#cause that's just such an inherent part of him I couldn't imagine her without it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

malka-lisitsa · 1 year

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Verse: Red String

Stefan wasn't in the bed when Katherine woke up, wasn't even in the room, which was absolutely unheard of... There were a lot of reasons he never left the room and some of the big ones included not giving Katherine time to snoop.

If she did take the opportunity, she would see his journal laying on his desk, instead of secreted away where she hadn't been able to find it yet. It was even opened to the last page he'd written in, dated for this morning.

The days are blurring together and sometimes I feel like I'm losing it. There's a darkness that's always creeping around the edges, I fear that it might consume me one of these times and I won't be able to come back from it.

There is a light though, it seems so strange to think about it that way, but every time the darkness bleeds over she's there to draw me out of it again. I don't like relying on another person like this, there's a danger inherent in the need. What if she's not there one day and I don't know how to do it myself?

Despite that, I am drawn to her, she used to be my everything and it's odd watching her step into those shoes again. It's different now, I am not the boy I used to be, but the familiarity is comforting. I think a part of me craves it, to be the person I used to be without the horrors I have committed hanging over every breath I take. It's not regression though, at least I don't believe it to be, we are not falling into the same patterns because she has changed as well. Centuries apart, it was inevitable, so how do we find ourselves together again?

With everything that's happened, I didn't think I could feel like this again. She's there when I wake up every morning and she'd there guiding me to sleep every night. I don't know how else to describe it, other than that it feels good. It feels right. There's a magnetism to her that I don't think I will ever escape. And lately? I don't even want to anymore.

I think I'm falling in love again.

Happy Valentines Day @ripper-royalty

Of course she snooped, she didn't even try not to. Come ON he left it out and open, unless he had some kind of bathroom emergency that was an INVITATION and you can NOT convince her otherwise.

Contrary to popular belief, Katherine doesn't just snoop in Stefan's stuff to be annoying. It's how she feels close to him, how she learns all of the pieces shes missed in the times she couldn't be close to him.

Katherine needles him for attention, but when no one's looking she snoops in his things to surround herself with him. He's the air that she breathes, and the spark that tells her heart to beat.

As she reads, her heart beats faster, breaths become more shallow as her eyes water. This is what she had wanted, to be in his journal. Any of them, and despite her every page turn in previous volumes she hadn't been in ANY for a long time. And yet here she was. He spoke of needing her. NEEDING HER. And how badly it scared him. Maybe now he can imagine how she feels. Its not just that she wants Stefan she needs him. It's dangerous. She agrees...

Her eyes carefully scanned each word as she continued, her shallow and quick breaths had all but ceased by the time she got to the last paragraph. Holding her breath waiting for the climax of the page. An ending. An answer to a question she's bit back since the night they agreed to wipe the slates clean.

And there it is.

I think I'm falling in love again.

His intention probably wasn't to make her cry, by the tears were free flowing now, dropping onto the page, unfortunately causing some of the ink to bleed. There it was, the only thing Katherine had craved for 147 years. It wasn't even that he was in love with her it was the hope that he could love her again. That he was falling, again.

There was such a relief in reading that, and it elicited a genuine sob from her. It sounded heart breaking but it was a RELEASE. Some fear evaporating, some of the pain she carried with her that crushed her chest and gripped her heart it LEFT. For a moment she was OK.

A feeling she hadn't felt in five hundred years, and she clutched the journal tightly as she read the line over and over again, committing every curve of his penmenship to memory.

I think I'm falling in love again.

In a moment she would crash, and the fear that she was dreaming would set in, and that she'd wake up and still be in the basement chained up while Stefan interrogated her... granted she'd be a vampire again... but the gods honest truth? She'd rather stay human and suffer... just as long as this moment was real.

She ran her fingers over the page, in smearing a little in certain spots where her tears had hit the page.

Suddenly her favourite holiday changed.

Suddenly it was valentines day.

She doesn't need to yell, she doesn't want to move, if she breaks the moment she might wake up... She may not be a vampire, but he is.

It won't take much for him to hear her, she knows he listening. She would. Even if he wasnt? He knew. She hasn't said the words since the clean slate, having done her best not to put that pressure on him, but today they carried a different kind of weight, one she thought appropriate for the day...

"I love you Stefan...."

#answered #Katherine's valentines #verse: red string #HELP #I CRIED WRITING THIS #Stefrine

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nicosbrainrot · 3 years

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nothing like a kori post to make me absolutely seeth with rage at the fact that tumblr cuts me off at 30 tags </3 fucking hell on earth

#I HAVE MORE TO SAY GODDAMNIT #& I'm not putting it in the reblog itself because that's just not The Same #I wanted to go off about how it was really wack to see how people respond to aito's gender in canon #cause that's just such an inherent part of him I couldn't imagine her without it #I cannot fathom looking at her & thinking ''yes this is a cis man''#but like in reality people wouldn't know I guess?#like it would make sense to ask & double check when you hear someone using more than one pronoun #like if I hear someome refered to as they/she or they/he I'll ask cause there have been several occassions when like #the person just uses they/them & people have just been misgendering them half the time #so lile you never KNOW but like #aito is my bestie I couldn't imagine not knowing <3 #also aito himself saying ''besty'' <3 peace & love on planet earth #yes I literally made another post JUST to rant more about aito don't fucking @ me #using both -kun & -chan is fun #but I don't believe either of them are gender restrictive #like -chan is certainly more girly but could be used for boys in a young boyish very friendly way #& -kun could be used by a girl if she wanted to be addressed that way #but it's still wack to see konekomaru responding to the use of both #like gender really exists as a thing doesn't it #we were talking earlier in the gc (which you never respond in because me & zed scare you away </3 sorry bestie) about names & suffixes #& how ikuto would still be calling aito Takao-san by the time aito had already decided they were on first name no suffix basis with ikuto #like that is just their dynamic for a while & I love it #ikuto is trying so hard to be formal & polite & aito is just like we're besties actually I don't care #gonna be so hard writing fic dialogue with the correct suffixes I'm gonna have to ask eleven about everything #ANYWAY yes this is another rant I'm not sorry <3 #tumblr should let me specifically have a max amount of tags of 100 because I'm special #I could talk about aito all day but kori's never in the fucking gc </3 #bestie I wanna talk about your son get over here

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mental-health-advice · 3 years

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Hey.

For a while I feel like my friendship with this person has become inherently codependent.

I didn't realise how much I needed to be needed by him until recently. I put a lot of my self worth on him and in the process put him above everything else. And I felt justified because he was going through a tough time. And I don't want to judge him, but he isn't exactly the best person. He can be extremely cruel to other people and selfish. But I never questioned anything he did because I wanted him to like me. I didn't neglect any other things like school and stuff. I kept on top of it, but most of my free time was taken up for him, having conversations that I really didn't want to and I enjoyed myself most of the time but sometimes I felt like I outgrew his company. I made up versions of him in my head that were so much better than real life. This was aggravated because we were all in lockdown and I couldn't meet other people. I've only ever known him through phone calls for a while and the two months we actually met in in person school were spent with him feuding against my other friends in his quest for power. I always found it impossible to pick a side in these situations, because the others were right but I wanted to please him too. I was incapable of refusing anything he said. I always had to hide away a part of me because I was afraid he wouldn't like me then. And he could be very controlling too. He thought he was above everyone and the school director kind of favoured him too, so he had a lot of plans for a very unsafe event. But then schools shut down again and he became really depressed and was suicidal and tried to pin everything on me at one point, just because I respected my mother's words. I tried to be there for him, and this went on for four months. I agreed to everything he said because it was easier than fighting with him. Now stuff hit rock bottom and the director has shut him out and told him to just get back to academics. Schools are opening this week and now he's really scared again.

I don't know what to say when he tells me his life sucks and that he doesn't want it. He's out of the extreme phase now and he expects everything to be handed to him without working hard for anything.

I knew he was someone who didn't care about other people and took joy in the sorrow of others but I always excused his behaviour. When things got too bad I stepped aside.

But apart from all of this, I always craved for him to call me. My happiness depended on his. I needed him to talk to me. And me only. I got insanely jealous and beat myself up inside. I worried so much about him but he didn't seem to care about me at all. When I tried to talk about my feeling it resulted in us fighting continuously, with him saying I didn't deserve him. I never needed him to respect me or my boundaries because I knew he was incapable of caring about someone else and that it wouldn't be worth my time. But now I can't take him just using me anymore. At first I just thought that I had feelings for him which caused my jealousy, but then he came out to me, but these still seem to persist. I just need him to come to me for any problem that he has, but that took a hit today, when I couldn't deal with him at all. I've read up codependent friendships and I think that's what is really going on in my head. I don't like him romantically I think, I'm just really insecure.

I don't want to be that person anymore. He doesn't respect my boundaries, my family or my interests. I'm not allowed to have an opinion because anything that he doesn't agree shouldn't be said in his presence. I feel like I'm stuck in the same place and unable to truly be myself. We are so different and my beliefs directly contradict his but I've never been able to express them to him. And he calls himself my best friend. Our other best friend, is kinda in between. She regularly argues with him and demands respect, but he doesn't even consider it. But when he has a problem we have to drop everything for him. And he accuses me of not trusting him. And he tells me not to say things that make him angry rudely but he doesn't do the same for me when I tell him calmly that I don't want to talk about something. He's really condescending too, and acts as of nothing matters but him. And because of the lack of going out, he was the only solace I have.

Despite this I still deeply care about him. This morning he was groaning continuously, and I told him that everyone had problems, he completely turned on me and said that I didn't get to say anything because my life was fine and that his was way more difficult. He acts as if he knows everything about me and assumes that I will be fine no matter how hard his words are. And he's kinda right, because I always come back to him. This same person told me a few minutes ago that everyone one in our grade was fine and that nothing was wrong and that someone should die, so that their life sucks. So he'll be fine if someone died and if they shut the school and the state, so that he doesn't have to deal with the consequences of his actions. He even has the nerve to whine about how he doesn't deserve any small hardship that comes his way. But life's hard and he doesn't seem to realise that there is life after your senior year in high school. He seems to think that this is all that matters. We're just sixteen and he acts like this is all we ever have. I don't know how to help him. He says he has a bad home life, but I don't know how that excuses him being a horrible human being to others for no reason. And he is privileged. I tell him to work hard this year, and next year in college he can do what he wants. But he says he wants the life of a film star without lifting a finger.

I feel like it's my responsibility to fix his issues, but he's the only one who can. I can't help someone who isn't willing to help themselves.

Moreover he doesn't even care about anything that other people are going through stuff too. And he called me selfish for implying that the world doesn't revolve around him. I've always tried to be there for him, and I still want to, but I don't think it's good for both of us. We're toxic to each other. Sometimes I wish his problems were magically fixed so that we could go back to being normal friends instead of the complete wreckage we both are.

He says no one understands hima s if he was accusing me of not caring enough about him. But I felt like I hit a breaking point and that I couldn't just nod my head anymore. I'm human being with issues of my own but he doesn't give a damn.

I can't even talk to him normally, I have to thread around eggshells to keep him happy, but I'm never happy with him. He says I don't act enthusiastic to his ideas. I hate his ideas but I'm always nice about it. I don't shut him down. I hope he gets the things he wants even if they aren't to my liking. And today he calls me boring and attacks me for not liking marvel. I mean come on can't I even have an opinion on a movie? I said I liked a ship in it ( it was a comfort ship that helped me escape) and he said I didn't have a right to have an opinion because I hadn't watched all the movies. Fandom is something that gives me joy and keeps me grounded and today he attacked something that I thought no one could. My imagination. My ability to create worlds in my head. The worst part, we met because we were both Harry Potter fans. And now he doesn't even feel like that. I helped him edit and write his debut novel. I feel like that person who believed in something is gone. He even admitted to just using me for my knowledge in the beginning.

I still feel sorry for him though. I'm really sorry if I've rambled on for too long. This has become more about him that it has about me.

I still really like him and feel that we can be friends if he starts to try to help himself and if I get rid of my insecurity and jealousy when he talks to other people. My brain is illogical. I don't want to have to deal with all of his issues all the time with no regard for myself, but I don't want him to confide in some else either.

I hate this person that I've become. Who cares about no one but him. I tried to use his issues as a shield against the problems going on in my own life. I try not to let anyone see that I don't have my life together either, because I feel bad about bothering others with my issues, when they have a million struggles of their own, but isn't that what he's doing to me? He disregards my feelings but I'm still very much obsessed with him.

I've lost my sense of self respect completely, and I pushed away other people for him.

I need to stop being codependent on him, and start at least liking myself.

Please help me. I'm sorry if this is too long. I seriously needed to get this off my chest.

And I apologise if I bothered you with my silly problems. I know there are more important things in the world but I seem stuck here. I don't want to appear ungrateful for anything so I pretend that everything is fine. And honestly I feel like I can never be not okay with a wonderful mother like mine. Oh and he hates her too. I just can't seem to win with him. My dad though is a whole nother issue.

This guy gets on my nerves, but I still need him to be happy too. But I shouldn't have to carry that burden. Right?

Hey there,

Due to your Ask being so long, we kindly ask you to resend your Ask and try to keep to our new 700 word limit if at all possible. Long Asks are very difficult for us to answer as there is just way too much information for us to take into account which means that often the Ask will be in our inbox for a lot longer as we don’t always have the capacity to answer them.

We hope that you understand and we are sorry for the inconvenience!

I hope that you are going well!

Take care,

Lauren

#mha-lauren #advice #advice blog #mental health advice #anonymous #resend Ask #new 700 word limit

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frustrated-writer-skyeknight · 3 years

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"Not here for a Lecture"

The Commander huffed, thinking that this day could've started out better than it did. He didn't know what peeved him more, being referred by his old title he no longer wanted to be bound to or having to entertain Roderick's complains. That said, he was relieved when the annoying meddler of a man in the form of Chancellor Roderick finally went off and let their conversation drop. More of an argument than a conversation, if he was being plain. He shook his head, and returned to his post to oversee training.

There should be some Irony that he found it a form of relaxation to watch others fight, after getting out of his own spat.

"You there," Cullen huffed, a disapproving frown on his face. "There's a shield in your hand, block with it! If this man were your enemy, you'd be dead."

Mahanon walked out of the Chantry at the moment the commander of the Inquisition's army was overseeing the soldiers training on the grounds. He walked up to him as the blond man turned to another ranking officer.

"Lieutenant," Cullen started, "don't hold back. The recruits must prepare for a real fight, not a practice one."

"Yes, Commander." An arm to his chest, the soldier bowed, and went on his way just as the elf reached the blond.

Cullen crossed his arms, continuing his observations of the soldiers "We've received a number of recruits—Locals from Haven and some pilgrims." He said without preamble, looking towards the redhead, then added with a tinge of humor coloring his tone, "None made quite the entrance you did."

"I can imagine," Mahanon humored him, "A glowing hand that can close tears in the sky are hard to come by these days."

A chuckle. "Would be less of a burden on a single person if it were common, I suppose." The human noted.

"I'm doing all right, thank you. Knowing about what it's like bearing it, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone else." The Elf affirmed the underlying question.

Cullen pursed his lips, "A gracious sentiment," he said. "We should be thankful that the one who ended up bearing the mark can be so."

"I do what I can," The Elf shrugged, "I'm sure everyone in this Inquisition are pulling their own weight and have enough burden to carry themselves. A perfect example right now." He gestured towards the recruits and the Commander.

Cullen conceded to that point, "I can't deny that, I was recruited to the Inquisition in Kirkwall myself." He said, and started walking across camp as if by reflex. He's been doing this everyday, and he can't observe every single soldier by staying at one spot. Mahanon followed alongside, "I was there during the Mage uprising—I saw the devastation it caused."

"Ser!"

"Cassandra sought a solution," Cullen continued, undeterred as he accepted the report from the soldier. "When she offered me a position, I left the Templars to join her cause. Now it seems we face something far worse."

Mahanon couldn't help but snort, and Cullen raised a brow at that. The Elf looked a tad chagrined, "Sorry, just... Bit of an understatement there, Commander." He noted. "The Conclave destroyed, a giant hole in the sky—Everything's a mess. Things aren't looking good."

"Which is why we're needed." The Commander noted firmly, his nose scrunching up at the thoughts had been on his mind as of late. "The Chantry lost control of both Templars and Mages. Now they argue over a New Divine while the Breach remains. The Inquisition could act when the Chantry cannot. Our followers would be part of that. There's so much we can—" Cullen catches himself, sees how Mahanon was staring at him and holding on to his every word, he'd realize his speech possibly coming off as a form of tirade. "Forgive me. I doubt you came here for a lecture."

"No, but if you have one prepared, I'd love to hear it." Mahanon noted with a bit of a smirk, "Your bout with that Chancellor was rather inspiring, I'm almost sorry it ended so soon."

Cullen breathes out a short laugh, "That makes one of us. So, you saw that, did you?" He remarked. "Thoughts?"

"Between you and him, I'm relieved that you're the one on my side with this whole Herald business, if I'm honest."

The Commander hummed curiously, "I'm sure that's mostly due to his being vehemently opposed to you in general," he said. "After all, you are a Mage. And I was once part of the order."

"But you're no longer a Templar, the same way I'm not just a Mage." Mahanon noted, "That said Commander, I'm pleased to be working alongside you. It is good know that Templars, even former ones, are not just inherently prejudice about mages."

Cullen frowned, because clearly, the Elf didn't know about the side of him that was a Templar in the past. "You might be misjudging there, Herald."

"I don't think I am." Mahanon shrugged, "But even so, right now, I trust you."

"Truly?"

"Would I say so if I didn't?"

"You barely know me, and not a lot of time has passed for it to be so."

"Then we should get to know better then. If you care to chat with an Elf."

Cullen chuckled a bit at that, "I'm afraid I would bore you."

"I highly doubt it," Mahanon refuted, "I think I find you quite interesting, commander."

Somehow, Cullen was taken aback. He didn't meet a lot of Elves, or conversed with them much. The few he chanced upon in passing, he didn't remember to be quite amicable. Thinking about it now, the short interaction with Mahanon has the commander completely forgetting the ire he's been feeling since Roderick and being referred as Knight-captain when he's no longer one.

"Commander?"

Cullen blinked, realizing that the other was staring at him curiously and still waiting for his response. He felt heat warming his cheeks. "Uh... Another time perhaps." he managed, clearing his throat. "I, ah... There's still a lot of work ahead."

Before Mahanon could make a response to that, another called out to the blond. One of the soldiers. "Commander! Ser Rylen has a report on our supply lines."

"As I was saying..." Cullen said leadingly, with a little knowing smirk to the Elf. "Safe travels, Herald."

The blond was glad for that unwitting rescue and opportunity to escape. Not that he found anything wrong with talking with Mahanon, but he didn't want to explain why he was distracted by him.

He didn't quite understand it himself either.

Mahanon nodded his thanks, before going off to the Apothecary to mixed some potions to prepare for the trip to Val Royeaux.

AO3 username: ChildOfSolace

#dragon age: inquisition #cullen rutherford #mahanon lavellan #fanfic #gif #crosspost-in-AO3 #Cullen x Mahanon #Canon rewrite

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maxheadley · 6 years

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A Little Confession.

Timothy's Imaginations: Chapter 10

Tad bobbed his leg up and down unyieldingly. He sat in the waiting room of a lonely clinic, where the walls were painted an unsatisfying shade of orange and the chairs were damningly uncomfortable. The clinic needed some serious TLC. The cracks in the leather of the chairs bothered him more than the disgusting orange walls. He shifted his numb bum about twenty times to find a comfortable position, though the position eventually became apparent it wasn't comfortable at all. Only briefly. He listened to the tick tock of the large antique grandfather clock next to him to focus on anything else other than his increasing worry about his best friend and erratic typing of the desk nurse.

He'd most likely freak out if the clock hadn't been ticking in his ear. The one thing he liked, something consistent, something unchanging. A clock never changed from it's ticking pattern to irregularities. He sighed, glancing at the clock reading where the hand rested. He'd been stuck in the waiting for about an hour. How long did it take for a doctor to examine their patients? Surely not this long, Tad thought disdainfully.

Suddenly, the door that lead towards the rooms where patients were examined swung open revealing a young doctor dressed in some tan slacks, a ugly blue sweater, normal shoes, and a oversized lab coat. He carried a clipboard and his overly large round eyeglasses were slipping down to the bridge of his nose. Behind him, Winnie walked, rubbing her paling tan arm awkwardly. Her nerves were frayed. He suspected. "Thaddeus.." Winnie pushed past the unaware doctor and hugged him tightly. Something felt wrong, but he didn't ask. He would probably hear it from the Doctor.

He kissed her temple as the man approached. "I am unsure what Winnie's infected with but we've drawn blood and had her do a urine test and we'll receive the results a couple days. But in the meantime, I've prescribed her some antibiotics to flush out the cold and help stabilize her breathing." The Doctor said so quickly, Tad had troubling putting the words into sentences.

"Okay, thank you. Is that all?" Tad was itching to get out of there. His paranoia began to bother him and he had a feeling a panic attack was on the rise. Something about this place seemed off. Surreal. Unethical.

"No.." The Doctor shot him a startled expression. "There's one other thing.. I have to ask why does she have a small incision on her throat?"

Tad wrinkled his nose, remembering how Winnie described Harley's attack and how the wire scraped across her throat drawing a few beads of unnecessary bloodshed. "Alarming as this may sound, she scratches her neck when she's extremely nervous and sometimes uses sharp objects and it causes scrapes or small cuts. It's no big deal." He lied, not wanting to divulge the truth to a complete and under stranger.

The man raised his unattractive, bushy eyebrows almost to his brown hairline. "Probably would be wise if you um made sure she doesn't use any sharp objects to inherently self harm."

"Yeah, I'll do my best." Tad awkwardly muttered.

Winnie settled on the comfortable seat of Tad's truck. She buckled up as he jogged around the vehicle to get himself in. He seemed tense. Something was off. She suspected the problem was the awkward, sterile setting of the clinic. He had always avoided being around doctors or hospitals, and rarely did her ever step foot inside a place that reminded him of a hospital. She observed him buckling his seatbelt and insert the key in the ignition.

Finally, after several minutes of observing his fast movements and frantic biting of his lower lip, she placed a small, clammy hand on his thin thigh and squeezed to gather his attention. She knew her voice was hoarse and didn't want to startle him using her froggy voice.

He placed one of his hands over hers and sighed, leaning the back of head onto the glass, smushing the long uncut pale hair against his skull. He closed his dark green eyes briefly. "I have to tell you something." He hadn't ignited the engine though the keys remained in the ignition, so he turned his entire body to face hers and lifted one shaky hand to caress her pale, sickly cheek. "And it may be awkward for us afterward. But promise me we'll be friends still?" He squeezed his eyes closed as if expecting her to reject him or something.

Winnie would never.

"I promise. Now, what is it?" She asked, trying to clear the saliva that gathered at the back of her throat away. Her voice never sounded more terrible than right then.

He opened her eyes and leaned forward about as much as he could do the seatbelt, and smashed his lips straight into hers. To her surprise, she allowed him. She could feel something in her core blooming as he kissed her consistently for those brief few seconds. She frowned, when he stopped and leaned back slightly. "I am in love with you. Have been for the past couple of years but seeing you be abused and hurt by others has made me realized I needed to tell and show you that I'd do anything to make you feel loved the way you deserved." He said breathless.

Beads of sweat sparkled on his tan forehead. His eyes were alight with passion and a film of undisguised love. How could she extinguish such a beautiful thing like him? He was perfection disguised under glasses and a giant sweater with either his nose in a book or his eyes trained on a laptop screen. He was a fire shrouded by a cloak of shadows. He needed to shine. Who was she to let the flames burn out? She couldn't.

"And I wish for you to be mine. In the ways that count." Tad said, breaking Winnie out of her small reverie. The innocent, vulnerable expression on his damningly handsome face pleased with her.

She pressed her index finger against the swollen bottom lip of his. She met his eyes. She saw the possibilities swirling in them, the countless opportunities and adventures they could have, the ideas they could attempt to create, side by side, together.

She knew what she had to do.

"Are you sure it is me you want?"

"I am positive you are what I need and want."

"Okay." Winnie licked her bottom lip drawing his eyes to her lips. "I'll be yours."

With that she sealed their new relationship with a simple, sweet kiss. One, which, warmed the inner broken parts of her heart.

After picking up Winnie's prescribed medication, Tad drove them back to the cabin to ignite the plan they devised and decided on the drive back. Winnie had her fever-ridden forehead pressed against the cool glass of the window. Her bright blue eyes suddenly brighter than they had been in many days. She watched the trees race past, listening to the tires of Tad's truck crunch over the pebbles and dirt, and the roar of the engine.

She couldn't shake the fear gathering in her belly as they neared their destination. What if their plan went wrong? What if the others tried to poke holes in their plan and mess everything up? Or what if Harley and Timothy retaliated and someone got hurt? She couldn't bare seeing another person hurt. Everyone was hurt enough already.

"Tad.. Did you call Wren like I asked?" Winnie asked, lifting her head up and adjusting her sitting position.

"Yes. He's meeting us there. I gave him the directions and told him to lay low and not attract any attention. If he did, we're screwed." He squinted at the rain stained windshield, the glare of the sun obviously bothering him.

"Wren's pretty intelligent. He's cunning and manipulative, " She paused, having to cough. "And he's resourceful. He'd weave his way out of any situation." She added, after about a minute.

Tad parked in the driveway of the cabin and glanced at her. "God. I hope this works." He muttered, unbuckling his seat.

Winnie scooted across the worn seat and cupped his cheeks. She kissed his lips lightly. "I promise you it'll work." She gave him a small, confident smile.

Tad opened his door and helped her out, not responding other than a measly nod. She suspected her had doubts nothing would go right. She grabbed the bag of medicine from the seat and started for the cabin, when a loud strange whistle caught her attention. She depicted where the whistling came from and saw Wren perched in a tree several yards away looking weirdly like Tarzan except wearing regular clothes and his hair was not long.

She made a quick, subtle gesture to Tad and detoured into the woods. She stopped at the foot of the large oak tree Wren sat in. "What in the world are you doing up there?" She shouted, but quietly. If she attracted her mother's attention, it was all over. Everything would go downhill from there.

Wren hopped down from the sturdy branch and landed neatly on his feet. He brushed a couple discolored leaves off his head and adjusted the misplaced strands before answering. "I was scouting out the location, figuring out the best place to strike." He said, like he did not just impressively leap from a tree and not break a leg.

"And did you?" Tad popped up beside Winnie casting subtle glances over his shoulder. Probably hoping Terra wasn't staring out the window.

"There's a backdoor and a large window that is weirdly open I could sneak through as long as you two provide a good enough diversion to help me get through without being captured." Wren said, flatly.

Winnie sighed, running a shaky hand through her black curls. "I'm sure we're in enough trouble to distract the hell out of my Ma and Davie."

"I don't disagree." Muttered Tad.

"Okay. So what do you want me to do once I'm in?"

"Well.." Winnie began.

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