#i like to think charlie grew up not needing to dress formally too much because she was mostly isolated so she doesnt understand formality | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Murder, He Wrote

Epilogue

Summary: You and Ransom attend the launch of his book and the cover closes on your story.

Warnings: Bad language, Mature (NSFW, 18+) NON-CON situations, kidnap, violence. Blood. DO NOT READ IF ANY OF THOSE TRIGGER…READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED…YOU HAVE BEENWARNED.

Pairing: DARK! Ransom Drysdale x Reader

A/N: The end! I can’t believe all this span from @jtargaryen18’s Halloween Challenge last year. I hope you have enjoyed his as much as I have.

Word Count: 3.6k

READ THE WARNINGS!!!! This is a DARK series so don’t @me if you can’t follow simple instructions and end up with butt-hurt. And if you’re under 18 get off my blog!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and by writing it does NOT mean I agree with or condone the acts contained within. This fiction is classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar reader and any other OCs that may or may not be mentioned. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Murder, He Wrote Masterlist // Main Masterlist.

Part 7

The town car and it's driver took you to whatever swanky hotel Ransom and his publishers had decided upon, you not caring the slightest inwardly, outwardly only half paying attention. You glanced out the window watching the lights of downtown pass by as your husband of merely three weeks held your hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

It was a warm July evening, the two of you dressed to the nines in formal attire. Ransom had insisted the launch be an invite only, formal event. Therefore, he was dressed in a two-piece suit, black of course, with a crisp white button down, silken black tie, and you, you looked like an ice queen's slutty sister. The powder blue silk dress you wore tied together with thin straps on each shoulder, your feet already hurting in your nude six inch sandals. Your free hand tapped a neatly manicured finger over your clutch that matched your shoes. A delicate white gold and diamond tennis bracelet adorned your wrist whilst the necklace you'd been gifted at Christmas hung around your neck. You wore your hair the way he said he loved it, in a ponytail full of waves and wisps framing your face.

After the incident on Valentine’s Day, you’d spent another two weeks in the confines of the basement. All luxuries removed and you were used and abused in exactly the way you had been when Ransom had first taken you, until he’d once more sucked the fight out of you. Only this time you didn’t have the strength to find it again.

You played the part you’d been cast in his sick little fantasy and became totally passive to his whims. You let him fuck you which, in all honesty, wasn’t an entirely unpleasant situation as he knew his way around your body and it felt good. You had given up denying it, and for the moments he was teasing those carnal reactions out of you, you escaped, let yourself imagine you were with someone who you wanted. And by keeping him sweet, you fooled him into thinking you were content. And things settled down, you had that halfway to normal life that you’d achieved before you discovered his manuscript.

But it was bullshit. A means to an end. And you deserved a fucking Oscar.

He’d had the audacity to propose to you, too. In a restaurant. Surrounded by people. He asked you the question, like you had a fucking choice.

Angry, desperate tears had filled your eyes as you’d simply gaped at him, tears the deluded cunt took for you being overwhelmed with happiness. With a smile he slipped the gaudily large diamond on your finger, sealing your fate.

It weighed as heavy on your hand as the grief for your lost life, and the despair at your situation did in your heart.

You’d had a small wedding. Attended simply by your parents and sister. He sent an invite to his mother and father but they didn’t show up. Your dad walked you down the aisle and as you walked towards the man you hated with every breath in your body, your father kissed your cheek and asked you if you were sure you wanted to do this. And no, of course you didn’t, but what could you do?

There was no way out.

“You look as gorgeous tonight as you did on our wedding day.” Ransom’s voice slightly startled you and you turned to face him.

You smiled at him, the smile you knew he wanted to see, as he placed a soft kiss to your cheek before doing the same to your hand, his lips ghosted over the top of the obscene rock and matching band on your finger which caught the lights of the city, sparkling with all the ferocity of a supernova.

Before you needed to reply with some half assed compliment back, the town car stopped as the driver got out and opened Ransom's door.

"Wait here," he instructed and walked around with the driver on the other side, escorting you out the minute your own door opened.

Flashbulbs fired off in your eyes, no doubt the press there for some absolutely ridiculous notion that this book was anything but its true nature of terror and disgust.

Ransom’s hand pressed into the base of your back as he guided you along in front of him, various members of the press calling his name, and you heard the excited shouts from some as they spotted the bands on both yours and Ransom’s hands, positively shrieking as they asked when you’d gotten married.

The headlines flashed in your mind now, 'Grandson of the Great Harlan Thrombey Releases First Suspense Novel'. 'One of Boston's Most Notorious and Eligible Bachelors is Strictly Off The Market' . 'Trust Fund Playboy Sinks His Bunny'.

It made you want to puke.

In fact, as the press line faded and you stepped foot into the lobby, you swallowed back the bile forcing its way up. A tray with champagne flutes passed you by and you immediately snagged one.

When Ransom had been distracted for a brief moment, you quickly glanced around and swallowed back the entire flute of the bubbly drink. Delightfully enjoying the brief taste and quick head rush it gave you.

The further you walked into the event, his hand still against your bare back, the louder it grew and the more trays of champagne and appetizers were floating by.

As typical, the two of you were fashionably late so, you had little chance to take part in any nibble or further, a drink, because the supposed "man of the hour", more like terror of life, was due to give a speech.

His agent pulled the two of you aside and made mention that it was time for Ransom to greet his guests. He pressed a sickening sweet kiss to your lips and confidently took to the small podium atop a small stage nearby.

“First and foremost, thank you to everyone who came out tonight. But more importantly, thank you to my beautiful wife, without you Sweetheart, this wouldn't be possible.”

The smile he flashed you was loaded with meaning as the pair of you looked at one another, his eyes shining with the depraved private understanding you shared.

And you hated him then just about as much as you ever had.

Excited muttering spread around the room as he had knowingly referred to you as his wife. It was the first time he’d announced your marriage to the world but, as he smiled and held his hands up, nodding smugly and confirming whatever people were asking him, you felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of nausea. To everyone else it was a sweet dedication, to you it was a sickening truth. This book was based on what he’d done to you. What he was saying was literal truth.

And the fact that the people currently applauding whatever he had said would never realise the true nature of those words on the pages of his book made you want to vomit in your handbag.

Applause rang around the room and you realised everyone was turned in your direction. Drawing your shoulders back you stood tall and once more fixed that fake smile on your face before Ransom cleared his throat and began to speak again.

But you didn't listen, you drowned him out, the sound of his voice distant and murky like Charlie Brown's teacher. You allowed you mind to think of anything but the present, other than the fact that these people were in unknowing full support of the hell you'd been through the last nine months.

Eventually a loud, rapturous applause signalled the end of his speech and he stepped back, smiling and then turned to the man from his publishers who shook his hand furiously, before the pair of them posed for photos.

That was when he beckoned you to him, looking at you in such a way that made your skin crawl and your teeth seethe with each breath. This bastard expected a photo op from you above all this, commemorating this disaster.

On autopilot you headed towards him, indifference obedience now your specialty and his arm curled possessively round your waist, fingers splaying on your hip. You posed and smiled as the flashes went off, but as you stole a glance at the large, ornate clock on the wall, you suddenly felt your head beginning to swim.

Seeing a convenient way out of this bullshit, you made sure to falter just a little, placing your hand to your chest. It caused Ransom's attention to turn to you.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?"

“I’m feeling a little light headed and warm.” You looked up at him. “Could we maybe get some air?”

"Sure, yeah," he looked to his agent and they nodded towards a side door in the room.

His arm still round you, playing the doting husband, he led you towards it and opened it with a flourish, allowing you to step out in front of him.

You emerged into the alley at the side of the building and took a huge gulp of air, steadying yourself.

"Y/N, what's wrong?"

You were warm, flushed, your skin tingling as the now cooling air hit your slightly damp skin, your nipples perking at the temperature change were visible through the silk dress, and you didn’t miss the heated glance he gave them as you spoke. "I, I don't know. I think it's all the commotion."

“You do look a little flushed.” His eyes moved back to yours and he studied you for a moment, his large hands gently cupping your face as he kissed your forehead before his lips pressed to yours. “Wanna take a walk?”

Despite the fact you really couldn’t walk far in the ridiculous shoes you were in, you nodded. Anything to avoid going back in there and listening to all those sycophants kissing his ass.

He took your hand and started walking slowly down the alley. You were mid-way down when a man jumped out from behind the dumpster. You screamed and instinctively Ransom jumped to the side, pulling you slightly behind him.

“Give me the money and the jewellery, no one gets hurt.” The man spoke gruffly and you felt Ransom draw himself up to his full height as he glared at the dirty, dishevelled man, disdain on his face.

“Eat shit.”

“Ransom, just... please give him what he wants.” Your voice trembled as your body shook, your right hand already removing the rings on your left.

“I’d listen to your pretty wife, if I were you.” The man spoke as he reached into his pocket and when he withdrew his hand you swallowed at the unmistakable flash of metal.

“Fuck, Ransom, he’s got a knife!” You clutched his arm. “Please just give it to him!”

"Fuck, no," he started reaching for his phone but the man lunged toward him.

In the melee that followed, you were thrown to the side, your rings clanging to the floor somewhere along with your clutch, your palms and knees scraping painfully on the floor. By the time you’d pushed yourself up, you saw the man scrambling to his feet, Ransom’s watch and wallet in his hand. He turned to look at you and you backed away, stumbling once more to the ground letting out a blood curdling scream as he advanced. He stopped, picked up your rings and your bag, before he turned, bolting up the alley and rounding the corner, disappearing from sight.

"Y/N," the croaking voice came from your husband as he staggered towards you, a deep red seeping through his white dress shirt, his one hand attempting to stave off the bleeding. The other, cradling his phone. But he didn't get more than a few steps as he collapsed nearby.

"Ransom!" You shrieked and heels be damned, you ran to him, looking around, "help!"

"Call 9-1-1, Baby," he begged, trying to thrust the phone into your hand and you leaned over him.

With a jittery hand you swiped over to the emergency call option and hit the first two digits before you glanced around again and hesitated, rising slowly to your feet.

“What...” Ransom’s chest heaved as he looked up at you, his face white with shock as you turned the phone in your hand and shrugged.

“Yeah, you see, I could call for help but...” with that you tossed his phone to the hard ground and crunched it with your stupidly high heel, rotating your foot to make double sure, the glass and metal grinding between the stiletto and the tarmac. “Whoops, looks like it got smashed in the fight.” You gave a little chuckle. “And of course, mine was in my bag which he took. Isn’t that ironic? I mean the first time you permit me to use it for something other than to contact you or my mom, I can’t.” You made a little tutting noise. “Guess I’ll just have to keep yelling and hope someone hears.”

With that you turned and screamed, a frantic yell. “Please, someone help us! Please, he’s been stabbed, call 9-1-1.” You slowly dropped back to a kneel, ignoring the sting of your grazed knees and smirked. “Dammed, I really am good at this acting shit, don’t you think, handsome?”

Ransom coughed a harsh and wet cough. His chest heaving raggedly as he struggled between catching a breath and bleeding out.

“Y/N...” he spluttered, “you...please...”

"So many criminal junkies in Boston, Sweetheart. Plenty who will take the fall for a little hit,” you emphasised the 't' of the last word as you spoke the very same line that he had delivered to you months ago, the threat he had held over you and used to keep you in check whenever you stepped over that line.

His eyes widened further as the realisation set in, you could see his brain working and it gave you a buzz, a sense of satisfaction to know that he understood this was your doing.

You wanted the last thing this bastard thought about to be how you were responsible for his death. But more so, his narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies be damned, you wanted him to completely understand exactly how it was his fault.

And given the way he was bleeding and struggling for breath, you didn’t have long.

Another scream for help flew from your mouth as you pressed one hand on top of his which were now both clutched to the wound in his stomach, the other brushing his hair back slightly as you smiled down at him.

“I told you when you threw me back in the basement that the way you treat people would come back to haunt you.” You gave a little shrug. “And, when you told the homeless guy looking in the bins on collection day a few months back to eat shit and get a job, well, he took it kinda personally. He didn’t even blink when I asked how much it would take to knock you off.”

"You..." choking on blood, "vicious..." choke,

At that you gave another loud hysteric yell for help before you turned your head back to look at him.

“See, once upon a time I thought you’d changed. But here’s the thing, a person like you doesn’t change, Hugh. You’re incapable of love. You take what you want when you want for no reason other than it pleases you.”

Another scream for help, and this time you could hear someone answering and a lot of yells as people started running towards you.

“Well, now I’ve taken your life like you took mine.” You bent down, your forehead pressing to his as you smirked. His arm reached up to grab you, his blood soaked hand curling over your cheek and side of your neck. "And you know what? It feels good."

His palm was warm and slick against your skin and his eyes blazed with anger as his fingers squeezed. You knew he was desperately trying to hurt you but you felt nothing. You smiled, as you placed a soft kiss to his lips, your words whispered as you pulled back ever so slightly. “Karma’s a bitch, and so am I. See you in hell.”

As the fake tears started to pool in your eyes once more, you allowed your lip to tremble for distraught emphasis. Blood was now trickling out of Ransom's mouth, along down his ear and to the tarmac. You pulled back just a little so as to see his eyes. You wanted to watch him choke on his own blood as he took that final breath. You started sputtering words incoherently as you amped up the hysteria, hearing the footfalls now just behind you.

He didn’t even make it to the hospital.

Hugh Ransom Drysdale was pronounced dead at 21:05 hours on Friday 17th July where he lay in a pool of his own blood, in that dark alleyway down the side of the hotel.

Leaving you a widow.

And free.

***10 months later***

It was as simple as it sounded, closing your eyes and pointing to a spot on a map. Your finger ended up on Boulder.

Colorado was far enough from the last year or so of your life that you could feel comfortable. You'd researched it, finding it to be something worth interest. Affordable. Breath-taking scenery. Incredible life altering activities and quaint little towns. The summers were supposedly warm but rarely did the temperature rise above ninety-five, the winters were supposedly very cold, dry and windy; rarely dropping below six degrees with partly cloudy skies year round.

The months following Ransom’s death had been as draining as humanly possible. The investigation had involved countless interviews before the police and authorities settled for it being a mugging gone wrong. But then there had been the months of wrangling and private law cases his parents had attempted to bring against you to prevent you getting his money, despite the probate law being fairly simple. You were married. He left no will. It was yours by default.

Eventually, when the Drysdales had exhausted every last option, they were forced to concede and that was when you made the decision to leave, a decision of which your parents were highly encouraging. They practically talked you into this whole thing to begin with. Helping you leave your nightmares behind. Despite them not suspecting anything at first, you weren't blind to the fact that things still had not sat right with them. You knew they had suspected a level coercion, that maybe you'd had a manic episode of mental illness, but you never had divulged the full details and by the time he was gone, they hadn't cared. Your relationship with them had strengthened and healed and that was what you cared about.

Now, you were newly nestled in Boulder with a great condo downtown, a stone’s throw from the historic district that was filled with cliché shops and bars. Whilst you didn’t need the money, you’d taken a job working in the media department of a private law firm. It was a far cry from your journalist days, but it suited you just fine.

The more distance you put between who you were now and who you had been, the better.

You were at peace.

The May evening air was temperate as you crossed the street and opened the door to the designated bar in which you were meeting your new group of friends, mostly gathered from work, for a girl's night out. You’d been held up a little in the office so they were already waiting at a table. You waved and gestured to the bar, indicating you were going to get a drink.

As you sidled up to the wooden counter, you were jolted a little into a man to your right. You turned to apologise and gave a little double take. You recognised him instantly. But you didn’t want to make that obvious and cause him to feel uncomfortable. You knew how it felt, to have everyone looking at you, hushed whispered comments as you went about your business, people trying to figure out if you were who they thought you were.

That was part of the reason you had moved, and you sure as hell weren’t about to subject the man next to you to the same, uncomfortable experiences.

Recovering quickly, you hastily apologised and he smiled.

“Don’t worry about it.” His Boston accent was evident and you smiled.

“I miss that accent.”

The man chuckled, his warm blue eyes creasing slightly as he looked at you. “You from Boston, too?”

“Concord.”

“Newton.” He replied, “well, I lived there anyway, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

You wrinkled your nose. “Should I? Know that, I mean?”

He studied you for a moment, and you kept your face as passive as possible. You could tell he knew that you knew, but you gave a shrug none-the-less and he smiled, a gorgeous smile that lit up his entire face, perfect white teeth flashing from beneath an immaculately groomed beard, as he extended his arm towards you.

“Andy Barber.” His fingers gently brushed the back of your knuckles, as you shook his hand, his grip warm and gentle.

“Oh, of course.” You smiled back. “One of our attorneys.”

“Our?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m Y/N. I work in the media department. I mean I only started a few weeks ago but...”

“Well, in that case, I’m pleased to meet you, Y/N, and welcome aboard.” His smile didn’t falter as he let go of your hand and gestured to the bar. “Can I get you a drink?”

You paused for a moment before you took a deep breath.

And nodded.

“Sure, that’d be great.”

******

Sequel: Follow Andy and reader’s story in Consciousness Of Guilt.

#murder he wrote #dark ransom drysdale #dark ransom drysdale x reader #dark ransom x reader #dark ransom drysdale x you #ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale x you #ransom drysdale fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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babbushka · 4 years

Text

Mind & Soul (6/10)

The story of how one man fell out of love and into it again

Charlie (Marriage Story) x Reader

6.8k ; Warnings for angst, mentions of stitches (but there’s some sweet family fluff in here too don’t worry lol)

Tumblr masterlist for previous chapters // Available on AO3

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Time after time I tell myself that I'm

So lucky to be loving you

So lucky to be

The one you run to see

In the evening when the day is through

Charlie thinks that if he never steps inside a courtroom ever again, it’ll be too soon.

He’s sitting on his side, and Nicole is sitting on hers, between them are asshole lawyers that Charlie knows he can’t trust. He can’t, and yet he has to, has to trust that this jerk will say the right things, do the right things, to help him win. He doesn’t think he’s winning, but he just has to trust.

He doesn’t trust anyone but you.

Charlie is sitting on his side, and Nicole is sitting on hers, and you’re up at the witness stand. It’s surreal to have you there, he thinks. Surreal to see you dressed so nicely for court.

If he thinks about it, he knows that you go to really important meetings, he knows you need to dress up for pitch presentations, he knows. But he’s only ever seen you casual, only ever seen you undone. There’s something delicious, about seeing someone so casual, be so dressed up. You’re in a very smart suit, you look more put together than Nicole does. Charlie wonders what that says about her, if it says anything at all.

He doesn’t bother to look at her and gauge her reaction to the way you swear to tell nothing but the truth, although he can imagine the sharp betrayal she must be feeling. Good, he thinks, let her be betrayed, let her have a taste of her own medicine.

He doesn’t bother to look at her, not when his eyes are glued to you.

“Please state your name.” Charlie’s new lawyer, Jay approaches the stand, begins his examination of your testimony.

“(Y/F/N), (Y/L/N).” You say easily, meeting his gaze evenly.

“Ms. (L/N), why are you here?” He asks, formalities, protocol.

“I’m here to act as a character witness, on behalf of Mr. Barber.” You reply, and if Charlie listens he can probably hear Nicole’s jaw clenching.

Once upon a time, you and Nicole had been friends. Not nearly as friendly as you had been with him, but still. Friends. And now here you are, siding with him.

“And why should we take your recommendation of Mr. Barber’s character into consideration at all?” Jay shrugs, crosses his arms as if he’s showing the judge that he won’t go easy on you just because you’re on his side.

“The Barbers moved into the house next door to mine, and over the course of the two years they lived there I acted as a baby-sitter for their son, Henry.” You explain.

Somewhere in the background, the stenographer types away, her nails clicking on a keyboard that doesn’t make any sense to Charlie. He’s laser focused on you, tries not to think about those two years, tries even harder not to think about how he spent half that time fucking you.

He knows the judge can’t read minds, but sometimes the way the judge looks at Charlie says otherwise.

“So it could be said that you were privy to observing the Barber’s family life.” Jay asks, and you have a little knowing smile that quirks up the corners of your mouth.

Charlie sweats, watching you up on the stand, tries not to think about just how privy you were, tries not to sweat.

“I wouldn’t say observing in any conscious sense, but yes. When you live next door to someone you become friendly with them. Certainly when you become their babysitter, you become friendly with the child.” You smile coolly, innocently, genuinely.

And that was the big thing, wasn’t it? That you were genuine, always, in all things. That’s what had drawn him to you initially, that sincerity. As a friend, as a babysitter, and as a lover.

“Who asked you to babysit?” Jay asked, because this was really the most credible part about your testimony, the babysitting.

“Mr. Barber, I only ever really spoke to Mrs. Barber in social settings.” You replied honestly.

“Did Mrs. Barber speak of Henry often, in those social settings?” Jay asks, the leading questions already beginning.

“Objection your honor, leading the witness.” Nora, Nicole’s bitch of a lawyer stands up then.

“Sustained, the witness is to provide testimony on Mr. Barber, not Mrs.” The judge nods, making Nora sit down with a smile.

“Alright, then did Mr. Barber speak of Henry, outside of the conversations where he asked you to babysit?” Jay asks, and you nod quickly.

“Yes, very much so. We spoke about a lot of things, you know. But he was always very very proud of Henry. He would pull out his phone and show me pictures, of Henry or drawings that he made, that sort of thing. He was always a very proud father.” You reply.

“How frequently did you babysit for the Barbers?” Jay asks, just trying to form a narrative. Charlie knows this, but if he thinks about it, if he thinks of all the times he’s asked you to watch Henry simply so that he can come over to your house and steal a kiss or two (or twenty) upon picking him up, if he thinks too loudly then the judge will hear.

“About once a week, on nights where rehearsals were running late at the theater company, or they knew they’d be in meetings, that sort of thing. The odd party now and again.” You brush it off as if it were nothing.

But it isn’t nothing, it isn’t.

“Once a week is fairly often, I imagine you grew quite close to Henry.” Jay prompts.

“Oh yes, I like to think he trusts me. He’s so bright, that boy, and he picks up on a lot, you know? Sometimes if Mr. and Mrs. Barber had a fight, he’d find some subtle way to ask why grownups have to be mean to each other. Or when Mr. Barber was told to sleep on the couch a couple months before Nicole left, he would ask why parents don’t always sleep in the same bed.” You say pointedly, trying to make the point that she left. She left.

“Did Mr. and Mrs. Barber have fights often?” Jay asks, as if this is new knowledge to him.

“Through the entire time I knew them, yes. They fought often.” You nod, chewing your lip.

“Did any of these fights turn physical?” Jay asks, but your eyes widen at the thought, at the implication that Charlie would do anything like that.

“No, not to my knowledge. Just, raised voices. I mostly heard Mrs. Barber yelling, when the fights would happen. There was a lot of yelling at Mr. Barber.” You say and you fidget with your hands for a moment, before continuing, “I try not to listen but, the houses are so close and sometimes the fights would be very late, so the sound wasn’t drowned out by the traffic.”

“Ms. (L/N), what can you tell us about Mr. Barber, his character.” Jay says, wanting to get to the point. “It’s clear that you’re someone around him, around his child. It’s clear that you’ve seen the way he interacts with his family. If you were to make a judgement call, how would you describe him?”

“Mr. Barber is a very hardworking man. He’s the type of person who remembers to take care of everyone that depends on him, he remembers things about the people who depend on him, and even about the people who don’t. He is the kind of father you wish every child has – compassionate and playful, but strict in the right ways.” You say, try to keep it as much to the point as possible.

“He is well respected in the community, is active in both the theater sphere as well as locally. I’ve never seen him lash out or become violent, in all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever heard him yell in an angry way. His son loves him very much.”

You look right at Charlie when you say that last part, and Charlie has to look away, because he can’t help but feel the tight ache in his chest at the mention of Henry’s love, not now. Not when there’s such a possibility of losing him that he can nearly hear the goodbyes.

“No further questions, your honor.” Jay says, before returning to his seat next to Charlie.

Nora stands up then, and Charlie nearly wants to hold his breath, but you don’t. You look at her evenly, and Charlie thinks you’re so brave for that, that’s not something he’s still managed to do.

“Ms. (L/N) this is all well and good, but I’d like to bring up the fact that a primary reason that you are here, is because on the night of a home-visit by the state-sanctioned case worker to observe Mr. Barber and his son, you were present.” She says, as if this is a bad thing, as if you’re breaking some sort of rule.

“Yes, I was.” You reply, your shoulders square and your chin raised.

Because, yes, you were.

-----------------

The next day felt like a blur, to Charlie. He woke up with you by his side, kissed you for what felt like an eternity before the alarm even had a chance to ring. He held you in his arms, and for the first time in a long time, woke up with a smile on his face.

He asked you to stay in bed while he went down and made breakfast for Henry, got him dressed and ready for school, and when he came back home from dropping him off, you were still there.

He had hoped that you’d let him crawl back into bed, settle himself against your naked body, let him have a drink of the sweet wine that spilled forth from your lips. But you only eyed his arm, the cut which stung, which needed proper stitches.

So to the hospital you had went, and stitches he had gotten, and after a normal amount of painkillers he had fallen back asleep with his head next to yours on the pillow, dreams a swirling mess of colors and sounds.

He doesn’t remember what they are, when he wakes up. It’s late, in the afternoon, he can tell. Can tell by how rich the sunlight is coming through the window. Maybe it’s three o’clock, he doesn’t know, he can’t see the numbers right now, eyes half-closed still.

You come into the room gently, upon hearing him rustling. You’re so beautiful, he thinks, as he carefully opens his arms for you, groggy and yet still so pleased to see you.

“You’re still here.” He says. He’s not so sure that he hadn’t dreamt your being there, the pain medication addling his system just a little.

“Mhm,” You smile, sitting on the edge of the bed and teasing, “Good morning.”

You reach a hand out and softly brush your knuckles against his cheek. Charlie grasps your hand and gives it a little tug, pulls you down down down until your noses are touching, until he’s nearly smiling against your mouth.

“Can I kiss you a little?” He asks, and your smile lights up his entire world, when you flash your pretty teeth at him.

“Yeah, but then you’ve got to go pick up Henry from school. They’ll freak out if you’re late, it won’t look good for you.” You whisper, rubbing your lips over his, the ghost of a kiss, the ghost of a touch.

“I know, will you come with?” He chases you, careful of the stitches in his arm as he maneuvers you onto your side, on top of the covers.

“Nah, I’m going to stay here, I’ve got to get the most kick-ass dinner made for tonight.” You smile again, and Charlie lets his eyes close in gratitude as your mouth opens for him.

Kissing you is almost as intoxicating, as dangerous as the painkillers. They’re out of his system now, he can feel it from the twinge in his arm, the sting of it. But he doesn’t need them, not when your tongue is so hot against his, not when your hands roam over the width of his body. He wants to have sex with you, but there’s no time today, not right now.

That’s alright, he thinks. Soon this will be over, and you two can have all the sex you’d like. He huffs out a little laugh, post-dream-glow starting to fade only to be replaced with the euphoria of kissing you.

“You’re literally a life-saver, you know that?” He grumbles against your lips as he stretches the sleep from his calves. His nap is over, he knows, he’s got to go get Henry, he knows. But he doesn’t want to leave your side, not right now.

He never knows when the next time he might get you will be.

“I do, but tell me anyway.” You smirk just a little, before sitting up once again, detangling yourself from him. You give his cheek a playful little pat and attempt to lure him out of bed with your body and, “Come on, you’ve had your kisses.”

Charlie sits up too, and for the first time really takes in the sight of the bedroom around him. The last time he was here, it hadn’t even had a bed. Now it was fully furnished to his tastes, and he remembers, he knows you’re the one who did that.

“Do you like it?” Charlie thinks aloud, abruptly.

“What honey?” You ask, rifling through the closet, tossing some clothes onto the end of the bed for him.

“The house.” He says nervously, palms gone clammy for a minute. “You know, do you think it’s nice?”

He hopes you do, hopes Henry does.

Hopes the social workers does.

Hopes the judge does.

But most importantly, he hopes you do.

“It’s a gorgeous home, Charlie. I was impressed even when it was empty, but you know that.” You reply.

And of course he knows that, because you were there with him when he bought it, the house. You were the one who helped him look for a month, when Nicole had made her grand return and served him the papers. They had to sell the house, he needed a new one, and you had helped him find this place.

“I bought it for you, for us.” Charlie says, and he doesn’t know if it’s the way he can just be so himself around you, or maybe it’s the fear of rejection that makes him so overly casual about it, he doesn’t know. But he doesn’t look at you when he buttons on a crisp white shirt, “I was hoping, after all of this, you and me and Henry…we could all live here. If it works out that way.”

“Do you really mean that?” You ask quietly, stunned.

“I really do.” Charlie swallows around his nerves, immediately rushing to say, “But I don’t want you to think I’m pushing you to do it or anything – ”

“You’re not being pushy.” You shake your head, sitting down on the edge of the bed, lightly picking at nothing on the comforter before admitting, “I’d really love that. I’ve sort of, well. I’ve selfishly started thinking of this as my house too.”

“What will you do about your house in the old neighborhood?” Charlie tries tries tries not to jump and scream and shout with joy, tries to keep it cool, tries to keep himself rational. “I don’t want you to uproot yourself.”

“I’ve been thinking about selling it for a long time, to be honest.” You smile sadly.

“Really?” He frowns, the very thought of you being too far away making him nervous, worried.

“Yeah, I’ve sort of outgrown it.” You shrug, blinking away tears of relief at Charlie’s want of you, “I wasn’t thinking of moving far away or anything! But just into a bigger space, a blank canvas. Somewhere with an office. I’m so tired of working at the dining room.”

“There’s space here, you could have an office here.” Charlie says, tucking his shirt into freshly ironed pants.

“I could.” You say with a smile, you ironed those pants.

“I love you.” Charlie says, simply because he has to.

“I love you too.” You reply, because you can. And then, when Charlie’s all dressed, you lean in for one more kiss, one that Charlie lets himself get lost in, before you pull away with a devious smile and a, “Go get Henry.”

-----------------

I only know what I know

The passing years will show

You've kept my love so young, so new

And time after time

You'll hear me say that I'm

So lucky to be loving you

You’re in a damn good mood, in the kitchen. There’s music playing off the bluetooth speaker, volume turned up high enough that it fills the whole house as you cook up a storm. While Charlie had napped off the pain from his stitches, you’d browsed the internet for the most impressive recipes you could think of.

Nothing too flashy, nothing that says you were trying too hard, but definitely something nicer than a simple box meal, or something. You wanted this social worker to see how well cared for Henry was, home cooked meals and maybe if he’s good, there’s a chocolate cake you need to frost cooling by the oven.

You whistle along to bright jazz, trumpets and saxophones harmonizing with the sizzle snap crackle pop of spices and vegetables in the skillet, fat rendering away into thick sauces for this grand dinner.

You’re wearing a nice outfit, made sure Charlie had been dressed nice too. You knew how important this was for him, you knew how important it was to come across as put together as possible. Henry had a good thing going here, you needed to prove to her. He had a huge house, all his toys. Friends from school could come over and play in the backyard, you and Charlie would be there to make them all food the way that you did when Nicole was gone and away for those six months.

This wasn’t about you, you shake the thought from your head. No matter how idyllic of a picture it painted, you knew you were here to help make the case for Charlie, for Henry. You loved them both so deeply, cared about them so much, you had to help. You can think about being a family together again after Charlie wins the case, after Charlie is told he can officially keep his son.

Because isn’t that what you had become, a family?

The kitchen smells incredible, and you’re thanking the insanely long recipe for that, thanking the random food blogger you had stumbled upon.

You add a pinch more salt, before wiping your hands down on the kitchen towel that’s slung over your shoulder the way Charlie tends to do. The music is loud and happy, and you’re in a good mood – until you hear the doorbell ring.

Shit! You think to yourself, casting a glance to the clock above the oven. It’s only four o’clock, you hadn’t been expecting anyone until five at the earliest. You scramble to get yourself presentable, calling out, “Just a second!”

You make sure that the stove is set low enough that nothing burns in the few minutes that you need to step away from it, slipping your feet into short heeled house shoes, smoothing down your hair. You make your way through the big gorgeous house and open the door, smiling at a woman in a nice grey pant-suit.

“Hello, my name is Katherine Gonzales, is this the residence of Mr. Charlie Barber?” The social worker checks her clipboard, clearly surprised that you’re there.

“It is! Please forgive me, we weren’t anticipating you until a little later, Charlie’s just picking Henry up from school now.” You offer her a hand to shake and a warm smile, “My name is (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N), please come in, make yourself comfortable.”

You stand to the side and she steps into the house, you close the door behind her. You wince, the music is still so loud, and you quickly pull out your phone to try and lower the volume. You hope you don’t look as frazzled as you feel, as you walk her back to the kitchen.

“Ms. (L/N) – ” Katherine starts, but you laugh good-naturedly.

“Please, call me (Y/N).” You ask, halfway wanting to make that old Ms. L/N was my mother, joke, but thinking better of it.

“Of course, (Y/N).” Katherine corrects herself, standing kind of awkwardly in the kitchen. “Pardon my bluntness, but I wasn’t aware you’d be part of the evening.”

“I’m very sorry, it was a last minute decision. Henry asked that I be here, and well.” You assumed your spot by the stove, giving the stir-fry a nice zhuzh so the vegetables don’t get too charred. “I didn’t think it’d be fair to say no to him, during all this.”

“I understand. And are you and Mr. Barber…?” Katherine prompts, making your heart flutter.

“Oh just friends.” You lie easily. It was an easy lie to make of course, you’d made it a thousand times over the course of a year and a half, “I used to live next door before he moved into this house. Ever since the separation, I’ve been helping out. It takes a village, and all that.”

“That it does.” Katherine concedes, looking around the house.

She’s got a great poker face, if she’s impressed you can’t tell. But how could someone not be? With the open floor plan and high vaulted ceilings, the chandeliers, the tall wide windows that let the light spill in beautifully?

“Can I offer you anything to drink? Really I’m so sorry, they should be here any minute.” You say, checking the clock again.

“If you had any bottled water?” Katherine smiles apologetically but you nod happily, go over to the fridge.

“I’m afraid I’ve only got sparkling, is that alright?” You pull out a bottle of Perrier, and thankfully, she’s the kind of person who drinks that sort of thing.

“Yes of course.” She accepts it with a, “Thank you. Do you cook dinner for Charlie and Henry often?”

You smile about the thought, about cooking for them. The truth of the matter was yes, you did. For six months you all cooked together, ate dinners together nearly every day. In many ways, this felt like falling back into the old routine, the comfort of familiarity making you smile some more.

“Sometimes, yeah. I work from home, this house is only ten minutes away from their old house where I live, so it’s easy for me to help out.” You try to appear as only a good friend, nothing more. You wouldn’t do that to Charlie, you think, you wouldn’t compromise this with your own musings. The timer dings then, and you happily pull out an appetizer from the oven, transferring it to a serving platter on the island. “Here, please have whatever you’d like.”

“I already ate, really I’m fine.” Katherine says out of politeness, but you see right through her.

“Oh but I made it special.” You frown, looking at the beautifully crispy bubbly cheesey dip.

“Well if you insist.” Katherine smiles, and you smile, and you think that maybe she’s only so severe because she has to be, maybe you’ll be okay, maybe you’ll get through this and on the other side there’ll be some positive news.

Katherine has had exactly three tortilla chips when the front door opens and the comforting peace of the kitchen is disrupted by the loud sounds of laughter.

“Ha! I win!” Henry is out of breath from it, bright belly laughs that immediately bring a smile to your face.

“Oh no you don’t -- !” You hear Charlie reply, and then some sort of playful scuffle.

“That must be them, they always race to the front door.” You explain to Katherine who is already writing down stuff on her clipboard, already making notes.

“Hey something smells good.” Henry bounds into the kitchen, throws his arms around your middle for a hug and a, “Hi (Y/N)!”

“Heyheyhey, shoes off.” Charlie calls after him by the front door, his voice stern yet kind. You can imagine him running a hand through his hair, toeing out of his own sneakers.

Henry gives you an exaggerated look that’s got you stifling a laugh as he steps out of his shoes and runs them back to the front door in just his socks, before coming back into the kitchen.

“Hi kiddo, how was school today?” You greet him properly as you let him peer into the skillet for what they’re having.

“It was good – hi, I’m Henry.” He takes notice of the social worker finally, offers her a hand to shake in the way that you know he must’ve learned from Charlie.

“Hi Henry nice to meet you, don’t mind me I’ll just be over here.” Katherine takes his hand and gives it a firm shake.

Kids always had a funny way of showing their manners, you think as Henry does just ignore her and turn back to you immediately upon the permission to do so.

“I was asking dad if I could enter the science fair this year, would you help me?” He asks, eyes wide. His hair is getting long, you think, because he keeps blowing it out from his eyes.

“Science fair huh? What sort of experiment are we thinking?” You ask happily, tending to dinner.

“Something with legos, dad says there’s tons of stuff to do with them.” Henry goes to the fridge and gets water from the filter, chugs it down. You smile and shake your head, they really must have ran ran to the door this time.

“Why don’t you go set the table and we talk about it while we eat.” Charlie hints as he comes into the kitchen, looking handsome as all hell. He too shakes the social worker’s hand, voice warm when he greets her. “Hello, pleasure to meet you.”

“Katherine Gonzales, you must finally be Mr. Barber.” Katherine smiles, and Charlie winces.

“I’m sorry, if I had known you’d be here earlier I’d’ve – ” He starts, but Katherine only waves it away.

“Not to worry. (Y/N) was keeping me company.” She says kindly, before taking her purse and clipboard. “But really, just go about your business as usual. I’ve got to just do a little walk through of the place before dinner, you won’t know I’m here.”

Charlie nods, and when Katherine is out of sight, he sidles up next to you, wraps his arms around you from behind for a moment. He steals the softest kiss against your cheek before stepping away and asking, “How can I help?”

“Nah there’s nothing to do, why don’t you and Henry go wash up?” You ask after him, “How’s your arm feeling?”

“Stings but I’m okay.” He swoops down for one more secret kiss that has you laughing, has you pushing him off of you playfully in case Katherine comes back and sees. He grins, is in a good mood as he claps his hands together and goes into the dining room, “Henry! Great job honey, come on we need to wash our hands otherwise we’ll get sick, let’s go.”

-----------------

Later, when everyone is washed up and dinner is served, the three of you sit at the dining table. Charlie, being big man of the house and all, sits at the head, with you and Henry on either side. You don’t know where Katherine has gone, but you know she must be close by watching, listening. You and Charlie had both been worried that maybe Henry would act differently, or strangely with her being there, but it seems as though he’s already forgotten about her.

Or at least, for the moment.

“Alright so tell me about this science fair.” You smile as Henry serves himself a big helping of potatoes.

“Um, I know what I want to do but I’m worried about it and messing it up so I was wondering if you and dad would help me.” He says apprehensively, and you frown.

“Why worried, because of the reading?” You ask softly, not wanting to upset him.

“Yeah.” Henry sighs, pushing a fingerling potato around on his plate.

“Has someone been giving you trouble about it?” Charlie frowns now too, concerned, wondering why Henry didn’t say anything earlier.

“There’s this girl, Jenny Henderson. She was making fun of me in the library today during media.” Henry explained, and you and Charlie immediately look at one another.

“Is Jenny in your class?” Charlie asks, jaw clenching, already wanting to get up and call the teacher, wanting to call someone.

“No, she’s in the gifted class.” Henry shakes his head, takes a big sip of water.

“Was she saying anything to you or just…?” You prompt gently.

“She pointed and laughed to her friends.” Henry looks at you, and then at Charlie, and then back down at his plate, voice very small when he says, “And then her friends laughed. She called me dumb.”

Charlie puts down his silverware with enough seriousness that Henry looks up at him with wet eyes.

“You are not dumb. Everyone learns at their own pace, and everything has their own strengths. So what if Jenny Henderson can read more advanced books? That doesn’t make her better than you. And in fact, because she made you feel bad about it, means that she’s definitely not better than you.” Charlie goes to get up, puts his napkin on the table. “I’m going to call up the school and – ”

“No!” Henry says suddenly, “No don’t, that’ll only make things worse.”

You and Charlie look at each other, torn with what to do.

“Honey we aren’t going to sit by and do nothing. She needs to know that there are consequences for her actions. People aren’t allowed to make others feel bad like that.” You say, and remembering how often kids made you feel like garbage at school, knowing Charlie must remember it too. You don’t want that for him, neither of you do.

“But what if she gets mad?” Henry asks sadly.

“Then you tell me, and I’ll handle it, okay?” Charlie says seriously, wanting his son to know that he’ll always be there for him. Charlie sits back down, puts the napkin back on his lap, picks up his silverware again. “How about I wait until Monday, we can call together.”

“Okay.” Henry nods, feeling infinitely better already. You can tell just by the way he’s not hunched in on himself, sitting upright and actually eating happily.

“Since it’s Friday, what do you say we leave homework until tomorrow and do something fun after dinner?” Charlie asks, to get him into a better mood.

“Can we start the project? I can go get my legos!” Henry perks up immediately, looking between the two of you.

“That sounds like a plan to me – but heyheyhey finish your dinner, (Y/N) worked hard on it.” Charlie chuckles as Henry nearly gets up to go bolt.

He sits back down with a sheepish smile, but you only give him a friendly wink to let him know it’s all okay.

No matter what, it’s all okay.

-----------------

Charlie steels himself for this, for the grilling.

Nora has approached the stand and is walking back and forth in front of it with her hands steepled together like he’s got something up her sleeve. Charlie doesn’t like it, and neither do you.

But you’re strong, so much stronger than Nora expects.

“What were you doing there that evening to begin with, Ms. (L/N)?” She asks you.

“Henry asked me to be there, so I went.” You reply easily.

“If you’re just a babysitter, why did Henry want you there?” She counters.

“If I may speak frankly, I spent a lot of time around Mr. Barber and his son when Mrs. Barber abandoned them.” You try not to feel insulted, Charlie tries not to feel insulted for you, but that barb hits Nora, hits Nicole deep.

“Abandoned is a – ” Nora starts, but you’re not having any of it.

“For six months while she was off galivanting around Los Angeles with not even so much as a phone call, Mr. Barber needed someone to help him get adjusted. We didn’t know if Nico—if Mrs. Barber, would ever come back, and I wasn’t going to stand by and watch them struggle.” You say coldly.

“Struggle how?” Nora turns it on you, twists your words. “Are you saying Mr. Barber was unequipped to raise his son on his own?”

“I’m saying it’s not easy to adapt when you’re blindsided the way he was, equipped or not. Given no warning, no notice, nothing. I heard the argument when she left, in the middle of the night in the pouring rain. He’s my friend, I wasn’t going to make him go through that alone.” Your gaze is hard, and it’s a shame, Charlie thinks. Maybe in another life, you and this lawyer could have been good friends, you both match each other’s wits.

“Did you or Mr. Barber ever think to reach out to Mrs. Barber?” Nora points out.

“I can’t speak on behalf of Mr. Barber, but why would I want anything to do with someone who abandons their family?” You raise an eyebrow.

Nora’s jaw works, and then she turns to Nicole. Charlie does too, tries to read their mental exchange. Nicole gives the slightest hint of a nod, and he wonders if the judge sees it, if the judge sees anything at all.

“In those six months, did you witness anything happen to Henry while he was under Charlie’s care?” Nora asks, but Jay is standing up before you can answer.

“Objection, leading.” Jay calls.

“Overruled, the answer is important.” The judge dismisses it, and dread slips into Charlie’s stomach.

“Not to my knowledge, no.” You reply, trying to keep your tone light.

“Did Mr. Barber do anything reckless in those six months, that could pose as a danger to Henry?” Nora continues.

“No.” You don’t budge.

“What about in the two months that Mrs. Barber has been in communication with Mr. Barber?” She knows, somehow she knows about his arm.

“I don’t – ” You start, but she gets in your face.

“Did Mr. Barber do anything reckless in the two months that Mrs. Barber has been back in communication? It’s a very simple question.” Nora presses.

You and Charlie look at each other, and even though it’s been weeks, even though he’s fully healed up now, you both know you have to mention it, you’re under oath, you have to.

“There was an accident.” You say softly, very softly.

“What sort of accident?” Nora blinks, as if she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing.

“He cut himself, but it was nothing serious, he only needed a couple stitches – ” You rush to say, and Nora gasps in mock concern.

“Stitches? My god, what did he do to cut himself deep enough to require stitches?” She asks, pushing pushing pushing you.

“I – well Mrs. Barber got him a – ” You start, and even though he’s starting to spiral, he loves you so much, loves you for trying to save him, even now, even here.

He doesn’t know if he deserves to be saved, but here you are, trying trying trying, fighting for him.

“Ms. (L/N). What did Mr. Barber do?” Nora asks, all pretense gone, nothing but a vicious lawyer.

“He used to have a thing, where he’d pretend to cut his arm with a boxcutter, but he’d retract the blade so he wouldn’t be hurt, to make it look like he was invincible.” You say through nearly grit teeth.

“You mean to tell me, Mr. Barber joked about self-harming oneself in front of his young, impressionable son?” Nora scoffs.

Charlie’s blood rushes in his ears, his hands sweat, he’s dizzy. He reaches for a glass of water that’s near the little desk he sits behind, and he’s almost afraid he’s going to drop it, hands too slippery.

“No! it wasn’t – ” You try, only to be interrupted again.

“What if Henry got a box cutter himself and didn’t think to retract the blade, and next time it was him who had to get stitches, or worse?” Nora says, and those are perfectly good arguments, which is why he doesn’t do that anymore, why he got rid of the fucking knife, why he --

“Henry’s not allowed to handle sharp objects – ” You speak, trying to backtrack, trying to fix this mess.

“Maybe so, but children emulate their parents, don’t they? And Henry looks up to Mr. Barber, doesn’t he? Is it not outside the realm of possibility, that he might take Mr. Barber’s boxcutter and do the ‘trick’ on himself?” Nora’s voice remains calm and maybe that’s the most infuriating part, Charlie thinks.

He wants to scream.

It’s tense, in the courtroom, so tense.

You and Nora look at one another, a stare-down that’s going to result in an answer one way or another.

Charlie hates her, hates Nicole.

God he hates her.

Especially when she’s the one who thought the trick was so fucking funny in the first place.

“It’s not outside the realm of possibility, no.” You say softly, not able to lie, not here, not now.

“And that would be considered quite reckless behavior, would it not?” Nora asks.

“Mr. Barber is a good person, and a good father, and that was one accident.” You shake your head.

“All it takes is once, Ms. (L/N), and from the way it sounds, this happened more than once. I wonder how many other funny tricks Mr. Barber showed Henry. No further questions, your honor.” Nora pats the wood of the witness stand before returning to her side of the courtroom, and you are asked to leave.

-----------------

Charlie floats through the rest of the character witnesses. Nicole has brought someone in, some guy. Charlie doesn’t know who he is, he doesn’t care. He’s too wrapped up in his own head, too stunned that Nicole would have told Nora about that.

He’s got one more day, one more chance in this trial to prove his case, one more. And then that’s it. And then the judge decides.

He’s going to have to play dirtier, going to let Jay dig up as much as he can on this serpent of a woman he shared a decade of his life with, her and her crocodile tears.

Tears so unlike yours, when later after they’ve been dismissed, your face is streaked with hot salt as Charlie collects you in his arms there in the lobby.

“I’m so—I’m sorry.” You whisper out a little sob, tuck yourself against his neck as he moves you both out of sight. The lawyers are talking about going out for drinks later, and Charlie wants to scream.

How can they be so civil, when they’re tearing his life apart?

“Don’t you dare, don’t you apologize.” Charlie says, soothes you, whispers into your hair, “You did nothing wrong.”

Charlie catches Nicole’s eyes from across the lobby, and she sees the two of you embracing in the comfort of one another, your suits creasing from it.

He stares at her hard, hopes she can feel the venom he has for her. She turns away, hurries down the steps and out the front door of the courthouse, off to who the fuck knows where.

Charlie doesn’t care, not when he’s got you right here, in your pretty court clothes and your heart thudding against his. He doesn’t care, only rubs calming circles on your back, tries to get your tears to subside. You both have to go pick up Henry from school after all this, it won’t do to be salt-stained.

It’s the only reason he’s not a mess right now.

Well, that and you.

“I’m sorry.” You say again, but Charlie shakes his head, and when the two of you step apart enough to look into each other’s eyes, he assures you and reassures you,

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

You nod, and you walk out of the courthouse, hands brushing but not quite holding onto one another.

He’ll ask you to stay again, he’ll ask, and you will, and it’ll all be okay.

Won’t it?

He passes justice with her scales and her blindfold, and now…now he’s not so sure.

The way you look up at him with sad eyes, he’s not so sure.

I only know what I know

The passing years will show

You've kept my love so young, so new

And time after time

You'll hear me say that I'm

So lucky to be loving you

-----------------

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theangriestpea · 4 years

Text

In the Shadows : Eleven

Summary: Jughead Jones, resident werewolf, just wants to protect his family and his pack from the incoming doom of The Red Circle. Sweet Pea and Lily join him to help keep the Southside safe from human tyranny. Meanwhile a demon princess named Myra and succubus named Lavender had a plan to bring on the apocalypse. <ao3> <masterlist> <playlist>

Rating: Mature // Explicit

Pairings: Jughead Jones x OC, Sweet Pea x OC, Kurtz x OC

Warnings: None for this chapter

Word Count: 5k+

A/N: This took me four days to write and I feel so bad about that. I just couldn't concentrate much on this chapter. And then I broke my own heart with the ending??? Sometimes writing be like that. No chapter warnings this time around!

Chapter Eleven : A Deal with the Devil

Lavender awoke feeling as if her entire chest cavity were on fire. She huffed as the memories from the previous day flooded her head. How could she have walked into a trap like that? He could have killed her...would Myra have let her just simply die? Then the prophecy couldn’t possibly come to fruition. So then, was she truly ever in mortal danger? Or was this some sort of plot to make her crawl back into servitude?

“Hey,” A deep voice came from beside her and she turned her head to see a very sleepy Sweet Pea. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been dipped in gasoline and had a match thrown on me.” She answered honestly, trying to sit up. A bolt of pain shot through her like lightning. “Oh fuck me, that hurts.” She groaned, laying back down in defeat.

“I should have gone with you.” Sweet Pea muttered as he pulled the blanket away to look over her shoulder. “That’s going to be one nasty scar.”

Lavender didn’t have the strength to cover it with her shifting magic. “Fucking humans.” She cursed, “That bitch Archie has hell to pay.”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, “let me deal with him. You’re on bed rest until you can move without making that face.

“What face?” Lavender asked as she shifted and grimaced.

“That one.” He pointed to her as he stood up. “I’m going to go make us breakfast. I’ll get you something for the pain that won’t hurt the baby.”

She pouted as she laid in bed. “Fine. Jerk.” Sweet Pea shook his head at her as he walked out to take care of Daisy and make food for them.

Down the street, Lily had slept in Jughead’s bed with his furry form to keep her warm. His little sister Jellybean had helped patch her up, though Lily insisted that she could heal herself once she got her strength back. FP had also had a talk with her about formally joining the pack. He explained that they weren’t exclusive to werewolves. He had just inducted a vampire a week prior and even had a few humans married in. It was all inclusive, though there would always be an alpha wolf to lead. He never foresaw that changing.

He made sure that Lily knew that being his soulmate meant she would also help lead the pack. There wasn’t much choice otherwise unless he stepped down as heir, which FP absolutely did not want him to do. Lily had been faced with the decision to either do the dance ritual and be inducted or to force Jughead to outcast himself from his own family. In the end, it wasn’t hard to decide.

“Juggie, we need to get you back to Lav’s.” She mumbled to him as he began to stir from his sleep. “Sweet Pea can help get you back. And I’m worried about her. They know where she lives, so what if they try to attack her there too?”

“I know, we should have gone back last night.” He murmured telepathically with the use of their physical touch. Something seemed off about him. His words were somehow less coherent. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it exactly, but she knew it had something to do with him turning.

She got dressed in some clothes she kept in his dresser and walked out with him. His father was sipping coffee at the kitchen table. “Boy, find a way out of this sooner and not later. You need to be out of that form by the rise of the next full moon. Six days, that’s all you got or there’s no going back.”

Lily hadn’t realized how little time she had. Her face grew more pale as she looked down at the black wolf. He said something to his father that she could not understand as she was not actively touching him. FP let out a disappointed sigh before waving him off. Jughead pushed her with his massive head towards the door, and she took the hint to go.

They walked to the double-wide, receiving a lot of weary glances from fellow pack members that were neighbors. Word spread like wildfire about what had happened, and many were enamored by the fact that Jughead risked his humanity to save the love of his life and the woman that saved them all last moonrise. Almost all of them felt incredibly indebted to Lily and already accepted her as one of their own. She wouldn’t have any trouble in pairing with their alpha as the majority were pleased at the thought of her helping lead them.

Lily felt awkward to be the center of their attention. She hadn’t realized how important of a role she had begun to play in all of their lives. Jughead didn’t prep her for any of this, mostly because he was oblivious to it all. The only thing he ever seemed to pay attention to was her, which though it was endearing it could also be a little irritating.

She knocked on the door to the double-wide and Sweet Pea answered it. He let them inside, seeing Jughead still in her beast form and sighed. “Guess it was too much to hope for that he’d change back after rescuing you.”

“This is your fault.” She said, poking his firm chest. “You gave him that potion. You allowed him to talk you into letting him do this to himself! We have six days to turn him back or he’ll never be human again, Pea!”

Sweet Pea frowned, “I didn’t have much of a choice. He would have never found you in time had he not turned. The locating spell wasn’t working. The sleet washed your scent away so he had no trail to follow. Don’t think for a second that I wanted for him to have to turn, because I didn’t. I know how much he means to you and I knew the risk it carried. I couldn’t leave Daisy without a mother.”

Lily deflated, her shoulders slumping as a sad look crossed her face. “Oh…” She murmured, having not known all of the facts of what had occurred the previous evening.

Daisy ran in, “puppy!” She screamed in the highest pitch she could manage, making all three of them flinch. Jughead crouched down so that she could crawl on top of him to ride him like a horse. She grabbed onto the fur around his neck, “Go! Go!” She chimed as he began to trot around the house as if he were a show pony.

A look of jealousy crossed Sweet Pea’s face, “I wish I could turn into a wolf.” He grumbled.

“Sorry, Sweets, you got stuck with the raven.” She said with a smirk before going to check on her best friend. Sweet Pea just groaned in response before going back to cooking.

Lily walked into the bedroom to see Lavender pouting as she played on her phone. She looked up, “Lily!” She said excitedly, trying to sit up before remembering that it hurt to move around too much. “You look like hell, what happened?”

“The Red Circle kidnapped me and tortured me...Jughead and Charlie had to save me.” She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “How do you feel?”

“Like a crispy shish kabob,” Lav replied as she resumed her pouting. “Sweet Pea was supposed to make me something for the pain, but he must have forgotten.”

Lily smiled, placing a hand over the scar and feeding a tiny bit of her magic into her. She had recharged a bit last night, not enough to do any major healing but enough to take the pain away. The right side of her chest began to ache dully, the pain transferring into her. “Better?”

“Yeah, thanks.” The succubus said quietly. “Are you okay? After all that, I mean.”

The witch frowned, “Sweet Pea gave Jughead a potion to turn in order to find me. He’s stuck...I have to figure out a way to get him back into his human body. But, honestly I don’t know where to even start. It’s not like there’s a library I could go to to figure it out.”

Lavender, finally able to sit up now that Lily had taken the majority of her pain, sat up in the bed so her back was against the headboard. “I know how.” She said. “But it will be a stupidly hard plan to execute.”

Lily’s face contorted with confusion, “What? You know how to get him back?”

“Myra made a potion for Kurtz. In case she needed him to turn back. She probably has some stashed somewhere, I think in that shithole in Greendale we used to stay at. Getting it from her would be the hard part. But, if we do have it then it’ll work. We just need one of his human hairs to activate it.” Lavender explained, “It would be incredibly dangerous to go against her in your state. You can’t use sex magic right now, unless you want to go down that really disturbing road of bestiality-”

Lily gave her a disgusted look, “That’s not happening.”

“Then we’ll have to work with what we’ve got.” Lav continued. “And we have to be incredibly careful.”

“Food’s ready!” Sweet Pea called out. Lily stood and offered a hand of Lavender who took it.

Lily helped her up, realizing that she had been totally naked under the blanket. She couldn’t help but look her body over. Lavender smirked at her, “Like what you see, little witch?”

She blushed, letting go of her hand. “Shut up and get dressed.” She turned her back to her and Lavender shrugged as she put on a silk robe and that’s it.

She put a hand on Lily’s shoulder when she was done. Lily glanced back at her and let out a breath when she realized she was covered. The two girls walked out to join Sweet Pea and the wolf that was Jughead Jones.

Lavender stared at Jughead and shook her head, “Poor thing.” He simply barked at her in response as he crouched down Daisy could get down and toddle to the table. Lily put her in her booster seat as Sweet Pea put the food on the table. “What about Jug?” Lav asked, seeing he hadn’t made a place for him.

“He doesn’t have hands, Shanna, what am I supposed to do?” He asked, irritated. “He can have the leftover scraps.”

Lily narrowed her eyes at him before making her soulmate a plate and setting it on the floor for him to eat. “Sorry, Jug.” She whispered to him and he shrugged the best he could in his current form. She sat down at the table, still giving her ex the evil eye. Sweet Pea simply ignored her.

“I’m surprised you could get out of bed.” he said to her as he began to eat the scrambled eggs on his plate. “You couldn’t even sit up this morning.”

“Lily took some of the pain away.” Lav said as she picked at her food, not having much appetite as her nausea kicked in. It hadn’t been quite as bad the past couple days but that was mostly because she had hardly eaten anything. She knew whatever she ate now would be back up in half an hour or less.

Sweet Pea finally acknowledged Lily again, “you need to stop. You healed her enough yesterday, it’s going to start affecting you.”

Lily grumbled to herself as she pushed the eggs around on her plate, “I’m fine. She was hurting and needed my help.”

“And your chest doesn’t hurt at all?” He asked, his anger starting to show. “Because I bet if you took your shirt off, there would be an identical mark there where her scar is.”

“Just drop it, Sweet Pea, I’m fine.” She snapped at him hard enough for him to back off just a fraction.

Lavender looked between them, suspicious that this looked more like a lovers quarrel than a friendly fight. “She won’t heal me any more, Pea. I’ll just go hide in my bed the rest of the day.” She pushed her plate away, unable to eat anything and he frowned at her.

“You need to eat. You’re growing a baby.” He said sternly.

She rolled her eyes at him, “am I? Is that why the thought of taking a bite of this bacon is making me want to hurl? I would have never guessed.” She stood up. “I’m going back to bed.” She muttered darkly before going back to her room.

Sweet Pea and Lily looked at each other, not understanding what just happened. Jughead got up from his spot on the floor and went into the bedroom to join Lavender to speak with her. He knew what was going through her head somehow better than they did. Perhaps it was his animal instincts making him more empathetic

He jumped onto her bed, resting his large head on the exposed part of her leg. “They do that sometimes.” He said softly, “They sound like an old married couple. It bothered me the first few times too but it doesn’t mean anything.”

Lav petted his head slowly as she let out an annoyed grumble. “I’m very hormonal right now and it’s just not helping my natural possessive tendencies. Normally I’m overconfident in what I can make men do. With him, it’s just like...I don’t want to have to control him. I haven’t felt this way since before my soul was taken. I don’t think I like having it back very much.”

“You will get used to it.” He assured her. “You have a better range of human emotion now. It will take some adjustment.”

“I don’t want to be a jealous idiot over my soulmate.” She murmured, hoping the other two couldn’t hear her. “But I can’t just turn the emotion off.”

“You don’t have to turn it off.” Jughead said back, “just rationalize the destructive thoughts you’re having. Soulmates rarely cheat on one another, the sex is too good. The only reason you have sex with other men is because you need to feed off of them.”

Lavender went silent, not having anything else to say to him. She wasn’t sure what she should do. He had sound advice but it was easier said than done. She knew the idea of Sweet Pea going back to Lily was completely ridiculous. It would be unheard of. It was just like there was a worm inside of her ear that just kept whispering terrible things to her. She was powerless against it. She found herself wishing to tear her soul from her physical body and hide it somewhere safe, somewhere where it couldn’t be hurt like this. She felt like such a child sometimes, and then she reminded herself that she died at the age of nineteen. She was, in all honesty, forever a teenager and never a full fledged adult in human terms.

Jughead lifted his head off of her when he heard Sweet Pea approaching. The warlock entered the room and the wolf hopped off the bed and trotted back into the living room to continue to play with Daisy who had begun to call for him.

“I made you some tea.” Sweet Pea said, handing her the mug as a peace offering. “It’ll help your stomach and maybe you can eat.”

Lavender sat up and took the cup with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I can’t really deal with human emotions right now. I haven’t had them in twenty years and they just seem to jumble all together sometimes that it's overwhelming.”

He took a seat next to her, “Lily told me about your plan. It’s too dangerous for you to go so I’m leaving you here with Jughead and Daisy. Lily and I will find it.”

She frowned, feeling another pang of jealousy inside her rib cage. “Okay….”

Sweet Pea grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at him. A small pout formed on her lips at him doing this. “Stop.” He said in a gentle tone. “I would never do that to you. You know I understand why you have to fuck random men off the street. I don’t care about that because they will never make you feel as good as I do. I don’t want anyone else, I want you.”

Lavender blinked back the prickling tears. “I’m sorry,” She muttered, “I know that.”

Sweet Pea kissed her lightly on the lips, then the tip of her nose, and then on the middle of her forehead. This was something he did any time he was being particularly tender with her and it made her heart flutter in her chest. “Drink up and rest. If anything happens, call me and I’ll be here in no time.”

She nodded her head, forcing a small smile, “Okay, Pea. Be safe.”

He got up and gave her a proud smirk. “Safe? Doll, I’m powered to the brim with sex magic. Nothing can touch me unless I want it to.”

Lavender gave him an annoyed look but said nothing else. He kissed her on the lips one last time before turning to leave. “Call me if you need anything. This hopefully won’t take long.” He said, waiting for her sigh of a response before leaving once more.

She listened to him and Lily gather any supplies they would need before they walked out of the house. She assumed they were using her car since it was the only one at the house. Lily’s Saturn was at the cottage though the walk wasn’t too far. It didn’t really matter, she let Sweet Pea use her car whenever he needed to pick something up that was too big to fit on his bike.

The familiar engine outside roared to life and she heard the car pull out the gravel driveway and take off down the street. In the other room, Jughead was still entertaining Daisy by being her miniature pony. He seemed to be having fun too by the sounds of it. The demon let out another sigh as she turned onto her side, her forgotten tea growing cold on the nightstand. She was getting hungry, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave any time soon lest she wanted to take Jughead’s offer back and feast on his soul instead.

Sweet Pea and Lily drove to Greendale where Lavender stated the concoction they needed may be. Lavender had told them of this particular hide out before and Sweet Pea kept a raven outside of it to keep watch. It reported to him every few days about her comings and goings. He knew from the last report that she hadn’t been there since Lavender got her soul back. Hopefully what they were looking for was still there.

It took them about an hour and a half. They parked a mile away to avoid detection and once they were closer to the ramshackle building they took to their animal forms. Sweet Pea flew above the black cat on the ground as a raven. They were moving quickly, not wanting to waste any time.

Sweet Pea’s familiar appeared beside him and the two spoke through a nonverbal language Lily could not understand. It seemed as though Myra still hadn’t returned. He began to doubt their luck.

He landed on the ground at the edge of the wood to look into the clearing. His raven circled around top to double check the perimeter and Lily sniffed the air to try and gauge if anyone was nearby. When nothing turned up, they returned to their human bodies.

“What if it’s not here?” Lily asked, worried. “What if she destroyed it when I healed him?”

“Don’t freak out before we even go inside.” He said back almost apathetically. “She probably left it here with the rest of her things.”

Sweet Pea led the way, opting to go first in case it was a trap. Lily reluctantly followed behind him, a bad feeling arising from the bottom of her stomach. Something didn’t feel quite right but she couldn’t quite get a grasp of what her senses were trying to tell her.

He was able to break down the door with relative ease and step inside. It was quiet, the sunlight filtering through the dirty windows illuminated the cloud of dust that the dark witch had just unsettled. He held back a sneeze as he inspected further. When nothing stirred he motioned for Lily to come in.

The two searched the small house, checking every crack and crevice. Nothing was there. No clothes, no books, no equipment of any kind. The entire place was barren of any signs of life. Outside, Sweet Pea’s familiar let out a low croak of warning. They stopped in their places, glancing at one another before quickly joining hands as a loud pop rebounded off the crumbling walls.

“Looking for this?” A sickly sweet voice asked as a curtain of smoke and dust cleared. Myra appeared when it settled to the floor holding a glass mason jar in her hand full of a viscous green liquid. Her eyes scanned over the two of them, “Oh my, what do we have here? Old lovers entwined once more. How will my little succubus feel if she were to find out.”

They dropped their grasp on one another. It wasn’t as it had appeared to be. Sweet Pea had just fed in as much of his magic as he could spare into her in order for her to be able to cast protective white magic. His black would be of little use against a demon in terms of defense. He had to be careful with his reserve.

Lily was trying to formulate some kind of deal she could strike, however nothing came to mind. It was totally blank at the mere thought of being at the demon princess’ mercy. Jughead’s fate was in her hands now and the thought made her want to scream with rage.

“I’ll give it to you, little witch.” Myra cooed as she stepped closer to them. They stood rigidly, bracing themselves for an attack. “You just have to promise me something in return.” She circled around them, clicking her long fingernail against the glass body of the jar.

“What do you want, Myra?” Lily asked, regretting the words before they even spilled from her lips. Being indebted to a demon was perhaps the worst possible thing you could do. They played dirty and the odds were never in your favor unless you found a way to outsmart them. Clearly that was not going to happen this go around.

She stopped once she had made a full circle around the two. “The second the child is free from my little slut’s womb, you are to deliver her to me.” She said, a wicked grin playing upon her face. “If you don’t, then I will do to dear Jughead what I did to Kurtz and this time I’ll make the curse unbreakable. No potion, no amount of white magic, no lunar phenomenon will change him back. He will remain that sad mangy little dog for the rest of his life.”

Sweet Pea’s teeth clenched together so hard that pain rattled his jaw. Lily was looking at him, wondering if it was even okay for her to bargain away his daughter in such a way. His hands were balled into fists, knuckles white with tension. The demon wanted his child and there seemed to be no way around it. If he made this deal then he would break his own mate’s heart. He had no idea how she would react.

Lily’s eyes moved back to Myra who was still clicking the glass. “Time’s running out, Lilian. You only have six more days. Who knows if you’ll be able to find me again in time. The deal is only on the table for this moment, if I leave here today without a decision then it’ll be gone forever. And don’t worry, you won’t be able to wiggle your way out of payment. I will have that child one way or another. At least this way your lover doesn’t go mad.”

“It’s a deal.” Lily said, waving her hand at Sweet Pea to silence him with her magic. “You can have her the moment the cord is cut. If this potion doesn’t work then the deal is off. If something goes wrong with his change then it’s off. If he is anything less than healthy then its-”

“Off.” Myra finished for her, rolling her eyes. “It will work. Have a little faith in me, would you?” She asked, her disappointing tone nothing but a ruse. “One strand of his human hair added, let it sit for thirty seconds and stir. Every drop down that canine throat of his and it’ll be done. He’ll return to what nature intended.”

The demoness handed the jar to Lily who grasped it tightly in her hands, afraid that it would disappear she didn’t. It felt oddly light in her hands, as if she had expected it to weigh twice as much. Myra disappeared with a cruel grin and silence surrounded them.

Lily undid her spell on Sweet Pea and her heart hurt enough for the both of them. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes, angry hot saline that didn’t dare to fall down his face. “What have you done?” He asked, his voice so dangerously low that she took a few steps back. Fear raced through her at the lethal glare on his face before she could say anything he turned back into a raven and flew out the open door.

Lily arrived back at the trailer park ninety minutes later. After getting a hair from his comb within his room, she walked into the double-wide with the necessary ingredients. She found that Daisy was taking a nap on the couch while Jughead was pacing between the living room and Lavender’s room in order to keep an eye on both of them.

When he saw her, he gave her a quizzical look. She shook her head, not wanting to talk about what had transpired with Sweet Pea. She was worried that if she said his name then he’d suddenly reappear to rip her to shreds with his words. She already hurt too much from the deal she made. She didn’t need to feel any worse.

She followed Myra’s directions, adding the hair and waiting before stirring it. She poured the mixture into a bowl and sat it down on the linoleum of the kitchen floor so he could drink it. She had to brace herself for what she was about to watch. Jughead had never let her watch him change before and she knew that it was going to be incredibly painful for him.

Jughead drank it, hesitating after the first sip before greedily drinking it up. It tasted leagues better than the potion to make him shift into a wolf. It was sweet like berries and citrus with some sour notes hidden somewhere in the aftertaste. He licked the bowl clean.

Lily watched as he back arched painfully, bones snapping and reforming. His mouth opened wide, impossibly wide. His lower jaw unhinged and two human hands were forced out from his throat. More cracking, more breaking, more sounds of pain as he used his freed hands to rip the fur from his body to make the mouth large enough for his human form to shoulder through.

It was actually a strange mix of horrifying and fascinating. Watching the eyes, teeth, and claws of the wolf body fall and decay. When finished, Jughead lay curled up on the floor totally naked in a puddle of deflated fur. He was breathing heavily, red faced from the physical strain and the tears of pain that had fallen.

Lily knew she couldn’t take his pain away. Not after having used so much healing magic the past two days. She crouched down to pull his shaking body into her arms in order to hold him lovingly. “Jug…” She whispered, her voice riddled with distraught. “I’ve done something terrible. Sweet Pea and Lavender are never going to forgive me.”

He felt like he couldn’t breathe as his mind was still spinning from the transformation. He looked up at her and was pained by the expression on her face. “What did you do?” He managed to gasp between staccato intakes of air.

“I had to make a deal with Myra, she was waiting for us.” Lily said. “I had to agree to give her the baby in order to save you. I wouldn’t let Sweet Pea speak up and ruin my chance of saving you. It was so stupidly selfish but I couldn’t bear the thought of you being driven mad by the moon.

Lavender walked out, having been woken up from her nap and feeling ever the more hungry. Her drive for a soul was getting worse but she worried about leaving without Sweet Pea there to protect her. Upon seeing the two on the floor, she let out a sigh of relief. “Good you got it. I need to feed, where is Pea?”

Lily chewed on her lip nervously, not knowing what to tell her. “He took off without me. I’m not sure where he is. I can locate him for you.”

She frowned, not understanding or liking what may have happened between them. Her jealousy spiking out of nowhere. “Why would he do that?”

“Lavie, listen.” Lily stood as Jughead sat up on his own. “Myra had the potion, she wouldn’t give it to us without a deal.”

Lavender’s brow furrowed, a sinking feeling growing within her stomach. “What kind of deal?”

Lily was about to break down, knowing that she was about to lose the woman who had quickly become her best friend. “The baby...the baby for the potion...I’m so sorry, Lavender, I had no choice-”

The hybrid’s eyes flashed black, the sclera no longer present. “Get out of my house.” She seethed angrily as an unknown force whipped her hair around her. “And don’t you ever come back.”

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sophiehotch · 4 years

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PORTRAITS OF CONGRESS: CHARLIE KEETING (NY-10) BY SOPHIA HOTCHNER - AUGUST 11, 2020 - THE WASHINGTON POST

When I sat down with Representative Charlie Keeting - an environmental activist and the current NY-10 Representative, there was an immediate sense of warmth. Maybe that had to do with the fact that the bustling-yet-quiet walls of the cafe they had chosen to meet in was a beautiful shade of corals and yellows, or maybe it had to do with the Representative’s dedication to making sure I was comfortable, but there’s no denying that Charlie Keeting has a warm heart beating in his chest.

I met Charlie Keeting (who uses they/them and he/him pronouns interchangeably) back at the beginning of the year when I had the opportunity to collect information on current Democratic activists, of which Charlie had made the list. Their activism in trans health and trans safety (they’re agender themselves), their work with LGBTQ+ youth within their district and beyond, and their unflinching stance on climate change have made them a bright young face in Washington - one many kids and young adults can see themselves in. On top of that, their eclectic style and infectious laughter certainly made me feel right at home within our small world of interviews.

We order before we get started, Representative Keeting settling on a Mediterranean Salad - “Vegan,” they say, “I’m working on it, but it’s not always feasible for everyone, and that’s okay,” - and then we begin our conversation about what it means to be a leader in congress at an age so young, what’s next for the New York Representative, and the upcoming elections.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: So, Representative, tell us a little about yourself - where you grew up, what your life was like at a young age?

REP. KEETING: I grew up in a small suburb in north New York - Rochester, to be exact. I was more than fortunate enough to be able to grow up in a household that was extremely LGBTQ+ friendly, and despite being a child of divorce, really lovely. My mom came out when I was six. She told my dad she had met someone else and we just kind of moved on from there. My upbringing was... a bit abnormal to say the least for two reasons: one, my dad and mom remained best friends (which I know doesn’t always happen in divorces), and two, my dad was halfway across the country. Regardless, my parents were more than supportive of everything I did, and Rochester might have been a small town, but it has a lovely queer community within it.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: It’s really great that you had such a supportive community at such a young age.

REP. KEETING: Honestly, I’m thankful for it every day. Growing up being encouraged to explore myself, my interests, and my identity is definitely one of the reasons I feel so comfortable today.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: Has DC and the world of politics changed that at all?

REP. KEETING: I certainly don’t always have the freedoms that I’d like to have in regards to how I’d like to dress. Regulations on the hill for what constitutes as formal are still extremely gendered. It’ll be something I work on if I get the chance to return to the Capitol in the winter.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: Yes, you’re up for re-election, correct?

REP. KEETING: I am indeed.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: How are you feeling about the campaign?

REP. KEETING: I’m feeling pretty good. If the citizens of New York City want me in office, they’ll put me there, you know? If that’s not what they want, I’ll surely be doing this work in other capacities. I’ve been in and around Washington since 2012 doing different sorts of climate and political work, so I’m pretty confident that I won’t be leaving the city or the realm of politics anytime soon.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: You did work for different politicians before you were elected office, correct? Writing grants and doing climate crisis research?

REP. KEETING: Yes, I used to be knee deep in grant-writing on any given day in the first few years i spent here. I don’t think I miss it completely, but I do miss some of it sometimes.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: Did you always know you wanted to go into politics eventually? Or was it just a natural next step?

REP. KEETING: I can confidently say the younger version of me had no idea they were going to end up in politics. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but my parents have always been supportive no matter what I attempted to make of my life. I knew from a young age I was heavily interested in science and the arts, so I figured I’d end up doing something in those categories. I still kind of do, and I still paint and create art displays and curate galleries when I can, but that’s definitely taken a back seat to the science side of my interests, which have turned very political with the climate crisis. It was definitely more of a natural next step to slide into office.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: Sometimes things just fall into place, don’t they?

REP. KEETING: It certainly feels like it. My degree was like that too. So many people ask me why I double majored in Climate Science and Art History, but it just felt right. Moral of the story? Pursue your interests as much as you can. Hobbies, career options, whatever they are. Pursue it. Nothing is too small to care about.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: That’s good advice. I know younger me would have loved to hear that more. On the topic of your schooling and on the climate crisis - you’re nearing the completion of your PhD, yes? How has your schooling and your continuing education informed your stance on certain topics?

REP. KEETING: Since I had the opportunity to complete my masters degree in Climate & Society, I was able to put a lot of that work to use right away because it was a partially practical degree. I ended up working for a couple of environmental firms here in DC, working with politicians to help implement eco-friendly laws, but also tangible laws. I’d say that’s the biggest way my education has helped impact my stance -- in a much more actionable way. Studying both sides of it allowed me to see the changes that needed to be made from the science side of it, but also taught me the best way to explore how things can be implemented in a manageable and realistic way.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: At the same time, you’ve been a large inspiration for a lot of young activists, both within Climate Activism as well as in the LGBTQ+ Community - what are your thoughts on that? Do you have any words of wisdom for your followers?

REP. KEETING: As much as it’s an honor to be seen as an inspiration, I’m not the first and I’m certainly not the last to fight for what I’m fighting for. I’m just one person who was elected into office to help do the work from a legislative perspective. Connect with your local communities, find workplaces and grassroots communities that stand for what you believe in. I didn’t start in politics, after all - I started there, and it most certainly shaped who I am today. And - as cheesy as it is - follow your heart. As long as you love what you do, you’ll never be really bored a day in your life. Frustrated? Maybe. But never bored.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: On that note of inspiration and firsts, this is your first term in congress, and you’re only 34. How has being a young activist in Congress shaped your experience?

REP. KEETING: I wish it wasn’t true, but people do tend to take me less seriously. What part of lack of respect that falls under is up for debate, but I do think my age definitely comes into play. It’s easy to claim seniority and push that ‘seasoned minds know best’, but I don’t think that’s true. I think what it really comes down to is how dedicated you are to your work, no matter your age. At the same time, being a young representative in Congress has allowed me to connect with a demographic of young voters that has felt consistently under-heard from the older members of the administration. By no means do I want to be a spokesperson, and I’m certainly not going to be young forever, but I think my age has helped me form an immediate connection with a lot of younger individuals who are maybe voting for the first time, or voting for the third or fourth time, who want to see their ideas moving into congress.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: Do you have any plans for last minute moves in the House before your re-election? Or will you be waiting for a hopeful new term to bring forward any movements or bills to the table?

REP. KEETING: A combination of both. I know there’s always the chance that I might not get another term in office, so I definitely have a few more things up my sleeve before the elections potentially take that chance. But I can confidently say that if I’m able to take up office again in January, rest assured I won’t be playing nice. I’ve got a lot I want to do, and a team behind me ready to help me make it happen.

SOPHIA HOTCHNER: Last question, for the sake of the fact that I kind of have to - you’ve vocalized your support for the Democratic Candidates, correct? How do you see the landscape of Capitol Hill changing depending on who takes office?

REP. KEETING: I most certainly have. I’m a vocal supporter of Berkeley-Zafar, and I’ll continue to be so. I’m not sure exactly how my job will change after the elections quite yet, but definitely the majority in the house will shape how much I’ll be able to get done next term, considering most of my politics aren’t quite… in line with most of the GOP’s. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We still have some time left on the campaign trail, and I’ll be excited to see how it all plays out, that’s for sure.

I thanked Representative Keeting for sitting down for lunch with me as we wrap up, talking more casually about the meal and they ask me how everything’s going at the Post. It’s small conversations like this that make it easy to see why the Representative is only projecting upward. Their interest in community building and cross-disciplinary studies make them a strong candidate for politics, despite not growing up rooted in politics. They care and are passionate about their work, and it’s easy to feel that through the few conversations I’ve had with them. I’m positive others who have interacted with Representative Keeting know exactly what I’m talking about.

Representative Keeting is currently running for re-election within the 10th District of New York State (Manhattan) and you can find their platform located on their website. Make sure you’re registered to vote, and get out to the polls this November!

#tags broken but yknow i'll tag this later #this is so long sorry y'all

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insanityclause · 5 years

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For the last five weeks, the British actress and playwright Zawe Ashton has been zipping back and forth between West 45th Street and Lower Manhattan. She has gone from speaking the words of her character Emma in an acclaimed Broadway revival of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” to watching her own words brought to life by a cast of others in her play “for all the women who thought they were Mad” at Soho Rep.

“It’s like doing a boxing match and then swimming the Channel,” she joked recently over breakfast at a French cafe in Chelsea, dressed stylishly in a black dress with luminescent buttons and billowing sleeves, her glasses perched carefully on her nose.

Everything seems to be falling into place for Ashton, who also released her first book this year and starred with Jake Gyllenhaal in the dark art-world satire “Velvet Buzzsaw.”

Her play, which began previews the same day it opened at the Hackney Showroom in London, has its New York premiere on Oct. 27 and has already been extended. But the moment was a long time coming.

Ashton, who grew up in London and whose mother moved from Uganda to England as a teenager, wrote “for all the women” 11 years ago, when she was just 24. She delivered the draft by hand to the Royal Court Theater, the culmination of her participation in the theater’s young writers program. But the experimental play has had multiple starts and stops since then.

It features a constellation of women ranging in age from 8 to 65, and is based on months of research Ashton did on the myriad ways the British health system has failed black women, particularly when it comes to mental health and overmedication.

The career-focused protagonist, Joy, begins to fall apart after witnessing a woman falling past a window, presumably to her death.

Joy soon starts taking pills prescribed by a doctor. The other women surrounding her are a mixture of contemporary and ancestral voices. At times they serve as a kind of African-inspired chorus, interjecting and instructing Joy; their poetic text is influenced by Ugandan lullabies among other sources.

The script, though set in Britain, feels relevant in the United States in light of recent disturbing data about black women’s health, including their significantly high maternal mortality risk.

Ashton is both accepting and frustrated by the decade that it took for the play to find a home.

“When I’m thinking about it in the most positive way possible,” she said, “I believe it had to brew and had to find its time and find its zeitgeist and find its conversation, which is very much a conversation that’s happening now in the U.S. in regards to the black female body.”

“And then when I’m more my cynical 35-year-old self, I wish this could have just been produced earlier, at its most pure. Because it’s had a lot of face-lifts, it’s been handed around to many theatrical institutions and brilliant minds and it has changed a lot on the way.”

She went on: “Everyone has wanted to make this play make much more sense. They wanted to turn it into a much more linear and literal document and that was never what it was. My 24-year-old self wrote it in 24 hours. I don’t say that in a boastful way — I say it as an invitation to understand what it’s like when things you’ve deeply intuited for a long time, even as a young person, are suddenly unlocked. That’s what happens when you are 24. You get married in a night — you break up in a night — you change countries in a night. ”

She declined to offer too direct a connection between the material and her own experiences, but admitted she was influenced by women she has known and said the voices of the characters had been floating in her head for some time.

The nonlinear, destabilizing nature of the piece appealed to Sarah Benson, the artistic director of Soho Rep, which regularly takes chances on formally experimental works, recently including “Fairview,” which won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in drama.

“It can only happen in theatrical form, this melding of content,” Benson said. “She’s making vivid something that black women have experienced for decades.”

Whitney White, who is directing the Soho Rep production, said the play’s abstractions make sense for the current moment in New York theater.

“Refracted black conscience is hot right now,” she said. “New writers, emerging writers are chopping and screwing all our lives, and spewing it out in an interesting, visceral way.”

White said that often black women who are misdiagnosed or overprescribed drugs don’t report what they’re going through and can be demonized by the medical field. “There’s stigma. It’s unfortunate and it’s real and it happens,” she said.

Even as Ashton gets ready for her own play’s debut, she is still performing eight times a week in “Betrayal,” where Ben Brantley in The New York Times praised her “breakout” turn as a vulnerable, world-weary wife caught in a love triangle between her husband (Tom Hiddleston) and his best friend (Charlie Cox).

Despite the intense schedule, Ashton said she’s finding strength and inspiration in Pinter.

“He’s not concerned with the truth, necessarily, in art and I love that,” she said. “You’re supposed to stumble across it in the dark every night. Good writing shouldn’t be wrapped in cellophane. It should be open to the elements and full of maggots and it should be left to grow and deepen and fester. I hang on to that.”

In New York, she has found rare moments of solace wandering Chelsea and the halls of the Guggenheim, spending time with the Basquiats. She sees herself aligned “with the poets or the writers during the jazz era, more improvisational, truly collaborative. I’m in a nostalgic place, and I’m in America trying to figure it out.”

Lingering after breakfast, Ashton said she finally knows herself well enough to trust her instincts. No longer does she believe, she said, that there can be real distance between the person and the creative artist.

“It’s closed up since I’ve gotten older.,” she explained. “I can’t be in a situation where I feel distanced, othered, underrepresented, cross-questioned, put down, unseen as a person or as an artist and pretend that I will be O.K. That’s suppression I have released myself from.”

Finally seeing her play onstage is part of that release. “Eleven years of this group of women in this play not having an audience to commune with has been a phantom limb,” she said. “I can’t wait to see it soar or fail. I just need to see it.”

#soho rep #zawe ashton

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clementine-shine · 4 years

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Hazbin Hotel Fanfic: Charlie’s First Extermination

This is my very first fanfic!

The skies outside of the Magne palace were as red as they usually were. But little did Charlie know, the sky wasn’t the only thing that was going to be red that night.

At dawn, Lucifer and Lillith awoke to the usual screams of torment going on from their kingdom. They both put on their respective regalia. Lucifer in his usual white and red suit, and Lillith in a midnight black gown.

They were about to head down the stairs to get started on their busy day, when all of a sudden, a small form came hurtling into the room.

Said form was none other than their daughter Charlotte, or Charlie as she so persistently requested they call her.

At the age of four, Charlie’s curly hair was as light and soft as a duckling. She also had no stop to her seemingly endless arsenal of questions. Her parents wished she would just pick up murdering sinners like any other normal demon child.

But no. Alas, Charlie was defective. At least in her father’s eyes. She seemed to enjoy the things a child of Heaven would enjoy. She would cry hysterically at the sight of any type of violence, and would throw a conniption fit if anyone were to say a swear word as minor as frick. Lucifer truly had no clue as to what he was doing wrong with his daughter.

This morning was like any other in the Magne household.

Charlie was still in her nightgown, her hair left unbrushed, blabbering about rainbows. The child looked to her mother with a look of excitement. Her mother returned it, albeit, hesitantly.

Lillith bent down and picked up her bubbling child.

“You won’t guess what I dreamed about, Mama!” Little Charlie beamed. Lillith looked on in feign contemplation.

“And what could that be my dearest daughter?”

“I dreamed that we were all in Heaven, and that everyone was happy!”

Lillith smiled to her daughter. But on the inside, she was torn. She always wanted to keep up the cheerful facade for her offspring. Even if she herself didn’t find Charlie’s fantasies appropriate for a child of Hell.

While on the other claw, Lillith wanted to scare her daughter straight to try and force her out of this phase. But she couldn’t bring herself to do that. So, she constantly went along with her daughter’s antics.

Lucifer pecked his child on the cheek. Today was a big day after all. He hoped that today was going to be the day his child finally got some common sense knocked into her.

Today was the annual extermination and Lucifer couldn’t be more excited. Charlie had been too young the other years to remember. But he anticipated that Charlie was old enough to view the event first hand and recall all the gloriously gory details.

He planned to take Charlie to a secure location in the middle of Pentagram City. Close enough to the action, but also safe enough to keep her protected.

Lillith protested the idea at first. Saying it probably wasn’t the best choice. But quickly relented after she realized Lucifer was going to go through with his plan no matter what.

But right now, Lillith had to get her daughter ready for the day. And Lucifer had to get started on his surmounting pile of paperwork.

The sky started to turn blood red as dusk approached. The royal family quietly ate their dinner.

“Charlie,” Lucifer began. “I have a very important event planned for tonight.” Charlie’s small face looked up dejectedly.

“Does that mean I have to stay home?”

“Au contraire, my darling. It is an occasion you and I will partake in together!” The shark-toothed smile never left Lucifer’s face. He saw Charlie's brilliant look, and knew that his plan was going to be a success.

Charlie quickly finished her meal, before she rushed off to go play with Razzle and Dazzle. She couldn’t wait to spend time with her father!

Back at the dinner table, Lillith gave her husband a pointed look.

“Dear. I truly don’t believe Charlotte is ready for tonight. You know how she is. What if something happens?”

“No worries my love. I shall keep our dearest daughter within arms reach the whole time.”

Lillith didn’t believe him in the slightest. She wanted to protect her daughter. Not set her up for failure and misery.

“Now if you don’t mind. I’m going to get our dear Charlotte ready for the big evening!” Lucifer graciously excused himself from the table, heading up the stairs to check on his daughter. Leaving a worried wife in his wake.

Lucifer quietly maneuvered his way to his daughter's room. He could tell which door belonged to his precocious daughter by the copious amount of sunshine and rainbow stickers that littered it. He could hear his daughter giggling from behind the door. Presumably playing dress up with her bodyguards, Razzle and Dazzle.

Three quick knocks was all it took for the door to abruptly swing open. A swift side-step revealed his daughter. Wearing one of her mother’s dresses, with a multitude of colorful band-aids coating her entire body. A curious look around his daughter revealed his employees in a similar state.

“Daddy!” Charlie exclaimed. “Do you want to play doctor with us? You can be my next patient!”

Lucifer eyed her warily, never dropping his smile. “Not now my sweet. It is time to get you ready for our big event.”

Charlie squealed in pure excitement. Bouncing on the balls of her feet. Lucifer shushed her and guided Charlie into her room. He instructed her to get on her bed, while he picked out an outfit.

He scanned the closet. Trying to come up with an appropriate ensemble. His nimble fingers carded through the nauseatingly bright outfits. Charlie looking on in genuine interest the entire time. Finally an outfit caught his eye. He ah-had and proudly presented the dress to his daughter.

Charlie stared at the dress. She knew that this event was going to be important. Because the dress her daddy was holding up was the one she only wore to very formal events.

Said dress was entirely black, save for the red lace trimming, and the tiny apple pendant on the collar.

Her father helped put on the dress. Charlie giggled because her father was having a hard time. He put the arm hole over her head.

She understood.

Her mother was the one who usually dressed her. Although Charlie was getting better at doing it herself.

Finally the job was done. Charlie was told to slip on her black mary-janes. She did so without fuss, and she joyfully tied her favorite apple hair bobbles into her lovely locks.

Her father grabbed her hand as they made their way to the limo. Charlie waved gleefully to her mother. He mom only returning it back half-heartedly. She didn’t think much of it though. Because she knew she was going to have so much fun with her dad!

Charlie was not having fun. The limo was bumpy. And everytime she looked out the window. She felt the need to cry because of all the nasty things going on outside. She would try to bury her face into her father’s coat, but her father would gently pry her face away and force her to stare out the window. She didn’t know why he was doing that. All she wanted was her mom. But her daddy promised they would have fun tonight. So, she kept onto that promise. And didn’t try to make too much of a fuss.

The limo eventually came to an abrupt halt. Forcing Charlie to lurch a bit in her father’s lap. He patted her on the shoulder twice, picked her up, and got out of the limo.

It took Charlie’s eyes a bit to adjust to the dim light of Hell. She felt her father tense up, and she saw his smile waver. She started to feel the tell-tale sign of panic slowly start to rise up in her gut, but it was suppressed as her father began to quickly walk over to the tall dark building in front of her. She had to wonder why her father was all of a sudden worried. Was she in trouble? Was it because she didn’t want to look out the window? She was starting to rethink coming along with her dad. But it was too late to turn back.

The air around her turned frigid as her father took her inside the air-conditioned black building. She shuddered a bit, and her father patted her back.

“Good evening, Lucifer.” A slithery voice echoed from behind her. “I see you’ve brought your daughter this time.”

Her father responded with an enigmatic smile. “Yes I have.”

Charlie squinted her eyes to get a blurry look at the demon who was talking to her dad. They were tall and honestly quite scary looking to little Charlie. She wanted to speak up but was whisked away by her father once again. She wished he would just put her down. She could walk just fine on her own!

It was close to Charlie’s bedtime. The gentle swaying of her father’s stride was starting to lull her to sleep. Her eyelids grew heavy, and her breath even. She was almost out cold, when her father pinched one of her rosy cheeks.

“You cannot sleep just yet, my dear. For the fun is only just starting!”

Charlie slowly pried her eyes open. They seemed to be in another room now. There was a big window on one end, with numerous cushioned chairs. It appeared it was just her and her daddy in the room. But she could hear the whispering of some demons outside of the door.

Her father finally put her down. She was a bit wobbly from being woken up so abruptly. But took the chance to explore her surroundings.

The sounds of giggling filled the small viewing room as Charlie began playing the “floor is lava” game with herself. Jumping from couch to couch, having a grand ol’ time.

Lucifer paced the floor anxiously. It was going to start any minute now.

No sooner had he thought that, the giant pentagram in the sky opened up. An obscene amount of holy light shone down on Lucifer’s kingdom.

Charlie let out a scream as the bright light burned her eyes. Making her miss the couch, and bruising her knees as she landed roughly on the floor.

Lucifer rushed over to his daughter. Not in concern for her injury, but for his own excitement.

He grabbed his daughter and brought her over to the window. Charlie was not in the mood to be picked up though. She squirmed and let out a frustrated cry as tears pooled in her eyes. She was just hurt and wanted to be comforted. Not to be picked up and dragged over to the window.

Lucifer grabbed his daughter’s head, and forced her to stare at the brilliantly white hole in the sky. The light and tears made it almost impossible to see, but Charlie had no other choice than to look at the sky.

A loud screech from the heavens made Charlie’s black blood freeze. The tears immediately stopped as she stared at the sky in horror and fascination. Lucifer’s grip never loosening from his shocked offspring.

Charlie’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw angels descending from above. She let out a cheer because she knew that the angels were good guys and that they were from Heaven.

Lucifer gagged at his child’s disgusting sign of affection towards the angles, but calmed down when he saw some landing on his turf.

Charlie had started to settle down. Intrigued by the gray angels. Which she had only seen a couple of times before in her short life. She was about to turn to her father to ask what they were doing here, when she saw one approaching a demon.

The demon looked on in absolute horror. Charlie wondered why. The angels were nice, they were nothing to be afraid of.

The angel took out their white spear and stabbed the demon right through his abdominal cavity. The demon barely had time to let out a guttural screech before his eyeballs exploded out of his skull, spewing blood and demon guts in a perfect radius around his desecrated corpse.

Charlie’s mouth opened in a silent scream. Much like the demon that had just been murdered right in front of her eyes. Words had no meaning as Charlie continued to stare at the body that once was a demon. Her blood started to heat up again, until it was boiling in her small frame. She started screaming and fighting with all of her strength to escape the vice-like grip her father had on her. The tears came gushing from her sockets, as she blubbered incoherent sentences about “unfairness” and “not right-ness.”

Lucifer merely kept his grip on his daughter. He knew she would probably act like this, but he had to pull through with his plan. Lest his daughter retain her holy qualities.

He once again forced his daughter to look outside at the rising carnage. Charlie tried with all her might to withstand her father’s grip. But her daddy was too strong. She bawled her eyes out as her eyelids were forced open by a simple charm cast from her father.

Hours seemed to pass for poor Charlie. When in reality, only a couple of minutes had. With each new demon killed, Charlie could feel her adrenaline building up. Threatening to burst out of her like her screams.

All the while, her father held on tight. He could feel his daughter’s resistance waning, Both physically and mentally.

He shouldn’t have underestimated his daughter though. She was a Magne afterall.

After a painfully brutal kill, Charlie froze. The dam was about to break. Her father’s grip had loosened considerably, and Charlie used that moment to slip her way out of her father’s hold.

She squirmed and punched the air. Out of surprise, Lucifer dropped Charlie. She landed hard on her butt. Tears threatened to spill, but the adrenaline kept them at bay.

Charlie rushed her way to the door. Her father calling out to her as he tripped over the couches in the room.

Charlie’s mind was in a haze as she blearily made her way through the seemingly endless maze of hallways. She could hear shouting coming from behind her. It sounded like her father, but there were also other voices. The voices became more distant as she ran farther away. Her little legs pumping faster than she knew they could.

Her mouth tasted like metal and her heart was beating way too fast. She could feel her mind cloud over with panic. All she knew was that she had to get out of there.

She couldn’t hear her dad anymore, but she could still sense him in the building. Her overwhelming sense of needing her mom, and to just lay down right there and sob, was trumped when she witnessed the unnaturally blinding light of the outside. Her tainted heart started to beat faster. She ran full force into the full on massacre going on.

She swished her head back and forth twice, before running to the left. Hopelessly trying to find anyone that could help her.

Lucifer emerged from the building, sweating profusely. He had never felt fear like this since he was cast down from Heaven. He didn’t expect this to happen! He thought he could scare his daughter straight. All he was doing now was fearing for his daughter’s life! The angels didn’t give a damn that Charlie was royalty. They were instructed to kill anything and everything that resembled a demon.

Lucifer found his legs moving faster as an ear-splitting shriek filled the air. He knew that scream like the back of his hand. It was his Charlotte.

Charlie had been running for a while and was starting to slow down. She tried to talk to other demons. But once she realized that they couldn’t respond, for they had no vocal cords anymore, her voice would hitch in her throat.

She tried to maneuver as gracefully as she could while in full blown panic. But she couldn’t help the copious amounts of blood that splattered her now ruined dress.

Broken sobs wracked her tiny body as she continued to sprint in no specific direction.

As she ran, she didn’t notice the gray shadow looming over her shoulder. The shadow morphed into an angel, as it quietly stalked the young demon princess. It could smell the scent of the demoness from a mile away.

The angel’s LED mask flickered to life, revealing its jagged tooth smile and menacing eyes. It slithered its way over to the demon child and popped up in front of Charlie. Body tensed and blinding spear smothered in blood.

Charlie screamed.

She genuinely screamed for the first time in her life.

The spear tip pocked right under her neck. Melting the little plastic apple pendant, and leaving a searing mark on the girl’s soft flesh.

Charlie’s body was on fire. Not from the unbearable burning pain on her neck. But from a feeling she had never felt before.

Charlie’s mind flitted to those nasty thoughts she always tried to suppress. Her consciousness embraced the imagery of carnage and death. The mere thought of such brought out her primal desire for evilness.

Charlie’s small frame shook. The angel tilted its head in confusion. Unsure as to why it hadn’t killed the small creature yet.

The angel heard a small giggle. Not the innocent giggle of a child, but the demented cackle of a truly tainted soul.

The angel’s spear was slowly starting to rise up by an invisible force. And the cause of that force was none other than Charlie.

The small demon was livid. Filled with the craving sense of maliciousness. For the first time in her short life. Her hair untangled from its pigtails, growing and twirling around her floating body. Her skin blotched crimson. Her eyes turned blood red. And to top it off, two wickedley sharp horns jutted from her teeny forehead.

The smile she wore was not out of child-like giddiness, but out of pure adulterated rage. A scream tore from her throat. Knocking over the angel. Charlie started to creep her way over to the angel. While said being of light was desperately trying to grab its weapon.

With a quick flick of Charlie’s wrist. The staff was tossed aside like a toothpickl.

The angel’s mask reflected a look of true horror. Desperately shielding itself from the tiny demon’s wrath.

Charlie didn’t care. She couldn’t care. Her young mind was feasting on the fear of the angel. She couldn’t stop. She had starved herself of her carnal desires for too long.

With a sudden jerk of her puny wrist, the angel was alight in unholy flames. Guttural shrieks emanating from its mask. Its charred skin melting away like a candle. Leaving blotches of golden blood, and crispy skin in its wake.

The angel gathered whatever strength it had left and flew away, back into the sky. Burning the whole way.

Charlie laughed maniacally. Watching as the angel sailed away.

Her small body couldn’t take it anymore, and her adrenaline quickly wore off. Letting her demon form make way for her more cherubic one.

In a split second, she was falling. Too tired to even cry. She expected to hit the ground full force, but was surprised when she felt a pair of familiar arms catch her tiny figure.

Her father looked down at her tattered form with a look she couldn’t quite comprehend. Relief? Joy? Proudness? She really didn’t care at the moment. All she had the energy to do was close her eyes and drift off to sleep.

The next time Charlie woke up, she was in her bed at home. Razzle and Dazzle curled up at her feet. The blood was gone, and she was in her favorite nightgown. She sat up, feeling like a million imps had tore through her muscles.

She could hear her parents arguing outside of her room. It sounded like gibberish, but her mother sounded very angry.

The sound of a vase shattering caused the small girl to give an eep, and pulled the blankets back over her head.

Silence. Then the soft creaking of her door. Letting in the gentle light from the hallway.

Lillith lightly strolled into her daughter's room. A cautious smile on her face. Charlie could see her father’s shadow in the hall, but only wanted to see her mother.

Her mom sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her daughter’s golden hair. Which only a couple of hours ago had been soaked in red.

“Hello my pet. I see you had quite the evening with your father.”

Charlie leaned into the touch wistfully. “Mhhm.”

The mother and daughter sat in silence for a long while. Charlie’s mind at ease, until she started to recall the events from last night? Morning? She didn’t know what time it was. She only knew the pain she went through, and the pain she put that angel through.

Tears began to brim her eyes. Clutching onto her mother. Lillith held her daughter the entire time.

The more Charlie thought about the torment she witnessed, the harder her tears fell. She cried into her mother’s dress. Thoroughly soaking it. She couldn’t fathom why that had to happen. It didn’t seem fair to the young child. For her mind was too immature to grasp the problems her family's kingdom went through every year. She didn’t understand why so many demons had to die. She didn’t understand how the angels could be so cruel.

Eventually Charlie’s sobs died down. Her face puffy and red. Her blonde curls stuck to her face. Lillith carded through her daughter’s hair some more. Just glad she was safe.

Lucifer joined his small family on his daughter's rickety bed. Rubbing his thumb over Charlie’s small hand. Lillith gave him a dirty look, but he ignored it.

He was scared during the ordeal, sure. But was mostly overjoyed that his daughter had a demon in her! He thought that this was the turn around he had been hoping his daughter would achieve someday.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

The tiny Princess of Hell had had one hell of a night. And with the gentle carding of her hair by her mother, and the soft caress of her father’s hand, the entire event was beggining to fade away into the back of her mind. Sleep was starting to take its hold on the young demon.

She gazed one last time into her parents eyes, before closing her own for the night.

The last thought she had was that she never wanted to see another extermination ever again.

All Characters belong to Vivziepop.

#hazbin hotel #fanfic #I'm a sop for young Charlie stories

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carryonmywaywardcaptain · 6 years

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Yes, Professor- Part 2

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

WC: 1,899

Warnings: dirty future implications? None really.

A/N: This doesn’t have the smut y’all were probably hoping for, but dang it-- Professor Winchester is a handsome, respectable, intelligent man and I thought it would be a disservice to him if he just jumped into the sack with a student right off the bat. Y’all can blame/thank @ericaprice2008 for this. I posted some time ago that I had several big assignments due, but all I wanted to do was write smut. She said, “Just don’t confuse the two. That could get awkward hella quick.” GUESS WHAT IDEA I RAN WITH. Also, @whimsicalrobots messaged me the day I had a run in with my professor and said “So how’s your day going? See any professors you want to run any ideas by?” Y’all probably don’t remember those moments because this series has taken months to get going, but I thank you again for the inspiration!

By class Wednesday, Charlie was really starting to drive you up the wall. She hadn’t let your dream go for a second and she promised she wouldn’t give it a rest until you divulged every single detail. You’d purposely arrived late to class to have a few extra moments of peace, but you were sure she’d set into you again as soon as class was done.

Professor Winchester had settled into a lecture about the Transcontinental Railroad and its role in the growth of cities when Charlie decided she wasn’t about to wait until the end of class.

“So how’s your day going?” she whispered. “See any professors you want to run any ideas by?”

You ignored her and began taking notes. Since you still couldn’t get yourself to look at him and Charlie was trying to get a rise out of you, you fixed your eyes on your notebook and refused to let them wander.

“You can’t go all class without looking at him,” she continued in a hushed tone. “I know how much you love it when he wears darker colors.”

You finally looked up to glare her, but all she did was grin. Professor Winchester cleared his throat loudly and you snapped your attention to the front of the room in embarrassment--immediately forgetting that you’d been determined not to look at him.

He wore a gray-blue button up and a dark blue patterned tie. His black suit jacket was left unbuttoned, giving him more freedom to move since he had a tendency to pace back and forth while he lectured. Your eyes danced across his shoulders and chest, soaking in his appearance before trailing to where his shirt was neatly tucked into his pants. When your gaze flashed to his crotch, you quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t noticed you checking him out.

“Told you,” Charlie mocked.

“Charlie, shut up,” you whispered sharply.

“Is there a problem, ladies? Something maybe you’d like to share with the rest of us since it can’t seem to wait until after class?”

He stood next to his desk with his hands on his hips, giving you both a disapproving look. He was clearly annoyed, but damn, you couldn’t help thinking how he could make you do anything if he said it with that stance.

“No, sir. Sorry,” you apologized.

He continued with his lecture again. A moment passed before Charlie had the nerve to whisper, “bet you wish he’d asked you to stay after class.”

You punched her thigh under the counter and she hissed in pain-- a little too loud.

“Miss Y/L/N, Miss Bradbury, that’s enough,” Professor Winchester said firmly. “That’s the third time this morning you’ve caused a disruption. I want you both to come see me after class.”

Your heart sank. You never got in trouble. Not only were you in trouble, but now you had to stay behind and have an actual conversation when you could hardly even look at him.

Charlie didn’t make another comment for the rest of the morning and, because presentations had gone over on time Monday, he lectured until the last minute to make up for that lost time.

“Alright everyone, we’ll stop there for today, and remember-- no class Friday. Have a good weekend.” He looked pointedly at both of you. “Ladies.”

You dropped your head sheepishly and made a silent vow to yourself that you’d make Charlie pay for this. As soon as your bag was packed, you slipped your arms through the straps and followed Charlie to where Professor Winchester stood beside his desk.

You groaned internally when you saw that he’d removed his black suit jacket and was just finishing rolling the cuffs of his button up. He leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms before looking at you. You dropped your eyes to the floor, not letting them linger on the muscles of his forearms that were now uncovered. Why was that little habit so sexy? You still hadn’t recovered from him doing it last class.

“Either one of you want to explain what that was about today?” He waited patiently, as neither of you spoke right away.

“Sorry, Professor. Y/N had told me a story that was...kind of a cliffhanger. I wanted to know more and you know how I get when I need to know stuff. Always blurting things out,” Charlie shrugged sweetly.

You turned to gauge his reaction and found that he was already looking at you. He held your gaze and a small smile spread across his face as he began to nod.

“I do know how eager you can be, Charlie,” he said, dropping the formal tone he used in class. He turned to look at her and you were grateful to be released from the hypnotic hold his bright green eyes had on you. A shiver ran down your spine when you imagined those eyes dark with lust like they’d been in your dream, but you tried your best to focus on the conversation at hand.

“I’ve always admired your curiosity, but keep in mind there’s a time and a place. Normally I welcome questions and discussions, but today you were both disruptive. You’re good students, so maybe we can chalk it up to the excitement of this...story that was so interesting. Don’t let it happen again. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” you and Charlie said simultaneously.

“Good. Charlie, you’re free to go. Y/N, I’d like a word in private.”

Your stomach seemed to drop all the way down into your toes. Alone? With him?

Charlie turned on her heel, making sure her back was to him, and waggled her eyebrows with a smirk. You glared at her as she skipped out of the classroom.

Professor Winchester stood to grab his bag and coat. “There’s another class in here in about fifteen minutes, so we’ll move to my office.”

You followed him into the hall, down the stairs, and hung a left to one of the back hallways where the faculty members’ offices were located. Passing several doors, you arrived at the end of the hall where he ushered you into his office.

Centered against the back wall facing the door was a stately desk and leather swivel chair. Two shelves overflowing with books flanked the desk-- topics ranging from guns and war to folklore and other historical events. To the left was a large armchair next to a small side table and lamp. To the right was a small couch and directly in front of his desk were two chairs. The room was quite large, but the space was slightly cramped from all of the mismatched furniture he used for group project discussions with students or informal staff meetings. As you stood nervously examining his office, he placed his jacket and bag on the small couch along the right side of the room.

“Y/N, I wanted to touch base with you and see how things are going,” he said, turning to face you. “I couldn’t help noticing you seem a little distracted this semester.”

You have no idea. You cleared your throat and tried to come up with something to say.

“Sorry, Professor Winchester, I--”

“Dean,” he cut you off. “Outside of class, if you’re comfortable, you can call me Dean. I know the whole ‘professor’ thing can get a little redundant anyway. Continue.”

You bit your tongue to avoid telling him that you actually found the ‘professor’ title kind of sexy in his case.

“Uh, sure. Dean... I guess I have been a little distracted...and I’m so sorry for interrupting class today. Charlie was just-- Well, like she said, she was asking me a question and I was just trying to--” You sighed as you stumbled over your words. “It won’t happen again, sir. I’m sorry.”

“I hope not. You’ve always been a good student and I’d hate to see this kind of behavior become a habit.”

“I know. It was a one time thing and I’ll make sure Charlie’s on the same page. I’ll be on my best behavior from now on-- I promise.”

“Good girl.”

His voice was low and he sounded pleased with your response. Your body went rigid and your throat went dry. For a second you thought you might have even stroked out because you seemed to lose all ability to form a coherent thought.

“I...excuse me?”

He quirked an eyebrow and smiled thoughtfully to himself. “I said, good girl.”

When he said the phrase again, it was like a jolt to your core. You desperately wished that you’d worn jeans, because your dress wasn’t going to do much in hiding how wet you already were from a few simple words.

Shit--how long have you been trying to figure out what to say? What the hell do you even say? God yes. Call me a good girl again, Professor.

“Something wrong, Y/N? Professor McHotCakes got your tongue?” He smirked.

As realization dawned on you, your eyes grew wide and you pictured yourself looking white as a ghost. You were definitely going to have to drop out of school. Move somewhere far, far, far away.

“I finished grading the papers from last class. I thought it was a little odd you’d turn in the same assignment I’d already graded from the week before-- especially since the topics were completely unrelated.”

He took a tentative step toward you, but your feet remained cemented to the floor.

“I turned it over to make sure I hadn’t missed anything...” He moved another step closer, looking down at you as he continued his musings. “Maybe your assignments were stuck together. Maybe you tried to conserve paper. But all I found was an interesting little conversation...”

His gaze briefly darted to your lips before returning to your eyes.

When had your breathing become so heavy? Was it hot in here, or just you? Or maybe it was just him...

“I’m...so sorry.”

That was the best you could do. Honestly, what else do you even say to your instructor after he finds out you’ve been having dirty dreams about him? Why the hell couldn’t the floor in his office open up and swallow you whole?

“Did you do the assignment?”

“Yes, sir. Some of my papers were spilled last class and it must be mixed in with those. But I have it backed up-- I can go to the library and print it right now, I--”

He held up a hand to stop you as he backed away and went to sit behind his desk. “I have a meeting soon and classes all afternoon. If you can get it to me before I leave at 8 tonight I won’t count off.”

You didn’t understand why he was being so understanding about everything, but you sure weren’t going to argue with him. “I can do that, absolutely. Thank you so much, Professor. Uh, Mr. W-- uh, Dean. Thank you.”

Your face flushed for about the twentieth time and you turned quickly to make your way to the door.

“And Y/N?” he called. Halfway out the door, you turned to see a mischievous smirk on his face. “Don’t be late. It just so happens I do have a thing for good girls.”

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aidanchaser · 5 years

Text

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Everyone Lives AU

Table of Contents beta’d by @ageofzero

Chapter Thirteen The Very Secret Diary

It was a gloomy Monday when Ron and Harry lugged all of Hermione’s notes and school books to the hospital wing. She was insistent on keeping up with her school work, even though Ron suggested that being in the hospital was a wonderful excuse to slack off. Hermione told him that was absurd, she’d only fall behind, and they wouldn’t be able to get her help with exams. Ron agreed that delivering her homework each day might be a good idea.

A couple weeks went by. Students whispered about Hermione’s disappearance, and so many of them snuck by the infirmary to see what had happened to her that Madam Pomfrey put a curtain around her bed. So when Ron and Harry went to visit her that afternoon, they didn’t see that Lily was already at Hermione’s bedside until they stepped through the curtain.

“Oh, hi Mum,” Harry said as he set a stack of History of Magic notes on Hermione’s bedside table.

Lily smiled pleasantly at Ron and Harry. “Hello. Isn’t it sweet of you two to be taking notes for Hermione and delivering her assignments for her? I hope you’re not doing it out of any sort of guilty consciences.”

“It really was all my fault,” Hermione said quickly. “I shouldn’t have borrowed Ron’s wand for a Transfiguration spell. It completely backfired.”

“Yes, Ron, you really ought to get your wand fixed,” Harry said quickly.

“I know,” Ron said glumly. “I’m afraid to tell Mum. It was Charlie’s. He said he wouldn’t need it with the dragons and so I could have it. I don’t want to tell her I broke Charlie’s wand.”

“I’m sure she’d understand,” Lily said. “I do believe it was Professor Lockhart’s fault your wand broke, right? That’s what Harry said in his letter. I suggest you have him buy you a new one.”

“I’ll think about it,” Ron mumbled.

“Well, I am glad you two are being good to Hermione. I heard Professor McGonagall say she’s been very pleased with how well the two of you have been focusing.”

“It is easier to have Hermione explain it to us, but we have to try to explain it first,” Harry said.

Lily laughed and squeezed Harry’s hand. “You really are so much like your father. He and his friends would be so well-behaved when Remus was in the hospital.”

Harry smiled and his ears went pink at the compliment.

“Why was Mr. Lupin in the hospital?” Hermione asked.

Lily stood up from her chair, still smiling. “Well, I’d better leave you three. You don’t need a grown-up hanging around, and Hermione should be ready to go over your lessons from my class.”

“Oh, yes,” Hermione said. “Professor Lockhart came by this morning as well and helped me with a little of it too.”

Lily’s smile pinched like she’d taken a bite of lemon peel flavored Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. “I see. Did he go over my lesson and spells or did he merely read you the passage from his book and smile charmingly?”

Hermione blushed — or rather, her few remaining whiskers quivered, which Harry assumed was the cat version of blushing — and said, “He didn’t win Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award five times for nothing.”

Lily’s sour expression did not soften at the humor. “Yes, as he is so fond of reminding everyone. I hope one day you will learn that a charming smile doesn’t necessarily make anyone a decent wizard.” She turned to Harry and Ron and said, “And the same goes for witches with charming smiles. There are better qualities to be enchanted with.”

Ron nodded, and Harry said, with a small smirk of his own, “But Mum, don’t you think Dad’s smile is just a little bit charming?”

Finally, a smile cracked through Lily’s irritation. “Yes. But the things I love about your father are his bravery, loyalty, and humility. And his excellent self-made Cleaning Charms. Now, really, I should prepare for my class tomorrow. And grade some papers.” She kissed Harry’s forehead and patted Ron’s shoulder, then left quickly.

Harry and Ron stayed with Hermione, all three of them working on their homework, until Madam Pomfrey shooed them off to bed.

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Sirius,

Remember how I mentioned Moaning Myrtle? Well she flooded the hallway last night because someone threw a book at her. It’s a diary from 1943, and it’s really interesting, except for the part where it’s blank.

Ron keeps telling me it could be cursed, but it seems fine. It’s just blank. I don’t know how to figure out what’s inside it, but I’m sure it’s important. The date is from fifty years ago, and Malfoy told us the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, and the name on the diary is T. M. Riddle, who was a Prefect and Head Boy, but he also won an award for Special Services to the school fifty years ago. It’s got to have something about the Chamber of Secrets in it. Hermione couldn’t make anything appear in it, though. Do you have any ideas?

Love, Harry

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Harry,

Try Aparecium? It’s a basic revealing spell, but if someone was trying to keep their diary secret, and they were smart, they’d have thought of something more complicated.

I’ve never heard of T.M. Riddle, and I’ve never heard of the Chamber of Secrets being opened before. Sure, I knew about it. Everyone I grew up with was in Slytherin and every few years someone would try to find the Chamber, just to see if it existed, but no one ever found it. I think Malfoy might be pulling your leg.

Let me know if the Aparecium spell works, though.

Love, Sirius

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Snitch,

Why don’t you ever write to me now that your Mum’s at school? Are you afraid I’ll tell her about the trouble you’re getting into? I won’t, I promise. Sirius says you still write to him, which is unfair.

Love you, can’t wait for your next Quidditch match. Let’s not have any broken limbs, charmed broomsticks, or unexpected dives this time, alright?

Love, Dad

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Dad,

I haven’t written mostly because I figure Mum was telling you all the interesting things. Hermione is out of the hospital now and back in class. Madam Pomfrey says the Mandrakes are almost done and she can make Colin and Justin better soon.

But that’s really it. It’s been super quiet ever since Christmas. Lockhart seems to think the monster gave up because it was scared of him, but I don’t know who believes him. But maybe it really is all over. Maybe the Chamber of Secrets is closed again.

I’ll write again soon. Promise.

Love, Harry

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

May 1, 1979

Lucius Malfoy,

Thank you for everything you did while we were in Paris. I was sorry Narcissa couldn’t attend, but I found the conversations absolutely stimulating. And I appreciate your offer of a job after graduation. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.

However, I heard from Avery and Lestrange that the Dark Lord wanted young purebloods to aid his cause. I’m worried about a conflict of interest. I mean you no disrespect, but Bellatrix introduced me to him and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how inspiring he is.

If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to wait to give you a formal response until I know what responsibilities the Dark Lord has for me. He seemed very impressed with my family lineage and the things I could provide for our cause. I do hope you understand.

Sincerely, Regulus Black

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Valentine’s Day was an absolute disaster. Lockhart had singing dwarves dressed as cupids running around giving Valentine’s performances and reading cards out loud. Harry thought the whole thing absurd enough as it was, and then on his way to Charms class, a dwarf grabbed his bag.

Malfoy, Fred, and George were all standing nearby, so Harry tried to run for it. He had no desire to have a dwarf sing him a valentine in front of three people who would mock him endlessly about it. But in his escape attempt, the bag ripped, his inkwell crashed on the floor and spilled all over his belongings. Then the dwarf grabbed his ankles and Harry tumbled right into his spilled ink. His books and parchment went flying. Everyone was already laughing so hard, he thought maybe they wouldn’t hear the valentine or care about it. But as the dwarf opened his mouth, Fred and George shushed everyone.

The dwarf, in a gravely voice, began to sing,

“His eyes are green as a fresh pickled toad, His hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.”

Percy Weasley, the only one not laughing, shouted at everyone to go to class. “Move along,” he said loudly. “You too Malfoy.”

But Malfoy didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. He reached down and picked up the diary that had spilled from Harry’s bag.

“Give it back,” Harry said as he got to his feet.

“Oh,” Malfoy crooned. “Wonder what Harry Potter’s written in his diary.” He flipped it open to a page, blank like all the others, and began to read, “I’m so glad my Mum’s a professor. I get everything I want all the time, even though Malfoy’s such a better Seeker —”

Harry wasn’t about to listen to another minute of this. “Expelliarmus!” he said, and the diary shot out of Malfoy’s hand and into his own.

“Harry!” a voice shouted and Harry winced.

Lily pushed her way through the crowd of students. “No spells in the hallway! That’ll be five points from Gryffindor. All of you, go to class!”

Malfoy sniggered as he pushed past Ginny Weasley to get into his classroom. “By the way, Weasley, I don’t think Potter liked your Valentine much.”

Ginny froze in the hallway and turned bright red.

“Mr. Malfoy!” Lily shouted after him. “Respect your classmates, or I’ll be taking points on your behalf next!” She huffed in frustration and looked over Harry, as covered in ink as his parchment.

Percy immediately began to tell her how he dispersed the students, but she didn’t have the patience to hear it.

“Enough, Mr. Weasley. I believe you have a Transfiguration class to attend.”

As Percy left, Lily cast a quick cleaning spell on Harry’s school things and his robes. As she mended the tear in his bag, Harry noticed his diary was perfectly dry, and had been when Malfoy picked it up.

Lily handed him his bag, then looked over at Ginny, who was so still Harry would’ve believed she’d been petrified. “What class do you have, dear?” Lily asked.

“H-Herbology,” Ginny stammered. She sounded like she might cry.

“Let me walk you, alright? I think Harry can find his own way to class.”

Ginny still didn’t move, but kept staring at Harry as he put the diary into his mended bag and started up the stairs to Charms class. Finally, Lily put an arm around Ginny’s shoulders and gently led her away.

Harry thought about Ginny’s valentine for the better part of the day — it was hard not to, with Fred and George singing it every five minutes — but as soon as he could, he slipped away to his dorm to test out his new theory with the diary. He sat down on his bed, opened the diary to January first, and dropped a dot of ink onto the paper. It stayed on the page for a moment, then faded into the paper. Harry took a deep breath and wrote, “My name is Harry Potter.”

He waited, breath held, while the words shimmered on the page before finally sinking into the diary. Another moment passed, and then ink oozed out of the paper until the diary said,

Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Dad,

Valentine’s Day was a disaster. Lockhart had these singing dwarves sending everyone valentines. It was so obnoxious.

I got one from Ginny. I guess she likes me? I don’t really know why. Do I have to do anything? I don’t know about girls or valentines or anything.

Love, Harry

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Harry,

It’s been pretty obvious for years that Ginny has a crush on you. I’m surprised it took a Valentine for you to figure it out.

And no, you don’t have to do anything. Unless you want to do anything. Dating takes two, and if you or her don’t want to date, you don’t do anything.

Also, you’re twelve. Don’t worry about girls for at least three more years, please. I don’t think Sirius could handle it.

Love, Dad

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Uncle Remus,

I figured out the diary! I assume Sirius told you about it. He tells you everything.

I tried writing in the diary, and it was incredible. It read my words and it wrote back!

I asked it about the Chamber of Secrets and it showed me Tom Riddle catching the person who originally opened the Chamber of Secrets, but….

I don’t know if I’m happy to know it. And I don’t think I can do anything about it. I don’t know what to do at all.

Love, Harry

—————————— ✶✶✶——————————

Dear Harry,

Secrets you don’t know what to do with are hard, especially when they’re not yours to share.

You have to do what feels right. If you think someone is in danger, you should tell an adult. If no one is in danger, it’s not your secret to share. You can ask the person who is responsible to share it, but there isn’t much else you can do about it.

Best of luck. I know you’ll make the right call.

Love, Uncle Remus

#harry potter everyone lives au #harry potter and the chamber of secrets #hp fic #hp everyone lives #harry potter

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ofmermaidsandmarauders · 6 years

Text

are you going to just stand there?

Five times Vice Principal Potter showed up in Miss Evans’ doorway & one time she showed up in his.

Happy birthday @hypergalacticcannibalism can’t believe i finished this IN TIME for your actual birthday BUT HERE I AM with this fic.

Read it on AO3 and FF

Miss Evans is basically every student’s favorite teacher at school. It’s a well known fact by all of the incoming kindergarteners that Miss Evans will be the bestest teacher ever and always has a bowl of candy in her drawer in case you’re missing home.

“Miss Evans?”

“Yes, Charlie?” She’s surprised by his tears because it’s already October and she has yet to see the younger Weasley show any sign of anxiety but he’s standing in front of her with tears in his eyes suddenly. “What’s wrong?”

As his lower lip quivered, she placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him a little closer. “I-” He choked on his sob and she smoothed down a strand of his hair before smiling down at him. “It’s okay, take your time. Do you want to sit inside during recess?” The little boy nodded and settled down in the beanie bag next to her desk.

“Everything alright, Miss Evans?” The voice surprised her as she looked up to see the new vice principal standing in her doorway. His lanky build filled the opening and as his hand flew to his hair, she noticed the way that his unruly curls fell against the tan skin on his forehead just so. He had taken a more hands-on approach to being an administrator, popping in at random times just to ensure things were running smoothly. It was already better than Principal Umbridge, who was really a useless piece of crap burning on a hot day, or so said Lily when she and Miss McKinnon had a few drinks and would get a little rowdy on Friday nights at the bar.

“Yes, just having a little bit of a hard day, I think. Charlie here is going to spend some time with me just reading while everyone goes out to play.” She smiled sincerely at James while letting Charlie grab a picture book from the small shelving unit on the side of her desk and offered him a snack from the small basket in the bottom drawer of her desk. Lily hadn’t noticed that James was stepping into the classroom and crouched down beside Charlie. “Hey, bud. I think we met before. Two weeks ago during recess, right?” Charlie’s nod confirmed that James was correct in recognizing him. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” At the shrug of Charlie’s shoulders, James shot a small smile and shrug Lily’s way.

“That’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about it. I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch in my office with me and your brother. I can see if Bill would be cool with having a special lunch earlier than normal, just the three of us. What do you say? Maybe then we can talk about what’s wrong?” James’ grin grew as Charlie nodded and was able to calm his tears. “As long as that’s alright with Miss Evans, that is.” He shot her a wink and Lily let out a soft sigh.

“I suppose it sort of has to be, at this point.” Normally she would have been annoyed that someone was taking over her comforting moment to connect with her students, and was changing up the rules of her classroom, but it was obvious how much James cared about Charlie despite the minimal interactions they may have had, and it made her much more accepting of the situation. Lily shot James a genuine smile as he lifted his gaze to meet hers.

She could let it go this one time.

ii.

“Hey, Miss Evans, can I see you for a minute?”

James’ voice was a surprise to Lily’s as he appeared in her doorway.

“Hey, call me Lily when there’s no children around, please.” She smiled as she beckoned him in and he was able to shut the door.

“Well, then I insist you call me James.” His smile only brightened as he took a seat on top of one of the kindergartener’s desks, knowing there was no way he was fitting in one of the tiny chairs. “I just wanted to come and see how things were going.”

Lily was surprised by this. Principal Umbridge never made it a habit to check in on her teachers, especially when she was the Vice Principal. She had considered herself the dean of discipline and was constantly pulling children out of class for “poor behaviors,” and this often resulted in traumatized children feeling targeted for struggling in class when really they just needed extra support. She had attempted to pull one of Lily’s students once, and when she refused the removal of the student, it had started a power struggle between the two women. Principal Umbridge had made it a point to be Lily’s enemy ever since.

“Principal Umbridge wanted me to come in here and talk to you about… um…” James trailed off and Lily’s eyebrows furrowed together as his cheeks grew increasingly pinker. “Spit it out, James.” She huffed, already annoyed that James was now going to be scolding her too.

“Well, she says that some of the things you wear could be considered.. um... inappropriate for a kindergarten teacher. That maybe your outfits should be a little less adult friendly and a little more k-kid friendly.” He stuttered over his words, refusing to actually look at her when presenting her with this suggestion .

“Oh, is that so?” She asked, raising her left eyebrow as she went to stand in front of James. Lily waited until his chin lifted so he was looking at her, and she noted the slight fear in his eyes. “Does my wardrobe bother you at all, Mr. Potter?” Lily’s formal use of his name caused him to gulp and he shook his head.

“N-no. I- I think you look just fine. More than fine. Beautiful, actually. Well, not beautiful. I mean, yes, beautiful. But in a totally professional way. An appropriate way. I think nothing is wrong with how you dress. Principal Umbridge just asked me t0-” James trailed off when he realized that Lily was giggling.

“It’s okay, James. I know Umbridge has it out for me. She does this at least twice a year. McGonagall used to just bring me a packet of biscuits and chat while we had my semesterly talking to . It’s too bad she got promoted to superintendent. We could use her level-headedness around here.” Lily let out a sigh as she sank back into the chair behind her metal desk, putting her feet up on the wooden top of it so that her skirt hung a little lower on her thighs.

James just grinned and stood up, shaking his head as he walked out.

iii.

Lily had stepped away from the gymnasium/cafeteria where most of the teachers were. It had grown incredibly stifling and she just needed some space. Lily had somehow ended up back in her classroom and she was enjoying the cool air that was coming in through the window she had cracked open upon entering. Settling in on the reading rug, Lily’s legs kicked out in front of her so that the red skirt she wore splayed across the grey carpet. Holding a glass of spiked eggnog, the redhead let her eyes fall shut for just a moment while nibbling on a sugar cookie shaped like a Christmas tree.

“Everything alright in here?” The deep voice scared her so much that the eggnog sloshed onto her hand a bit and Lily’s cheeks went pink at being caught hiding out from everyone. “Mind if I join you?”

James didn’t wait for a response as he sauntered over towards the rug, sliding down beside her so that his legs also lay out in front of him. His were much longer than hers, and she appreciated his height for the first time since they had truly met while purchasing a snack in the teacher’s lounge the day before school started for the students.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked, grinning down at her.

“Just thinking about how even that Santa hat can’t hide those curls of yours.” Lily smirked as she made him blush and duck his head.

“Liiiiiiily.” He whined, nudging her with his elbow before he laughed softly. “I can’t control it!” James was growing defensive and she couldn’t control the giggles that fell from her lips. She knew she had too much eggnog before coming down here, and being alone with her boss while slightly tipsy was a dangerous matter. Especially a boss who was looking incredibly cute with his button down sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the hat tilted on the top of his head.

Lily must have been staring for too long because James cleared his throat and she smoothed down her skirt quickly, avoiding his gaze.

“It’s getting cold in here. We should probably head back to the party. Free eggnog can’t last for much longer.” She stood without a warning, watching as James did so as well. He locked up the window for her and then led her through the doorway, his hand burning on the middle of her lower back throughout the walk.

iv.

Lily was looking at her classroom, all decorated with hearts in various shades of red and pink. She had on her pink cardigan with a cream colored skirt that twirled whenever she spun and for some reason she was really looking forward to Valentine’s Day this year. All of the kids had been “gossiping” with her about what kind of cards they were going to get for their friends, and she knew of at least two students who had crushes on other students. Lily had just finished putting out the Valentine’s she gave her own students each year with a small lollipop attached at the corner of the heart-shaped card when she heard a slight cough coming from the doorway. She smiled pleasantly at the sight of James, wearing gray slacks with a white shirt and a bright pink tie covered in hearts.

“Looking quite festive in here, Miss Evans! In fact, I think Cupid may find himself a new home in your classroom, it looks so ready for Valentine’s Day.” James’ teasing caused her to flush, though she smoothed her skirt down and offered up a shrug in response while turning to scan her classroom.

“I like the students to feel excited for the holidays. You haven’t even seen my Valentine’s Day lesson planning.” She had constructed a spelling word list along with math worksheets and art projects, all designed to be Valentine’s themed. “I think I am the leader of this school when it comes to the holiday spirit.” Lily grinned as she settled down at her desk, leaning back in her chair Godfather-style as she glanced up at James. His cheeks brightened and he stepped into the classroom, peeking at one of the cards on a student’s desk before smiling at her again.

“Sorry for the teasing. I appreciate the festivity. I noticed that nobody around here really has that passion anymore, so I’m glad to see at least one teacher does. I’m sure the kids are going to love it.” He sounded sincere as he settled into the beanbag chair beside her desk, his lanky limbs not quite fitting on the cushion properly. Her gaze focused back on him as he adjusted himself and then jumped up again, causing Lily to let out a small yelp in surprise.

“Sorry, sorry. Just forgot. I need to give you something.” As he reached into his pocket, she was afraid she was about to get her pink slip (and on Valentine’s Day no less) meaning she’d have to bid for her job, again and she knew she’d get it but just the stress of having to go through the bid process every year was frightening and she was incredibly grateful that Umbridge didn’t have hiring and firing power.

“Here. Happy Valentine’s Day, Evans.” In James’ palm lay a small Disney princess card in her hand. She took it and noticed that it had Ariel on it, and she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face as she realized he probably was trying to be cute, identifying that they both had red hair. She licked her lips and opened it up, reading the scratchy scrawl on the inside in tiny lettering.

“Be my Valentine, Evans? Love, James.” Above his handwriting were the words So glad you’re a part of my world printed in big teal lettering. She grinned up at him and nodded. “I happily accept your proposal, Valentine.” Lily winked and James’ cheeks burned a red almost as bright as the mermaid’s hair.

“Great, so that means you’re required to stop by my office for lunch. I’ll order us something great from that Greek place you always mention.” He told her as he started to back towards her door.

“Perfect! It’s a date.” Lily confirmed, to which James nodded in response and out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed him stumble over a small chair by the door before he left Lily alone with her thoughts.

Lily had just hugged the last of her kindergarteners goodbye, saying a special farewell to Charlie, who had made immense progress when it came to his math over the year. This was always a hard time for teachers. It was a time to rejoice and prepare for a few months off with no children to really stress over, but it was also a sad time. She was struggling to hold back tears as she took a turn and just stared at the empty classroom. She was being forced to remove all of her decorations for the summer so that they could repaint and retile the floors. All of her student’s things were gone, and any reminders of this school year would be shoved into a storage box. She had never felt so nostalgic before, and she knew that this year’s students held a special place in her heart.

“Alright, Evans?” James’ voice sounded concerned as he suddenly appeared in the doorway to the classroom. She nodded and let out a little sigh before stepping towards him. “How do you always seem to know just when I need some form of human contact?” Lily tried to joke, but she found it to be uncanny. It was as if James just knew when she needed the help.

His hands rested lightly on her shoulders as she let her eyes close, trying to stop any more tears from forming. “It’s okay.” He murmured, letting a hand slip down her arm so that he could lace their fingers together, giving her fingers a slight squeeze. “You’ll get new rascals next year, and you’ll get to mold them into awesome human beings because it’s what you’re great at.” James’ voice sounded so genuine it just made her want to cry more. He was being so kind and thoughtful, and his words meant the world to her.

When Lily peeked up at him from beneath her lashes, James’ gaze seemed a bit softer than usual. Without thinking, his hand slid up to cup the back of her neck, and she could feel his warm breath across her cheeks. “Lily, I-” His words were cut off as she leaned up the rest of the way, capturing his mouth in a soft kiss. Lily wasn’t entirely sure where the desire to do so had come from, but she realized that she had been thinking about doing so for quite some time, and she didn’t want to wait any longer.

After pulling back, the weight of what Lily had done was weighing her down, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She had just kissed her boss. She was so going to be fired. She’d have to work at the school across town, doubling her commute. They definitely didn’t have as nice of classrooms, and she heard all of the administrative time were monsters, but she could make do. Lily could feel her heart pounding in her chest and James must have finally noticed the fearful look on her features because he chuckled softly before lifting up her chin using his thumb and forefinger.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go for dinner sometime, but I think that I got my answer.” James’ face donned a cocky smirk, but his voice sounded a bit nervous, despite the fact that Lily had just kissed him .

“I think dinner could be arranged.”

vi.

Lily appeared in the doorway and grinned as she watched her husband work. His head was bent over his desk, completely oblivious to his visitors. She knew that the school year wouldn’t be starting for another month, and James technically didn’t start getting paid again until next week, but his passion for his students was what drew her in, and it was something she still found endearing, even after all their time together.

“Ahem, Mister Potter? I have a dilemma I need solving.” She smiled as he looked up, hand midway through his hair, a crooked grin on his face.

“Yes, Miss Evans? Come in and take a seat, I’m happy to help you.” She sauntered over to the cushioned chair opposite the oak desk and slowly lowered herself into the seat.

“The thing is I’m not entirely sure what the problem is. I just know that it was very cold and lonely at home, and I decided that Harry and I simply had to come for a visit. Maybe you know how to fix the problem?” As Lily spoke, James’ grin turned into a smirk and he made his way around the desk, leaning against it while crossing his legs. “I think I may have the solution.”

Moments later, James was taking the baby bundle from her arms, pressing a gentle kiss to Harry’s smooth forehead before letting his eyes meet hers. “Much better.” She reassured him, standing again so that she could drop a kiss to Harry’s cheek and hold onto the hand that had peeked out from the folds of the baby blanket wrapped around his small body. “I’m so proud of you.” She whispered, smiling as his free arm wrapped around her waist so that he could tuck two of his favorite people as close to him as possible. James dropped a kiss to her temple and let out a soft hum of contentment.

“You know you’re not supposed to be out of bed for another week.” He scolded her, though it was hard to look stern when he was holding his newborn son in the middle of his office, feeling more pride than he ever would have imagined.

“Harry and I wanted to be the first ones to say congratulations to the new principal. We hear he’s pretty spectacular.” Lily’s grin grew as she watched her husband’s cheeks turn pink. Even with the cocky attitude he could have at times, it was always fun to watch him grow flustered because of her. She knew that his cockiness was only an act, and that when it came down to it, he was still just that silly boy she met in the teacher’s lounge trying to get a soda unstuck from the vending machine on his first day. James just winked at her and pressed a kiss to her lips before speaking.

“What can I say? I work with some really great teachers.”

“Miss Evans?”

She could let it go this one time.

ii.

“Hey, Miss Evans, can I see you for a minute?”

James’ voice was a surprise to Lily’s as he appeared in her doorway.

“Hey, call me Lily when there’s no children around, please.” She smiled as she beckoned him in and he was able to shut the door.

“It’s okay, James. I know Umbridge has it out for me. She does this at least twice a year. McGonagall used to just bring me a packet of biscuits and chat while we had my semesterly talking to. It’s too bad she got promoted to superintendent. We could use her level-headedness around here.” Lily let out a sigh as she sank back into the chair behind her metal desk, putting her feet up on the wooden top of it so that her skirt hung a little lower on her thighs.

James just grinned and stood up, shaking his head as he walked out.

iii.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked, grinning down at her.

“Just thinking about how even that Santa hat can’t hide those curls of yours.” Lily smirked as she made him blush and duck his head.

Lily must have been staring for too long because James cleared his throat and she smoothed down her skirt quickly, avoiding his gaze.

iv.

His hands rested lightly on her shoulders as she let her eyes close, trying to stop anymore tears from forming. “It’s okay.” He murmured, letting a hand slip down her arm so that he could lace their fingers together, giving her fingers a slight squeeze. “You’ll get new rascals next year, and you’ll get to mold them into awesome human beings because it’s what you’re great at.” James’ voice sounded so genuine it just made her want to cry more. He was being so kind and thoughtful, and his words meant the world to her.

“I think dinner could be arranged.”

vi.

“Ahem, Mister Potter? I have a dilemma I need solving.” She smiled as he looked up, hand midway through his hair, a crooked grin on his face.

“Yes, Miss Evans? Come in and take a seat, I’m happy to help you.” She sauntered over to the cushioned chair opposite the oak desk and slowly lowered herself into the seat.

“What can I say? I work with some really great teachers.”

#jily fic #jily #my writing #jily au #hp

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mldrgrl · 6 years

Text

The Madeleine Moment

by: mldrgrl Rating: PG-13 (language) Summary: For @thexmasfileschallenge Gingerbread prompt. Revival era fic.

Scully didn’t have any qualms about selling her mother’s house. Charlie was the only one of the Scully kids to have lived in it for any amount of time - their parents having moved into it when he was a junior in high school. It had never been home for Scully, just the place where her parents lived once her father retired. She’d come “home” for holidays from school for the first few years, but after Charlie left, there were years where Scully was the only one there at Christmas. If she really thought about it, the last time they’d been together as a whole family, she was 15.

The house had been on the market for over a month. The realtor had warned her that the market was slow between Thanksgiving and New Years’ and not to expect much. It didn’t matter much to her. She’d already taken weeks to clear out the house in between cases with Mulder’s help. It felt like she’d spent more time there since her mother died than she had when her mother was alive. There wasn’t much there that held any significance to her.

When the house had been emptied, the realtor she chose suggested staging certain rooms to give people an inviting feel. Whatever the woman wanted to do to sell the house, Scully was fine with. She gave her the keys and thought nothing of it until the weekly texts came with questions or updates. It had been nearly six weeks since Scully had been to the house, but a few days prior, when she had been in Missouri on a case, the realtor called and told her that on one of her tours, some boxes were discovered beneath the cellar stairs and did she want to pick them up or dispose of them?

So, Scully found herself attending the regularly scheduled Sunday open house to pick up the mystery boxes from her mother’s cellar. Mulder drove her in case it required heavy lifting - a bit of a pretense since they both knew he’d have driven her regardless. They hadn’t spent a weekend apart in three months.

“They changed the landscaping,” Mulder noted as he parked the car in front of the house.

“Took out the rose bush mom always liked though,” Scully said, her eyes shifting over the changes that had been made to the front yard. It was tidier and less dense. A lot of the overgrown shrubbery had been cut back or removed.

Mulder got out of the car, bouncing the keys in his hand as he waited for her on the sidewalk. She got out and buttoned her jacket up against the cold wind. With only a glance over his shoulder, Mulder held his hand out to her and she took it as they strolled up the walkway to the front door. For the first time, she did feel rather odd knocking on her mother’s door, knowing that someone else was going to answer.

“Dana,” Suzanne Wheatley said with a chipper smile as she opened the door. “And Mr. Mulder. It’s good to see you.”

Scully stepped into the foyer, Mulder behind her, and silently took in the front room. The staged decor was minimalist and sleek. The walls were bare, yet strategically placed floor lamps, even a large, silver mirror placed just so, gave the room an oddly cozy feel despite it being so stark. Stark compared to her mother’s taste.

“The boxes are in the closet in the laundry room,” Suzanne said. “Feel free to have a look around. I was actually just about to call the office to have my assistant book a second appointment with a couple that expressed a lot of interest in the house. Fingers crossed!”

Scully unbuttoned her coat and looked back at Mulder when Suzanne walked away. “Different,” he mouthed to her. She nodded. He followed her deeper into the house, towards the formal dining room. She paused and her heart began to pound rapidly against her chest with sudden intensity. She breathed shallowly through her nose. The scent of gingerbread hung in the air.

*****

Her first Christmas home from college, and the first at the new house, Mom wanted to throw a party. It would just be church friends, of course, as they really hadn’t gotten to know any of the neighbors yet. Charlie had better things to do and got out of it, but Dana felt obliged to help. Melissa had just moved back in with their parents, sort of, having just returned from Europe on a trip to ‘find herself’ though all she really found was another boyfriend. She was gone most days, and nights, at this new boyfriend’s apartment, the irony being she’d met him in Spain while he was in an exchange program from American University.

For the four days she’d been home, Dana had had to endure her father’s continual ranting about Melissa’s irresponsibility and Charlie’s foolishness while he praised Bill Jr.’s determination, singling her older brother out as a role model, but saying nothing about his youngest daughter’s 4.23 GPA her first semester of college or the fact that she’d accomplished it while being a year younger than the rest of her classmates. He’d only gruffly commented that she’d better not lose focus since before she knew it, med school would be around the corner.

At two a.m., after sending her mother to bed, Dana sat at the dining room table amongst dozens of gingerbread cookies. She’d helped in the kitchen, rolling dough and cutting cookies for at least six batches, all of which were now cooled and in need of icing. As it grew later, her mother had gotten more distraught about the time it was taking and how she needed to be up in mere hours to dress the turkey, not to mention all the other cooking that needed to be done. Dana told her mother just to go sleep, that she would do the icing.

Dana had only gotten through four cookies when Melissa slipped in through the back door. She was as stealthy and quiet as a mouse, having learned the fine art of sneaking in at the wee hours of the morning quite early on.

“Jesus,” Melissa hissed, dropping her bag on the table before pulling off her jean jacket. “What in the hell are you doing making cookies at two a.m.?”

“Watch it!” Dana whispered, putting her arm out to protect the cookies from the contents of Melissa’s bag, which were dangerously close to spilling out over the table and ruining at least one plate of gingerbread men.

“This is insanity. Mom is fucking insane, you know that, right?”

“She’s not insane, she just wants to have a nice party.”

“Insane.” Melissa shook her head and then disappeared into the kitchen. She came back out a few minutes later with two shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

“Missy!” Dana chastised. “Put that back!”

“Oh, Dana, lighten up. You’re in college now, you can’t tell me you haven’t had a drink or two at a party.”

“I don’t have time for parties, I need to study.”

Melissa rolled her eyes and poured out two shots anyway. She sat down in the chair next to Dana and slid one of the glasses towards her. Without waiting, she downed her own shot, winced and hissed, and then picked up one of the cookies, cut into the shape of a tree, and grabbed the green tube of icing. Dana stared at her.

“I need fortification if I’m going to spend all night icing cookies for our insane mother,” Melissa said, and then nodded to the shot glass in front of Dana. “You do too. Drink up.”

Dana hesitated, but then threw the shot back. She coughed and her eyes watered. She had to wipe her mouth with her sleeve to rid the stinging from her lips and then she went back to work icing the snowman cookie in front of her. She got through two more cookies, in silence, before Melissa poured them another shot.

“This sucks,” Dana murmured, staring at the imbalance between iced and plain cookies in front of them. The second shot had gone straight through her like fire, liquefying her muscles and loosening her tongue. “It really fucking sucks.”

“I’m helping. We’ll get through it in no time. Tell me about school.”

“School fucking sucks too.”

“Why?”

Dana sighed. “I don’t know.”

“There has to be a reason.”

“I…” Dana stopped herself. She was about to start spilling secrets she swore she wouldn’t tell, but she ached to tell someone. She was never very close to her sister. They were too different. Melissa was cool and sophisticated in a way Dana would never be. She’d idolized her older sister when they were kids, but as they grew up, they also grew apart. She didn’t know much about Melissa’s life beyond the judgmental disdain their parents had for how she lived it.

“Fine,” Melissa said, reaching across Dana for one of the gingerbread men to ice. “I probably wouldn’t get it anyway, right? Since I’m the irresponsible fuck-up who never went to college.”

“It’s nothing like that.”

“I’m sure.”

“I...I lost my virginity,” Dana whispered, sudden tears pricking her eyes which she blinked away.

“Well, fucking finally,” Melissa answered, but she put down the icing and turned to her sister. “Don’t worry about it, Dana, it’s not that big of deal. You’re not a whore and you’re not going to hell, despite what those idiot nuns have tried to pollute your brain with. It’s natural, completely nat-”

“That isn’t it,” Dana interrupted, shaking her head. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and then bit her lip.

“Look, if you’re pregnant, I’ll help you deal with it.”

“That’s not it. I...he hasn’t spoken to me since it happened. I’m afraid maybe I did something wrong or...or…”

“Listen, men are assholes. He hasn’t talked to you because he’s an asshole, not because you did something wrong.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, but I do know. Trust me. I’m sorry, babe, if you think he broke your heart, but he won’t be the last. It’s only the worst because he’s the first.”

“That’s not really that comforting.” Dana’s voice squeaked as her throat closed and a hot tear rolled down her cheek. Melissa reached over and brushed it away.

“You are so fucking amazing, Dana. You deserve someone so much better than...what was his name?”

“Miles.”

“Miles? Jesus, Dana, you’re crying over some tool named Miles? You are definitely better than any asshole named Miles.”

Dana could help the soft laugh that bubbled up from her chest and then she wiped her eyes. The sting of rejection lifted a little, but it was still painful to think about. She had a sudden terrifying thought that her parents would find out and she nervously licked at the side of her lip as she glanced at the doorway to the front room.

“You...you won’t tell Mom, will you?” she asked.

“Oh come on, Dana.”

“I don’t think she would understand.”

“Huh.” Melissa arched her left eyebrow and picked up the tube of icing again. “Have you ever taken a look at Billy’s birth certificate?”

“No.”

“June 1, 1960.”

“I know that.”

“Date of parents’ marriage, January 22, 1960. I know I’m not great at math, but that doesn’t add up to nine months to me.”

It was Dana’s turn to raise her brow. “Are you serious?”

“Listen, if Mom ever tries to lecture you about premarital sex being a sin, you just drop that little fact on her and see how fast she shuts up.”

“Oh my God.”

“Look.” Melissa held up the gingerbread man she’d been icing. Dana’s cheeks darkened. Her sister had iced genitalia between the cookie’s legs.

“Melissa!”

“I’m calling him Miles.”

Dana’s cheeks grew even redder. “We can’t put that cookie out for Mom’s church friends.”

“We’re not going to. You’re going to take this cookie and bite his dick off.”

“Melissa!” Dana gasped, but then she started laughing as Melissa waved it in front of her face.

“Come on, Dana. He deserves. Bite it right off.”

“Oh my God.” Dana took the cookie and after a few moments of hesitation, she closed her eyes and bit it in half.

“There you go. Fuck you, Miles, and your dumbass name.”

Dana brushed cookie crumbs from her lap and gave Melissa the other half of the cookie. She supposed the loss of one gingerbread man would go unnoticed. There were still so many to ice though, and it was almost three in the morning.

“Why did she have to make so many cookies?” Dana murmured, sighing as she picked up a plain one to ice.

“Because she’s fucking insane,” Melissa answered.

*****

Mulder put his hands on Scully’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. She blinked and tipped her head back to look up at him. He gave her a quizzical look and she reached up to cover one of his hands.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Thinking about your mom?”

“No, actually.” She shook her head.

“You want to grab those boxes and get out of here?”

“Yeah?”

Mulder gave her another squeeze and then dropped his hands. He moved through the kitchen and she followed, pausing at the oven to bend and peer into the window. She remembered reading once that a trick of selling real estate was to make the house smell like cookies. Sure enough, a sheet of gingerbread men were baking inside. She breathed deep and closed her eyes.

“Usually I do chocolate chip,” Suzanne said from behind her. “But, my daughter has a holiday party at school tomorrow and I needed to do gingerbread men.”

“They look good,” Scully said, straightening.

“Found the boxes,” Mulder, coming into the kitchen with the two boxes stacked on top of each other in his arms.

“We have to get going,” Scully said to Suzanne.

“Well, I just made a second appointment with some buyers for Tuesday. Hopefully I’ll have good news for you!”

“Thanks.”

Scully went out ahead of Mulder and guided him down to the car. She popped the trunk with her set of keys and he placed both boxes inside. He was about to close the door, but she stopped him and asked for his pocket knife. He pulled it out of his pocket and then broke through the tape on both boxes before stepping back to let Scully open them.

“Huh,” Scully said.

Mulder looked over her shoulder and pulled the flaps of the boxes open. “Jelly jars?”

“Boxes of jelly jars.”

“Was your mom big into canning?”

“Not at all. Not that I know of.”

“Huh.”

Scully started to laugh. “Sometimes she was just fucking insane.”

Mulder turned his head towards her and raised his brows. She chuckled and put her hand on his arm. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go home.”

The End

#i wrote this #xf fanfic #msr #I'm feeling very into Melissa Scully right now #angst lite

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tenroseforeverandever · 6 years

Text

Dear Father Christmas... Chapter 19: December 24, 2034

MASTERPOST

Characters: Tentoo; Rose Tyler; Jackie Tyler; Pete Tyler; Tony Tyler; OC Hope Tyler-Noble; OC Charlotte Tyler-Noble; OC Wilfred Tyler-Noble; OC Therin Thomson; Javic Thane

Rated: Teen

Tags: Family!Fic; Kid!Fic; Pete’s World; Letters to Santa; Christmas Fic; Family; Fluff; Hurt/Comfort; Angst; Romance; Love; gun violence; violence resulting in death; life-threatening injury; life threatening situations

Summary: When Rose Tyler was little, she always wrote a Christmas wish list to Father Christmas. As she grew older, the wish list became more of a letter to someone she could confide in once a year, but she fell out of the habit somewhere along the way. Now, as a new mum, celebrating her daughter’s first Christmas, Rose takes up writing her Christmas letter to Father Christmas once again.

Rose’s Christmas letters are excerpts from her life with her beloved Tentoo and their children in Pete’s World, written once a year, for each of 31 years.

Chapter Summary: Jackie creates a new charitable event to support the needs of some young women in the London area secondary schools.

Notes: Oh, gosh… I think this is it. I have a funny feeling I won’t be able to post tomorrow, as Chapter 20 is long and has just been submitted to my brilliant betas. Still, not a bad run! I will get the remaining stories out as quickly as I can, and hopefully still get them all posted by New Year’s Eve!

The idea for the event Jackie creates is based on a real event that my kids’ high school holds every year.

All the thanks to the incredible aforementioned betas, @rose–nebula and mrsbertucci Thank-you, my darlings.

Thanks to @doctorroseprompts for their 31 Days of Ficmas prompts. The prompt I used today was Joy.

Also read at: AO3; FF.net; Teaspoon

December 24th, 2034

Dear Father Christmas,

I never had a prom. We didn’t have them back home. We just had these naff dances in the school gymnasium. The most memorable thing about them was sneaking out back with Keisha and Shareen to get sloshed, smoke a few cheeky fags, and to snog the fit blokes from the rugby team. I didn’t go very often, to be honest, and then I fell in with Jimmy Stone and that was the end of that for school dances… for school, period.

But proms are big business here: they have them twice a year to celebrate the end of each term. My kids have never gone because they were never enrolled in the secondary school system. They all went directly from Primary to University. Charlie just completed a couple of degrees in atomic and molecular physics, and engineering physics. Now she’s off studying at a university on some distant Earth colony, thousands of light years away and about three hundred and twenty centuries in the future.

Needless to say, I still get moments when I just can’t wrap my head around it all, even after all I’ve seen and done in my barmy life. Even Charlie’s Hand in Hand charity (left in very good hands while she is away studying,) is so huge and over-the-top in so many ways, it’s just mind-boggling. It was kind of nice when, this Christmas season, I was able to help in a much smaller way, closer to home.

Mum has taken to counselling like a fish to water. I’ll never regret pushing her to take those classes with me all those years ago. The Big Yellow Truck and the women it supports have only benefited from her knowledge, and her certification has given herself and the charity better credibility.

A few months back, I was over at hers for a cuppa. The Doctor and Wilfred were off in the TARDIS, who knows where, for a few days. I hadn’t been able to go with them. There’d been some trouble in the north of Scotland with a UFO sighting: legitimate, for once. An alien spacecraft had crash landed, much of it burning up in the atmosphere upon descent. Unfortunately, no one had survived, but there had been several human witnesses who were extremely distressed and frightened. I needed to stay for a few days to coordinate the clean-up of the site, and the ongoing counselling for the witnesses.

Anyway, by the time I got back, it was just me rattling around in the little blue house, and feeling lonely, so I went to see Mum. That’s when she got started talking about proms. One of the women she counsels has a daughter that goes to one of the local secondary schools. Like me and Mum when I was growing up, they sometimes had a tough time making ends meet, never mind being able to afford to buy a gown for a prom. She’d been awful sad. Her daughter’s prom was the Friday before Christmas, the day term was over and the kids were out for the winter break.

Even with the aid from Hand in Hand, there were still loads of people who had to watch their pennies. But at least they now had decent homes and medical care, and access to good food and training for employment. But that didn’t always mean they could afford a dress for the prom.

“Maybe I should just buy her one. Make it a Christmas gift yeah. What’dya think?”

I told her she couldn’t just go around buying prom dresses for every young girl who couldn’t afford them.

“Oh, I know, sweetheart. I wasn’t really going to do it. I just wish there was something I could do to help.”

Therin strolled into the kitchen, where we were sitting. “Prom is a really big deal. When I was in Sixth form, some of the posh girls would get a bit uppish, make the girls who couldn’t afford to go feel like shite. Blimey, I’m glad I don’t have to listen to that rubbish anymore.”

“Enjoying Uni, then, are you?”

He just grinned at me and proceeded to tell me how great it was. He was studying economics and business management, so he could continue to help Charlie run Hand in Hand. Dad was also sizing him up to take over Vitex once he retired. It turned out his extensive hands-on experience with the charity had been more valuable than he could have possibly imagined, and he was sailing through his courses. He’d come a long way from the little homeless orphan Charlie had taken under her wing seven years ago.

He pulled up a chair and a mug and poured himself some tea. “Aunt Jackie,” (he’d started calling her this from early on, and Mum’d been right chuffed) “you don’t need to buy the girl a dress, yeah.” He turned back to our earlier conversation. “You could just give her one of your old ones. Or Rose’s. You both have so many you wear to all those functions and galas and whatnot.”

Mum just stared at him like he’d grown an extra head.

Therin seemed a little put out and got up to leave us to our tea. “Well, sorry I brought it up. I didn’t think you would be so attached. You only ever wear them the once”

Mum screeched, practically leaped out of her chair, and rushed over to him, giving him a huge hug and planting big wet kisses on his cheeks. (Poor Therin. At least he knew he was loved.) Then she started shouting something about “…the answer to everything!”

--ooOoo--

All fall, mum was relentless, absolutely driven, unstoppable. She was on a mission and nothing was going to stand in her way. She approached all the secondary schools around London, asking them to discreetly identify any students they felt would be unable to afford to go to prom because of financial concerns. She wrote a letter, as Founder of the Big Yellow Truck, to be given to each identified student.

Then she approached the schools’ parent committee members, the employees at both Vitex and Torchwood, her friends, and of course, the staff at both the Big Yellow Truck and Hand in Hand. She asked them to consider donating their gently used formal dresses and shoes.

Her idea was simple: most women (at least the ones she knew) bought a gown for an occasion and rarely wore it again; Mum asked that they donate them so that young women without the means to buy a dress would be able to choose one of the donated ones and attend prom in style. Further to that, she offered to provide free hair styling to the girls. She had tried very hard to get suits donated for the boys, but men tended to reuse their formal-wear, so not many suits were available. She did convince the tuxedo rental stores around town to donate a couple of rentals each, so the few boys that needed support were able to get it.

Most of the winter proms around the city landed on the Friday before Christmas. A few were on the Saturday. The weekend prior, buses collected the students and brought them to The Big Yellow Truck’s head office and warehouse, where the dresses were stored. Me, Mum, and a whole load of volunteers were on hand to help the girls find the right dress for them. Mum even found a couple of seamstresses willing to donate their time to do minor alterations on the gowns. The gowns were all labelled with the girls’ names. They would all come back the day of the prom to pick up their dresses and get their hair, nails, and make-up done.

Prom day eventually arrived. All the girls were bouncing off the walls with excitement, squealing and giggling and generally having the time of their lives. Me, Mum, and Hope (who was able to make it home for Christmas this year) and loads of other volunteers set to work preparing the girls for their big night. It was hard work, but so rewarding to see the joy on their faces as one by one they left us looking utterly glamorous, and confident enough to take on the world. The young lady, whose mum had originally planted the seed in Jackie Tyler’s brain to create this event, gave her a huge hug, eyes shining. She said she could never thank her enough. Mum practically glowed with pride.

As we waved good-bye to the last girl, Mum dropped into a chair. “Blimey, I’m knackered, I am. And you lot! You were marvelous today, bleedin’ marvelous! I could murder a cuppa, though. Whatd’ya say?”

I was so proud of Jackie Tyler that day. I am every day, to be honest. She’s my Mum. She made a difference in the lives of every single one of those girls (and boys.) She makes a difference in the lives of vulnerable women every day. And she made a difference in my life too, teaching me to stand up for what I believed in; supporting me through the very hardest times of my life; and loving me even when I made some very questionable and regrettable life choices. She’s a very special woman, and I told her so.

“Don’t take the mick, Rose. There’s nothing special about me. I may live in a big mansion and wear all them pretty frocks now, but I’m still Jackie Tyler from Bucknall House, yeah, and I always will be. Nothing remotely special.”

Santa, I just looked her in the eye and I told her: “Yeah, Mum, you are though. You understand what all these poor women you help are going through every day, how it feels to be the girl at the prom who couldn’t afford the dress. And you always tried to make a difference. And now, even though you’ve been given a life of luxury, you’re still you: you don’t flaunt your money. Instead you use it to help others, the way you wished you always could.”

She hugged me so tight, tears in her eyes. I could tell she still didn’t believe me; she probably never would. But I’ll keep reminding her every day and maybe eventually it’ll stick.

Happy Christmas, Santa. I hope you and Mrs. Claus, and the elves and reindeer always realize how special you are, too, for everything you do each year.

love, Rose

#doctorroseprompts #kid fic #tentoo x rose #jackie tyler #christmas #hurt/comfort #fluff #angst #romance #love #ficandchips #tenroseforeverandever's fic

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avasharpe · 4 years

Text

Sugar and Salt

Chapter: Five of ?

Summary: Sara gets some life changing news and so she and Ava try and make it as a family.

Fandom: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz

Characters: Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, Sin, Gary Green, Amaya Jiwe, Zari Tomaz, Behrad Tarari, Kuasa, Kendra Saunders, Sin, Aldus Boardman, and Laurel Lance.

Chapter Rating: General Audiences.

Additional Tags: Bakery and Coffee Shop, Mutual Pining, Non-binary character, Trans Character, Fake Marriage, But Real Feelings, Food.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

Two Chapter updates in two days?! What who is she?

TBH this has been in my draft box for a while, but my college work took priority and I was so burnt out because of it (Bio is hard especially when it's online and the teacher is a mess) so school is almost over and I finally finished editing it and here it is!

……………………………………………………………………

It was an unusually quiet Saturday at the Bakery, Sara had just opened a little later than usual since none of the usual early morning customers were in yet, Amaya and Zari were nowhere to be found and the kids were playing in the office. Kendra was in the back doing prep work, and Sara was doing some extra cleaning in the corners of the seating area and trying not to gag on the vinegar cleaner.

The front door slammed open, and Zari and Amaya rushed in, followed by Kuasa and Behrad. Despite their quick entrance and sour faced kids, Zari and Amaya both had dazzling summer smiles, and seem to float on cloud nine as they ran over. Behrad and Kuasa made themselves scarce and scampered off to the office.

“Hey watch the…” Sara popped up from under the counter with a rag, wiggling her finger at them both, but was quickly cut off by Zari.

“You guys,” Amaya sang. “We've done something amazing, I mean it's completely rash but it's amazing. We're so excited.”

“It's not too rash,” Zari said, putting her hand on Amaya's arm. “We have known each other for years.”

“Still, it's pretty rash,” Amaya said, looking over at her.

Sara looked at them and then over Kendra, who had come out from the kitchen, looking just as confused as to why they were acting and talking so outrageous.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Sara asked, but before she could continue her question Amaya started up again.

“Well we were talking this morning, and at first it was just an idea we started to look into...”

“And then we found this perfect place and called just because we were curious, we figured we wouldn't be able to book it for at least a year or so,” Amaya said, easily picking up when she stopped.

“But they had a last minute cancellation and had an opening for August, so we jumped on that and booked it, but we just couldn't wait so we went downtown to the courthouse and met with the judge.”

It was at that point that suddenly everything clicked in Sara’s head. “Oh no, you didn’t!”

“Oh, we did,” Zari said in both disbelief, but utterly happy with their decision. “I even have a dress picked out, it was my mother's and it fits perfectly.”

“Are they talking about what I think they're talking about?” Kendra asked in disbelief.

“We also have my parents’ rings,” Amaya said. “They're both very simple gold bands, and my mother's has just the one diamond.”

“But they're perfect,” Zari said, gazing down at the ring on her left hand.

“You got married?!” Sara yelled. There was no question about it with the two of them standing there.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Kendra said, holding up her hands and closing her eyes for a second. “Let me get this straight, you guys are engaged right now, and your plan is to get married in August of this year, in four months?”

“No,” they both said in unison.

“We already got married,” Amaya explained with a smile. “We’re just planning a formal ceremony that will take place in two month.”

“We've thought it over and it's what we want,” Zari added with a matching smile.

“Exactly how long have you both thought about this?” Kendra asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Since we got together two months ago,” Amaya said.

“But when I caught you two making out last week you said it had only been a month,” Kendra stammered.

“Well, technically it’s been seven weeks,” Zari said, looking up as she did the mental math.

“Oh shit,” Sara said. The realization dawned upon her. Seven weeks ago she and Ava had started sleeping together regularly. Six weeks ago she had her period, which was now a whole week late.

“Yeah, oh shit is right,” Kendra said. “You two cannot get married after only a month and a half of dating.”

“Oh come on, Kendra,” Zari said, walking over to her. “You’re the one who always goes on and on about how you knew from the moment you meet Carter that he was the one.”

“Yes, I have said that.”

“And you two were engaged after six months and married after a year,” Amaya said, raising her eyebrow.

“Yes, but the difference between two months and six months is a huge amount of time.”

“We’ve known each other for two years.” Zari said looking over at Amaya with loving eyes. “We know what we're doing, and this is what we want.”

“I have to go,” Sara said, coming out of her daze. As much as she wanted to push aside her own problems and focus on what was going on with her friends, she had to know for sure if she was pregnant or not. She turned around and walked straight back towards their office. “I have to go to the store. I'll be right back.”

“Sara wait,” Kendra said, following her down the hall. “You can't leave. We have to talk them out of this!”

“I know, but...” Sara hesitated. She and Kendra had always been especially close, but this was something that she would usually keep to herself, although she hadn't had a pregnancy scare in several years, and she knew Kendra wouldn't judge her. She would be there for her whatever the outcome was. “Kendra, I think I’m pregnant and I need to know for sure.”

Kendra's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates, but she nodded. “Go, I'll cover for you and say we need some wine or donuts or something if we’re going to discuss this.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, rushing into her office and grabbing her coat and wallet, slipping it into her back pocket. “In the meantime call up everybody, Mick, Gideon, Ray, Nora, Nate, Mona, Ava, and definitely call Charlie. If anyone can knock some sense into these two it’s them.”

“Oh yeah,” Kendra said, pulling out her phone.

……………………………………………………………………

Ten minutes later, Sara stood in line at the local grocery store with a bottle of wine, a dozen donuts, and a pregnancy test. This was by far the first time she had done this, though she’d had a few other pregnancy scares since she lost her virginity as a teenager. However, she’d never bothered to buy more than one test, it had only been positive once.

She always thought that Sin was her one, her one pregnancy, her one kid. She wondered if this time the baby would be blonde like her and Ava, whereas Sin got their thick black hair from Len. Sara shook her head, she couldn't think about that, not until she took the test.

The cashier checked her out with a raised eyebrow, but let her take the test, the wine, and donuts. Sara walked over to the bathroom, and five minutes later she was sitting in her car with the wine and donuts in her front seat and the test on her console. She waited anxiously as the timer on her phone counted down, five, four, three, two, one. Her phone vibrated, and she quickly shut off the alarm.

This was it. Sara took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and grabbed the test. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at two very pink lines. It was positive. She was pregnant with Ava’s child.

“Oh mama,” she said. This was going to change their lives forever.

That is if she kept the pregnancy. She would be okay financially, she knew that, but emotionally and physically? She was so sick with Sin, and her body ached the entire time. The hormone changes put her on an emotional roller coaster, and having Len there kept her steady and helped her emotionally. Feeling Sin grow and kick inside of her, and now watching them grow and mature into their own person now, it was worth all nausea, all the pregnancy aches, the crazy emotions, the painful labor and delivery, the sleepless nights, and endless worry.

She knew that Ava would support her financially and physically if she wanted to keep it, Ava had always been so responsible. They would split time when they were old enough, but even that would be difficult for everyone, especially a kid. But would Ava want it? Like Sara, Ava had always thought of Gary as her one child, and Sara knew that she was happy with things the way they were.

Sara knew she couldn't do this on her own unless Ava was there for her emotionally, physically, and financially. Sara was so thankful that Len was there for her when Sin was a baby, and raising Sin was the hardest thing she's ever done. Sara didn't know if she could do it again on her own. She didn't have the luxury to think about wanting to keep the baby. She couldn't do it on her own, as much as she would love them. She and Ava had to be in this together, or not at all.

That's what she would do, she would tell Ava and they would talk this over, and then she would make her decision. She turned her key in the car and started it up, driving out of the parking lot and back to the bakery. Right now she had to stop her friends from making the worst decision of their lives, and afterward, she and Ava could talk.

……………………………………………………………………

Apparently, not everyone wanted to talk them out of this. By the time Sara had gotten back, pretty much everyone was there.

Sara held up the bottle of wine and box of donuts as she walked in, having hidden the test in her coat pocket, thanks to the cap she had placed over the “pee here” end. She handed the wine to Kendra and whispered that they would talk later.

“I'm so happy you're married!” Ray said, pulling Amaya in for a hug.

“Thanks,” Amaya replied.

Mona seemed to vibrate with excitement and let out a high pitch squeal.

“Aunt Mona, Please don't scream, it hurts my ears,” Gary said, with his ears covered with his hands.

“Yeah, stop with the squealing, there will be no wedding and you two will get an annulment if I have anything to say about it!” Charlie said, making their displeasure known.

“Anyone who gets married is an idiot,” Mick announced and Charlie nodded in agreement.

Zari and Amaya argued back, and Sara walked over to where Ava was sitting at one of the tables, pulling up a chair next to her. Gary sat down at the table next to them and started looking up at the poster for John Constantine’s show that was placed above him.

“Thanks for texting me, from the looks of it they're pretty set on going through with the wedding,” Ava said with a concerned look.

“No problem," Sara said, whispering to her. “It's gonna take a lot to talk them out of this."

“Well they have known each other for two years, and if this is what they want them maybe we shouldn't stop them.”

What?” Sara said, turning her head to look at Ava as she tried not to yell. “You can not honestly think that this is a good idea?”

"No, of course not," Ava stammered. "But they’re already married. We may not be able to talk them out of this and you don't want to lose your friends, right?"

"No, but we have to at least try."

"Okay," Ava said with a smile, and Sara sighed, happy to know that Ava was on her side.

“This is insane!” Nate said. his hands on the top of his head. “You two are insane!”

“That’s what I said,” Behrad added, and Nate put his hand on the boy’s shoulder in solidarity.

Things quickly dissolved into a squabble, and Sara turned away from the commotion.

"I guess we picked the wrong couple to bet on," Ava said, with a chuckle. "And this doesn't mean you win.”

“I wasn't actually trying to win anything, I was just trying to get you to like me,” Sara confessed.

That gave Ava pause. “You wanted me to like you?”

“Yes,” Sara said, looking over at her.

They stared at each other for a moment. Neither one had admitted that they had feelings for the other. Sara knew that there was a possibility of Ava actually liking her, but it was something they had never discussed. It had mostly been a friends-with-benefits situation before things got complicated with the feelings Sara had had for the last few weeks. Feelings she suspected Ava reciprocated. Now things were complicated with more than just feelings.

“Hey Mama look! Constantine is having a show next weekend can we go?” Gary called out, now standing on the chair to get a better look at the poster.

“We’ll see about that honey, but can you please sit down?” Ava said, in her teacher-mom voice.

“Okay,” Gary quickly complied, sitting back down and reading his book.

With everyone else weighing the pros and cons and trying to talk some sense into the newlyweds, Sara took the opportunity to talk to Ava.

“He's a pretty easy going kid,” Sara said, watching him read. “Sin usually doesn't like to sit and read like that. Watch videos or play games yes, but they prefer to be moving.”

“Yeah, some kids are just built like that. I loved to read and I read to him a lot when he was younger, so I guess he just sort of inherited it from me. We both can just sit and read for hours,” Ava said with a smile.

Sara smiled too, then remembered the other reason why she wanted to talk to Ava. “Hey, do you have any free time this weekend? I really need to talk to you.”

“Sara, I know you like me and I really like you too, but we can't see each other while I'm Sin’s teacher.”

“I know, and this isn't about that, I mean it is but...” Sara trailed off, shaking her head and trying to figure out what she wanted to say. “Look, why don't we just have a playdate with the kids. You can bring Gary over and we'll have dinner together. It would be good for Sin to make some new friends anyway.”

Ava looked over at Gary and then back at Sara. “I don't know.”

“Please, Ava?”

Ava seemed to think it over, and Sin got up from their place watching all of this go down next to Aldus and Kuasa, to stand next to Sara. Sara smiled and pulled Sin onto her lap, needing a bit of comfort as she went through her own craziness. Sin laid back and put their head on Sara’s shoulder, and they both relaxed.

“Okay, Gary could use a new friend as well.”

“Thank you,” Sara said hoping her expression conveyed her gratitude.

“Alright everyone, enough this is happening whether you like it or not, now you can help us plan a wedding or you can leave,” Amaya said, staring them down.

Everyone looked either content or defeated, and even Charlie huffed and sat down in one of the chairs, gesturing for Amaya to go on.

Sara sighed, the exhaustion of everything with Zari and Amaya and with her and Ava kicking in. At least everything was somewhat settled.

“Do you want to go watch a movie with me in the office?” Sara whispered in Sin’s ear.

Sin nodded and got up, but still held Sara’s hand needing some comfort of their own.

“Does Gary want to watch a movie?”

“He’s probably fine for now, but if he wants to later I’ll send him your way.”

Sara nodded to Ava who smiled as they slipped away, and Kendra caught her eye as she left, following her into the office. Sin got the movie set up, and Kendra caught Sara’s hand in the doorway.

“I’m pregnant,” Sara whispered to her, turning away from the room.

Kendra pulled her in for a hug and Sara melted into her arms. She and Kendra were pregnant around the same time, and they supported each other. Through the surprise of being pregnant and normal pregnancy stuff, Sara was there when Kendra got her C-section, when Aldus was diagnosed with spina bifida, and Kendra was at her side when Sara’s labor became high risk, then during the craziness of having newborns.

“What are you going to do?” Kendra asked, pulling back.

“I'm going to talk to Ava,” Sara said, crossing her arms. “I don’t know if I’ll keep it, but I need her to be on board if I'm going to continue with this.”

Kendra just nodded and rubbed up and down Sara’s arms. “I'll cover for you whenever you need it, and I'll drive you to the clinic or to the doctors. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks,” Sara said, pulling her back in for one more hug before letting Kendra go and closing the door behind her.

She flopped onto the couch and laid down as Sin crawled up and laid in front of her. “We're watching Into the Spider-Verse.”

“Sounds good,” Sara said, even though this was the 100th time they were watching it.

Sara put one arm around them as Sin cuddled up against her, and they both relaxed as the movie started. Behrad and Aldus joined them not soon after, but Sara was out before the so-so popsicle joke that always started out the giggles.

……………………………………………………………………

Ava wasn't surprised when they weren't able to talk Amaya and Zari out of getting married. When someone sets their mind on something, it was happening and she knew that despite the suddenness of everything, they seemed sure in their relationship. The one thing that Ava was concerned about was what Sara had said to her at the Bakery. What could she possibly need to talk to Ava about?

Gary must have picked up on her nervousness, as he was equally concerned about meeting Sin and Sara. He hopped from one foot to the other on the elevator, as they headed up to Sara's third floor apartment.

“What if Sin doesn't like me?” Gary asked, looking up at her. “What if she thinks I'm weird like everybody else?”

“You're not weird, honey,” Ava said, looking down, reassuring him and rubbing his shoulders. “You just do things differently, that's all. Just remember, boundaries and personal space, and try to alternate talking about your likes with asking Sin what they like.”

Gary nodded and Ava smiled, trying to put herself at ease as well. When they stepped out of the elevator, they turned to see Sara standing in the hall. A brunette woman was holding their hands together between them, as they talked in low voices.

“Mama, that’s Sara!” Gary shouted.

Ava paused, holding Gary’s shoulder to wait. Sara looked over and dropped the hands of the other woman, stepping back and crossing her arms over her chest. Sara gave them a smile and a small wave. The other woman looked over as well. She seemed to be judging them, as her eyes narrowed and looked them up and down. They continued to talk in hushed tones as Ava walked forward.

When they were a few feet away the other woman leaned in and kissed Sara’s cheek. Sara then reached out and hugged her, holding on tight for a moment, before letting go. Jealousy flared up in Ava, but she held it down. They had never talked about being exclusive, nor were they even technically dating. Sara was free to see other people, not that it still didn’t make Ava want to be Sara's one and only.

“Goodbye Beloved,” the other woman said.

“Goodbye Nyssa,” Sara said, giving her a soft smile.

Nyssa turned and walked past them, but not before she grabbed Ava’s arm, applying a tight grip. She leaned in and whispered in Ava’s ear. “Please, take care of them. However, if you ever harm them in any way, I shall find you and return the pain you have inflected tenfold.”

A shiver ran down Ava’s spine as she looked into her dark eyes, knowing that she meant every word.

“Nyssa!” Sara hissed at her and pulled them apart.

Nyssa let go and walked down the hall. Ava looked back at her as Nyssa did the same, before opening the door to the stairwell and disappearing.

“Mama, what did she say to you?” Gary asked, completely oblivious.

“I’m sorry Ava,” Sara said, ushering them into the apartment. “I didn’t know she was coming over or I would have told her not to.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You can see whoever you want.”

Sara opened her mouth to explain, but looked down at Gary. “Hey Gary, I heard you liked magic. Now Sin and I don't know much about it, but we did get the Lego movie game.”

“I love the Lego Movie!” He smiled, getting excited. “Emmet is my favorite. I didn’t know they had a video game! Can I play as Emmet?”

“We don’t usually play video games at our house,” Ava explained. “We’ve never really been into that kind of thing.”

“Oh well, you don’t have to, we can get out a game or some toys. Come on in, Sin’s room is here on the left.”

Sara went to the first black door on the left, knocking first then opening the door and peeked in.

“Sin, Gary and Ava are here. Can we come in?”

The door swung open and Sin smiled back at them. “Yeah come on, I’ve got the game all set up.”

Ava peeked in to see Sin’s room was set up with a TV, the game, and two bean bag chairs. There was a bunk bed and toy shelf stuffed into the small room with legos, books, and other toys strewn across the room.

“Sin, I thought I asked you to clean these up?” Sara asked, sweeping some of the legos to the side with her foot. “We don’t want anyone stepping on these.”

“Sorry Mom,” Sin said, crouching down and picking them up in the box next to them.

“Woah,” Gary said, looking over at the TV where the game was paused on screen. “Is that the Lego game?”

“Yeah,” Sin said, running over and picking up the controller, and handing one to Gary. “Here, I'll show you how to play it.”

“Wait,” Sara said. “I think that Ava wanted you guys to find something else to play with.”

“No it's okay,” Ava said, waving her off. “I just meant that we don't have any video games at our house and I usually try to limit the TV time. Would it be okay if they just played for a half hour or so?”

“Yeah, we’ll just set a timer,” Sara said.

Sin got up and went over to the doorway, hanging onto the door frame as they poked their head out into the hall and shouted. “Hey Gideon, set a timer for 30 minutes.”

A voice from the living room responded to them. “Okay, setting a timer for 30 minutes, starting now.”

“My friend Gideon works for Smoak tech, and one of her inventions is a google home type thing. She gave it to us for Christmas a couple of years ago, before the release.” Sara explained.

“Oh yeah, we have a Gideon at our place, I can’t believe your friends with her,” Ava said. They stood in the doorway, watching the kids start up their game and happily play for a couple of seconds.

Sara smiled. Sin and Gary got along pretty easily, as Sin showed Gary how to work the game, and they told him all about the Lego characters they were going to encounter. Sara nodded her head to Ava, and they both left.

Sara led her down the hall; there were two doors on each side of the hall, one on the right opened into a bathroom before finally the hall opened up to the main room. The dining room was directly in front of her, with the kitchen to her left, and to her right was a modest living room. The apartment was small, but cozy and well put together.

“You want any coffee or tea or anything?” Sara offered, taking a left into the kitchen and grabbing a mug from the countertop.

“Tea is fine, what do you have?” Ava asked, following her in.

“Well Laurel has a bit of a variety, looks like some peppermint, earl grey, there's a couple of others if you want to go through it?” Sara looked back at her, leaving the cabinet door open as she stepped back.

Ava looked over the variety and picked out an apple cinnamon type tea. When she turned around, Sara presented her with a simple blue mug full of hot water, and Ava put the teabag in and wrapped the string around the handle of the mug.

“I'm sorry about Nyssa threatening you in the hall. She's always been overprotective of us."

“It's okay,” Ava said, trying to hide her curiosity. “But you don't have to explain yourself to me.”

“I want to,” Sara said, looking at her earnestly. “She was falsely imprisoned two years ago and apparently got out a couple of weeks ago. That's why we broke up actually, she sent us away as she didn't want Sin and I caught up in the middle of a business war between her and the man who was taking over her father's company. He was the one who had her imprisoned. She just wanted to see us again and make sure we were okay. She was saying goodbye, that's all.”

“I get it,” Ava said, in a soft tone. “If my ex-wife ever came back. I would want to talk with her too.”

Sara smiled. She seemed to relax against the countertops, holding her mug between both of her hands.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Ava asked.

“Let’s sit,” Sara said, leading her back out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Sara set her mug down on the table before going back down the hall and closing Sin’s door.

“We can open it in a second. I just don't want them to overhear anything.”

Sara’s worried look was back. It had been on her face from the moment she had told Ava they needed to talk back at the bakery a few days ago. Since then, Ava's mind had been racing with the possibilities of what Sara could have wanted to tell her. It was either about them or about Sin. Ava had logically thought it was the latter and had hoped that it was just Sara wanting to talk about Sin’s new math IEP (Individualized Education Program) in regards to their Dyscalculia.

Sara sat down and folded her fingers together on the table in front of them. She looked down at them before looking back up at Ava. She hesitated and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Ava took a sip of her tea, trying to calm herself down. Then, Sara pulled out a stick and set it on the table in front of them.

“Ava, I’m pregnant.”

Ava froze as she looked down at the positive pregnancy test. The muscles in her mouth stopped working, and she choked down her tea, coughing and sputtering.

“You're what? You're pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, you're pregnant and it’s mine?” Ava asked, still not processing all of it.

“Well, half yours, but yes. There hasn’t been anyone else.”

Throughout this whole thing, Sara had remained somber as she spoke, while Ava was flailing around like an idiot. Ava took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking a minute to process everything. Sara was pregnant, Ava was the biological second parent, and Sara was pregnant with their child.

“Okay, how far along are you?” Ava said, opening her eyes and looking over at Sara.

“I don't know, maybe five or six weeks.”

“Okay,” Ava said, trying to think about how to move forward and what Sara would need from her.

“Okay, that's all you're going to say, okay?” Sara flailed, clearly as freaked out about this as Ava was.

“I'm sorry,” Ava said. “I'm just still getting my head around all of this.”

“No, it's okay,” Sara said rubbing her forehead. “I'm just worried about this too.”

Ava reached over and took Sara’s hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of Sara's hand. “Have you thought about what you want to do?”

“Kind of,” Sara said, shaking her head a little. “I'm not really sure I just, I know that I can't do this unless you're a hundred percent on board. If you don't want to keep it, then I know I can never do it on my own.”

Sara looked back down the hall towards Sin’s door. “Sin was a surprise, and I went through all of this with her father, Leonard, we decided to keep them even though we were just straight out of college. We were young, and we thought we could do it all and it worked out, even after he died. I had my family and they were a huge help, but even with them, after Len died I found out that I was pregnant again. I toyed with the idea of keeping it, but I couldn't do it. I had an abortion, and it feels like I’m in the same boat now. I know I can't do this on my own. I can’t raise two kids alone. I mean, you know what it's like to be a single parent.”

Ava nodded. “Gary was planned, but even after that, my ex-wife, she just couldn't handle taking care of a baby. Looking back, I wish I would have gotten her more help, like a nanny or a babysitter. My mom was staying with us and helped out for two weeks, but after she left my ex-wife just couldn't handle it. She decided she didn't want Gary, or me, or the life we had built together. From then on it was just me and Gary, on our own, and I did it because I had to and you're right, it worked out. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would, but it was still the hardest thing I've ever done. I moved back in with my family and they were a huge help, but I couldn't have done it without them.”

Ava gave Sara's hand a squeeze and spoke again. “If this is what you want, then I am behind you a hundred percent. I'll go to all of the appointments, I'll buy everything we'll need for the baby, and we can work out something, but Sara do you want this?”

For the first time since Sara had told her they needed to talk, Sara gave her a genuinely happy smile. “Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want another baby. Do you?”

Ava found herself easily smiling back at her, the thought of having another baby sent her straight to cloud nine. “Yes.”

Sara let out a breath and continued to smile, a few happy tears slipping from the corner of her eyes. Ava scooted closer to her and squeezed her hands.

“Look Sara, I don't want you to have to worry about how you're going to take care of this baby okay? I am here for you and for them, I’m gonna cover all the expenses so I don’t want you to worry about anything, and I want to be a part of not just the babies life, I want us, you, me, Gary, Sin, and this baby to be a family,” Ava said tearing up a little as she tried to find a way to say what she wanted to say next. “You know that I didn't have a family growing up. I was born into the foster care system and I just got shuffled around from the Sharpe’s who adopted me, but couldn't keep me, to the several other families who did the same.”

Ava took a deep breath; there was a part of her that still hurt from that rejection, and being forced from the first home she ever had when the Sharpe’s got caught stealing from their employers, even then Ava always felt like they were trying too hard.

“It wasn't until Nate became my friend in high school that he started inviting me over, and Dot and Hank, they took me in. They did everything that parents should when they didn’t have to and even though they never officially adopted me, I always knew that I was a part of their family. I just wanted to tell you that, because I want you to know that I will never turn my back on this baby or you, and if you decide that you don't want this, you can change your mind and get an abortion, or I would gladly adopt the baby.”

“No, no,” Sara said, shaking her head. “I want them, and I want you too, and I wouldn't abandon this baby or you like your parents and your ex-wife did. I promise you that we're in this together, okay?”

“Yeah,” Ava said, letting the tears fall and run down her cheeks as she let out another breath of relief.

They both cried, and Sara ran and grabbed the tissues from the bathroom, and Ava let Sara lead her over to the couch. They curled up together with a box of tissues and just held each other. Ava tenderly reached out and placed her hand on Sara's belly, and Sara folded her hand over Ava’s. Once the tears stopped, Ava started making a plan, something she liked to do to calm her nerves, and she found that it helped Sara too.

“My mom and I kept some of Sin's baby things, a few special outfits and toys, but I gave away everything else. I never thought I'd need them again.”

“Well, I kept most of Gary's things, even the crib, and the glider. I didn't think I'd use them again. but I just couldn't get rid of it, and there's one other thing.” Ava hesitated, unsure of how to approach the next topic, as they both had gotten excited as they planned for the baby.

“In the future, once the baby's born or maybe before then, I'd like to set up some sort of living arrangement together. If you want, I'd be happy to have you and Sin stay with us. I just think that with a newborn, it would be really important for both of us to live together so that we can co-parent. We don't have to if you don't want to. I just want to make this as easy for everyone as possible.”

Sara nodded, thinking about it a little and took a sip of her tea. “It’s a good idea, I just don't think we should rush into this. I think we should take it slow, you know, like weekly dinners and playdates. We're gonna be a family, might as well start acting like it.”

“That's fine with me,” Ava said, nodding and trying not to feel disappointed. Sara was right, they should take this slow. “I just want to be here for you.”

Sara bit her lip, before looking up at Ava and nervously asking, “Would you like to go out with me? As in, we start dating? I mean, I know we’ve talked and everything, but it's mostly just been a sexual relationship, and I'd like to get to know you more.”

Ava's heart fluttered in her chest, of course she had feelings for Sara. Ava had grown quite fond of her during all of the times that they had gotten together, and had been anxiously waiting for the right time to ask her out. She was just disappointed that she hadn't had the guts to make the first move.

“I'd really like that,” Ava said with a smile.

Sara smiled back at her and squeezed her hand. She let out a deep breath and giggled.

“Sorry," Sara said, hiding her smile behind her hand. “It's just weird, we're having a baby and we've already had sex, but now we're starting to date, it's just...”

“No it's okay, it is kind of funny,” Ava said with a little laugh.

"Well, I'm happy we're doing this."

"Me too."

A little while later, Sara and Ava relaxed on the couch, while Gary and Sin were making a castle in Sin’s room, having spilled the Legos all over the floor again. So far, they had already booked Sara’s first appointment with her OB-GYN at a time both of them could attend and had spent the rest of the time getting to know each other. At first, it was difficult, they already knew so much about each other, but once they started talking about work and the kids, things seemed so easy, and neither of them realized what time it was until Laurel had come home.

The second the door opened and Laurel called out to them, Sara heard Sin race out to greet her. Sara realized how close she was to Ava, and Ava caught her look and scooted over to give a friendly space between them, then moved her arm from around Sara’s shoulders to the back of the couch.

“Auntie Laurel!" Sin said, rushing into Laurel's arms.

“Hey, there's my little nibbling.”

“Auntie, this is Gary, we’re making a castle,” Sin said, gesturing to Gary who lingered in the doorway.

“Well it's very nice to meet you, Gary,” Laurel said, walking into the main room and setting her purse and briefcase down on the dining room chair. “Why is it so dark in here?”

Neither Sara nor Ava had realized the sun had already gone down and the early spring night set in, as they had been consumed with their conversation with each other.

“Oops, I guess we just lost track of time," Sara said, reaching over and turning on the lamp next to her.

“I'm guessing you haven't made dinner either?”

Ava and Sara's guilty face spoke for them.

“I'll get started on it right now,” Sara said, getting up and out of Ava’s arms.

“Hey Mom, can Gary stay for dinner?” Sin asked, walking with her into the kitchen.

Sara looked over at Ava who shrugged and said, “If it's okay with you, I think that would be fine.”

“We'd love to have you. If you'll help me cook,” Sara said.

“Of course.”

“Yay! Come on Auntie, I want to show you this castle we made!” Sin said, trying to drag Laurel out of the kitchen.

“Wait, I want to say hi to Sara,” Laurel said, digging in her heels to the carpet and giving Sara and Ava a quizzical look, no doubt inquiring into the manner of their relationship.

“But you talk all the time!” Sin protested.

“Okay, okay,” Laurel said letting herself be dragged away.

……………………………………………………………………

Dinner went well, the kids played and laughed, and Sara was so relieved that they got along. Laurel suspected something, but she doesn't say so in front of the kids and indulged in their playful behavior. Sara wasn't very hungry, her nausea kept her from taking more than a few bites, but she kept her tea warm and Ava brought her a pack of crackers with the soup, sending her a soft and knowing smile. Sara knew that this was the right choice. Even though it would be difficult, having Ava there for her would make a world of difference.

After dinner, Laurel and the kids headed to the kitchen for cleanup duty, and Sara and Ava stole a moment away in the living room. She was able to talk with Ava, even if they had to do so quietly, but it wasn’t long before both kids were jumping on them, interrupting their private conversations. It was getting late, but Sara didn't want to ask them to leave, nor did Ava seem eager to go. It seemed as though the kids had the perfect solution.

“Hey Mom?” Sin asked, looking up at her with their best pout and big blue eyes. “Can Gary sleepover?”

“Please, we'll both be really good! We promise we’ll go to bed when we're told,” Gary added, sitting next to Sin with equally adorable eyes, that Sara can see he got from Ava. “I’ll only get up once or twice to use the restroom.”

Sara looked over at Ava, who was taken aback by the question. Sara wanted to say yes, so that she could have Ava a bit longer. “It's okay with me, but you'd have to ask Ava.”

They turned their adorable eyes to Ava, and Sara saw her being persuaded by their cuteness and pleading, but she managed to compose herself and look over them at Sara. “It's okay with you?”

“So long as you're down for it?”

“Well, I suppose that's alright.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sin and Gary squealed with excitement.

“But,” Sara added, ceasing their celebration, “I insist that Ava join us as well. It's a new place and, we don't know each other that well, and I wouldn't want Gary to be uncomfortable tonight.”

Sara and Ava shared a knowing look. “I suppose I wouldn't mind having a sleepover of my own.”

They plan to have a movie night, and Sara helped them put new sheets on the bottom bunk of Sin’s bed for Gary. The two kids were now engaged in a mini lightsaber battle with two snake plushies they got from the fair last summer. Sara let them run off extra steam, while Ava ran home to pack them an overnight bag.

She tossed the old sheets into the washer, trying to avoid getting sick from the week old stinky kids smell. But there was one particular stinky sock that must have gotten stuck in the sheets, and she heaved. Sara turned away from the washer and fell over in front of the toilet, spitting up the tea and crackers. It came up as easy as it went down, and she was thankful that she had a light dinner.

Sara heard someone close the washer door and start it. She looked up to see Laurel pulling out the extra container of fragrance free soap they keep on hand for when they washed things for Aldus, measuring it out and putting it in the washer.

“If you want, I'll take over laundry duty for you, and we can switch to the fragrance free stuff?” Laurel offered, as she put the soap cap back and rinsed off the extra from her fingertips. “I remember how hard it was for you when you were pregnant with Sin.”

“How did you know?” Sara asked, sitting back as Laurel offered her a cup of water, and Sara used it to rinse out her mouth.

“Well, you're not exactly subtle, running to the bathroom all the time, taking naps, drinking tea, eating crackers, and throwing out my favorite lemon scented candle. That was a dead giveaway,” Laurel said, sliding down to sit next to Sara.

“I'll buy you a new one,” Sara promised, as she leaned her head on Laurel's shoulder, and Laurel put her arm around her.

“You could have just put it in my room or told me to take it to my office, but no, you had to chuck it in the dumpster. Not the trash, the dumpster.”

“Okay, okay, I'll buy you two new ones.”

Laurel laughed, and Sara knew she was teasing. They sat on the floor against the wall as the washer ran.

“Is that why Ava was over today, and you two were acting all weird?”

“We weren't acting weird,” Sara insisted.

“Oh please, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I'm surprised the kids didn't pick up on any of it.”

Sara rolled her eyes and shoved Laurel with her shoulder, then looked down at her hands.

“She’s the baby's other parent, and we're gonna try and make it work.”

“So I suspect I'll be seeing a lot more of them.”

“Yeah, we're going to try and do at least once weekly dinners and playdates, along with my appointments and other stuff.”

“I can't wait for Mom and Dad to hear about this.”

“Please don't tell them yet!”

“I promise I won't,” Laurel said, holding up her hands.

Sara sighed, knowing how both of her parents would react. Her mother would be over the moon. Dinah would drop everything to come visit and probably get overly involved, while her father would be excited for her too, but he would worry about her and he'd probably go after Ava for knocking up his baby girl. Sara should definitely get things settled with Ava before she told either of them.

Laurel leaned over to give Sara a hug. “No matter what happens, I'm always going to be here for you, Sara. But tonight, I'm going to go over to Tommy's so I can give you and Ava a little bit of privacy. Although, I suppose Ava can't get you pregnant again.”

The last part was said with a wink and Sara laughed and slapped her arm, Laurel feigned injury and wound up to strike Sara back.

“Wait, you wouldn't hit your pregnant sister,” Sara said, with big eyes and as she held her belly.

“You're lucky you're cute,” Laurel said, crossing her arms.

“Thanks,” Sara said, nudging Laurel’s shoulder. “It's going to be nice for Sin to have two siblings now.”

“Not only that, but you both get a whole family now,” Laurel said, and Sara knew that she longed for the same sort of thing.

The sound of a loud thump followed by breaking glass pulled them out of their sweet sisterly moment.

“We're okay,” Sin called out followed by a. “But we broke something.”

“Sara!” Gary said, running into the bathroom. “I'm so sorry, it was an accident. If you tell me where the broom is I'll clean it up.”

Sara sighed and put her hands on her belly, as it felt like the baby was making her stomach flip flop.

“I'll show you, Gary,” Laurel said, getting up. “And help you clean it up.”

“Thanks,” Sara said. Laurel sent her a wink and put her hand on Gary's shoulder. Sara wasn't the only one with a growing family.

……………………………………………………………………

They get the kids to bed pretty easily, both of them were worn out after the long day, and Laurel headed off to Tommy's not soon after, leaving both her and Ava alone. Sara's cravings have kicked in, and she was now laying on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, pesto covered chicken, cheese, and tomato stuffed pasta shells. Ava tried to hide her disgust, and she watched Sara inhale her food, and wrinkled her nose as Sara dipped the popcorn in pesto.

“It's not that bad,” Sara insisted, poking Ava with her foot on the other end of the couch.

“To you, maybe,” Ava said.

Sara just smiled and licked the rest of the sauce off of her fingers, before putting a plate on the coffee table and slowly sitting up, not daring to risk it coming back up.

“Well I guess I should make up the couch,” Ava said, standing up and looking around for a spare blanket.

“Why?” Sara said with a shrug. “We can just share my bed, I mean it's not like we haven't already had sex.”

“Well we haven't actually slept together before, and I don't want to give Gary or Sin the wrong impression.”

Sara nodded. “Well, it's not too unusual at our place. Whenever Kendra or my other friend's sleepover we always share the bed, so Sin used to it. Not that I've ever brought home someone without Sin knowing about them before, but if you're uncomfortable you could sleep in Laurel's bed. I'm sure it’s much more comfortable than the pullout bed.”

“I don't mind the pullout,” Ava said. There was a part of her that wanted to sleep next to Sara and find out what that would be like, but she wanted to take this part slowly, especially when the baby made things go so fast.

They got ready for bed, and Ava pulled out the fold away bed from inside of the couch and helped Sara make the bed. Ava quickly changed into her pajama shirt and matching pants; she brushed her teeth and washed her face before stepping out of the guest bathroom. She went over to the pull-out bed and crawled under the sheets, sitting up and pulling out a book. She had just finished the first page when she heard soft footsteps in the hall, and looked up to see Sara lingering in the entryway. She wore a pair of cute pajama shorts and a long sleeve shirt with a pair of pink fluffy slippers.

“You got settled okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Sara said, nodding her head, looking like she wanted to say more. “Well if you need anything, you know where my room is.”

“Okay, Goodnight Sara.”

“Goodnight Ava,” Sara said, giving her a smile before she went back to her room.

Ava only read for a little while, as she had already stayed up pretty late. She settled into the bed that was surprisingly comfortable, but harder than her mattress at home. There were soft city lights from the windows, and the sound of the busy street below was different compared to her quiet neighborhood. At last, she fell asleep, however, she didn't quite sleep soundly and woke up sometime later. She sat up and looked over to see Sara puttering around in the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Sara whispered, holding up a box of pasta. “I didn't mean to wake you. I'm just trying to find the granola bars I keep in here.”

Ava just blinked at her, as she watched Sara put the pasta back and held her back, rubbing circles with her hand.

“Do you want me to rub your back?” Ava offered.

Sara sighed in relief and immediately walked over, holding her granola bar. “That would be amazing.”

Ava moved to make room for her on the bed, and Sara laid down on her stomach as Ava went to work. She worked out the knots along her spine as Sara quietly ate, but before she was done Sara had fallen asleep. Ava didn't have the heart to kick her out of the bed, so she just put one arm around Sara and fell asleep next to her.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long, as a few hours later she felt someone poking her side.

“Mama? Mama?” Gary whispered, dragging out the syllables in her name. His favorite way to get her attention.

“What is it honey?” Ava said, opening one eye to see him standing next to her.

“Can I sleep with you?”

Ava opened both of her eyes and looked back to see Sara had rolled away from her.

“Sara's over there so there's room for me.”

Ava nodded and scooted back to make room for him. She opened the covers and Gary happily climbed in, snuggling close to her.

“Sara and I had just stayed up talking and we accidentally fell asleep,” Ava explained, hoping that he wouldn't question why they were sharing the bed.

“That's okay Mama,” Gary whispered, already half asleep. “You're just having a sleepover too.”

Ava sighed in relief at his explanation, but knew that she would have to ask Sara to leave the bed in the morning before he woke up.

Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to do that. Ava awoke to feel the warm and soft morning sun creep into the windows. However, she soon realized she was stuck in between Gary and Sara as they had squished up against her. Each of them had an arm around her, and her and Sara's legs were tangled together. Sara's head was pressed against her shoulder blade, and Gary had spread out like a starfish, with one foot over her neck.

If she moved too quickly she would probably wake one of them up, something she wasn't inclined to do. As Ava gently moved, trying to wiggle out, she felt someone was watching her and looked over to see Sin glancing down at them. Ava immediately sat up, dislodging Gary and Sara from her side, but luckily neither of them awoke. She stared at Sin, who had their arms crossed and was glaring at Ava.

“Am I the only one around here who likes to sleep in their own bed?”

“I guess so,” Ava said, eyeing them carefully.

“Do you like to make pancakes Miss Sharpe?” Sin asked, with a mischievous smile that Ava knew they got from Sara.

“I do like pancakes, and you can call me Ava outside of the classroom if you want?”

“Okay Miss Sharpe, Ava, I’ll show you where we keep the pancake mix, but you gotta make the big pancakes, not the little ones,” Sin insisted, as they ran over to the kitchen and grabbed a stool.

Ava got up and followed Sin into the kitchen. They climbed up onto the countertop and Ava reached up to spot them, but they did need it as Sin found the pancake mix, setting it on the counter before turning around and looking back at Ava.

“Catch,” Sin said, and that was all the warning Ava got before Sin was flying into her arms. Ava carefully caught them and quickly set Sin down. Gary was never that brave, but years of teaching gave her quick instincts.

As they pulled the step stool over to the counter, Sin pointed out where the bowls and whisks were kept, and they poured a bit of pancake mix into a large bowl. Ava decided to add some nutrition to this surely sugary breakfast and brought out the eggs, along with some fruits and vegetables.

“So Sin, do you like cooking breakfast?” Ava asked, as she watched them mix up the bowl of pancakes.

“I love making pancakes,” Sin announced, whisking with the speed that told Ava, they were a pancake pro.

“What do you love about making pancakes?” Ava asked, trying to spark up a conversation. Of course, she knew Sin from having them in her class, but this was different.

“I like mixing it up and then watching it bubble in the pan, and I like flipping them over.”

“Well, you must be a pancake expert.”

“I am! I know exactly when they need to be flipped over so that they're golden brown,” Sin said, as they grabbed a knife, sliced off a good chunk of butter, and put it in the heated pan.

“Are there any other breakfast foods you like?”

Together, they poured the first pancake, and Ava made sure to fill the pan with batter, seeing how Sin's face lit up as she did.

“Yeah, I like cereal. Mom likes oatmeal, but that's boring unless you have the dinosaur egg one.”

“Yeah, that one's a favorite in our house too,” Ava said, dinosaur oatmeal was always the thing Gary begged for when they went shopping, but she usually saved it for special occasions.

Together, they quickly chopped up some strawberries and blueberries to mix in with the pancakes. Sin showed her how to flip the pancake in the air and make it land in the pan, while Ava taught her how to make a smoothie that they sipped on while cooking. Soon they had a breakfast feast.

Ava was glad to have this time with Sin, seeing them like this was slightly different than how they acted in the classroom. Ava loved being their teacher, but she knew that if things with Sara were going to continue, it would mean that Sin would have to be transferred to another classroom. She didn't want to compromise herself and treat Sin differently, because she was seeing Sin after school and dating their mother.

Even though she knew Nate's classroom would be the most logical choice, as his class was the smallest, Ava worried that with Gary being an almost sibling, Sin would be transferred to the other 4th grade classroom. Her co-teacher was older and had old fashioned methods that Ava knew wouldn't work well for Sin.

But they didn't have to worry about that now, and hopefully she could maintain her composure until she could successfully transfer Sin to Nate's class, or wait it out to the end of the year.

……………………………………………………………………

Sara woke up with someone else's foot kicking her thigh, and carefully turned away so she wouldn’t get a kick to the belly, but nearly fell off the bed and rolled over to lay on her back. She opened her eyes to see that it was Gary starfishing that forced her to the edge of the bed. She tilted her ear towards the kitchen, and she heard Ava and Sin talking, and the sounds of the frying pan going. Their happy conversation and easy banter made Sara smile. She carefully moved Gary’s leg over and tried to catch an extra hour of shut eye.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as their other child’s presence meant that the snack and the late dinner Sara had last night bubbled up in her throat. Sara made a run for the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, not wanting anyone else to follow. She had forgotten how sick she had got while pregnant, and this time around didn’t seem like it would be any easier. Ava knocked on the door, but Sara didn't want Ava fawning over her and sent Ava away.

After her stomach settled, Sara took the opportunity to pee and wash her face. When she was done, she opened the door to see Gary waiting for her.

“Hey, did you need to use the bathroom?”

“No,” he said, just looking up at her. “Are you sick?”

“No, not really.”

“But you were throwing up? That means you're sick?”

“Yeah, but I think it's just because I ate too much popcorn last night,” Sara said, trying to brush it off.

“Don't worry, Doctor Sharpe M.D. is on the case!” Gary said, and Sara could do little to protest as he led her back to the living room.

Gary quickly ran off and grabbed Sin’s doctor kit. Sin didn’t really play with it, so Sara usually kept it in their closet, but Gary must have found it last night. He also got out a few packs of stickers and the real first aid kit that he said was in Ava's bag. Soon enough, Sara had a giant frowning sticker on her stomach, a band aid on her arm after she got a shot, and a thumbs up sticker on her shirt, for being a good patient.

Gary was currently checking her temperature and her blood pressure at the same time, while dressed in the cute little doctor's coat, with the stethoscope around his neck and his headlamp flashlight on his head.

“So you must like playing doctor, Gary.”

“Shhh,” he shushed her, adjusting the thermometer in her mouth. “You're not supposed to talk while I'm taking your temperature.”

Sara just nodded very seriously and he continued.

“Yeah, I like being a doctor,” he said, as he looked very seriously at the blood pressure cuff. “I don't like it when I feel sick, so I like to help people and make them feel better.”

He finally took the thermometer out of her mouth and the blood pressure off of her arm. He looked at the results and pulled out his clipboard, making a few notes that Sara leaned over to read.

“Is doctor second place to magic though?” Sara asked, scratching at the band aid on her arm.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be a doctor, they have to go to school forever, and Mr. Constantine said I could have a job there when I’m a teenager, and that’s only five years away. But, for now, I like doing both, and Mama said I’d make a very good magician.”

Sara smiled as he rambled a little bit, so much like Ava in his professional and logical thinking.

They played for the rest of the morning, and Sara enjoyed getting to know more about Gary and his magician ambitions while Ava and Sin cooked breakfast. Once they sat down to eat, Ava sat next to her and Sara reached over to hold her hand under the table. This whole thing had gone extremely well, and Sara was surprised at how easily their lives had fit together. Ava was all in, and so was she. They were doing this, and although she knew it wouldn't always be this easy, she relished in the fact that in this moment it was.

#Sara Lance #Ava Sharpe #Avalance #legends of tomorrow #DC's Legends of Tomorrow #DC #otp: I love you ya goober #my writing #My FanFics

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kathibbard · 6 years

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The Deaths of Charles Manson and David Cassidy

On our way to pick up the turkey from Costco, Bub and I heard a Motorhead song. Listening to Lemmy belt it out, I felt a bit sad for a moment. I mentioned to Bub, all of our rock and roll heroes are dying off. While I feel a pang of nostalgia when hearing of a famous person’s death, I never feel the need to post something about it on social media or carry on in memorial conversations. Because I’m up so early scrolling, I normally read about a death before my media buddies. I expect the rest of the day to go as follows. Bub comes down and tells me of the death. Throughout the day and possibly over the next few, the stream of posts about the death roll in along with my favorite RIP.

I should have included this on my top 5 annoying social media habits of others. Since I’m still writing this book I can actually make the change but now I am committed to creating an entire chapter on the subject, I choose to unravel the tale right here. Plus, I came up with such a clever name so no use in scrapping the idea.

Back to RIP. First of all, let’s be real. The person is dead and can’t hear your wishes for them to rest in peace. Secondly, what does this even mean. Do we need to look at death? When a person dies, all life fails to exist so yes, the dead body may be considered resting but any feeling of peace left with the last breath. Finally, why do people either want to be the first one to tell of the death (like I heard this first)? Why also, do they feel the need to post about it. I’m not sure what type of human desire this fulfills but now I want to read up on it and see if the desire could possibly be filled another way and maybe I can make an app out of it and become a millionaire.

You can’t imagine my joy then this morning to see all types of posts wishing Charles Manson to rest in peace. Come on you guys! This is so fucked up! Your innate desire to be a part of the news just sent wishes to a mass murderer to rest in peace. How about RIH, or DCD or even GRTBR? Yes, I will translate and it is funny to me that my spell check only rejected GRTBR. Rot in hell, die Charlie die and one of Richie’s favorite things to say to me, good riddance to bad rubbish. I’m sure there are many more and all far more appropriate than RIP. To add to the widespread stupidity, folks thought Marilyn Manson died and gave him the RIP treatment.

In the midst of this malarkey, my teen idol is in the hospital dying of organ failure. David Cassidy represented everything that was good, pure, happy and loved in my rocky world. Yes, the adult me knows he had a tough road with addiction but the 10-year-old me only saw that fresh face, that sweet body, the hip clothes and only heard the groovy songs about life and love.

Something terrible happened when I was ten and I may have written about it in Bullets but since I am in flow, I don’t want to risk going to look it up. Also, I am at work and really need to finish this chapter so I can get some work done. Some boy came over to my house and I’m not sure why because I didn’t have any friends and if I did the certainly wouldn’t want to come over to my house. Whatever the reason, the boy went right up to my precious David Cassidy poster. You may think it was just a poster but you have to remember, I spent so much time hiding in my bedroom while Richie was throwing Janet and furniture around, that poster was all I had.

When things were rough, I would just stare at the poster and sing happy Partridge Family songs to myself to shield the pain. So this boy and boy would I like to remember who he was so I could find him on facebook (it’s a joke) and seek my revenge. Anyway, he grabbed the poster off of the wall and entered into a game of keep away. I was screaming. It was the kind of scream you utter when your child runs out into the street. I was pleading for him to please give it back to me and to this it only amused him further. At some point, he told me I could have it back if I pulled down my pants and showed him my butt. How does a kid think of this in the heat of the action. I mean I understand how the butt grew to be something guys would go to any length to view but at 10, it was just a tiny, skinny and white butt.

Yes, I did it and he gave me the poster back and I kicked him out. With tears in my eyes and with my whole body still shaking, I taped that poster back up and cried the rest of the day. It’s tragic my relationship with boys bullying and abusing me didn’t stop there but gladly this story ended well or at least my young perception of well.

A few years back, I saw an ad for a David Cassidy event not too far from my home. I purchased tickets and asked Bub to go with me. This is the great thing about us. There may be times when one of us in not interested in what the other is but we make the trip for solidarity and end up having some fun in the end. I dressed up and fixed my hair pretty and we were off. I was so disappointed when I found out it was a question and answer session with him only playing one or two songs. I thought it was a concert and if I had known I would never had went. Well, we were there so decided to make the best of it.

About midway through the show, they opened up questions to the audience. I said to Bub, I was going to make the most out of this and since I didn’t get to see David in concert as I didn’t have the chance to in my life, I was going to get up on that stage for a hug. We played it perfectly.

I went up to the stage and took my place in line. I had the question formed in my head. While we didn’t formally come up with a plan, Bub had his part ready. Remember, my goal was to get on stage with David. When it was my turn, he said hello sweetie, which could have been enough but of course I was riding this train all the way. I calmly said, “first of all.” There I turned around in circles several time while waving my hands in the air and squealing yeeeeeeeeee! The audience exploded with laughter. My plan was underway.

Now time for my comment to get me up close and personal. “David, my childhood was void of joy due to abuse in the home (here is where he is already saying awww sweetie), your music brought happiness into a dark place and for this I thank you. He responded warmly with thank yous and more awww sweeties and at the appropriate time, Bub yells out, “give her a hug.” The audience explodes once more and all David can do is invite me up for a hug. SUCCESS!!

We have video of this and I watched it knowing David is on his deathbed. I don’t remember the question but I do remember him being off now that I was on stage and he was rushing me through it. I didn’t care, mission was accomplished. I got on stage. I got the hug and we had it on film to last an eternity.

I’m thinking about posting this video on my wall in memory of David and of how he touched so many people in his career. Whether I do or not will remain to be seen. What we do know is my post will not contain RIP but rather a celebration of the memories. I imagine, fans are meaning to do this with all their RIP posts and vigils so I get it but I guess I would like for people to not be lazy about it. If you mean to memorialize someone then do with feeling and not with an acronym which leaves you open to posting well wishes to a deceased mass murderer.

#charles manson #david cassidy #rip

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izziebash · 6 years

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Worth a Second Glance | Zizzie

Who: @izziebash and @zaddieblue

When: Saturday, November 18th

Where: Tony’s

What: After casually being makeout buddies for like, two months because of mutual shyness, Izzie and Zaddie finally go on their first official date!

Izzie hadn't known what came over her. Here she was, so excited for this date, and had the perfect outfit already picked out -- a skater style dress with a peter pan collar, the kind of thing she normally wore, probably with some booties or Oxfords or something. But what Buffy had told her left kind of a bad taste in her mouth. Why was she, compared to Tia and Sage, so cutesy and adorable? They were all practically the same age, in the same social circle, and now on the same teams so...why wasn't she the same? That was when Izzie decided to go shopping for a new outfit -- something form-fitting, mature. Something Tia would wear. With heels! She knew Zaddie liked her enough to want to date her now, but he saw her every day. What if he got bored or thought she wasn't trying if she showed up to their date wearing what she wore every day? It made sense to want to glam up a little. After posing for a few Instagram photos in the courtyard, Izzie bid her friends goodbye and sucked in a breath, mentally preparing herself to meet Zaddie outside of the football stadium, as planned. Walking through the last few stragglers of spectators, she spotted him, towering over the rest as usual, and gave him a quick wave. "So I Google Maps'ed it, and Tony's is about a twelve minute walk from here, which gives us twelve minutes of conversation before our main concern is pasta!" she joked, "Because I'm starving."

Zaddie had no idea what the hell he was doing. Constantly making out with someone? Going out on dates? Who was this person and where did the old Zaddie go? Never in a million years did he think that he'd be this guy. The guy that girls actually wanted and didn't ignore. The guy that went out on dates. Who could kinda hold a conversation without bringing up anything pokemon related? It was -- weird. New. Cool, maybe? He didn't understand what was going on at the football game at all, but he stood and cheered when everyone else did and cheered Izzie on just like he'd promised and he waited. And waited. It hadn't been too long, but to him it felt like forever. He'd been so nervous, his hands were sweating, his heart was pounding in his chest. Because this was real. This was happenening. Y'know, if she didn't decide he wasn't worth it and then stood him up and went out with someone who was cooler than him. But finally he settled on her, his eyes widening slightly at the outfit that she was wearing. It wasn't bad, not at all. She was absolutely stunning, gorgeous. And he looked like a piece of garbage in his button up and jeans. Great. Wonderful. He was already screwing it up. He tried to keep his eyes on her face, but they couldn't help but trail over her as she approached. He swallowed thickly, half paying attention to what she was saying but was distracted by how -- amazing she looked. His eyes flicked up to her face and he cleared his throat. "Sorry -- I was -- kinda -- you look," he paused, clearing his throat and reaching up behind him to rub the back of his neck as he tried to think of an appropriate word to , "tall!" He cleared his throat, letting out a nervous laugh before he shook his head. "Not that being short is a bad thing! No, you look -- good. You look good," he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very warm as a blush grew on his cheeks and he offered her his arm, "Shall we?"

Izzie caught her bottom lip between her teeth, biting back a smile at the way Zaddie was looking at her. She noticed, and knew then that this outfit choice had been a good idea. He could get the mousy Izzie bundled up in a sweater back at the cottage. Tonight, he got this. Whatever this was. When he fumbled, she felt a heat rise in her cheeks and pushed back a strand of hair behind her ear when he commented on her...height. She furrowed her brow, laughing nervously with him, as she glanced down at her heels and gave a shrug. "Yeah, heels'll do that!" she chuckled, wondering if he was okay with her wearing heels. Obviously, he was tall enough not to be emasculated by it, but she never knew -- boys could be weird about things. Maybe he thought she was too dressed-up. Her worries were quickly squashed, though, when he rambled to a resolution to his sentence, and she let out a happy sigh. So they were both as nervous as she felt. That was comforting. "Thanks, so do you!" It was hard for Zaddie not to look great these days, and when he put in just the tiniest bit more effort like today or homecoming, she was even more weak in the knees at the sight of him. Holding her clutch in her left hand, Izzie glanced at Zaddie's outstretched arm. With the last couple of months that they'd had, linking arms felt so...formal. Rather than take his arm, Izzie took a leap of faith and his palm in hers instead, lacing their fingers together. "We shall," she smirked, beginning to walk in the direction of the restaurant. "So did you like the game?"

Zaddie let out a laugh, glancing down at her heels. Because honestly, he hadn't even noticed. He was too busy paying attention to everything else that was going on, because this was definitely different than what he saw at school. Or at the cottage. "Yeah! Duh, I'm just -- nervous," he admitted, clearing his throat and shrugging slightly. Was it weird to say that? Maybe, but at least he'd been honest. He couldn't help but laugh at her compliment, glancing down at his attire before he looked over at her. "People are gonna wonder what this loser's doing with -- well, you." He gestured to her, letting out a laugh before he shook his head. "You're stunning, Iz. Really." His eyebrow rose when he took his hand, mentally cursing at himself because he was sure that his hands were drenched in sweat. He should've worn gloves or something. It was kinda chilly outside. It would've made sense for him to wear gloves. He smiled, walking with her and making sure he wasn't walking too fast -- because he learned fairly quickly that being taller than people meant that he needed to walk slower. Holding hands made that easier. Until he remembered that they were holding hands. "Uh, it was cool?" he stated, giving her a slight smile before he let out a laugh, "I don't know much about sports, but it was nice. I just came to support you."

Izzie laughed, giving an honest shrug. "You probably won't believe me, but that makes two of us," she smiled warmly, knowing that for some reason Zaddie was convinced that he was so much more of a loser than her. Which, maybe he was from the outside of things -- their circles were kind of different, he was Pokemon and she was Barbie dress-up games from 2005, but inside, she felt like just as much of a dweeb. She scoffed when he continued to put himself down, shaking her head and running a comforting hand over his shoulder, unable to keep from smiling at his modesty. "Or they'll look at me and be super jealous. 'Wow, she's stunning and she's got that tall drink of water on her arm'," she joked, trying exceptionally hard to accept his compliment and not shut it down. "But thank you." The heat rose in her cheeks again, and she was thankful for the way-thicker foundation she'd applied, or else she was certain they'd be pink by now. As they began their walk, Izzie perked up her brows when Zaddie mentioned why exactly he'd gone. "Really?" she squeaked, "That's so sweet!" She resisted the urge to hug onto his arm already, for they were only a few minutes into their date and she knew how things went when they got so close in proximity. "I talked to someone about your...video game...things...and they said that with the new Mario game that's out, I can play as your hat! Or something like that, so if I got it we could do something that you like, too, since you're out here being all adorable and watching me cheer and stuff," she rambled, knowing full well that none of that probably made sense, but tried to finish it with a confident smile so it at least seemed like she knew what she was talking about.

Zaddie ‘s eyebrow arched at her words, shaking his head and giving her a slight smile. “I don’t believe it, but it does kinda make me feel better, I guess. But you have no reason to be nervous.” She’d always been part of the popular crowd, where as for him, he’d barely been part of the soccer team and that was where his “popularity” came from. Even then, the only person who’d really hang out with him outside of practice was Charlie — when she wasn’t with Wes, Tia or Bianca. She had absolutely no reason to be nervous around him. He laughed loudly, shrugging slightly at her words. “If you say so.” He smiles at her squeaked words, raising his eyebrows at her and glancing over at her. “Why else do you think I’d show up to a sport that I know nothing about?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her, “For the food?” Although, the nachos were to die for. His calloused thumb brushed against the side of her hand, a wide smile growing on his lips when she mentioned how she’d been talking to someone about video games. “I mean — you don’t have to buy anything for me. Games for the switch are stupid expensive,” he shook his head, letting out a laugh when she called him adorable and his face began to heat up once more, “That’d be cool! I could show you some of the games I already have and we could figure something else out so you don’t gotta drop 60 bucks on a game.”

Izzie quirked a brow teasingly, sizing Zaddie up with her eyes when he said she had no reason to be nervous. "And you do? I promise I'm not that scary," she chuckled. He was right, though. She had no reason to be nervous. She'd felt more herself around him than she felt around most people these days -- maybe because she had no clue who 'herself' really was lately, but around Zaddie she felt no pressure to be anything she wasn't. "Well football is like....kind of like soccer, right? Or is that basketball?" she scrunched up her nose, realizing then that maybe she didn't know as much about sports as she thought, either. All she knew was, cheer when your team has the ball and if they're running for a long time, that's really good so cheer harder. All those years managing the cheer team, she'd spent focusing on the girls and not much else. It was way different in the middle of the action. "But in any case, I always treat myself to a hotdog afterward so I would definitely recommend the food," she laughed, her stomach growling loudly at the mere mention of food. It was a good thing they were almost there. Izzie shrugged, as if spending that kind of money was no big deal. It wasn't really, but she did have to catch her breath for a moment after he informed her that they were sixty dollars. "Sure! I'd be down to try and figure out how to be anything that's not a hat," she chuckled, "But I'll be keeping in the back of my mind for Christmas. Or your birthday. Which is -- when, again?"

Zaddie nodded before he cleared his throat, shoving his free hand into his pocket and looking over at him. "I'm not exactly -- experienced in anyway." And he just kinda assumed that she was. She was one of the prettiest and most intelligent girls at the school, he'd be shocked if she had no experience. And people were idiots if they didn't want anything to do with her. His eyebrows pressed together and he laughed, shrugging. "I mean, kinda. You can't use your hands in soccer -- and I honestly didn't even play that much. I was pretty much a part of the team just so they had enough players to play." It was mostly a joke. Mostly. Zaddie gave her hand a squeeze, licking his lips and bringing his free hand up to pull his fingers through his hair. "Yeah? Cool! I've got lots of 'em, and you can choose," he smiled and he looked over at her, "August. August 13th, to be exact. What about you? When's yours?"

Izzie gulped thickly, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. It wasn't like she hadn't had any opportunities...aside from that Freshman year fiasco with whatshisname that she repressed as soon as it happened. She always just had some kind of mental block that kept her from putting herself out there. "Neither am I...? Not really, I mean. I've never really thought about dating until now, actually. I guess I've just been so busy, it never really came up." She shrugged, knowing that was a half-truth, but part of the truth was better than none of it. The truth was that she was scared of...everything, really, when it came to dating. Boys, girls, all of them intimidated the crap out of her. "Awww!" Izzie cooed through laughter after Zaddie described his position on the soccer team. "Well, look at us -- a couple of former spares out on a date. What luck!" she chuckled, squeezing his palm as well, as they approached the restaurant. For a Saturday evening, it wasn't super busy, but they still had to stand in a short line. "Awesome! I'll try to choose wisely," she smirked, making a note to do some research on the games he had so she wouldn't pick something based on its pretty cover or something. "You do not strike me as a Leo! Mine is March 30th."

Zaddie looked over at her, raising his eyebrows in complete shock. “W— wait really!?” his eyes searched his face, “I mean, you’re super ambitious from what I’ve gathered, which is awesome. Totally awesome. I’m just — I dunno, surprised? I figured you’d have people —lining up outside of your door.” He even gestured to the line in front of them, in attempt to make her laugh or just to make himself seem like even more of idiot. Or maybe even both. Yeah, both was good. He felt his face heat up as she cooed, clearing his throat and he let out a laugh. “Nah, at least you had a purpose. Keeping the girls in line and ordering supplies and stuff. I kinda just sat around until someone needed a break.” Which, he was an awful player so it was rare that he ever got to actually play. He hummed, grinning at her and raising his eyebrow at her. “I’m kinda nervous, but I trust you.” He laughed and he shrugged, puffing out his cheek. “I don’t remember who told me, but they said I have a Cancer Moon or something like that,” he stated with a laugh, looking down at her and raising his eyebrow, “What does that make you? A — Taurus or something?”

Izzie felt her cheeks warm even deeper when Zaddie showed some level of surprise at her news. As if he needed more evidence as to why she was the STI spare or whatever. "I mean, sure, there have been instances, but....No one's really out here jumping from one of Tia or Sage's lines to jump into mine," she blurted, and instantly regretted it. Izzie hated when she said stuff like that, because it just felt like she was asking for someone to console her. "Kidding. But uh...I kinda like having one person at a time lining up outside my door," she shrugged, hoping that flipping the statement around and turning it into a compliment on his part would distract him from what she'd said before. "And all athletes need a break! You were totally important to the team because you offered that support. I think support is great!" she said truthfully. It was the same mantra she used to defend her own position and it always made sense to her. Successful people can only get that success with the people who were there to help them, and she liked being one of those people. It made her feel successful, too. "Ooooh, a Cancer moon makes more sense! You've definitely got the passion of a Cancer, and I guess we're both lucky you don't have the Leo ego," she smirked. As the line went on, the host escorted them to a table, and Izzie thanked them before taking her seat across from Zaddie. "Oh! And to answer your question, that makes me an Aries, actually. But, like you with Leo, I don't think I'm a great Aries," she shook her head with a laugh, as she glanced over the menu. "If we're both bad at being our respective signs, do you think those 'Are Aries and Leo Compatible?' articles shouldn't be trusted when it comes to us?" she half-joked, but was also half-tempted to pull out her phone and search right there.

Zaddie let out a soft laugh at her words, shaking his head and wrinkling his nose. “I mean, not that Tia and Sage aren’t great, but I think I’d prefer to knock on your door. And I’m sure there has been, because you’re awesome and if anyone doesn’t see that — they’re blind. But — y’know, I’m glad you answered the door for me.” He offered her a wide smile, his eyes skimming along her face and bringing their conjoined hands up to his lips and pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. He laughed and he gave her a gentle nudge, nodding. “I mean, I’m sure a lot of them said they were fine and exhausted themselves so they could win. Because I’m kinda awful. And look! You’re on the team now, and one of the best ones out there.” Not that he’d really been paying attention to anyone but her. Zaddie laughed, shrugging once more. “I apparently could. But I wouldn’t wanna be like — some people and have a huge ego.” And he never would. As great as Wes Maldette was Zaddie could never imagine his ego getting that large. Maybe have a little bit of an ego, because that was healthy. He pulled her seat out for him before he sat across from her, shifting nervously in his seat and wiping his hands off on his jeans — clearing his throat. He laughed and he shrugged. “I mean, we know we’re compatible? Otherwise why would we even be here? Do we have to research it?”

Izzie lowered her eyes, incapable of holding back a smile when Zaddie kissed the back of her hand. She hadn’t been fishing for compliments, but they always sounded nice coming from him, so she supposed she couldn’t feel bad about it. “I’m glad I did, too.” Eyes raised to him as she brought the back of his hand to her lips, as well, reciprocating his gesture and accidentally leaving a lipstick imprint on his skin. If this were anyone else, she’d have apologized profusely and wiped it off, but she felt comfortable enough around him to leave it there. “You never know! You could’ve been a hidden gem, too, but they’ll never know because they were too stubborn to give you a chance,” she smirked. She could only imagine how different high school would have been if he’d been an athlete and she’d been a cheerleader. Would they have fallen into the trope and gotten together sooner? Izzie cocked a brow when he mentioned an ego, and dramatically placed her hand on her chest. “Was that....shade? I do not believe my ears — Zaddie Blue is throwing shade!” The phrase sounded weird coming out of her mouth, but for the sake of teasing him, it was worth it. She knew of a few people’s egos he could’ve been referring to. Izzie smiled when he reassured her that they were compatible without that stuff, and nodded in agreement. “You’re so right,” she chimed, “Why not just trust our guts? Speaking of guts, mine is screaming at me. Do you know what you’re ordering?”

Zaddie smiled when she did, because it was hard not to. Especially when she got shy. It was cute. Someone who should’ve had all the confidence in the world was shy about him kissing her hand. “I sure hope so, otherwise this’d be a little awkward,” he teased with a laugh. His eyebrows rose when she reciprocated the kiss on his hand, smiling and feeling his heart skip when he saw the lipstick imprint on his skin. He was so inexperienced with things like this, with girls that he was surprised with how — comfortable he felt around her. A bark of a laugh fell past his lips, his head tipping back as he did. “Nah, I’m not good at a lot of things and soccer’s one of them.” He grinned even more at his words, feeling his face heat up at her slight teasing and his eyes flicked down to the menu. “Isn’t what that all the cool people do? Throw shade?” God he hopes that he didn’t sound as — weird as he thought he did. Zaddie’s eyes flicked up to her and he nodded, giving her a wide smile before his eyebrows rose. “You mean I’m supposed to eat here?” he joked, before he shook his head and looked down at the menu, “Probably spaghetti or something even less interesting.” He looked at her, offering a crooked smile before he nodded. “And you know this is on me, right?”

Izzie let out a laugh, nodding at his teasing. "True," she chuckled. She raised a brow when he very blatantly laughed off the idea of being good at soccer. She knew not everyone was like her -- competent at pretty much anything she put her mind to except socializing -- but still, she liked to think that he was just being modest. "So why'd you try out for the team?" Izzie asked tenderly, holding his arm closer to her to show that she wasn't judging or being skeptical. She genuinely wanted to know. If he had the guts to try out for a sport he knew he wasn't good at, then what took her so long to cheer? Izzie scrunched up her nose, unable to keep from laughing at the way the slang fell clumsily from Zaddie's mouth. It was weird, but cute at the same time. "Well, you're a cool person, so I guess so," she retorted, before turning her attention back to her menu. "Oh yeah, we're totally just here for the ambiance -- it's a great romantic atmosphere," she teased back, poking out her tongue. Izzie's breath caught in her throat when Zaddie pulled a total guy move and offered -- no, not offered, informed her -- that he was paying. She supposed that since he was the one who asked, it wasn't like she was falling into some outdated custom. "...Sure! I mean, if that's what you want to do. I'll get it next time, though." The waiter came, and Izzie was quick to order spaghetti, as it was one of the more inexpensive choices, but if he asked it was definitely because he made it sound so appealing.

Zaddie paused as he thought of an answer to her question. Because frankly? He had no idea. Maybe to seem cooler. Maybe to be part of some crowd. To be involved with something other than the game on his phone. "I dunno. I thought'd be fun. And most of the time when you try out for something, at least at WHS, you get on. I dunno -- maybe I wanted to be part of a crowd or something. Make friends. And I did. Though, it seems like one of the friends I had hates me now, for whatever reason." He smiled when she scrunched up her nose, wrinkling his own nose when she laughed, but his eyebrows rose and the previous expression on his face completely changed when he called her cool. "Well, that's the first time I've been called cool, whether you're joking or not, so I'm gonna take it," he teased, throwing a wink her way -- which was completely unlike him. But it was easy, stuff like this was easy around her. Being flirty, weirdly confident. It was -- different. Nice. "The most romantic atmosphere, I've heard," his eyes flicked down to her lips when she stuck her tongue out, raising an eyebrow before her eyes focused on his once more, "And don't stick that out unless you intend to use it." He paused, his eyebrows raising when he'd realized what he'd just said -- sinking back in hist chair for just a moment and feeling his face turn a bright red color. "Not that I meant that in any -- like... sexual way or whatever. I just -- nevermind." He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck before he reached over took a sip of the water that had been placed in front of them. He cleared his throat, giving her a sheepish smile before he shook his head. "I mean, you don't have to, but we can totally switch it up every time." He ordered the same thing, reaching up and pulling his fingers nervously through his blond locks. "D'you come here often?"

Izzie nodded slowly, knowing exactly how he felt. Being part of something was such a validating feeling -- like people liked being around you and needed you there. She totally got it. "Oh my God, who hates you?" she furrowed her brow with a bit of an uncomfortable laugh. Zaddie was like, the least hateable guy around. Maybe anyone who didn't know him didn't have to like him, but hate was such a strong emotion for someone who did like, literally no harm ever. Izzie lit up a bit at being the alleged first time he'd ever been called cool, and gave a nonchalant shrug. "It was given for you to take, so please do," she quipped back, sipping her complementary water before he made that joke. She sputtered on her drink, letting out what could only be described as a cackle, feeling her cheeks go warm and match his in color. "Oh my God," was all she could say through laughter, clapping her palm over her pink cheek. She almost flirted back, but was just too floored to even think of anything. "Bye. It was nice knowing you, I'm dead," she shook her head before sticking out her tongue once more (ever-so-slightly) just to prove that yes, she did intend to use it without actually saying that she did. "Every time..." she repeated with a nod, smiling to herself that he was thinking about not just the second date, but third and fourths too. "Oh, no. Unless you count the million pizzas we've ordered from here for STI sleepovers but like, other than that, not at all. You?"

Zaddie was thrilled that their first official date had been going well. She made this easy, easier than he had heard it was gonna be. Sure, it had it's awkward moments, but everything had gone even better than he had expected it to. And he hadn't even wanted to pull his phone every time it vibrated because they were near a pokemon. He paid for the whole meal, tipping the waiter as well as he could before he pushed himself up and moved toward the opposite side of the table. A smile grew on his lips, holding his hand out to help her up and raising his eyebrows. "I'd say I was being a gentleman and walk you home, but we live together so either way I wouldn't have a choice." He paused, raising his eyebrows when he realized just how bad that could've sounded before he immediately began to back track. "Not that I wouldn't walk you home! Because I would. It's just -- convienent that I live there too. Walking you back home is definitely and will definitely not be a big deal."

Izzie didn't even care that her heels had gone all pinchy as the night went on. She could have sat there and talked with him til the restaurant asked them to leave. But she was really grateful that the night did come to a close and it was time to go home -- which just meant that their date could last as long as they wanted, just with more comfortable clothes. She took his hand and hoisted herself up out of her seat, dropping a few dollars onto the table to add to his tip on her way up. Tossing her head back with laughter, Izzie gave a nod as he rambled on. "Well let's just say that I'd totally think you were a gentleman even if you like, decided to run in the other direction right now," she chuckled, before clutching his arm to her chest. "....But don't." Exiting the restaurant, she gave a content sigh -- this had gone well. This was what dating was like...and it was just as great as everyone claimed. "I like this," she admitted with a shrug. "If it wasn't clear enough already that we should do this again sometime, we should definitely do this again sometime."

Zaddie sighed when she laughed, hoping that was a sign that he hadn’t said anything that was too douchey. Accidentally douchey, because he wasn’t sure if he could purposefully be douchey. He laughed softly, shaking his head before slipping his arm from her hands and wrapping it around her shoulders — gently pulling her even closer to him. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise,” he stated with a smile, looking down at the brunette. He smiled even more at her words, listening to her before he nodded. “We definitely should. I’d enjoy that a lot.” And without even thinking about it, because he knew if he thought about it then he’d stop himself, he reached over with his free hand and tipped her head back. He dipped down, kissing her just as he had several times before.

Izzie gave a matter-of-fact nod, almost a "You'd better" in response to his promise as his arm wrapped around her. She reciprocated the embrace by wrapping her own arm around his waist, and met his gaze as he looked down at her and agreed that they should do it again. So she supposed they were...dating, or something. Just the thought made her smile even wider, unable to hold it back even when his lips met hers. "I think we're like, dating now," she chuckled, scrunching her nose up as if the idea wasn't as completely enticing as it actually was in her brain.

Zaddie smiled even more, the smile on his lips growing even more as her arm wrapped around him as well -- a soft, content sigh falling past his lips. He smiled against her lips as she did, his calloused thumb brushing against her jaw even when she pulled away to speak. He laughed, scrunching up his nose just as he had and raising his eyebrows at her. "Yea, I guess we are," he stated, shaking his head before he stole another kiss -- still unable to keep the smile from his lips, "Gross." Except it wasn't. It wasn't gross at all.

#( interaction: zaddie )#( feat: zaddie )#// almost two months late rip

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