkwardly shrugged because even he didn't know it at the moment. "I...don't...really know…"

"That would be so cool, though - you time travelling," she couldn't help feel so excited at the idea. "Do you realize how amazing that would be? You get to time travel, Barry!"

"Yeah, well, if I did, then I failed to save my mom," Barry couldn't help himself from saying the only thing that ran through his mind ever since he found out from Joe.

At that moment, Belén's excitement vanished, her smile fading when she realized how Barry must have felt when he learned about it. "Oh my God," she stopped and turned to him. "I'm so sorry, that's why you're upset. Because you think this is what happened?"

"It's why I wanted to see Professor Stein. He wrote a paper on it, and...who knows, maybe he has some answers," Barry shrugged, although his casualness didn't go by so well.

"Okay," Belén nodded, "But you don't have to pretend to be so quiet about it. You're upset, you have a right to be. Don't downplay it."

"Thanks Bells," Barry lightly smiled at her.

"Uh, just one more question," she raised a finger, making him smile wider, "Why exactly did you come for me? I mean, I think out of everyone I am the least qualified person you want to bring to a renowned professor's home. You should've asked Dr. Wells, honestly."

"I wanted you to be with me," Barry went straight for the truth. He was mildly pleased to see the surprise reaction on her face. "I just...I need you, Bells. And I know we've only had one date but I think I've always needed you around me when things got tough. You talk to me when I need it, make me feel better, so...would you come with me, please?"

Belén grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Whisk me away, my singing scientist."

Barry found it possible to laugh for a moment. This was exactly what he was talking about - she had the perfect ability to make him feel good.

He took them off the streets and had them in front of the Steins' residence. The two headed up the front porch and knocked on the front door. They were greeted by Clarissa Stein, and a slightly surprised one too.

"Mrs. Stein, I'm sorry to bother you here, but is Professor Stein here right now?" Barry asked in his utmost polite tone.

Clarissa crossed her arms, momentarily showing determinism. "Well, after a year apart, I'm not letting him out of my sight." But then, she stepped slightly closer to the two and quietly asked. "STAR Labs did quite a few tests on Martin, didn't they... and they said he was fine?"

"You don't sound very convinced," Belén said afterwards. "Is something not right?"

"He just seems a little different, is all…"

"Well, just to forewarn you, anyone affected by the Particle Accelerator isn't going to be the same person they were before." Belén tried to be a little comforting yet still being factual. She believed she had some experience in that department as did Barry...Nina...

But still, Clarissa did not seem convinced. "He's been asking for pizza. Martin despises pizza. I doubt the accelerator changes childhood likes."

Just then, Professor Stein came up behind Clarrisa, looking excited. "Is that the delivery man?" It was actually rather amusing (at least for Belén) to see his face fall in such hopelessness when he saw them two. "Oh, Mr. Allen. I suppose it's too much to hope you moonlight as a pizza boy. I am famished."

Although taken aback by the request, Barry agreed and zoomed away. Belén decided to introduce herself (again) and reached a hand out to Stein. "I'm Bel-" she flinched when Barry returned, his force of wind throwing some of her hair back on her face. With a little sarcastic glare on him, she pushed her hair back. "I'm Belén. I work with them at STAR Labs."

"I remember, yes," Stein shook her hand and then took the pizza box from Barry.

"Although really when I say I work with them I really just mean I stand behind them and see what they're doing," Belén added as they were led inside.

Stein was already midway opening the pizza box when he responded. "What can I do for you both?"

Barry, still uncomfortable, stuttered as he spoke up. "I... I needed to talk to you about a paper that you wrote 25 years ago for the Oxford University Press."

Stein intended on cutting a slice of pizza there and then. "I've written many papers for that publication. Could you be more specific about the subject matter?"

As he picked up the slice, Barry took an involuntary pause. He felt a little nudge on his side and looked down to see Belén nodding him to go on, encouraging him. He was incredibly happy to have brought her with him.

"Time travel," he finally answered, looking directly at Stein who has frozen just inches from biting his pizza slice.

~ 0 ~

In Stein's office, Stein had begun to explain the subject- apparently one of his favorites - to the two metas. As he uncovered one (of the dozen more) boards revealing many mathematical equations, he explained, "These are just a few of the random thoughts I've had on the subject."

Belén stood across the two men tilting her head at yet another uncovered board filled with mathematics. "A few?" She scoffed lightly. "This is...like my worst nightmare all put into one room. Algebra and Calculus…" she pretended to shiver.

It was Stein's turn to scoff. "Algebra and Calculus? My dear, this is much more complex than-"

Barry purposely cleared his throat loudly to interrupt. He made a cutting motion across his neck followed by a low mumble of 'Let her be'. Belén glanced their way completely unaware.

"What was that?"

Stein discreetly looked at Barry who was still silently asking not to correct the woman. He supposed it was some odd way to keep her content and give him points? Young people were completely unorthodox nowadays. Still, who was he to ruin it for them?

"Nothing," he smiled at the woman who disregarded it and went back to looking at other boards. He did, however, acknowledge Barry's grateful look with a nod and went right ahead to reasoning. "See, I believe that spacetime is a free-flowing highway that intersects the physical world. We live in... in the moments between the on and off ramps. Theoretically, to travel through time, one merely needs to find a way onto the highway."

"Okay, so... so you're saying that this is actually possible to... to travel into the future?" Barry was all for the impossible but shouldn't there be a limit somewhere?

"Undoubtedly."

Well, apparently not.

"What about the past?" he asked, moving to sit on the edge of the desk behind him.

"Yes. My own personal choice would be the Chicago World's Fair, 1893," Stein admitted. "I... I think Nicola Tesla and I would have some wonderful arguments. What about you? Would you be interested in taking a trip into history?"

Belén surprised them both when she quickly responded with, "Paris 1827 - Marie Taglioni débuts in the ballet La Sylphide." She sheepishly smiled after getting confused looks from them. "I like dance." She noticed Barry trying to uphold a little smile but it was evident that Stein's declarations were not easing his mind. "Say it, Barry. It's why we came."

Confused, Stein looked at the man in question who was, indeed, struggling to speak up. "Professor, I think...I think that I already have." Stein's eyes widened but let Barry continued. "Professor, um... 15 years ago, my mom was murdered and we recently discovered some evidence that... I was there that night, and not just as a kid, but as an adult."

"That must be a side effect of your incredible speed," Stein began to rationalize, even pacing a bit. "In some... future date, you actually move so fast that the resulting kinetic energy buildup smashes a hole in the space-time continuum!" By the time he finished he was beaming with excitement. Belén too seemed happy but when he saw Barry's grim face he stopped. "You seem disappointed by the prospect."

"I mean, if I do somehow make it back there to that night, then…" Barry paused, looking even worse, "...it means that I didn't save her. My destiny is to fail."

Neither person in the room with him had anything to say for a moment. Then, Belén cleared her throat and asked for a minute alone with Barry. Once Stein graciously agreed and walked out, she walked up to Barry.

"Okay, look-"

But Barry was done thinking of any other thoughts. "Amazing, I play out to be a hero but I can't save my own mother."

"You don't know what happened-"

"-No I do know! I failed!" he accidentally snapped at her, causing her to mildly flinch of surprise. He sighed and stood away from the desk, speaking much gentler this time. "I'm sorry."

Belén didn't look remotely upset as she put her hand on his arm. "What I meant to say was that...you don't know what happened from your future adult point of view. I mean, you say that one moment you were in your living room but then the next you were suddenly on a random street. Well, after that it was only you and the Reverse Flash in the room…" she paused, quietly adding, "And your mother. Only they know what truly happened. You can't say you failed when you don't know what happened right?"

Barry looked at her a long moment, thinking of every word she said. Her eyes pleaded him to at least consider her point. He had to admit that perhaps there was a certain amount of truth in them. No one had been in that room after he, as a child, had been taken away. Now, even if it was true, why in the hell would he let his mother be killed? Why couldn't he save her? Was it because he wasn't fast enough? Not clever enough?

Somewhere outside the room glass shattered. The two metahumans sprung in alarm and rushed out the room to see what had caused the sound. They found Stein using the kitchen counter for support while Clarissa worriedly tried helping.

"Martin? What's wrong?"

Stein shook his head, a hand going over his chest. "I don't know, I... I feel terrified. My... my heart is racing. I think... I think Ronald is in trouble."

"How could you know that?" Belén inquired, rather confused.

Stein discarded the question and urgently told them. "Jitters. He needs help. Go!"

Belén looked up to Barry. "You should go, I won't get there in time." Agreeing, Barry left them to go seek Ronnie.

As the Flash, he found Ronnie just where Stein had said - Jitters. Ronnie was outnumbered by General Eiling and his men. It was very easy using speed to knock Eiling's men out. However, as soon he moved to Eiling he was surprise-attacked with a small black device thrown into the air that turned into dozens of sharp metal pins. Before Barry knew it, they had gone directly towards him and knocked him down by diving into his suit and skin.

Eiling smugly looked at Barry on the ground as he writhed in pain. "Stings, doesn't it? Had that one developed especially for you. Micro fragments attracted to kinetic energy. Firestorm was tonight's main objective, but getting you... that's just gravy."

Suddenly, a white van frantically drove towards them from the other side of the alley and with the distraction Ronnie punched Eiling across the face. The van swerved and Caitlin opened up the doors.

"Get in!"

Ronnie helped Barry get up, although still being covered in pins, and quickly got into the van.

~ 0 ~

Barry thought about every moment of physical pain he ever felt and decided that this precise one was definitely one of the worst. Caitlin had to remove each fragment one by one, by just plucking it from his skin.

From across Wells overlooked the procedure along with Ronnie. "You need to hurry, Barry's wounds are starting to heal with the fragments still under his skin."

Cisco, standing on the other side of the bed holding a metal bowl for Caitlin to dump in the fragments, flinched each time Caitlin pulled one fragment from Barry's skin. "This is just like that time I stepped on a sea urchin. Only much worse "

"Just don't pee on me," Barry tried to be humorous despite barely being able to talk from his pain.

"Uh, you know that's a myth, right?"

Barry yelped as Caitlin took one pin from his neck. Caitlin apologetically looked at him before shaking her head and filling up with guilt. "I'm so stupid. Jason Rush, the grad student who was helping Professor Stein with his Firestorm research, he said that the army took all of Professor Stein's material when he disappeared. I should have known it was General Eiling."

"Not your fault," Wells said and glanced at Ronnie. "He still thinks you hold the keys to the ultimate human weapon... both of you."

"Okay, let's just finish this," Barry tried to gesture with a hand but that proved to be impossible when it was still covered in pins. "I gotta get to Stein's house. Eiling's gonna be after him too and Bells is still there."

"Stein's fine," Ronnie calmly said.

Cisco looked at him oddly. "How do you know?"

"He's right there," Ronnie gestured to Stein who stood beside Belén by the cortex entrance.

"I didn't think it was prudent for him to stay alone right now," Belén briefly explained before rushing over to Barry and the others. "What in the hell happened to you!?" her hands moved back and forth as she decided what way to help.

"Eiling is back," Cisco was the one to answer, relieving Barry the requirement of talking with the most of the pins still stuck on him.

At this Belén shot up a look to Wells. "What does he want now?"

"Firestorm," Ronnie replied while looking at Stein. "And we doubt he's going to stop."

"We have to run some tests on you both again," Caitlin warned them. "And fast."

"Then do it right now, I can do this," Belén said to her and gestured to be handed the basic tweezers. "I don't think I need to be a doctor for this, right?"

Caitlin agreed and handed the tool over. She ushered Ronnie and Stein for one of the exam rooms with the aid of Cisco. Wells soon followed to oversee that it went correctly. Belén set to work on the shards and cursed under her breath thinking that she wouldn't be heard.

"Why the hell are you laughing? Does this look like something you should be laughing at?" She sent Barry a sarcastic glare for his small chortles.

"I didn't know...you cursed," he managed to say without many paused.

"Well stick around and you'll learn more," she crookedly smiled back and promptly pulled out one particular pin near his collarbone that made him yelp. "Sorry!" She paused her work and glanced to see if anyone was still around, thinking perhaps she wasn't adequate for the job after all.

"It's fine," Barry assured her, able to see her mild fear in her eyes. "My fast healing is proving to be a nuisance for once."

"There has got to be an easier way to do this…" she bit her lip and suddenly looked at her free hand.

"What?" Barry saw the thinking wheels in her head.

"Well...I do create multiple...vines…" she was mumbling, her voice coming in and out. "...maybe...work…"

"Bells? These things hurt-" Barry called her again, "- a lot."

"Sorry," she sheepishly looked at him. "I was just thinking that maybe instead of pulling these things off one by one I could use my vines to grab each one and pull them off at the same time. Though, maybe it could hurt more than now."

"Nothing hurts more than now. Do it," he said, nodding for her to go on.

Belén still didn't look completely sure of her own idea. "Barry, I'm telling you it might hurt a lot."

"For a moment. But right now my skin is healing and it's taking these things with it. Just do it Bells."

Belén murmured a soft 'Okay' and put down the tweezer. She hovered her hands over his chest and created the vines that branched into many more which then curled around the fragments. Barry intently watched her scrunch her face as she prepared to pull them off.

"I'm so sorry," she said in advance. She used her force and yanked all fragments from his body.

Indeed Barry did scream at the top of his lungs from the unbearable pain. Belén dropped the pins on the floor and gasped in horror thinking it had been too much. Cisco came running back to see what happened and Belén weakly explained, while Barry panted from the pain, what she did.

"Sick," Cisco concluded with a very impressed smile.

Belén was debating whether or not to touch Barry but she still looked for any outstanding physical injury. "Barry, I told you it would hurt more. Next time I'll just stay where I belong behind the computer chairs where I can hurt no one-"

"It's okay," Barry grasped her wrist that neared him. "It's fading…" he made up. She looked incredibly alarmed like it was her fault.

"That's gonna sting later dude," Cisco remarked. "Like...everywhere…"

"Go away Cisco," Barry ordered sharply. Cisco raised his hands and turned for the exam room where the others were.

"I'm so sorry, he's so right," Belén was still rambling an apology to him. "I should've just stuck with what the actual Doctor was doing."

"Belén it's really okay," Barry finally had the energy to chuckle. He dragged his hand from her wrist to her hand and lowered it to it over his heart. "It's beating isn't it?"

"Yes, but that's not what I meant and you-" she sighed and forgone it. She pulled her hand from his and put both her hands on either side of his face, leaning closer. "You quit giving me heart attacks. Just because yours beats faster now doesn't mean mine can too. That's not fair!"

Barry tried not to look as smug as he really felt, but he failed miserably at it. "I guess you really do care about me, huh?"

Unamused, Belén just looked at him. "If you weren't cute I'd smack you for that. But, yes, I do."

"You wanna know something?"

"What?"

"My heart's beating faster now," Barry said with the widest of smiles.

Belén laughed, shaking her head. "You're so cheesy - that was lame."

"But it was the truth!" Barry exclaimed, feigning offense. "You don't appreciate my honesty?"

Belén looked at him a moment and rolled her eyes, unable to contain another laugh. "Oh alright."

She helped him up afterwards, still highly sorry for giving him sore pains from her gimmick. They met with the others to discuss what was really going on with Ronnie and Stein. Unfortunately, it appeared the two were still perfectly in sync with each other and with Eiling still out there, they would not be taking any chances. They split the two up to keep them safe.

The next day, Caitlin and Ronnie were to stay with Barry and Joe while Stein remained at S.T.A.R Labs. Belén reported to work like nothing, but discreetly kept an eye out for anything related to the Jitters attack. The last thing they needed was more exposure. However, people were more clever this time and approached a different cub reporter for the story.

Iris was walked by with a folder in hand when Mason scurried on after her. "Oh, hey... hey. You said you knew some of the leftover scientists at the STAR Labs. What about a Caitlin Snow, M.D." He pulled up a black and white security picture of Caitlin having dinner with Ronnie at Jitters. "You know her?"

Iris raised an eyebrow, completely startled."Yeah, I know her, why?"

"There was an incident at a local coffee shop. She was there."

"So?" Iris looked at the picture much closely and realized the place. "That's Jitters. I used to work there."

"Look, I tried being nice with your little colleague over there-" Mason jerked a thumb in the direction of Belén's desk where the latter currently worked on, "-and she flat out turned me down."

"Well," Iris took the picture from him, studying it a little closer, "it would have to do with you intending on writing a hater story on her friends."

"Well her friends are in a weird situation. Get this: Witnesses swear they saw soldiers shooting the place up, so I contacted the Army's media relations division and asked, "Are soldiers permitted to operate like that on U.S. soil?" You know what they told me? Hooah?"

Iris had recognized Caitlin's 'Cousin Sam' in the picture. She had met them this morning when they came over to her dad's. "That's weird, Caitlin didn't mention anything the last time I saw her."

Mason raised an eyebrow, almost delighted to hear that Iris also knew the STAR Labs "Really? When and where was that?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this," Iris decided to keep the picture in her folder and promptly walked away. She had eyes trained on Belén next and that was who she walked for. She wondered if Belén knew anything about this, although given her new closeness with Barry she doubted Barry would be stupid enough not to tell her.

She casually stopped by Belén's desk and greeted her with a simple 'Hey'. Belén looked up from her computer and smiled.

"Hey Iris," she said back, lowering a pen.

Be casual, Iris told herself before speaking again. "Sooo, I just met Caitlin's cousin Sam today. They're staying with my dad's."

"Oh...right," Belén nodded slowly, hoping to God Iris wouldn't question a lot on it. "Cait's apartment was, um…"

"Flooded?"

"Yes! Yes, it's flooded. They told me this morning and I thought Barry was nice enough to bring them with him."

"And...that's the only reason…?"

Confused, Belén tilted her head. "What else is there?"

"No, nothing," Iris immediately backed off. She picked up her folder off the desk and smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Mhm," Belén watched her go off, still not quite understanding what had just happened.

Iris concluded that there was something going on and she was purposely not being told anything of it.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, the team had received a terrible call in from Wells telling them Eiling had forcibly came for Stein. Wells had sold the story that Stein was taken by force from the military. They dropped what they were doing and rushed to STAR Labs.

"He didn't hurt you?" Barry asked after a thorough check of the vicinity.

Wells merely shook his head, gesturing to his clean appearance. "Barry, I told you... only my pride is hurt. Unfortunately, I'm not in the position to take on armed soldiers."

"Where do you think Eiling took Professor Stein?"

"I imagine some off-the-books military research facility."

"We have to get him back," Caitlin urgently pushed for ideas .

"Easy... Eiling has already demonstrated he has the weaponry to disable The Flash, or worse."

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing," Belén crossed her arms.

"How do we find him?" Ronnie asked and immediately gave everyone the idea. Once eyes landed on him, he stiffened. "What?"

He was soon strapped back to the brain wave detection machines to hopefully catch something of Stein. Caitlin, who was in lead conducting the exams, stepped back with a somewhat relieved look.

"No abnormal brain activity. All vitals steady."

"You really think Ronnie can somehow feel where they're keeping Stein?" Barry was looking in doubt at Ronnie.

"Ronnie got dizzy when the soldiers grabbed Stein," reminded Cisco, "and Stein developed Ronnie's obsession with pizza "

"I don't feel anything right now," Ronnie frowned. Whatever this is, it doesn't have an on and off switch."

"It's possible it's just some kind of residual connection," suggested Wells, "A temporary link to your time together."

"Wait," Rinnie suddenly froze, "I feel something. I'm... I'm cold." Two minutes later he screamed in what sounded like horrible pain, only there wasn't anything hurting him per say.

"What's going on!?" Belén asked, terrified of the sight. Caitlin and Cisco were trying to hold Ronnie to his chair but it was like the two didn't exist for Ronnie at the moment.

"Nothing's happening to him," Wells explained quick. "It's happening to Stein, and Ronnie is feeling his pain. I was wrong. The connection's not temporary. It's only getting stronger "

"Water. Water!" Ronnie frantically called out.

Cisco reached for the glass on the table beside Ronnie but after picking it up Ronnie snatched it, smashed it against the table, and took a shard of glass. As he tried to cut himself with it, Caitlin shrieked and tried stopping him.

"Ronnie, no!"

"Wait, Cait, wait!" Barry suddenly exclaimed.

"He's cutting himself!"

"I know. Let him." Barry said, and warned himself quite an indignant look back.

She looked back and saw Ronnie was beginning to write something on his arm. The word 'where' was written in blood on the arm after a minute, and thus Stein, wherever it was he was, would bear the same word across his flesh as well. Caitlin fought the monumental urge to smack Ronnie for what he did, understanding it had been for a good cause.

"Anything?" Cisco asked after a long moment.

"Nothing. Nothing, just...just cold. Like a metal surface." Ronnie paused and focused as best he could. "Pressure on and on and off. Tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap."

"What the-" Belén was midway when Cisco answered her.

"Morse code. I got this!" he dashed for another table where a clipboard laid.

"Same thing again," Ronnie said. "Tap, tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap."

Cisco, after writing down, looked up. "27. What does it mean?"

"Army bases…" Barry said at once, "they sometimes go by numbers, like Area 51."

Cisco nodded and ran to get the information through a computer. "Facility 27, about 300 miles away," he said as he typed. "It was shut down in 1961."

"Then that has to be where Professor Stein is," Belén beamed.

"Bet you that's where they're keeping aliens too," Cisco pointed at her.

"If they're good ones I'll set them free," she chuckled. She suddenly stopped and called out, "And you're not gonna leave without me this time, Barry Allen." The metahuman in question stopped midway towards the doors. He turned around, mouth opened to make his case when she interrupted. "Last time you left, you came back with pins stuck on you! I'm coming with you!"

"And so am I," Ronnie hopped off his chair and came up beside Belén.

"Outnumbered," Belén smirked.

Caitlin nowhere near agreed and grabbed Ronnie from behind. "No, you're not. You can't."

Ronnie pried her hand from his arm and sighed. "I'm connected to Stein. I have to go."

"But did you ever stop to think why your connection to him is growing stronger by the minute? Maybe you're being drawn back together. Maybe your proximity will cause you to re-merge into one."

Ronnie did consider that but something more important overrode it. "And what happens to me if he gets killed? Cait, Barry was right. The world is different now. Look, I... I thought we could get away, start a new life, a normal life, together. But there is no normal life for us. You will always risk your life to try and help people, and I will always be the guy that runs into that pipeline for you."

Wells called for them and held out a familiar little device. "The quantum splicer. It was used to separate you once. Maybe it could be of use to keep you you."

Ronnie graciously took it and followed Belén and Barry out of the room. In a dark night, the three set out to the proposed building of Area 27. It was barely lit but still enough to see several people roaming just outside it.

"Oh. This place definitely doesn't look too shady," Barry remarked sourly.

"Sorry, should we request a building with better quality to break into?" Belén sarcastically asked, crossing her arms as she tried peering closer.

"Stein's inside," Ronnie seemed focused. "I can feel our connection growing stronger, like he's pulling me."

Wells spoke through the comms. "It's as I feared... the Firestorm matrix is building toward a proximity reemergence. Like all matter, it yearns to be whole. If you do merge... we might not be able to separate you again."

The three shares a troubling look with each other. Ronnie once again stiffened as he felt another surge of emotions that didn't belong to him. "Eiling has a gun to Stein's head. He's about to pull the trigger."

Barry didn't waste a moment more and sped inside the building to retrieve Stein. Just mere seconds before Eiling pulled the gun, Barry pulled Stein off the metal chair and brought him back outside.

"Ho! Whoa... I never thought I'd be happy to see you," Stein said to Ronnie once the motion had stopped.

"Yeah, likewise. Let's get out of here," Ronnie turned to begin leaving when they heard a jeep pulling up from the other side of the gate.

"Get them away!" Barry ordered Belén who didn't argue back. She ushered Stein and Ronnie farther down the road.

Barry meant to distract the soldiers or hopefully take them all down but they surprised him with a bazooka-looking weapon. It blasted him with some sort of silver chemical that looked like dry ice billowing smoke.

"Barry, I'm picking up some serious pH numbers on your suit," Cisco called from the comm.

Barry twisted and turned but the chemical stung him everywhere. "They hit me with some kind of chemical!"

"It's a weaponized phosphorous!"

"Water or foam won't extinguish it," Wells explained but added, "But you can't burn in a vacuum, so you need to create one. Run, Barry. Run!"

With no other choices, Barry did as told and sped off the side of the road and ran in a circle. Meanwhile, Belén had taken Ronnie and Stein just down the road to hide behind some bushes.

"You should keep hidden," Belén told them both, but neither man thought it right for her to go in alone.

"There's too many out there," Ronnie said, getting a glimpse of one of the nearing jeeps.

"I just wish I could find Eiling first," Belén scowled. "If we get him, the others are bound to fall too. Just stay here." Her vines wrapped around her body until she disappeared.

She surprised one of the jeeps by reforming on the open driver's side. Before they reacted, she opened her mouth and released a decent amount of Azalea poison, enough to knock them out for a while. She let go quick and sprinted into a stop on the road, quite impressed with herself that she managed to pull that one off. It always appeared like something only a television show could pull off.

Then she heard more nearing jeeps.

She whirled around and saw three more of them coming down her way. Ignoring her fear, she disbanded and charged for them.

Ronnie was able to see her from the hiding spot, but was also able to see more coming from the opposite direction. "We need to merge again," he told Stein.

"Ronnie, no!" Caitlin quickly voiced her opposition from the comm.

"Cait, we're dead if we don't," Ronnie urgently explained as he saw the jeeps getting closer.

"Listen to me," Wells took over the comm. "The last time you two combined, you both fought it. This time, don't. Accept the change, accept the balance. Accept each other."

Stein looked resigned to their last option and openly said, "Once more unto the breach, dear friend."

Ronnie nodded, and as he pulled out the splicer he spoke to Caitlin once more. "Cait... whatever happens, just remember I'll always love you."

He placed the splicer on his chest and once it activated, he held a hand for Stein. Stein took Ronnie's hand and immediately merged into Firestorm.

"Can you hear me, Ronald?" Ronnie heard Stein from within the mind.

"Professor?" Ronnie began stepping into the roadside. He saw Belén had stopped two of the jeeps on her way but was still working on the last with more of her pink poison.

"It appears we merged properly on this attempt. Wells was right about balance and accepting. Behind you!"

Ronnie turned around and faced the other jeeps coming. He blasted them with fire, causing several to explode.

"Ronald, there's more of them," Stein warned again as a last jeep emerged from the fire.

He blasted it again with fire and saw success. However, Eiling had managed to escape from the other side and was coming for them.

"Eiling, this ends now," declared Ronnie, ready to attack again if needed.

"Yes, it does... For both of you," Eiling pulled out a glowing blue device and three it into the air. The moment it did it blasted Ronnie onto the ground. "An ion grenade. Just bombarded your cellular structure with enough ions to destabilize your matrix." He started getting out a gun from his side pocket. "Mr. Raymond, Professor Stein, you're both fine Americans. Your country thanks you for your sacrifice."

But before he clicked the trigger, Belén reappeared in front of him, wasting no time in punching him across the face. The moment he hit the ground, she covered him in vines. "Try getting out of that one," she smirked.

A second later Barry came in, most of his suit charred and dried from the chemical drying up after his long run. "I was gonna do that!"

"Beat you to it," she winked. She then turned around and bent down in front of Ronnie. "Are you, um, two, okay?"

"Yeah," Ronnie answered and got up with her help.

Belén then glanced back at Barry and chuckled. "Cisco is so gonna kill you this time," she warned, gesturing to his tarnished suit.

Barry had nothing to say on that subject because he was pretty sure that was right. "Home?" he asked them instead.

"Oh yeah," Belén nodded.

Ronnie agreed and, using his flames, flew high into the sky to get a head start. The remaining metahumans looked up, still heavily in awe.

"You want a lift?" Barry then asked Belén.

"No, not like that," Belén shook her head and gestured to his suit's condition. "You're all...eugh…"

Somewhere in there they heard someone snicker from the comm.

Barry feigned offense and tilted his head. "I'm giving you a lift."

"No…"

"I'm doing it," Barry warned, making a step towards.

"No!"

Barry made a threatening advance on her, smirking as she panicked and jumped back .

"Nooo!" she drew out in pleading manner.

Laughing, Barry told her he was only joking, something she didn't quite buy. She cautiously left on her own terms and prayed to God he was telling the truth. She was a clean freak, and at the moment he was not clean!

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe you ruined my suit again," Cisco was shooting Barry death glares from across the room as the former studied the practically destroyed suit.

"I said I was sorry," Barry frowned. "And it's not like I wanted to be shot at with phosphorus. Now please can we just - Caitlin, I told you it was really nothing," he stopped and glanced at the biochemist standing on the side of the bed he sat on, trying to get a better look at a big, purple burn on his side near his stomach.

"You said you were shot with phosphorus," she gave him a pointed look.

"It looks worse than it is," he promised and pushed down his shirt.

At that moment, Belén walked in with Ronnie and Professor Stein, now separated, and immediately Caitlin forgot about Barry's condition. She rushed across the room to encase Ronnie in a big hug.

"It looks like they can separate and join at will now," Belén announced cheerfully as she made way for the other two in the room, "At least that's what Dr. Wells was able to dumb down for me." Without such warning, she smacked Barry on the back of the head.

"OW!"

Stein winced, Cisco burst out laughing from his spot and Belén crossed her arms in front of the injured metahuman. "I don't like it when people try to dirty me," she pointed at him.

"I deserve that," Barry said in a resigned sigh as he rubbed his head. "Hug?"

"You don't get hugs," Belén declared and looked away.

"Cold," Cisco flashed them a smirk.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Iris fervently went through her old blog about metahumans. After having an odd conversation with Caitlin over her 'Cousin' she decided to see for herself whether Caitlin was telling the truth.

Because Iris swore she had seen that cousin somewhere once.

And then she saw it. The Burning Man. Iris leaned closer to the computer screen, eyes squinted as she studied the blurry picture of what people had claimed was a burning man spotted on the street.

With one glance at Belén, who didn't notice as she worked on her own assignment across the room, Iris began printing the picture.

Mason flinched at the slap of paper Iris did on his desk. He barely glanced at the photograph before asking, sarcastically, "Am I supposed to know what that means?"

Iris rolled her eyes. "It means that I'm gonna help you figure out what's going on at STAR Labs. I think our Burning Man used to work there." She said, 100% sure of her supposition, and because she was sure, the pain hurt as well.

Because if this was true, then it would mean that Caitlin knew, and if Caitlin knew, then Barry and Belén knew as well...and they didn't tell her.

~ 0 ~

"Ooooh, is that ice cream?" Belén was delighted to see Barry standing on her porch with a box of strawberry ice cream in his hand.

Chuckling, Barry nodded and gestured her to take it. "And sprinkles," he jiggled the jar of sprinkles in his other hand. "I thought it could serve as a peace offering."

"So you're telling me if I pretend to be mad at you I'll get ice cream in the end?" Belén pretended to be dead serious at the moment.

"Uh…" Barry actually took a moment to think about the answer, which made Belén laugh and pull him inside.

"You should know I don't like sprinkles though," she informed him as she led them into the living room.

"Sprinkles? Really!?"

Belén nodded her head and disappeared into the kitchen for some glasses. "I'm weird okay!"

"Well you're definitely different," Barry admitted, though smiled. "You're the first person I know of who hid inside refrigerators when they were a kid."

Belén returned holding two glasses with spoons inside. "I'm completely unique. So I guess Professor Stein and Ronnie left the city already?"

"Yeah, I told them your regards though."

"Oh thank you!" she called. "I wanted to come in but Linda had this article she wanted me to look over and I couldn't tell her no. Still, I do hope they find the help they need. I think they could become a really good partner. Like Nina!"

"I think they would get along," Barry laughed at the thought and sat down beside her on the couch.

"Listen, I was thinking about something," she set the glasses on the table next to the ice cream, "And, please don't think I was being nosy, but I think I have an idea."

"Let me hear it," Barry motioned, keenly listening.

Belén bit her lip, shifting to face him. She pulled her legs to sit cross-legged and took a deep breath in before starting. "You know how when the teacher gives you back a test you thought you did really good on but you end up getting a lot of questions wrong?" She looked at Barry for his reaction but he started making a face that spelled to her 'no'. She sarcastically groaned. "Oh, that's right, I forgot I was talking to the genius Barry Allen."

"I liked studying!" the metahuman in question said defensively.

"Mhm, nerd," Belén mumbled under her breath before continuing with her main point. "Anyways, some people - like me - did get a lot of questions wrong. My teacher would mark them up and then as a class we'd go over them so we knew how to get them right on the next test, like a study guide. So I was thinking...what if it's the same thing with you and this time travelling thing?"

"I'm...not following," Barry felt sorry to say after a minute.

"You said that there was this machine of Cisco's that showed you like...holograms of the night when your mom was...murdered. What if that's your study guide? It's all the wrong questions marked for you."

Barry got to thinking of her idea and quickly realized that it made sense. If he used those holograms to see what exactly he did wrong that night, he would know what not to do when it came time for him to travel back. "Bells...that's genius!" he exclaimed, making her beam excitedly. "I didn't think of it before! I was too focused on the fact that I got it wrong, I - how did you come up with this?"

"I got bored," she admitted innocently, making a face.

Barry felt like teasing again and leaned forwards. "And you started thinking of me?"

Belén immediately blushed. "Shut up."

Barry laughed for a minute then sobered up to thank her again. He reached to touch her face and smiled at her. "You know, it goes without saying but...I really like being able to do this."

"I like it too," Belén whispered. "But you know what I like just a bit more?"

"What?"

"Ice cream without sprinkles," Belén laughed at his reaction and set out to serve full glasses of strawberry ice cream for them.

#the flash #ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #ocapp #barry allen #the flash imagines #barry allen imagines #barry allen fics #the flash fics #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: it had to be you

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