#i wanna slow dance on our balcony in the rain together

[taylorswiftandx]

Taylor Swift and In

'Taylor Swift'

Tim McGraw: Just a boy in a Chevy truck that had a tendency of getting stuck on back roads at night

Tim McGraw: But in a box beneath my bed is a letter that you never read from three summers back

Picture To Burn: In case you haven't heard, I really really hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive

Teardrops On My Guitar: He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right

Teardrops On My Guitar: He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do

Teardrops On My Guitar: Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky 'cause...

A Place In This World: Oh, I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world

The Outside: So how can I ever try to be better? Nobody ever lets me in

The Outside: This ain't the best view on the outside looking in

Tied Together With A Smile: Seems the only one who doesn't see your beauty is the face in the mirror looking back at you

Tied Together With A Smile: Hoping it will end up in his pocket but he leaves you out like a penny in the rain

Stay Beautiful: He whispers songs into my window in words that nobody knows

Stay Beautiful: I'm taking pictures in my mind so I can save them for a rainy day

Should've Said No: And I should've been there in the back of your mind

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): I looked at you like the stars that shined in the sky like pretty lights

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): And our daddies used to joke about the two of us growing up and falling in love

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): Take me back to the house in the backyard tree

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): They never believed we'd really fall in love

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): Take me back to the creek beds we turned up, 2 AM riding in your truck

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): We were sitting at our favorite spot in town

Mary's Song (Oh My My My): I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky, oh my my my

Our Song: I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car

I'm Only Me When I'm With You: Friday night beneath the stars in a field behind your yard, you and I are painting pictures in the sky

I'm Only Me When I'm With You: Just a small town boy and girl living in a crazy world

Invisible: Like shadows in a faded light, oh, we're invisible

A Perfectly Good Heart: And realized by the distance in your eyes that I would be the one to fall

'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'

Fearless: And you know I wanna ask you to dance right there in the middle of the parking lot

Fearless: And I don't know why but with you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless

Fearless: So, baby, drive slow 'til we run out of road in this one horse town

Fearless: I wanna stay right here in this passenger's seat you put your eyes on me

Fearless: In this moment now, capture it, remember it

Fearless: Well, you stood there with me in the doorway

Fearless: But you pull me in and I'm a little more brave

Fifteen: You say "Hi" to your friends you ain't seen in a while

Fifteen: It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here for the next four years in this town

Fifteen: Well, count to ten, take it in, this is life before you know who you're gonna be

Fifteen: You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail and soon enough you're best friends

Fifteen: But in your life you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team

Love Story: I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air

Love Story: My faith in you was fading when I met you on the outskirts of town

Love Story: Is this in my head? I don't know what to think

Hey Stephen: Hey Stephen, I know looks can be deceiving but I know I saw a light in you

Hey Stephen: Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain

White Horse: As I paced back and forth all this time 'cause I honestly believed in you

White Horse: Maybe I was naïve, got lost in your eyes and never really had a chance

White Horse: My mistake, I didn't know to be in love, you had to fight to have the upper hand

White Horse: This is a big world, that was a small town there in my rearview mirror disappearing now

You Belong With Me: I'm in my room, it's a typical Tuesday night

You Belong With Me: Walk in the streets with you and your worn-out jeans

You Belong With Me: I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down

You Belong With Me: Oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night

Breathe: I see your face in my mind as I drive away

Breathe: Every little bump in the road, I tried to swerve

Tell Me Why: I'm sick and tired of your reasons, I got no one to believe in

You're Not Sorry: Could've loved you all my life if you hadn't left me waiting in the cold

The Way I Loved You: But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain

The Way I Loved You: You're so in love that you act insane

The Way I Loved You: I'm so in love that I acted insane

Forever And Always: You looked me in the eye and told me you loved me

Forever And Always: It rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong

The Best Day: I don't know why all the trees change in the fall

The Best Day: I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run

The Best Day: You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me

The Best Day: And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

The Best Day: And now I know why all the trees change in the fall

Change: But I believe in whatever you do and I'll do anything to see it through

Change: But there's something in your eyes says we can beat this

Change: It's a revolution, throw your hands up 'cause we never gave in

Jump Then Fall: I like the way you sound in the morning

Jump Then Fall: Well, I like the way your hair falls in your face

Untouchable: I'm caught up in you, I'm caught up in you

Untouchable: In the middle of the night when I'm in this dream

Untouchable: In the middle of the night waking from this dream

Untouchable: I'm caught up in you, oh, oh

Come In With The Rain: Just know I'm right here hoping that you'll come in with the rain

SuperStar: And all the girls in the front row scream your name

SuperStar: I'm no one special, just another wide eyed girl who's desperately in love with you

SuperStar: When my world wakes up today, you'll be in another town

SuperStar: You played in bars, you play guitar

The Other Side Of The Door: In the heat of the fight, I walked away

The Other Side Of The Door: To stand outside my window throwing pebbles, screaming, "I'm in love with you"

The Other Side Of The Door: Wait there in the pouring rain, coming back for more

Today Was A Fairytale: You were the prince, I used to be a damsel in distress

Today Was A Fairytale: But can you feel this magic in the air?

Today Was A Fairytale: Fell in love when I saw you standing there

Today Was A Fairytale: I can feel my heart, it's beating in my chest

You All Over Me: But like the dollar in your pocket, it's been spent and traded in

You All Over Me: With your hands in your pockets and your "don't you wish you had me" grin

Mr. Perfectly Fine: Mr. looked me in the eye and told me you would never go away

Mr. Perfectly Fine: It takes everything in me just to get up each day

Mr. Perfectly Fine: So dignified in your well pressed suit

Mr. Perfectly Fine: Sashay your way to your seat, it's the best seat in the best room

Mr. Perfectly Fine: So far above me in every sense, so far above feeling everything

We Were Happy: Laughed in the dark, talking about your daddy's farm

We Were Happy: We used to watch the sun go down on the boats in the water

We Were Happy: Oh, I hate those voices telling me I'm not in love anymore

That's When: That's when, when I wake up in the morning

That's When: That's when, when I see your face, I'll let you in, and baby, that's when

That's When: And I said, "Leave those all in our past"

That's When: You let me in and, baby, that's when

Bye Bye Baby: Lost in the gray and I try to grab at the fray

Bye Bye Baby: Guess I never doubted it, then the here and the now floods in

'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'

Mine: You were in college working part time waiting tables

Mine: I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter

Sparks Fly: And you stood there in front of me just close enough to touch

Sparks Fly: Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain

Back To December: How's life, tell me, how's your family? I haven't seen them in a while

Back To December: Because the last time you saw me is still burned in the back of your mind

Back To December: Standing in front of you, saying, "I'm sorry for that night"

Back To December: And realized I loved you in the fall

Back To December: And how you held me in your arms that September night

Back To December: I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't

Speak Now: I am not the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion

Speak Now: I sneak in and see your friends and her snotty little family all dressed in pastel

Speak Now: I lose myself in a daydream where I stand and say...

Speak Now: And I am hiding in the curtains, it seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be

Speak Now: Horrified looks from everyone in the room but I'm only looking at you

Dear John: And I lived in your chess game, but you changed the rules everyday

Dear John: The girl in the dress cried the whole way home

Dear John: And I'll look back in regret how I ignored when they said, "Run as fast as you can"

Dear John: The girl in the dress wrote you a song

Mean: Someday I'll be living in a big old city and all you're ever gonna be is mean

Mean: And I can see you years from now in a bar, talking over a football game

Mean: All you are is mean, and I liar, and pathetic, and alone in life

The Story Of Us: Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking

The Story Of Us: The battle's in your hands now, but I would lay my armor down

Never Grow Up: And it's so quiet in the world tonight

Never Grow Up: So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

Never Grow Up: You're in the car on the way to the movies

Never Grow Up: And don't lose the way that you dance around in your PJs getting ready for school

Never Grow Up: Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room

Never Grow Up: So here I am in my new apartment in a big city, they just dropped me off

Never Grow Up: So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Enchanted: Counter all your quick remarks like passing notes in secrecy

Enchanted: Please don't be in love with someone else

Better Than Revenge: Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did

Better Than Revenge: She should keep in mind, she should keep in mind there is nothing I do better than revenge

Better Than Revenge: They didn't teach you that in prep school so it's up to me

Innocent: I guess you really did it this time, left yourself in your warpath

Innocent: Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?

Innocent: Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything and everybody believed in you?

Innocent: Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catching days?

Last Kiss: I roll my eyes and then you pull me in

Last Kiss: I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets

Last Kiss: How you kissed me when I was in the middle of saying something

Last Kiss: So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep

Last Kiss: You can plan for a change in the weather and time but I never planned on you changing your mind

Long Live: I said remember this moment in the back of my mind, the time we stood with our shaking hands, the crowds in stands went wild

Long Live: 'Cause for a moment a band of thieves in ripped-up jeans got to rule the world

Long Live: But if God forbid fate should step in and force us into a goodbye

Ours: Lurking in the shadows with their lip gloss smiles

Superman: He puts papers in his briefcase and drives away

Superman: Something in his deep brown eyes has me saying he's not all bad like his reputation

Electric Touch: Just an hour ‘til your car’s in the driveway

Electric Touch: In the heat of your electric touch

Electric Touch: I’ve been left in the rain, lost and pining

When Emma Falls In Love: When Emma falls in love, she paces the floor

When Emma Falls In Love: When Emma falls in love, she calls up her mom

When Emma Falls In Love: When Emma falls in love, I know that boy will never be the same

When Emma Falls In Love: Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town

When Emma Falls In Love: When Emma falls in love, it’s all on her face

When Emma Falls In Love: Hangs in the air like the stars in outer space

When Emma Falls In Love: When Emma falls in love, she disappears

When Emma Falls In Love: ‘Cause when Emma falls in love, she’s in it for keeps

When Emma Falls In Love: Well, she’s so New York when she’s in L.A.

When Emma Falls In Love: She won’t lose herself in love the way that I did

When Emma Falls In Love: ‘Cause she’ll call you out, she’ll put you in your place

When Emma Falls In Love: When Emma falls in love, I’m learning

When Emma Falls In Love: Turns out her heart fits right in the palm of his hand

I Can See You: You brush past me in the hallway

I Can See You: I could see you in your suit and your necktie

Castles Crumbling: Once, I had an empire in a golden age

Castles Crumbling: Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor

Foolish One: My cards are on the table, yours are in your hand

Foolish One: And I will block out these voices of reason in my head

Foolish One: Now I’m sliding down the wall with my head in my hands

Foolish One: But goodbye screaming in the silence

Foolish One: And the voices in my head are telling me why

Foolish One: ‘Cause you got her on your arm and me in the wings

Timeless: And something in my head said stop, so I walked in

Timeless: The kinda love that you only find once in a lifetime, the kind you don’t put down

Timeless: But in those photos I saw us instead

Timeless: In another life, you still would’ve turned my head

Timeless: Even if we’d met on a crowded street in 1944

Timeless: So even in a different life, you still would’ve been mine

Timeless: There was one of a teenage couple in the driveway

Timeless: Time stood still like something in this old shop

Timeless: That’s when I can upon a book covered in cobwebs

Timeless: Hundreds of years ago, they fell in love like we did

Timeless: And I’d die for you in the same way

Timeless: If I first saw your face in the 1500s off in a foreign land

Timeless: The story started when you said “hello” in a crowded room a few short years ago

'Red (Taylor's Version)'

State Of Grace: We fall in love 'til it hurts or bleeds or fades in time

State Of Grace: We are along, just you and me up in your room and our slates are clean

State Of Grace: So you were never a saint and I've loved in shades of wrong

Red: Like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all

Red: Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of you

Red: Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes

Red: But moving on from him is impossible when I still see it all in my head in burning red

Red: And that's why he's spinning 'round in my head

I Knew You Were Trouble: I was in your sights, you got me alone

I Knew You Were Trouble: I knew you were trouble when you walked in

I Knew You Were Trouble: A new notch in your belt is all I'll ever be

I Knew You Were Trouble: And the saddest fear comes creeping in

All Too Well: And you've still got it in your drawer even now

All Too Well: We're singing in the car, getting lost upstate

All Too Well: Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well

All Too Well: You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin sized bed

All Too Well: 'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night, we're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light

All Too Well: Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much

All Too Well: So casually cruel in the name of being honest

All Too Well: Wind in my hair, you were there, you remember it all too well

22: It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight, to fall in love with strangers

22: We're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way

I Almost Do: I bet you're sitting in your chair by the window looking out at the city

I Almost Do: It takes everything in me not to call you

I Almost Do: And I confess, babe, in my dreams you're touching my face

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: 'Cause like, we hadn't seen each other in a month when you said you needed space, what?

Stay Stay Stay: That's when you came in wearing a football helmet and said, "Okay, let's talk"

The Last Time: I imagine you are home in your room all alone

The Last Time: You break my heart in the blink of an eye

The Last Time: And all the times I let you in just for you to go again

The Last Time: This is the last time I let you in my door

Holy Ground: Back when you fit in my poems like a perfect rhyme

Holy Ground: Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress

Holy Ground: And I guess we fell apart in the usual way

Holy Ground: And I see your face in every crowd

Holy Ground: Tonight I'm gonna dance like you were in this room

Sad Beautiful Tragic: Long handwritten notes deep in your pocket

Sad Beautiful Tragic: I stood right by the tracks, your face in a locket

Sad Beautiful Tragic: In dreams, I meet you in warm conversation

Sad Beautiful Tragic: We both wake in lonely beds and different cities

The Lucky One: New to town with a made-up name in the angel's city, chasing fortune and fame

The Lucky One: You had it figured out since you were in school

The Lucky One: Another name goes up in lights, like diamonds in the sky

The Lucky One: And your lover in the foyer doesn't even know you

The Lucky One: Another name goes up in lights, you wonder if you'll make it out alive

The Lucky One: 'Cause now my name is up in lights, but I think you got it right

Everything Has Changed: Is green eyes and freckles and your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like

Everything Has Changed: And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies

Everything Has Changed: And let me know that it's not all in my mind

Starlight: Can't remember what song it was playing when we walked in

Begin Again: Took a deep breath in the mirror

Begin Again: I walked in expecting you'd be late but you got here early and you stand and wave

Begin Again: You pull my chair out and help me in and you don't know how nice that is but I do

Begin Again: But on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again

The Moment I Knew: I've got my eye on the door just waiting for you to walk in

The Moment I Knew: And it was like slow motion standing there in my party dress in red lipstick

The Moment I Knew: And there in the bathroom I try not to fall apart

The Moment I Knew: What do you do when tears are streaming down your face in front of everyone you know?

Come Back... Be Here: You said it in a simple way, 4 AM the second day

Come Back... Be Here: I told myself, "Don't get attached," but in my mind I play it back

Come Back... Be Here: This is when the feeling sinks in, I don't wanna miss you like this

Come Back... Be Here: I guess you're in New York today, I don't wanna need you this way

Come Back... Be Here: I guess you're in London today, I don't wanna need you this way

Come Back... Be Here: This is falling in love in the cruelest way

Come Back... Be Here: In New York, be here, but you're in London and I break down

Ronan: Remember I leaned in and whispered to you

Ronan: Flowers pile up in the worst way, no one knows what to say

Ronan: I remember the last day when I kissed your face and whispered in your ear

Ronan: Out of this curtained room in this hospital gray, we'll just disappear

Ronan: What if I'm standing in your closet, trying to talk to you?

Better Man: I wish it wasn't 4 AM, standing in the mirror saying to myself, "You know you had to do it"

Better Man: Sometimes in the middle of the night I can feel you again

Better Man: Hoping it might turn sweet again, like it was in the beginning

Better Man: We might still be in love if you were a better man

Nothing New: I wake up in the middle of the night,  it's like I can feel time moving

Nothing New: How long will it be cute, all this crying in my room?

Message In A Bottle: And I'm down, feeling like a face in the crowd

Message In A Bottle: A message in a bottle is all I can do

Message In A Bottle: How is it in London?

I Bet You Think About Me: Fast asleep in your city that's better than mine

I Bet You Think About Me: And the girl in your bed has a fine pedigree

I Bet You Think About Me: Well I tried to fit in with your upper crust circles

I Bet You Think About Me: Yeah, they let me sit in back when we were in love

I Bet You Think About Me: You grew up in a silver spoon gated community

I Bet You Think About Me: But reality crept in, you said we're too different

I Bet You Think About Me: Now you're out in the world, searching for your soul

I Bet You Think About Me: I bet you think about me in your house with your organic shoes and your million dollar couch

Forever Winter: He says, "Why fall in love, just so you can watch it go away?"

Forever Winter: He says, "It's not just a phase I'm in"

Forever Winter: I pull at every thread, trying to solve the puzzles in his head

Forever Winter: If I was standing there in your apartment, I'd take that bomb in your head and disarm it

Forever Winter: I'd be in pieces on the floor, forever winter if you go

Forever Winter: I say, "Believe in one thing, I won't go away"

Run: We shouldn't be in this town

Run: There's a key on the chain, there's a picture in a frame, take it with you

Run: Pale blue sky reflected in your eyes

Run: And the note from the locket, you keep it in your pocket since I gave it to you

Run: There's been this hole in my heart, this thing was a shot in the dark

The Very First Night: I wish I could fly, I'd pick you up and we'd go back in time

The Very First Night: I'd write this in the sky, I miss you like it was the very first night

The Very First Night: 'Cause they don't know about the night in the hotel

The Very First Night: They weren't riding in the car when we both fell

The Very First Night: Not trying to fall in love, but we did like children running

The Very First Night: But don't forget about the night out in LA

The Very First Night: Danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway

The Very First Night: I was riding in the car when we both fell

The Very First Night: I wish that we could go back in time

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): Swearing it's the same after three months in the grave

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): But I'm in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): Not weeping in a party bathroom, some actress asking me what happened

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): 'Cause in this city's barren cold, I still remember the first fall of snow

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): Wind in my hair, I was there, I was there

'1989 (Taylor's Version)'

Welcome To New York: Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer

Blank Space: So it's gonna be forever or it's gonna go down in flames

Style: Could end in burning flames or paradise

Style: You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye

Out Of The Woods: The rest of the world was black and white but we were in screaming color

Out Of The Woods: Are we in the clear yet, are we in the clear yet, are we in the clear yet, in the clear yet? Good

Out Of The Woods: Remember when you hit the brakes too soon, twenty stitches in the hospital room

All You Had To Do Was Stay: Had me in the palm of your hand, then why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?

Shake It Off: I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain

Shake It Off: It's like I got this music in my mind saying, "It's gonna be all right"

I Wish You Would: It's 2 AM in your car, windows down, you pass my street, the memories start

I Wish You Would: You say it's in the past, you drive straight ahead

I Wish You Would: It's 2 AM in my room, headlights pass the window pane, I think of you

I Wish You Would: We're a crooked love in a straight line down

I Wish You Would: 2 AM, here we are, see your face, hear my voice in the dark

Bad Blood: Rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me

Bad Blood: So don't think it's in the past, these kind of wounds, they last and they last

Wildest Dreams: Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe

Wildest Dreams: Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams

Wildest Dreams: His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room

Wildest Dreams: You see me in hindsight tangled up with you all night

How You Get The Girl: Remind her how it used to be with pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks

How You Get The Girl: Remind me how it used to be, pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks

This Love: Clear blue water, high tide came and brought you in

This Love: In silent screams, in wildest dreams, I never dreamed of this

This Love: Lantern burning, flickered in my mind for only you

This Love: Been losing grip on sinking ships, you showed up just in time

This Love: This love is glowing in the dark

I Know Places: It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight

I Know Places: In the dead of night, your eyes so green

Clean: So I punched a hole in the roof, let the flood carry away all my pictures of you

Clean: Ten months older, I won't give in

Wonderland: We found wonderland, you and I got lost in it

Wonderland: And life was never worse but never better, in wonderland

Wonderland: So we went on our way, too in love to think straight

Wonderland: And in the end in wonderland, we both went mad

You Are In Love: You can hear it in the silence

You Are In Love: You are in love, true love, you are in love

You Are In Love: And you knew what it was, he is in love

You Are In Love: You two are dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round and he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown

New Romantics: We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom, honey, life is just a classroom

New Romantics: The best people in life are free

New Romantics: We hang back, it's all in the timing

New Romantics: It's poker, he can't see it in my face but I'm about to play my ace

“Slut!”: Love to think you’ll never forget handprints in wet cement

“Slut!”: If I’m gonna be drunk, I might as well be drunk in love

“Slut!”: And I break down then he’s pulling me in, in a world of boys he’s a gentleman

“Slut!”: Half asleep, taking your time in the tangerine neon light

“Slut!”: You’re not saying you’re in love with me, but you’re going to

“Slut!”: I said, “It might blow up in your pretty face”

“Slut!”: And if I’m gonna be drunk, might as well be drunk in love

Say Don’t Go: We’re a shot in the darkest dark

Say Don’t Go: Why’d you whisper in the dark just to leave me in the night?

Suburban Legends: You had people who called you on unmarked numbers in my peripheral vision

Suburban Legends: And you kiss me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever

Suburban Legends: When I ended up back at our class reunion, walking in with you

Suburban Legends: You’d be more than a chapter in my old diaries with the pages ripped out

Suburban Legends: I am standing in a 1950s gymnasium and I can still see you now

Suburban Legends: And you kissed me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever

Is It Over Now?: You search in every maiden’s bed for something greater, baby

Is It Over Now?: “Come here,” I whispered in your ear in your dream as you passed out

Is It Over Now?: You search in every model’s bed for something greater, baby

Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar): Battle scars, body bumped, bruised, stabbed in the back

Sweeter Than Fiction: Seen you lost in a crowd, seen your colors fade

Sweeter Than Fiction: Just a shot, just a shot in the dark, oh, oh

Sweeter Than Fiction: And in this perfect weather, it's like we don't remember

Sweeter Than Fiction: And when they call your name and they put your picture in a frame

'reputation'

...Ready For It?: In the middle of the night in my dreams

...Ready For It?: Every love I've known in comparison is a failure

Don't Blame Me: Something happened for the first time in the darkest little paradise

Delicate: Phone lights up my nightstand in the black, come here, you can meet me in the back

Delicate: Is it chill that you're in my head?

Delicate: Long night with your hands up in my hair

Look What You Made Me Do: But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time

Look What You Made Me Do: I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined

Look What You Made Me Do: I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams

So It Goes...: See you in the dark, all eyes on you, my magician

So It Goes...: Getting caught up in a moment, lipstick on your face

So It Goes...: Met you in a bar, all eyes on my, your illusionist

So It Goes...: Come here, dressed in black now, so, so, so it goes

Gorgeous: He's in the club doing, I don't know what

Gorgeous: You should think about the consequence of you touching my hand in a darkened room

Gorgeous: Ocean blue eyes looking in mine

Getaway Car: No, nothing good starts in a getaway car

Getaway Car: the ties were black, the lies were white, in shades of gray and candlelight

Getaway Car: We never had a shotgun shot in the dark

Getaway Car: We're riding in a getaway car, there were sirens in the beat of your heart

Getaway Car: In a getaway car, no, they never get far

Getaway Car: It's no surprise I turned you in 'cause us traitors never win

Getaway Car: I'm in a getaway car, I left you in the motel bar

Getaway Car: Put the money in a bag and I stole the keys, that was the last time you ever saw me

Getaway Car: I was riding in a getaway car, I was crying in a getaway car, I was dying in a getaway car, said goodbye in a getaway car

King Of My Heart: Late in the night, the city's asleep

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: I, I loved you in secret

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: I could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets, picture of your face in an invisible locket

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: I know there was no one in the world who could take it

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: I, I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: I'd hold you as the water rushes in

Dress: Our secret moments in a crowded room

Dress: There is an indentation in the shape of you

Dress: I'm spilling wine in the bathtub

Dress: Even in my worst times, you could see the best in me

Dress: Even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me

Dress: And I woke up just in time, now I wake up by your side

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Everyone swimming in a champagne sea

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: But you stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand

New Year's Day: Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby

New Year's Day: You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi

'Lover'

I Forgot That You Existed: Lived in the shade you were throwing 'til all of my sunshine was gone, gone, gone

I Forgot That You Existed: In my feelings more than Drake, so, yeah

I Forgot That You Existed: Free rent living in my mind

Cruel Summer: Fever dream high in the quiet of the night, you know that I caught it

Cruel Summer: No rules in breakable heaven

Cruel Summer: Hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine, I'm not dying

Cruel Summer: We say that we'll just screw it up in these trying times, we're not trying

Cruel Summer: I'm drunk in the back of the car

Cruel Summer: And I snuck in through the garden gate every night that summer just to seal my fate

Lover: We could let our friends crash in the living room

The Man: They'd say I hustled, put in the work

The Man: I'd be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez

The Man: What's it like to brag about raking in dollars and getting bitches and models?

The Archer: 'Cause cruelty wins in the movies

The Archer: I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

I Think He Knows: He got that boyish look that I like in a man

I Think He Knows: I whisper in the dark, "Where we gonna go?"

Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince: Than I was at sixteen, lost in a film scene

Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince: Marching band playing, I'm lost in the lights

Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince: They whisper in the hallway, "She's a bad, bad girl"

Paper Rings: The wine is cold like the shoulder that I gave you in the street

Paper Rings: Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe

Paper Rings: In paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams

Paper Rings: In the winter in the icy outdoor pool, when you jumped in first, I went in, too

Paper Rings: In paper rings, in picture frames, in all my dreams

Cornelia Street: We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar

Cornelia Street: "I rent a place on Cornelia Street," I say casually in the car

Cornelia Street: We were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go

Cornelia Street: As if the streetlights pointed in an arrowhead leading us home

Cornelia Street: We bless the rains on Cornelia Street, memorize the creaks in the floor

Cornelia Street: Barefoot in the kitchen, sacred new beginnings

Death By A Thousand Cuts: Now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club

London Boy: I enjoy walking Camden Market in the afternoon

London Boy: You can find me in the pub, we are watching rugby with his school friends

London Boy: I enjoy nights in Brixton, Shoreditch in the afternoon

London Boy: I enjoy watching SoHo, drinking in the afternoon

Soon You'll Get Better: The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair

Soon You'll Get Better: In doctor's office lighting I didn't tell you I was scared

Soon You'll Get Better: I know delusion when I see it in the mirror

False God: We were stupid to jump in the ocean separating us

False God: Religion's in your lips even if it's a false god

You Need To Calm Down: Say it in the street, that's a knock-out, but you say it in a tweet, that's a cop-out

You Need To Calm Down: But you would rather be in the dark ages

Afterglow: Put you in jail for something you didn't do

Afterglow: Hey, it's all me, in my head

Afterglow: It's all me, just don't go, meet me in the afterglow

ME!: And when we had that fight out in the rain, you ran after me and called my name

ME!: Living in winter, I am your summer

ME!: Girl, there ain't no "I" in "team"

It's Nice To Have A Friend: Sidewalk chalk covered in snow

It's Nice To Have A Friend: Sleeping in tents, it's nice to have a friend

It's Nice To Have A Friend: Feels like home, stay in bed the whole weekend

Daylight: My love was as cruel as the cities I lived in, everyone looked worse in the light

Daylight: I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night

Daylight: Clearing the air, I breathed in the smoke

Daylight: Maybe I stormed out of every single room in this town

Daylight: And I can still see it all in my mind, all of you, all of me intertwined

Daylight: And I can still see it all in my head, back and forth from New York, sneaking in your bed

Daylight: Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night

'folklore'

The 1: Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool

The 1: In my defense, I have none for never leaving well enough alone

The 1: In my defense, I have none for digging up the grave another time

Cardigan: But I knew you, dancing in your Levi's, drunk under a street light

Cardigan: Your heartbeat on the High Line once in twenty lifetimes

Cardigan: To kiss in cars and downtown bars was all we needed

Cardigan: Chasing shadows in the grocery line

Cardigan: And you'd be standing in my front porch light

The Last Great American Dynasty: Flew in all her Bitch Pack friends from the city

The Last Great American Dynasty: And in a feud with her neighbor, she stole his dog and dyed it key lime green

Exile: Holding all this love out here in the hall

Exile: You were my town, now I'm in exile, seeing you out

Exile: You were my crown, now I'm in exile, seeing you out

My Tears Ricochet: We gather here, we line up weeping in a sunlit room

My Tears Ricochet: I didn't have it in myself to go with grace

My Tears Ricochet: But you would still miss me in your bones

Mirrorball: And when I break, it's in a million pieces

Mirrorball: Spinning in my highest heels, love, shining just for you

Mirrorball: I can change everything about me to fit in

Seven: Please picture me in the trees

Seven: Feet in the swing over the creek, I was too scared to jump in

Seven: But I, I was high in the sky with Pennsylvania under me

Seven: Sweet tea in the summer, cross your heart, won't tell no other

Seven: They you won't have to cry or hide in the closet

Seven: Please picture me in the weeds

August: But I can see us lost in the memory, August slipped away into a moment in time

August: And I can see us twisted in bedsheets

August: Canceled plans just in case you'd call and say, "Meet me behind the mall"

August: Remember when I pulled up and said, "Get in the car" and then canceled my plans just in case you'd call

This Is Me Trying: And maybe I don't quite know what to say but I'm here in your doorway

This Is Me Trying: You're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town

Illicit Affairs: What started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots

Invisible String: Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to LA

Invisible String: Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire

Mad Woman: Do you see my face in the neighbor's lawn?

Epiphany: Watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out, out

Betty: In the garden, would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer thing?

Betty: She said, "James, get in, let's drive"

Betty: And I planned it out for weeks now but it's finally sinking in

Betty: Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends?

Betty: Standing in your cardigan, kissing in my car again

Peace: And it's just around the corner, darling, 'cause it lives in me

Peace: All these people think loves for show but I would die for you in secret

Peace: The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me

Peace: And you know that I'd swing with you for the fences, sit with you in the trenches

Hoax: Your faithless one's the only hoax I believe in

Hoax: No other sadness in the world would do

Hoax: You know I left a part of me back in New York

Hoax: You knew the password so I let you in the door

The Lakes: What should be over burrowed under my skin in heart-stopping waves of hurt

The Lakes: 'Cause I haven't moved in years and I want you right here

The Lakes: While I bathe in cliffside pools with my calamitous love and insurmountable grief

'evermore'

Willow: I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night

Willow: Lost in your current like a priceless wine

Willow: Head on the pillow, I can feel you sneaking in

Champagne Problems: You booked the night train for a reason, so you could sit there in this hurt

Champagne Problems: Your mom's ring in your pocket, my picture in your wallet

Champagne Problems: You told your family for a reason, you couldn't keep it in

Champagne Problems: "What a shame she's fucked in the head," they said

Champagne Problems: Your mom's ring in your pocket, her picture in your wallet

Gold Rush: Gleaming, twinkling eyes like sinking ships on waters so inviting, I almost jump in

Gold Rush: I don't like anticipating my face in a red flush

Gold Rush: I don't like slow motion, double vision in rose blush

'Tis The Damn Season: There's an ache in you put there by the ache in me

'Tis The Damn Season: Sleep in half the day just for old times' sake

Tolerate It: If it's all in my head, tell me now

Tolerate It: I take your indiscretions all in good fun

Tolerate It: Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life

Tolerate It: Drawing hearts in the byline

Tolerate It: Break free and leave us in ruins, took this dagger in me and removed it

No Body, No Crime: And his mistress moved in, sleeps in Este's bed and everything

Happiness: But now i'm right down in it, all the years I've given is just shit we're dividing up

Happiness: And in the disbelief, I can't face reinvention

Happiness: Beyond the terror in the nightfall, haunted by the look in my eyes

Happiness: In our history, across our great divide

Happiness: I guess it's the price I paid for seven years in heaven

Dorothea: When we were younger down in the park, honey, making a lark of the misery

Dorothea: The stars in your eyes shined brighter in Tupelo

Coney Island: Break my soul in two looking for you but you're right here

Coney Island: I'm sitting on a bench in Coney Island wondering where did my baby go?

Coney Island: Were you waiting at our old spot in the tree line by the gold clock

Coney Island: Were you standing in the hallway with a big cake, happy birthday

Coney Island: I'm on a bench in Coney Island wondering where did my baby go?

Ivy: I'd meet you where the spirit meets the bones in a faith forgotten land

Ivy: In from the snow, your touch brought forth an incandescent glow

Ivy: Oh, goddamn, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Ivy: Oh, I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland

Ivy: My house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I'm covered in you

Ivy: He's in the room, your opal eyes are all I wish to see

Ivy: Clover blooms in the fields

Ivy: So yeah, it's a fire, it's a goddamn blaze in the dark and you started it

Ivy: And now I'm covered in you, in you, now I'm covered in you, in you

Cowboy Like Me: Now I'm waiting by the phone like I'm sitting in an airport bar

Cowboy Like Me: Perched in the dark, telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear

Cowboy Like Me: And the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up

Long Story Short: Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep

Long Story Short: I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides

Long Story Short: If the shoe fits, walk in it 'til your high heels break

Long Story Short: Actually, I always felt I must look better in the rear view

Long Story Short: When I dropped my sword, I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door

Long Story Short: And we live in peace but if someone comes at us, this time I'm ready

Long Story Short: Past me, I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things

Long Story Short: And he's passing by, rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky

Long Story Short: If the shoe fits, walk in it everywhere you go

Marjorie: You're alive, you're alive in my head

Closure: I know I'm just a wrinkle in your new life

Evermore: Motion capture put me in a bad light

Evermore: Barefoot in the wildest winter, catching my death

Evermore: In the cracks of light, I dreamed of you

Right Where You Left Me: Still sitting in a corner I haunt, cross legged in the dim light

Right Where You Left Me: Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?

Right Where You Left Me: and you're sitting in front of me at the restaurant

Right Where You Left Me: Cross legged in the dim light, everything was just right

It's Time To Go: When the words of a sister come back in whispers that prove she was not in fact what she seemed

It's Time To Go: The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul

It's Time To Go: Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones, praying to his greed

It's Time To Go: The snaps from the same little breaks in my soul

It's Time To Go: And you know in your soul, and you know in your soul when it's time to go

'Midnights'

Lavender Haze: I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

Maroon: Laughing with my feet in your lap like you were my closest friend

Maroon: And I chose you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes

Maroon: Sobbing with your head in your hands

Maroon: You were standing hollow-eyed in the hallway

Maroon: And I lost you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes

Anti-Hero: All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room

Anti-Hero: They come with prices and vices, I end up in crisis

Anti-Hero: I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror

Anti-Hero: I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money, she thinks I left them in the will

Snow On The Beach: Flying in a dream, stars by the pocketful

You’re On Your Own, Kid: I hear it in your voice, you’re smoking with your boys

You’re On Your Own, Kid: Something different bloomed, writing in my room

You’re On Your Own, Kid: I play my songs in the parking lot, I’ll run away

You’re On Your Own, Kid: I looked around in a blood-soaked gown and I saw something they can’t take away

Midnight Rain: A slow motion love potion, jumping off things in the ocean

Question...?: Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?

Question...?: Did you leave her house in the middle of the night?

Question...?: Got swept away in the gray

Vigilante Shit: And she looks so pretty, driving in your Benz

Bejeweled: Didn’t notice you walking all over my peace of mind in the shoes I gave you as a present

Bejeweled: Putting someone first only works when you’re in their top five

Bejeweled: When I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer

Bejeweled: Don’t put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart

Bejeweled: Diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice

Bejeweled: And you can try to change my mind but you might have to wait in line

Labyrinth: Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

Labyrinth: Uh oh, I’m falling in love, oh no, I’m falling in love again, oh, I’m falling in love

Labyrinth: It only feels this raw right now, lost in the labyrinth of my mind

Karma: Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend

Karma: Karma is a cat, purring in my lap ‘cause it loves me

Sweet Nothing: Outside, they’re push and shoving, you’re in the kitchen humming

Mastermind: You and I ended up in the same room at the same time

Mastermind: The dominoes cascaded in a line

Mastermind: ‘Cause we were born to be the pawn in every lover’s game

Mastermind: I’m the wind in our free-flowing sails and the liquor in our cocktails

The Great War: Spineless in my tomb of silence

The Great War: Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur

The Great War: Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I’d been betrayed

The Great War: Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair

Bigger Than The Whole Sky: No words appear before me in the aftermath

Bigger Than The Whole Sky: Did some bird flap its wings over in Asia?

Paris: I’m so in love that I might stop breathing

Paris: I was taken by the view like we were in Paris

Paris: Like we were in Paris, oh, we were somewhere else

Paris: Sit quiet by my side in the shade

Paris: Confess my truth in swooping, sloping, cursive letters

Paris: Let the only flashing lights be the tower at midnight in my mind

Paris: ‘Cause we were somewhere else in an alleyway, drinking champagne

Paris: ‘Cause we were in Paris, yes, we were somewhere else

Paris: My love, we were in Paris, yes, we were somewhere else

High Infidelity: Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?

Glitch: You don’t live in my part of town but maybe I’ll see you out some weekend

Glitch: Depending on what kind of mood and situation-ship I’m in and what’s in my system

Glitch: In search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else’s playground

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve: Stained glass windows in my mind

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve: I fight with you in my sleep

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve: If clarity’s in death, then why won’t this die?

Dear Reader: Dear reader, if it feels like a trap, you’re already in one

Dear Reader: I prefer hiding in plain sight, my fourth drink in my hand

Dear Reader: Where I pace in my pen and my friends found friends who care

Hits Different: I pictured you with other girls in love, then threw up on the street

Hits Different: I slur your name ‘til someone puts me in a car

Hits Different: A wrinkle in time like the crease by your eyes

Hits Different: In the good in the world, you once believed in me

Hits Different: I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway

Hits Different: Is that your key in the door, is it okay?

You’re Losing Me: We thought a cure would come through in time, now I fear it won’t

You’re Losing Me: Now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it’s time

You’re Losing Me: Every morning, I glared at you with storms in my eyes

You’re Losing Me: Fighting in only your army, front lines, don’t you ignore me

Karma (feat. Ice Spice): Karma is a fire in ya house, grah

Other Songs written by Taylor

All Of The Girls You Loved Before: Wake up in the morning with someone but feeling alone

All Of The Girls You Loved Before: A heart is drawn around your name in someone’s handwriting, not mine

All Of The Girls You Loved Before: Crying in the bathroom for some dude whose name I cannot remember now

All Of The Girls You Loved Before: Teenage love taught you there’s good in goodbye

Beautiful Eyes: I wake up, I'm alive, in only a little while I'll cry

Beautiful Ghosts: Wait for my life to start with no beauty in my memory

Best Days Of Your Life: 'Cause I'll be there in the back of your mind

Best Days Of Your Life: A shame that every time you hear my name brought up in a casual conversation you can't think straight

Best Days Of Your Life: Wrapped me in your arms and how you told me I'd be the only one

Best Days Of Your Life: You're gonna think of me in your life

Carolina: And she’s in my dreams, into the mist, into the clouds

Carolina: That I was guilty as sin and sleep in a liar’s bed

Christmas Must Be Something More: What if happiness came in a cardboard box?

Christmas Must Be Something More: We get so caught up in all of it

Christmas Tree Farm: In my heart is a Christmas tree farm

Christmas Tree Farm: Bundled up in their mittens and coats and the cider would flow

Christmas Tree Farm: Just being in your arms takes me back to that little farm

Christmas Tree Farm: There's a light in the barn, we run inside out from the cold

Christmas Tree Farm: In the town, kids are dreaming of sleighs

Christmases When You Were Mine: 'Cause everything I want is miles away in a snow covered little town

Christmases When You Were Mine: My mama's in the kitchen worrying about me

Crazier: Feels like I'm falling and I am lost in your eyes

Eyes Open: In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords

I Don't Wanna Live Forever: I don't wanna live forever 'cause I know I'll be living in vain

I Don't Wanna Live Forever: I'm sitting eyes wide open and I got one thing stuck in my mind

I Don't Wanna Live Forever: I've been looking sad in all the nicest places

I Don't Wanna Live Forever: I see you around in all these empty faces

I Don't Wanna Live Forever: Now I'm in a cab, I tell him where your place is

If This Was A Movie: Stand in the rain outside 'til I came out

If This Was A Movie: Wrapped up in your arms and our friends are laughing

Only The Young: You're screaming inside and frozen in time

Renegade: Are you really gonna talk about timing in times like these?

The Alcott: I get myself twisted in threads to meet you at The Alcott

The Alcott: I go to the corner in the back where you’d always be

The Alcott: I tell you that I think I’m falling back in love with you

The Alcott: I tell you that I think I’m falling back in love, back in love, back in love with you, back in love with you

The Joker And The Queen (Remix): When I fold, you see the best in me

The Joker And The Queen (Remix): And then you went all in and we left together

The Joker And The Queen (Remix): When I folded, you saw the best in me

You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home: Find a whole new life and jump in

Official Alternate Releases

Better Than Revenge (2010 Version): They wouldn’t teach you that in prep school so it’s up to me

If This Was A Movie (2010 Version): Locked up in your arms and our friends are laughing

Lover (feat. Shawn Mendes): Look in my eyes, they will tell you the truth

Lover (feat. Shawn Mendes): The girl in my story has always been you

Champagne Problems (Clean Version): "What a shame she's stuck in her head," they said

Ivy (Clean Version): Oh, I can’t, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Ivy (Clean Version): So yeah, it's a fire, it's a violent blaze in the dark and you started it

Cowboy Like Me (Clean Version): And the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to mess this up

Question...? (Clean Version): Lost in situations, circumstances, miscommunications

Question...? (Clean Version): Caught in politics and gender roles and you’re not sure and I don’t know

#taylor swift #lyrics #taylorswiftandx #lyric parallels #in

[baconsoupforthesoul]

The Ink Demonth - Day 21 - Money

No Refunds, No Returns!~

A/N: This is a fic idea I have had bouncing around in my head for a long time. And luckily, the theme for the day lets me combine the prompt with celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the amazing Bioshock au! If you haven't had a chance to check out this incredible au, do yourself a favor and go see all the great fanart and fics for it, it’s well worth your time. And as always, in this au Henry belongs to @inkspottie, and Delta belongs to @trashboatprince, and Ross belongs to @doberart. And the song referenced in here is the Circus of Value Song by JT Music which you can find here. Oh, and a big thanks to Mod Dead for helping me get the humor just right for this fic. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy~

“Can’t you hack it any faster, Henry?”

The sweater-clad man shot an annoyed look up at Delta before turning back to the vending machine in front of him.

“I’m going as fast as I can, Delta,” Henry grumbled as he fiddled with the Circus of Values vendor. “This hacking business is harder than it looks, okay?”

“Alright, alright,” the big daddy held up his hands in surrender as he leaned back against the wall.

“Take your time, Henry,” Ross said gently as he sat down next to the machine with a grunt, adjusting his bad leg. “I don’t hear any splicers around so we should be safe for now.”

The older man had a point, as Henry couldn’t hear the normally never-ending chatter of the spliced up Rapture citizens. However, he could hear the growling of his stomach, and his friends’ as well. While they were actually surprisingly well-stocked on ammo, they hadn’t been able to find a vending machine that sold food for ages, and after fighting through hoards of splicers, all three of them were practically starving.

If only they weren't so low on cash, they’d be able to get some snacks from the machine no problem.

“Come back when ya get some money, buddy!” The machine chortled at Henry mockingly.

“Oh shut it,” Henry growled, whacking the machine in the side, causing Delta to chuckle.

As Henry fiddled with it some more, Ross turned to look over at him. “What kind of food does the vending machine have anyway?” He asked, his hand involuntarily going over his empty stomach.

“Hmmm,” Henry glanced at the menu. “Looks like chips, creme-filled cake, and pep bars.”

Ross made a face at that. “Damn, was kinda hoping for some real food. Getting sick of all this junk food.”

“I don’t think it’s so bad,” Delta argued. “I could do with a pep bar right about now.”

“Says you,” Henry huffed. “You’ve just never had anything different.”

“When we make it to the surface, we’ll get you some real food, Delta,” Ross said. “Trust me, anything that Linda makes is better than anything you could find down here.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Delta shot Ross a grin and a thumbs up.

“I wanna try the surface food too! Can I? Can I?” Bendy chirped from Delta’s shoulder.

“Of course you can bud,” Delta reached his hand back and rubbed the little devil between his horns. “All the food you can eat!”

“Woo hoo!” Bendy cheered, hugging his daddy around the neck.

Henry smiled at the two of them before turning back to his work. Hopefully, they could enjoy a nice big meal together up on the surface after this whole nightmare was over. Hopefully, they all survived to see the sun again. It had felt hopeless when he had been stuck down here on his own… but now that he’d found allies… it started to seem just a little more possible.

The sweater-clad man narrowed his eyes at the vending machine. He was so close now. He just had to move this bit here…

Henry’s head suddenly shot up when the lights from the vending machine brightened up, shielding his eyes for a second. Then, the ever-annoying laugh from the vending machine started playing, only it was much louder than before. All three of them covered their ears, Bendy even wincing at the loud noise as a deafening jingle started to play.

“Welcome to the Circus of Values

You’ll find no better vending service around you

We’ve got everything that you’ll ever need

Don’t be shy! Come on by! You’ve got a craving to feed~”

“AHHHH!” Henry fell backward onto his backside, hands conversing the sides of his head as the sheer volume made his ears ring.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Delta jumped back from the machine. “What in the world did ya do, Henry?!”

“I-I-I don’t know,” he cried, seeing Ross scramble to his feet, almost losing his balance and needing the wall to steady himself. “This has never happened before!”

“You can never be too prepared

We’ve got plenty of supplies to spare~”

“Ohhhh! Music!” Bendy beamed, jumping down off Delta’s shoulder, looking over at the machine with stars in his eyes.

“Shut that damn thing off, Henry!” Delta tried to yell over the song. “Everyone in this whole city is gonna hear that thing! We’re gonna be drowning in splicers!”

“Oh shit!” Henry rushed back to the machine, trying his best to endure the loud music as he fiddled with it some more. “Oh shit, oh shit, ohshitohshit,OHSHIT!”

“Without your wallet it’s gonna cost ya

But if you’ve got the capital

We got the product!~”

“I think we’re too late for that,” Ross paled as he looked up to see a splicer screeching at them from a nearby balcony.

Henry gulped, as even with the blaring music, he could hear the sounds of voices all around them.

“What?”

"I don't like the sound of that!"

"H-hello? Is there someone in the hall?"

“You don't come to my town, kid!"

"A rat! It's a rat!"

Henry spared a single glance behind him, seeing the oncoming hoard approaching. They were in deep shit.

“Damn!” Ross readied his pistol. “They’re coming guys, get ready!”

“This ain’t no charity

Come back when you get some money, buddy~”

The splicers descended upon them. Delta rushed forward, slamming one into the wall with his drill while Ross sent out crows to slow them down.

“Where the hell did they all come from?!” Delta yelled, knocking down splicers left and right. “There was nobody around before, so what gives?!?”

“You think I know that?” Ross retorted, shooting a splicer down before they got too close to Henry.

“Grab snacks and drinks and first aid

For when you get bloody, uh oh!~”

“Dammit! That stupid song is mocking us!” Delta complained, feeling his stomach rumble at the mention of food. “Hey Henry! What’s taking you so damn-”

The big daddy stopped as he turned around to see his little devil just dancing along to the song. Bendy had the biggest grin on his feet as he tapped his feet to the beat, completely lost in the music.

“Bendy,” Delta called out to the little devil, his voice a little strained. “You’re real adorable, but now really isn’t the time, okay buddy?” 

Bendy just looked up at his dad in confusion

“Huh? Why’s that?” He tilted his head up at him.

Just as Bendy asked the question, a splicer came jumping down from a balcony, screaming bloody murder as it charged at Delta. Bendy yelped as he scrambled up Delta’s back, the big daddy sending a blast of Old Man Winter to freeze the splicer in place. He then rushed forward and smashed them to bits.

“That’s why,” Delta pointed out, reaching up to rub Bendy’s head. “Just stick close to me, alright bud?”

“Ain’t life in Rapture grand?

Come on and give us a hand

We’ll build a paradise~”

“There’s no end to them!” Ross cried, sending splicers hurtling into the air with Newton’s Law.

“We just wanted some fucking food,” Henry grumbled under his breath as he worked. “We didn’t ask for this. Didn’t ask to be at the bottom of the goddamn ocean dealing with psychopaths. Didn’t ask for all this BULLSHIT! WHY WON’T YOU SHUT UP YOU DAMN MACHINE?!”

“Henry!” Ross kicked a splicer in the chest before turning to face Henry. “You have to calm down! You’re not thinking straight right now. Now isn’t the time to panic!”

“Calm down, yeah, I’ll get right to that shall I?” Henry grumbled under his breath. “I’m sorry Ross, but now seems like the PERFECT TIME TO PANIC!”

“Don’t tamper with the hardware

Unless you’re a parasite~”

“COME ON!” Delta roared, smashing splicer after splicer in the face with his drill. “I DON’T,” he whacked another one. “HAVE,” Whack! “ANY TIME,” Whack! “FOR THIS!” Whack! “HENRY SHUT THAT DAMN THING OFF ALREADY!”

“I AM T R Y I N G!” Henry screamed back, hitting the machine desperately. “This should go here, and that there, and WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING???” he cried, feeling tears of panic prick at his eyes.

“You’re not a man if you’re demanding handouts

Come back when you get some money, buddy~”

“Any time now, Henry!” Ross yelled, elbowing a splicer in the face, shooting another point blank with his pistol. 

“I know! I knowwwww,” Henry whined, shocking the machine with his shock jockey again and again in the vain hope that it would help. The shocks did nothing though, other than somehow make the music louder. Henry could hardly hear himself think over the noise.

“Our prices are the best

We drive the competition nutty~”

“SHUT UP” Henry screamed at the machine, whacking it as hard as he could. "WHY CAN'T YOU SHUT UPPPPPP PLEASEEEE,” Henry cried desperately, tears streaming down his face. “I’M BEGGING YOU, CIRCUS OF VALUES CLOWN, JUST SHUT UPPPPPPP!"

The sweater-clad man let out a scream of frustration as he stood up and began repeatedly kicking the machine. “SHUT UP! SHUTUP! SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!” He screamed, kicking the machine again with each word.

“Welcome to the Circus of Values

You’ll find no better vending service around you

We’ve got everything that you’ll ever need

Don’t be shy! Come on by! You’ve got a craving to feed~”

“THAT’S IT!” Delta yelled, storming towards the machine. “I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH THIS DAMN THING!”

The big daddy pushed Henry aside, grabbed the machine by both sides and lifted the whole thing up.

“Go home if you can’t afford to buy it~”

“TAKE THIS YOU STUPID VENDING MACHINE!” He hollered, throwing the thing with all his might and managing to take out the last few splicers with it. The thing burst, raining bullets, snacks and drinks all over the place. Henry even felt a pep bar hit him on the head before tumbling to the ground.

The song stopped, the sound from the machine sputtering. The last noise it made was a feeble “No refunds, no returnssssssss-,” before it went silent. The three of them just stood there for a moment, catching their breath. A second later though, alarms started blaring, the security system alerted that the vending machine had been vandalized.

“Why did you do that, Delta?!” Henry cried, pointing an accusing finger at Delta. “Now we’re going to be swarmed by security bots!”

“If I had to listen to any more of that annoying song, I was gonna lose my mind!” Delta shot back. “There’s no time to argue, grab the food and run!”

The big daddy rushed forward, grabbing as many bags of chips and creme-filled cakes as his arms could carry. Henry and Ross quickly rushed forward too, Ross making sure to grab a coffee thermos as Henry snagged some pep bars.

“Here they come!” Ross yelled as the whirling sound of security bots got closer.

“Run for it!” Delta tried to scream through a mouthful of chips he had cramped in his mouth.

“Shit!” Henry yelped around a pep bar he had hanging out of his mouth, trying his best to run with his arms full of food.

“Save some food for me, Daddy!” Bendy whined as they all booked it out of there, security bots right on their heels. They were certainly having a grand old time in Rapture.

#the ink demonth #ink demonth #bendy and the ink machine #batim #bioshock au #henry stein #bendy #bendy batim #inkspottie #trashboatprince #doberart #spacy writes

[the-starsabove-you]

The Spotlight

Chapter 16- I am Hers, She is Mine.  A/N: Happy New Years! I am excited for another year of stories and for you guys to enjoy them! Reviews are always welcomed !  Very excited for Mat to do All-Stars! Will be a couple of chapters for that!  Mat was leading Michelle on the dance floor, they were laughing as Mat was trying to sway her but it was just him stepping on her feet at times much to his horror. Michelle would say it was okay and he would be blushing. Mat never left her side, when she would go get a drink, he would be at her side and paying for it. The two would be trying food out and would feed each other to which the older guys on the team would be teasing Mat. The boys were happy to see that Mat was happy, they were happy that Mat was with someone who was sweet and just a good person. Mat wasn’t with those snobby or stuck-up models he would usually chase after. There was a person who was recording the event who was recording everyone on the dance floor, who got Tito and Emily dancing like idiots while the boys were dancing with their partners. Mat and Michelle were in their own world, Mat wrapping his arms around her waist and the two were dancing to the music, no matter how silly some of the songs were or how some songs just made them press themselves against each other. “You’ve made this night really one that I would never forget” Mat muttered into her ear and she blushed and she looked over at him and had a soft expression on her face “Yeah.. You made this night the best one ever” She whispered before he looked at her before leaning down and kissing her softly, she tangled her fingers through his hair. He broke the kiss and grabbed her hand “Come on, let’s go hang out in the balcony” He said and she nodded when she followed him and looked around and saw how the dance floor had pretty much everyone in it. Mat opened the door and Michelle felt the cool breeze hit her. She was in awe of the flowers around and a couple of candle lights around. Mat was leading her to the balcony and he rested his elbows on the rails and Michelle looked over at him “This was beautiful” She whispered and Mat nodded, his eyes shining. The wind came a bit and Michelle shivered a bit and Mat saw that and took off his suit jacket and placed it over her shoulders, Michelle grinning as she slipped her arms through the sleeves and he chuckled “You’re too cute” “I try” Michelle said as they watched the night life of the city. Both of them enjoying the silence before Mat looked at her “Hey, can I tell you something?” He asked and she nodded “Yeah! Everything okay?” She asked and he nodded, but started to look nervous “Um yeah..” Michelle saw that and she frowned “This is going well between us? I really like what we have so far” She said and Mat looked at her “I wanna change that” He said and she frowned “Wait, do you wanna end this?” She asked and was frowning and Mat was nearly sweating and his eyes widen “No! Far from it!” Michelle was confused “Oh! I thought you saying you wanting to change that is your way of saying that you wanted to end what we’re doing” “Okay” Mat took a deep breath before speaking “I really like you, like I haven’t liked anyone like this in a long time. You’re very special to me and you’re don’t take shit from no one. You’re strong and you know what you want, which is very hot” Mat said and Michelle couldn’t help but chuckle and he was about to say something until both of them felt drops and Mat looked up and saw it was starting to rain and he grumbled “Of course it had to rain, when I was making a good speech” Mat said as Michelle laughed and she kissed his lips “I’ll give you an A+ for the speech, Giving a D for the weather” “Oh haha” Mat said as he took her hand and led her back inside, Michelle looked over at the crowd that were dancing and drinking. Michelle and Mat looking at the bar and she grinned “Let’s go be our age and drink until we can’t stand no more” She said and he nodded “I agree with you on that” It wasn’t til after a couple of drinks after and they were both swaying and dancing. Mat taking her hands and singing to her. Michelle pretending to be flattered when even Tito, who was close gave Mat a face. Michelle brought him close when a slow song began to play. Mat gathering her into his arms as they swayed slowly to the song. Mat leaving kisses on her head as both of their eyes were closed and Mat brought his mouth near her ear and started to sing the song softly in her ear. Michelle having a soft smile. She looked up at him and whispered into his ear “Do you wanna get out of here?” She said and Mat looked down at her for a second, confused “You sure?” He said and she nodded “Yeah, let’s go” She said and he nodded when she took his hand and led him out of the party. The Islanders and their dates agreed to get rooms within the hotel since they were most likely going to need them as half of them wouldn’t be sober. Michelle and Mat made their way to the elevator and once the door closed, she pressed him against the rails and literally started to make out with him Mat was lost into the kiss. His hands were trailing up and down her sides as he began to kiss her neck. She sighed into the kiss and it wasn’t until they were on Mat’s floor that Michelle took his hand and Mat took her to the front door of his room, it wasn’t until he started kissing her again, Michelle’s hands going to Mat’s back pocket and she got the card-key out of it and he broke the kiss and he looked at her, his pupils were blown out and his lips were swollen and they were both breathing hard. “You walk through that door with me.. I will be completely yours. I won’t ever give you up and whatever is thrown in our way, we go through it. Together.” Mat whispered and Michelle stood there, her eyes widen. They were both young, Michelle only being 21. But in those 21 years, she never had anyone that was this serious as what she had with Mat. Mat was so important to her. She knew that Mat wasn’t lying and he would be the supportive boyfriend and she would be that supportive and loving girlfriend. She would be the girlfriend that would wait for him after those long road trips and he would be her cheerleader and cheering her on as she did everything she wanted to do. She took the key from his hand and slid the card and opened the door and looked at him “That’s good to know” She whispered and he smiled before she pulled him into the room.

#mathew barzal #nhl imagines #mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #nhl #nhl imagine #hockey #hockey imagines #New York Islanders

[cogentranting]

Favorite Lyrics From Every Taylor Swift Song

I went through and picked one lyric from each song (except for a few songs where I cheated and picked two) that stood out as my favorite. It doesn’t necessarily reflect all my favorite lyrics because some songs are chock full of great lines and it was hard to narrow down, while other songs it was hard to single out anything (either because the songs aren’t really aiming for lyrical excellence or because the strength of the song is in overall narrative or concept more than any standout lines).  They’re in album order and my overall favorite lyrics are marked with a star*. 

Self Titled

Tim McGraw- When you think Tim McGraw I hope you think my favorite song The one we danced to all night long

Picture to Burn- So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time As far as I'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn

Teardrops on My Guitar- He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do...

A Place in this World- I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh but life goes on

Cold as You*- You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray And I stood there loving you and wished them all away

The Outside- I tried to take the road less traveled by But nothing seems to work the first few times

Tied Together with a Smile- And you're tied together with a smile But you're coming undone

Stay Beautiful- I'm taking pictures in my mind so I can save them for a rainy day

Should’ve Said No- And I should've been there, in the back of your mind I shouldn't be asking myself, "Why?

Mary’s Song- Take me back when our world was one block wide I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried

Our Song- Our song is the way you laugh

I’m Only Me when I’m with You- I'm only up when you're not down Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground

Invisible- Like shadows in a faded light Oh, we're invisible

A Perfectly Good Heart- Maybe I should've seen the signs, should've read the writing on the wall And realized by the distance in your eyes that I would be the one to fall

Fearless

Jump Then Fall- And every time you shine, I'll shine for you

Untouchable- Untouchable like a distant diamond sky

Forever and Always- So here's to everything coming down to nothing Here's to silence that cuts me to the core

Come in with the Rain- And I, I’ve got you down, I know you by heart And you don’t even know where I start

SuperStar- When my world wakes up today You'll be in another town

The Other Side of the Door- And don't you leave 'cause I know All I need is on the other side of the door

Fearless- And I don't know why but with you I'd dance In a storm in my best dress, fearless

Fifteen- This is life before you know who you're gonna be

Love Story- I close my eyes, and the flashback starts I'm standing there On a balcony in summer air See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns

Hey Stephen- Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold

White Horse- Now it's too late for you and your white horse To catch me now

You Belong with Me- And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down

Breathe- Every little bump in the road I tried to swerve But people are people and sometimes it doesn't work out Nothing we say is gonna save us from the fall out

Tell Me Why- Here's to you and your temper Yes, I remember what you said last night And I know that you see what you're doing to me

You’re Not Sorry- You're looking so innocent, I might believe you if I didn't know Could've loved you all my life if you hadn't left me waiting in the cold

The Way I loved You- Breaking down and coming undone It's a roller coaster kind of rush And I never knew I could feel that much

The Best Day- And now I know why all the trees change in the fall I know you were on my side even when I was wrong

Change- And the battle was long, it's the fight of our lives But we'll stand up champions tonight

Speak Now

Mine- You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter

Speak Now- The way you move is like a full on rainstorm And I'm a house of cards

Back to December- It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine

Speak Now- There's the silence, there's my last chance I stand up with shaking hands, all eyes on me Horrified looks from everyone in the room But I'm only looking at you

Dear John*- All the girls that you've run dry have tired lifeless eyes 'Cause you burned them out But I took your matches Before fire could catch me So don't look now I'm shining like fireworks Over your sad empty town

Mean- You, with your switching sides And your wildfire lies and your humiliation You have pointed out my flaws again As if I don't already see them

The Story of Us*- But you held your pride like you should've held me

Never Grow Up- Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home Remember the footsteps, remember the words said And all your little brother's favorite songs

Enchanted*- Forcing laughter, faking smiles Same old tired, lonely place Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy

Better Than Revenge- She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause She took him faster than you can say sabotage

Innocent- Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catching days? When everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you

Haunted- You and I walk a fragile line I have known it all this time Never ever thought I'd see it break

Last Kiss*- So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep And I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe

Long Live*- I was screaming, long live all the magic we made And bring on all the pretenders I'm not afraid Long live all the mountains we moved I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you I was screaming, long live that look on your face

Ours- Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me Lurking in the shadows with their lip gloss smiles

If This was a Movie- Last night, I heard my own heart beating Sounded like footsteps on my stairs Six months gone and I'm still reaching Even though I know you're not there

Superman- He's got his mother's eyes, his father's ambition

Red

State of Grace*- So you were never a saint And I've loved in shades of wrong We learn to live with the pain Mosaic broken hearts

Red- But loving him was red

Treacherous- Forever going with the flow But you're friction

I Knew You Were Trouble- Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago

All Too Well**- And you call me up again just to break me like a promise So casually cruel in the name of being honest

22- We're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way It's miserable and magical, oh, yeah

I Almost Do- And I hope you know that Every time I don’t I almost do

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together- We hadn't seen each other in a month When you said you needed "space" (what?)

Stay Stay Stay- All those times that you didn't leave, it's been occurring to me I'd like to hang out with you, for my whole life

The Last Time- This is the last time I let you in my door This is the last time, I won't hurt you anymore

Holy Ground- We had this big wide city all to ourselves We blocked the noise with the sound of, "I need you"

Sad Beautiful Tragic- Long handwritten note, deep in your pocket Words, how little they mean, when you're a little too late

The Lucky One- And they tell you that you’re lucky, but you’re so confused 'Cause you don’t feel pretty, you just feel used

Everything Has Changed- And your eyes look like coming home All I know is a simple name Everything has changed

Starlight- And we were dancing, dancing Like we're made of starlight

Begin Again- 'Cause you throw your head back laughing like a little kid I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did

The Moment I Knew- And it was like slow motion Standing there in my party dress In red lipstick With no one to impress

Come Back... Be Here- I guess you're in New York today I don't wanna need you this way

Girl At Home- I see you turn off your phone And now you've got me alone, and I say/  ... Want to see you pick up your phone And tell her you're coming home

1989

Welcome To New York- Walking through a crowd, the village is aglow Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats

Blank Space- But you'll come back each time you leave 'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream

Style- And when we go crashing down, we come back every time ‘Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style

Out of the Woods*- The rest of the world was black and white But we were in screaming color

All You Had To Do Was Stay- Had me in the palm of your hand Then, why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?

Shake It Off- Just think while you've been getting down and out about the liars And the dirty, dirty cheats of the world You could've been getting down To this sick beat

I Wish You Would- We're a crooked love in a straight line down Makes you want to run and hide But it makes you turn right back around

Bad Blood- If you live like that, you live with ghosts

Wildest Dreams- Say you'll see me again Even if it's just pretend

How You Get the Girl- I want you for worse or for better I would wait forever and ever Broke your heart, I'll put it back together

This Love- In silent screams and wildest dreams I never dreamed of this

I Know Places- See the vultures circling, dark clouds Love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out

Clean- Rain came pouring down When I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe

Wonderland- Didn't they tell us don't rush into things? Didn't you flash your green eyes at me? Didn't you calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile?

You Are In Love- And you understand now Why they lost their minds and fought the wars And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words

New Romantics*- 'Cause baby, I could build a castle Out of all the bricks they threw at me And every day is like a battle But every night with us is like a dream

reputation

... Ready for it?- Wondered how many girls he had loved and left haunted But if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom Holdin' him for ransom

End Game- And I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put 'em Reputation precedes me, they told you I'm crazy I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me

I Did Something Bad- I never trust a narcissist, but they love me So I play 'em like a violin And I make it look oh-so-easy

Don’t Blame Me- Echoes of your name inside my mind

Delicate- Is it cool that I said all that? Is it chill that you're in my head?

Look What You Made Me Do- I don't like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the gun was mine 

So It Goes... All eyes on you, my magician All eyes on us You make everyone disappear, and Cut me into pieces 

Gorgeous- You should think about the consequence Of your magnetic field being a little too strong 

Getaway Car*- The ties were black, the lies were white In shades of gray in candlelight 

  King of My Heart- Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep 

Dancing With Our Hands Tied- Swaying as the room burned down I'd hold you as the water rushes in If I could dance with you again 

Dress- All of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation My hands are shaking from holding back from you 

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things- And so I took an axe to a mended fence 

Call It What You Want*- All my flowers grew back as thorns Windows boarded up after the storm He built a fire just to keep me warm Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night 

New Years Day*- Please don't ever become a stranger Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

Lover

I Forgot that you existed- Lived in the shade you were throwin til all of my sunshine was gone

Cruel Summer- So cut the headlights, summer's a knife I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes And if I bleed, you'll be the last to know

Lover- There's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear

The Man-  When everyone believes ya What's that like?

The Archer*- I wake in the night I pace like a ghost The room is on fire Invisible smoke And all of my heroes Die all alone

I Think He Knows- He got my heartbeat Skipping down 16th Avenue Got that, oh, I mean Wanna see what's under that attitude

 Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince*- Now I'm feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress Running through rose thorns, I saw the scoreboard And ran for my life

Paper Rings- I want to drive away with you I want your complications too I want your dreary Mondays Wrap your arms around me, baby boy

Cornelia Street*- We were a fresh page on the desk Filling in the blanks as we go I get mystified by how this city screams your name

Death By a Thousand Cuts*- I look through the windows of this love Even though we boarded them up Chandelier's still flickering here Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand Paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans

London Boy-  He likes my American smile, like a child when our eyes meet Darling, I fancy you

Soon You’ll Get Better-  I know delusion when I see it in the mirror

False God- And I can't talk to you when you're like this Staring out the window like I’m not your favorite town

You Need to Calm Down- And snakes and stones never broke my bones

Afterglow- This ultraviolet morning light below Tells me this love is worth the fight

Me!- Living in winter, I am your summer

It’s Nice to Have a Friend- Light pink sky up on the roof Sun sinks down, no curfew

Daylight*- I've been sleepin' so long in a twenty-year dark night And now I see daylight, I only see daylight I once believed love would be (burnin' red) But it's golden Like daylight

#taylor swift #taylor swift lyrics

[witchqueenofthemoon]

BODY AND SOUL Part 31 (Duncan Shepherd/Mackenzie Stone Millory AU)

Author’s Note: At this point I’m done with this fic besides the epilogue, which I’m going to write when I get back from this trip I go on starting tomorrow (Wednesday) through Sunday night; I’ll still try to get at least 32 up at some point over the next few days. A reminder that this is Kenzie’s dress in this part. Here’s the shirt Duncan’s wearing in the first part; this is the chevron shirt he’s wearing at Madeline’s later. Here’s Clair de Lune; had to put it in this story somewhere, it’s one of my favorite songs of all time (I want it played at my funeral, fun fact). Here is Chopin’s Nocturne. Not totally clear on what Frederick used to be for the Goddess in conjunction to his dream; but I know all seers (him, Rosemary) were her counselors in that heavenly place long ago. A reminder that I kiiiinda based the garden house property on this listing. Here’s the Medusa earrings Annette gives Madeline. Here’s the dress Annette is wearing at Madeline’s. This is Claire’s top at Madeline’s. A reminder that I based Kenzie’s ring on this one, but Kenzie’s has diamonds all around the moonstone. Duncan’s new driver Barry is based on B.D. Wong/Baldwin. GO YOUR OWN WAY does indeed cede into the achingly romantic SONGBIRD on the Fleetwood Mac album RUMOURS. I went with the natural cadence of the amount Duckenzie seemed to want me to write, as I have for the entirety of this fic; sometimes they give me lots of details, other times they give me the larger gist of things. I loved finally writing Madeline and Annette together; I always knew it would be when both their hearts have softened, I just didn’t know exactly when that was happening, but Duckenzie revealed things to me in time, as they always do. I’ll elaborate on this more at the end, but this fic has changed my life forever, and that is not hyperbole--I don’t know how quickly or easily I’ll finish the epilogue, because I’m going to be going through intense personal stuff very soon. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter, which is a pure delight, an oasis of sheer enjoyment. Editing it helped me escape from everything for a little while, hope it does that for you to if you need it. 

In the morning, when Duncan woke, Kenzie had been watching him from the edge of the bed with wide, concentrated eyes. She was wearing a black, short-sleeved flowing dress, with a dipping neck, a rippling hem that cascaded over her crooked leg, and bronzey buckles at her waist. She was eating granola with milk and raspberries in one of Adelaide’s silver dogberry bowls in her lap, her fingers curled around one of Adelaide’s silver spoons. Her strawberry-honey hair was hovering in a shaft of sunlight; his heart thumped  into his mouth to see that she was wearing the golden star-point headband in it, the one she’d worn so many nights ago, that first moment he saw on her a quiet rosy balcony. The black triple moon necklace was hanging in the white crook of her throat. High Princess, wherefore art thou mine.

“Spooky, baby,” he’d whispered, blinking at her. “What’cha looking at?”

“Sorry,” and she laughed a little, snorting down at the bowl. You just looked so lovely, my Endymion, drifted to him on a golden wisp of thought. She lifted another spoonful into her mouth, a raspberry in the center disappearing between her little lips, pink with moisture, the Cartier bracelet falling down her wrist. He stretched a hand towards her, full of need, letting a sleepy whine escape and fall against her. Kenzie slid down to him, her sweet smell crashing over him. He kissed her arm, the crook of her elbow, sighing in relief.

“I gotta go soon, baby,” she whispered. “I have to go talk to Candice about everything. Resigning. Starting my book. How we’re gonna buy the Post, now that the company is yours--but it’ll be hers to do whatever she wants with. I wanna give her full executive powers over it. It’s one of the ways we’re going to change things; with her help. I can feel it. Can you feel it? Like a current pulling us. It’s so strong now. When I woke up I felt like someone had dumped cold water on my face. Like I was really awake.”

Duncan felt a wave of her gold course against him; I feel it too. I see the shape of it. The shape of your knowing. And I believe in it, utterly. I trust you completely; I trust everything you feel; inside it is the clockwork, the rhythm of this world. I wonder how I ever overlooked it, High Princess. But now I see it. I see the hidden aspect of you. Your sweet, holy power. And your foresight to see what we need to do. I’m feeling that pull too.

“All that stuff we were saying to the reporters last night--that was being awake, wasn’t it?” He murmured, his voice heavy in sleep. Kenzie nodded.

“Yeah. It was Her...speaking through us, I guess you could say. Telling us and them what we need to do at the same time. Watch this, baby,” and Kenzie lifted a hand towards where his phone lay on the nightstand, and as his eyes glanced over to it, it zipped, as cleanly, quietly and neatly as a raindrop falling to earth, into her hand.

“Fuck,” he sighed. Art. The way she does it--uses it--it’s art. She is a work of art.

“I think I’ve got the hang of it. It’s about the telling. You tell the matter to move. Tell the air to pull it. You command it, with your will. Because you know you have...the right. You know you can do it, that the power was given to you for a purpose. That’s what it feels like.” She slid his phone into his hand, brushing against his fingers, her thoughts warm on his skin.

“That was so lovely, Kenz.” He lifted her little hand to his mouth; let his lips close over her fingertips, sucking gently. Your sweet little hands. Touch me.

“Unh, baby, stop that. Fuck,” and she sighed against him. He did not stop. He pulled her more insistently against him; let me taste you, flower of heaven.

Duncan Shepherd, we have shit to do. We have to save the world, remember? And don’t you have something important to pick up today?

Fuck, you’re right, Princess Kenzie. A moon, down from the sky, for you.

He kept his lips on her skin, lost in her softness, for another moment; drifted his fingers up the incline of her to the small space between her shoulders, marveling at her smallness, the delicate beauty of the shape of her, the curving wonder of her thighs, the dress pushed up. Last night he’d clutched her so close, his mouth against the dip of her throat, her head above his on the pillow--her arms so small, and yet so vast, so very much my home, the entirety of the universe therein. Every sunrise, every sunset, every ocean, every night of stars, every soft rain, every thing that has ever made me laugh or cry. All beauty. In her arms.

Kenzie leaned down, kissing him with a long, slow knowledge, her mouth sweet with almond, oat and fruit; Duncan saw a pale vision of drifting moons as she did, an echo of last night. So many moons; our story happening in so many ways, and yet so constantly. In so many worlds I have loved you. In so many worlds I love you now, beside this one, beside us, at this moment.

“Momby wants everyone to come over around 5,” Kenzie murmured, smiling. She pulled her hand away from his kisses, but he could see the green that had seeped into her gaze, the want there. “I’m so excited to see Claire, baby. So excited to tell her. To see her happy, too.” She hovered over him for a moment and Duncan leaned towards her from where he lay; turning his chin into her as she moved away, her loss a stab into the center of him. Don’t go, don’t go, sweet Princess. But she did; Kenzie drifted off the bed, her eyes dancing at him over her shoulder. Your happiness is the only thing I want in this world, Mackenzie Stone.

“I think I might start looking for the garden house today,” he said softly, eyes falling down her hair and the floating fabric of her dress, glancing to her silhouette in their Mirror. It shimmered; as is its way, he thought, a winking memory of our long past. How many times have we worshiped each other in front of it, the fibers of that strange sphere ingrained in its frame? How many times have I watched you in it this way, stunned by you?

“Send me everything, please?” Kenzie turned back to him, her eyes suddenly wet. “Anything you find. I want to see.”

Duncan sat up, pushing himself to the edge of the bed, ruffling his fingers through his hair, watching her, thoughtful. “I think I have a place in mind, actually--well, the idea of a place. But I want to make sure no one bought it yet before I show you. I can’t bear the thought of you loving it and not being able to have it. It was a place my grandmother took me once. An old place. Very old, and quiet, and secluded, and special. I think maybe it was one of those places, like the oak circle--” The Veil, he thought. That’s where we’ll make our home. That’s where we’ll settle into the sweetness of this life. In a place where our magick is strongest, brightest, and closest to Her. “--I mean, I think it was my destiny to go there, now that I know...about everything. About us. And about the in-between places.”

“I’m sure it was, Dunny,” she whispered in reply. She hovered there a few feet away--she dipped her head, looking down from his eyes, and the golden stars in her headband glinted, and he thought Star of Heaven, and heard her own thoughts, flowing against him: I love you too much, sometimes it almost hurts me to look at you, Evening Star.

Please look at me again, my sweet High Princess. I beg you. I’ll take your hurt away, give it to me. I’ll hold all of it for you if you’ll just look at me. He stared at her, hand trailing at his chin, along the prickle of there, contemplating the silken hair brushing her cheek, the fall of the dress against her, the bare rise of her legs, her delicate fingers holding the now-empty bowl, the low blush on her cheeks. Her eyes came up--he watched them skirt over the flowers above the headboard, still avoiding him. There were two bunches of roses now, one of peonies, one of the sacred wildflowers. I’ll get you so many more, baby, he thought, in agony to have her so close and yet out of reach. Enough to cover every wall in this penthouse. Enough to cover the floor and every space and every nook and every inch of this place. And your house--your garden house, your dream, my beloved--will be a shrine to your name alone. And there will be so many flowers there; we’ll make it the Garden of All Delights here on earth, the garden where your heart will always be safe. That place will belong to you, and I will be blessed to be held in it; held in your temple, at your flowery altar.

“Oh, Duncan,” she breathed, and the bowl fell out of her hands--it dropped, dully, on the carpet, and she was in his arms now, her cheek crushing against the bristle on him, her voice a lilting song in his ear. “This is what I’m going to write about, baby. About being loved so much--about being loved by you...”

“You’ve healed my soul, Kenzie--” his mouth shivered against her as she slid flush to him, straddling him, the fabric of her dress brushing into his naked crotch, the soothing weight of her breasts crushing into his chest, and she kissed him, open-mouthed, bleeding his words into intoxicated thought--saved me from the darkness. In that other world, I was lost to the void, and you saved me still. But here, in this place, in this halo of blessed light, you snatched me from the jaws of it before it could take me away from you, miraculously, and your gift is incalculable to me--your love so holy I could never worship you enough--

Her scent devoured him, and inside it, he melted into her; roses, vetiver, geranium. My Prince, I would do it a thousand times. I have. I will. Because I love you. And in the grace of this love, I am forever yours.

--------

Harris had arrived too soon--always too soon--with the entourage of escorts from the previous day. Duncan had watched Kenzie with badly-veiled concern as she stepped into her wedge heels--he’d hurriedly grasped the wrappings at her ankles, insistent to tie them--and she leaned down to kiss him, uncaring of their audience. Her smile and thoughts were calm, and he tried to share her peace of mind. You know better than I do.

Trust me, Duncan. Her eyes flashed with gold. Look for the secret place where we’ll build the garden house. It’s calling to us. I can feel it. I can’t see the shape of it, but you can. You’ll be the one to bring it to life. That’s your task--to will it into reality while we build this new world.

Yes, Kenzie. Yes. He felt the rightness in her words; the destined fiber of them. I can see the shape of it. You’re right. Like the outline of your hair in the sun; like your halo.

“I’ll see you in a few hours, Mr. Shepherd, don’t worry so,” she whispered onto his bottom lip, and Duncan shut his eyes; sighed against her.

“I’ll have the moon for you when I see you again,” he replied. He could feel Harris’ eyes on them particularly; the other security were all looking away, seemed to be highly interested in literally anything besides the two of them, trained to be discreet above all else. But Harris’ face was bright with emotion, in spite of all his training; Duncan had glanced to him a moment go, noticed his face turned earthwards, a sincere smile of happiness playing at his mouth, his eyes floating up to their embrace, then away to try to hide his interest. Duncan thought of the reporter who had clutched Kenzie’s hand yesterday with tears in her eyes. Thank you for showing your love to all of us.

“Shall we go now, Miss Stone?” Harris seemed to know he needed to give them the cue to break apart, or it might never happen. Kenzie sighed against Duncan’s black, collared shirt for a long moment, fingers toying with one of the buttons. Duncan thought, wildly, of pulling her into the bedroom with him and slamming the door behind them, throwing her on their black bed in passionate abandon; fuck the world, he thought. I only want you.

But then she let go of him, and his heart ached for the moment she would return to his arms (wrapped against me, the rightness of you), and her little smile broke him into a thousand drifting pieces of blue and gray ash. Bring me your tribute when we meet again, beloved, her eyes spoke. You are exalted in my eyes. He shivered, stepping to the door behind her, the flowers for Candice now gathered in her little arms; he watched the fall of her hair, its sway as she walked ahead of the swarm of bodyguards now surrounding her, Harris directly behind her, his hand lifted protectively near her shoulder, hovering. The Young Royals, Duncan thought, and shivered again. Now, everyone sees her divinity, not just me. She’s the Queen of Roses in my heart--but she will always be the High Princess to all, and her power grows in this world with time. Rosemary called her a Supreme, whatever that means--The Supreme, golden beyond imagining. I think I sort of know what it means. Kenzie turned in the elevator, surrounded by black suits (gold in the darkness) and blew him an aching kiss (I count the hours until you return to me, Persephone), the moons at her neck shining in the warm lights, the flowers a bursting vision of color around her little face as the door slid shut, whisking her away.

It means she is the savior of humankind. And what did Rosemary call me? Her consort. She said if I bend myself to her, others will see and do the same. And so I am her adorer. That’s how I can repay what she has done for me; how I can thank her for saving me, for the light she’s given me. I’ll worship her all my days.

He thought again of the quiet, serene stretch of field Adelaide had taken him to as a child, her stories to him of exploring its long-dilapidated farmhouse as a little girl, playing among the wildflowers that grew inside, heedless to the danger of a fallen-down structure. There was such peace here, he remembered her saying as she held his hand, her elegant voice quiet in the cool dusk, a scarf wrapped around her slender chin, her eyes misty in the lavender-and-rose-tinted sunset. There still is. Duncan had been no more than a child himself when she took him there; they’d been having a day together, the way he used to with her, where they’d drive around rural Maryland to admire the scenery, away from the attentions of the city, and to buy fresh milk and butter and ice cream from her favorite dairy farm. Again he wished she could have met Kenzie; grandma, you would have loved her. You would have held her close to you and breathed in her scent and felt her gold and loved her so much. I wish you could be there on our wedding day--I wish you could somehow know that I’m going to have our house built on that special spot--that Thin Place--where you played as a little girl, among the flowers, reborn from the decay.

Duncan toyed with the Cartier bracelet on his wrist, his finger tracing the outline of the circles carved into it--he glanced across the kitchen to Kenzie’s plants at the window, their greenery scattered in sunlight. He moved to the dining room, going to the chest in the corner, rifling through its contents until he found a box of thin gold ribbons and another box of tiny, elegant white folding note cards with embossed gold Shepherd crests stamped on their surface, pulling one out. He went back to the island, his thoughts full of the sweet crook under Kenzie’s ear, the softness of her mouth, and tied the ribbons around the bunches of flowers that remained--one for Madeline, one for Claire, and one for the housekeepers who he knew would be arriving to do their quiet work in the penthouse in a few hours’ time. With a fountain pen he wrote in his neat, elegant handwriting on one of the notecards.

Dear Housekeepers,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the impeccable work you do. It means everything to us. Please know that your hard work in this space never goes unnoticed. These flowers are a special token of our affection; as for our gratitude, please accept the incentive I’ve enclosed. It will be the first of many, and for its lateness, I apologize deeply.

Our sincerest thanks to you-- Duncan and Mackenzie Shepherd.

Mackenzie Shepherd. He felt dizzy with the pleasure of the way it looked. My wife. My partner in this life. My beloved.

Duncan went to his Ferragamo wallet and pulled out four crisp $100 bills; two each for the duo of housekeepers he knew frequented the penthouse, tucking them into the notecard. He knew there would be time to check on salaries in the company later, but for now, his heart was so full, he needed to start somewhere. Annette had long-ago purchased the penthouse on a whim, so technically all of its employees were beholden to Shepherd Unlimited. Well, the entirety of Shepherd Unlimited’s staff is getting a serious raise, he thought. Bill Shepherd, your reign is at an end.

Duncan arranged the flowers neatly on the island with the notecard, gathering the others into his arms to put them in a vase in the sink for now until Madeline’s party later tonight; despite not having been in water all night, though, they still looked as fresh as if Kenzie had just picked them. Then he slid the Givenchy sunglasses by the front door over his eyes and called the Shepherd family’s private car service. I guess it’s finally time for us to get a second driver, he thought with some disappointment. Would that we had two Samuels. He’d always liked calling his own cars via pick-up services, but as he knew well, the world had changed for them. Whatever happened with those pictures while we were away is very potent. In a way, we truly are royalty now. The trade-off to the change in everything is we are now charged with immense responsibility and a consuming lack of anonymity. We have a responsibility that extends over everything. Our magic is a blessing, but it’s also a task.

As Duncan made his way downstairs, his thoughts drifted back toward Kenzie. Mackenzie Shepherd. He thought of the way her name had looked as he wrote it; wanted to write it again and again like a love-struck high schooler in a notebook. My wife. My beautiful wife. My golden-haired, amber-voiced wife, gentle as summer rain. I can’t fucking stand it. I feel like I’m on fire, melting into the center of the sun. She said she would marry me. Kenzie said she would fucking marry me. That angel I saw on the balcony among the roses, moonlight in her hair, eyes turned to heaven. Persephone, under whose feet grow endless blossoms. Coming down to where I dwelt in shadows and kissing blue flowers into my eyes.

As Duncan passed Anchaly at the front desk, he noticed the man had put the flowers Kenzie had given him in a silvery vase on his desktop. He was still reading The New Adam and Eve, and this time the title struck Duncan queerly. That’s us, isn’t it. The new world. Anchaly glanced up at him, but said nothing, giving him a little nod, an omniscient smile playing around his friendly face. The flowers were stunningly bright and noticeable in the man-made opulence of the foyer; their organic beauty was staggering.

Among the cold wealth of Hades, Duncan thought, Persephone’s flowers bloomed through cracks of dark gold. But now my heart is that of Dionysus; my desire for beauty and joy is endless in her arms. So I’ll throw stars into the sky for her, my Ariadne; I’ll bring the moon down to adorn her.

--------

It was several hours later; Duncan was in the backseat of a Mercedes, another car of security behind him (god, that’s a new feeling, he’d thought on the way--The Young Royals, me and my six bodyguards), and his hands were shaking. He had set the little black velvet Tiffany box on the seat next to him, overwhelmed by it for a moment, needing to look away; Debussy’s Clair de Lune was drifting from the stereo. Fitting, he thought. An ode to the moon. And so therein my heart lies. His finger drifted over the ring box’s smooth surface, biting his lip. How I long to see you. Minutes feel like hours away from you. Hours feel like days. He nervously brought the box back into his lap, lifting the little lid, staring down into his lap, breathing in through his nose (1, 2, 3), out through his mouth (1, 2, 3) in a long, shaking sigh.

The ring inside was more beautiful than he’d dared to dream; looking at it again now, it was the most flawlessly exquisite piece of jewelry he’d ever seen. And it came from my own thoughts--my thoughts of her. Highest of all Princesses. He’d described it to the jewelers in a fever that he barely remembered; his mouth seemed to know how to describe it without him being fully conscious of himself, and here it was, somehow.

It was a moonstone; iridescent and creamy, as round as the face of the moon itself, its swirling depth akin to a sweet liquid made still. Around the perfect round stone were eight perfectly round, minute diamonds, framing it in a delicate, glittering nimbus. The band was pure rose gold, intricate and elegantly thin. It belongs on her hand, always. It was made especially for her, guided by the hand of the Goddess. I can feel it. In that far-flung place of cosmic wonder, She was the one who guided my thoughts to this. This lovely thing that will always be the symbol of my love for her in this life.

A half hour ago, sitting on a low velvet couch in a private showroom at Tiffany & Co., his breath had been instantly snatched away by it; if I was going to only see the ring in my dreams, I would have dreamt this exactly. I would not have hoped it could have ever been real. But now--life is no longer confined to reality, is it. Now, life is extraordinary, brimming with magic, purpose, and love. Now my life has turned to fortune far beyond anything I had before. Mackenzie Stone, light of my soul. To give this to you--a pure token of my love, made in the image of my thoughts of you, the image of your soul to me. I’m beside myself. And I’m going to do it with the people we love the most. He heard the ragged quality of his own breath, felt the painful reverberations of his own heart, soft piano in his ears, the image of her hazel eyes piercing his thoughts. This is what it is to feel alive. To be crushed by the weight of something--someone--so beautiful. To be moved by it, by her, endlessly--every fiber of my body, every hidden place in my soul, shaken by hers, her thoughts, her loveliness, her spirit of soft gold. He tried to rehearse his own words to her in the heat of the moment soon to come, but his mind was overcome, awash in the image of blue butterflies bursting into the sky, snow tinged with golden firelight. You and I. Me and you. What are words when there are the colors of our souls in each other’s minds this way. I know you’ve accepted me, but I’ll still ask you every day. Because every day is more precious than all the wealth in every world, so long as it’s with you.

When Duncan had pulled his Black AmEx from his wallet to give it to the jeweler, two wilting red rose petals had fallen from the side-pocket onto his thigh. He’d slid them into his palm, staring down at them, lost for a moment; from the roses in her hair--that night of the full moon, magic heavy in the air, and every force that tried to rend us failing utterly in the light of the higher wonder that is our love. How could I ever have doubted any of it? The surety of Destiny. The deepness of Fate. Everything I’ve ever done has led me to now; has led me to the halo of her perfect love, to my purpose; to do good with my fortune and spread this light to others, to love her with every part of my being that grows continually under her grace. It never grows smaller, and that’s the wonder of it; the more I love her, the more I feel her love, the more love we have to give to everyone and everything else--a wave that gathers more water, time after time, and then becomes an ocean of light.

A text chimed from Duncan’s phone, and he pulled it out of his pocket; it was the Shepherd family’s long-standing real estate agent.

Hamilton Realty: The land is available. Apparently it’s remained unsold for several decades now, despite its prime location and its vast acreage (16 to be exact). Very unusual. No word about haunted activity, which is usually the culprit for stuff like that, just seems to be chance. Your lucky day. I can head over there today and take some photos. Beautiful day for it. It’s truly a lovely piece of land. You could really do something extraordinary with it.

Oh, I plan to, Duncan thought, typing back a short reply of thanks.

And it’s not chance, he knew. It’s our destiny to have it. The way it was our destiny to find each other. The way it’s our destiny to always find each other; in every hidden place. To see each other, despite every shadow, every obstacle, every thing, minute or vast, that would attempt to stop us. Because as it was long ago, it’s our decision now to love each other. And in that decision, we have carved our own Fate out of the fabric of time, woven by her three sets of hands, being woven still, written and yet unwritten, told and yet still untold, the story of us endless and immovable and yet happening again and again and changed each time. Michael, Rosemary called me, lost to darkness. Mallory is what she called Kenzie; saving me by killing me, so we could start over, so I’d be reborn, so I’d be redeemed.

His finger trailed over the smoothness of the moonstone, watching the diamonds dance in the sun as the car traveled back to the penthouse, where he knew the otherworldly flowers waited for Madeline and Claire. The sun and the moon. Always together. The way you’re always with me, Kenzie, even if you are away from me. As I love you, so you are the constancy in every thing. The way you hold me in the dark. The tiny comfort of your fingers, your lips. I can’t wait to read what you write. I can’t wait for you to share your heart with the world. It has staggered me every day since I first beheld it. And they will be staggered by it, too. They will see all the sincerity of your radiant light. They will all see what has changed this world. The grace in your beloved heart. You.

His phone chimed.

Kenzie: Oh my goddess, baby. You should have seen Candice’s face when she saw those flowers, she almost burst into tears. I felt like she knew immediately how special they are. And when I told her what we’re doing with the Post!!!! We both cried but they were mostly happy tears. She’s sad I’m leaving though. I am too. I want to write one last piece for them. About our plan for Shepherd Unlimited. Candice is going to have it printed on a full page. And they’re going to print your interview alongside it. Both of us together.

Duncan typed. That’s perfect, baby. I love you so fucking much. Whatever you write is going to be exactly the right thing, I know it. Can I give the ring to you with everyone else there at Madeline’s? Is that okay? If you don’t think it’s perfect we can fix it. I just want everyone to fucking see. I just want everyone to be there.

He went to add more, but Kenzie replied immediately. Yes. I know, Dunny. I do too. You don’t need to explain. I know exactly what you mean. Everyone would love to see you give it to me, I think. I love you too. My Evening Star.

He couldn’t help it; maybe it’s selfish to want to show everyone our love this much, but...something tells me it isn’t. The way people react to us, as if we’ve given them something too, just by their witness--I want everything leading up to our wedding to be like that. If it’s a gift for people to see our love, if we can give them love in that way too, then we’ll show it to them whenever we can.

A reminder came up on his phone with a whistle and he glanced down at it. Ariadne at Sotheby’s next week. Starting bid is $25 million. See about withdraw prior to auction. He went into his phone, finding a contact. Frederick Stapleton. The phone rang twice, then he heard the small breath of the older man, imagined him leaning on the spindly silver cane as he bent over the phone.

“Duncan Shepherd,” Frederick breathed. Something in his voice made Duncan smile; he drifted a finger over the moonstone on his thigh again. “I trust you’ve been well. Word of your fortune has reached even me, an avoidant of all things technological.”

“Frederick. I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but...life is so beautiful.”

“As you say, Mr. Shepherd. How is the Mirror?”

As if it’s alive. In a way, he’s right. It is. It’s part of us; the living thing inside it is the reflection of our love in it, always. That Sphere that was lost, its dazzling fragments ingrained in it, reflecting us, reflecting a place beyond our reach, but real--out there, beyond the stars, the place where She resides.

“Perfect.”

“Just so.” Duncan could hear the smile in the other man’s voice, the knowledge. “To retain it for you was my privilege.”

Oh, goddess, Duncan thought, and knew. You have truly been its retainer, haven’t you. That was Her Will. You have been its protector for a long time. And you know that. You, like Rosemary, are a seer. And you always have been.

“Thank you, Frederick. For keeping it safe for us.”

Frederick was silent on the other end, and Duncan felt acutely that his silence was full of emotion--it washed over him like a shining, silvery rain.

“It has been my honor, Evening Star.”

Oh. Duncan’s voice shook as he spoke again.

“And her? The High Princess. Did you know? Frederick, did you know who she was right away?”

“Not in so many words. But I felt all of it, I’ve felt your coming for a long time, though I didn’t know it--and last night, I dreamt of the world beyond this one, where your love for each other lived in a perfect tandem, in line with the woven fabric of time…” The older man’s warm voice trailed off. “There’s nothing more I can say, Mr. Shepherd. I’m moved beyond words today.”

“That’s okay, Frederick. I understand. I really do. I have one more favor to ask of you.”

“Anything.” My Flaming Sword. Frederick didn’t say this, but Duncan felt it from him nonetheless, over miles, through the phone’s smooth surface. We called you that, once. In that place beyond time. And your glory was astounding to us. Your bravery, goodness and beauty beyond all description. Duncan’s heart pounded heavily in his ears. You were our Prince. As she was, and will always be, the Highest of all Princesses.

“Waterhouse’s Ariadne is going up for auction at Sotheby’s next week. I want it. It’s a birthday gift for her--for Mackenzie. The price is irrelevant. I’d like to put down an offer before it goes up--$30 million. If they want more, I agree to it. Whatever it is. There is no object.”

“Very good, Mr. Shepherd. I’ll contact you again after I speak to Linus over there. I know he’ll be pleased to hear you’re interested. How is The Youth of Bacchus, by the way? It’s been too long since last I laid eyes on it. Acquiring it for you is still one of my greatest achievements.”

“As colossally lovely as ever. She adores it. The way she stares at it would break your heart, Frederick.”

“I can only imagine. It is singular in its majesty. But all arts pale in comparison, I think, to what you share together. The greatness of it is beyond me. I feel that acutely.”

“You’ll meet her soon. I’ll bring her to see you, Frederick. I want to show her the peacock, she’s going to love it so much. She is the loveliest being on earth. We’re getting married--” Duncan’s voice hitched with tears.

“As you are meant to, of course. What a beautiful wedding that will be.”

“Expect an invitation.”

“All the blessings of Her Grace be on you, Prince Exultant.”

Duncan lowered the phone from his ear, knowing Frederick had hung up. Soft Chopin was drifting from the speaker now; Nocturne, its cascading piano an achingly gentle knife, sliding into his heart. This is you, Kenzie. Your hair. Your eyes. The softness of your skin. The soft drift of your little clothes. The shiver of tears on your cheeks. In every meticulous work of art, you. In every flowering field, every facet of wild nature, you. He contemplated the shape of the wedding ring soon to rest around the finger on his left hand. Nocturne drifted in his mind as he imagined, almost saw, there, could just see the shape of the rose gold band that he would wear there forever, the one he knew, acutely, that he’d be buried in in this life, when he died. And Kenzie’s will have a ring of tiny diamonds, he knew. Like our bracelets, mine in gold, hers in diamonds and gold. I can see them. I can see the moonstone and her diamond wedding ring together, the flash of them on her little hand as she tucks her hair behind her ear, leaning over her writing desk in our garden house, leaning down to her flowerbeds with a watering can.

For a moment, in the low sunlight of the afternoon, he felt another vision wash over him; one of them laughing at a long table covered in candles and peonies and tiny green succulents (oh, Kenzie)--he couldn’t see himself, but felt that his fingers were clutched over his eyes as tears leaked from them in his mirth. I’m laughing at Madeline, he thought. Madeline said something fucking funny, as is her way, and everyone is beside themselves. In the vision he saw Kenzie’s face, her little mouth open and teeth shining out as she laughed, one hand in a little fist clutched against her cheek, the other tightly twined through his between the golden-armed chairs they sat in, under some shadowed awning, the light low and precious. He could see the rings on their fingers he’d imagined moments before; saw that his was the gold he’d seen, with an angular, elegant framing, and hers, a thin band of tiny diamonds alongside the moonstone ring he now held in his lap in the Mercedes. He couldn’t see the shape of her dress, somehow--only the outline of the crown in her hair, a cascading veil falling from it with the glinting, delicately embroidered shapes of the cosmos in gossamer white--tiny stars, crescent moons, sunbursts. The crown was made of golden leaves, pale pink peonies and burgundy blushing rose buds, and around them glinted tiny rose and clear quartz points, catching in a light beyond his eyes as she dipped her honey-colored head, her laughter infinitely lovely to him. Duncan knew the scene was real--not a dream, no, a vision of the future. The knowledge made him press his fingertips against his chin, trailing his index finger along the rise of his bottom lip, lost inside it; lost in its unfading charm. Duncan felt a nostalgia; a melding of present, future, and past, and knew, inside his confusion, that it was Her, the Goddess. The Fates, showing him how eternal They were, how this moment, that seemed to be ahead of him, was in fact now, and also behind him, and also beside him.

In Her wisdom, time is meaningless. She made it; she can unmake it. The moment we are together, any moment, every moment--for it is a moment, a blink, and also too long to comprehend, and neither--is a moment that never ends. Not really. And this moment, laughing together, laughing at Momby, the funniest person on earth, all the love inside it, cosmic in its depth, ageless and always; this moment is already here, and it lives in my heart forever.

-----

A few hours later, Duncan was stepping out of the Mercedes, clutching the bundles of wildflowers in his arms with gentle hands, in front of Madeline’s warm and inviting brick house. The heat was deep, having drifted from the afternoon into a hazy hint of new sunset; it clung to Duncan’s skin with immediacy. He had changed into jersey shorts and a short-sleeved button down with tiny chevrons printed on it, his Yves sunglasses pressed to his eyes, but the heat seeped into him nonetheless; he could feel it gathering under his hairline at the back of his neck, feel it on his upper lip, nestling between the fibers of the stubbly hair on his cheeks, kindling his nervousness. She already said yes, you idiot, he thought to himself. Oh god, what if the ring isn’t perfect. What if she hates it. And I’m showing it to her for the first time in front of everyone. Oh, fuck. What the fuck were you thinking.

He felt in his pocket for the ring box, the Cartier bracelet sliding down against the top of his palm, staring at Madeline’s warmly-lit house, hearing the faint sound of music from the deck in the backyard, the hint of laughter--Claire, he knew, then heard the very soft notes of Kenzie’s voice, replying to Claire’s laughter, her own words tinged with an unknown amusement. Mackenzie Louise Stone, please fucking marry me. It didn’t matter if he’d already seen a vision of their wedding. It didn’t matter how many times he felt in his heart that they had been together for a very long time, and that he’d loved her for eons beyond his own imagining. I’m still afraid to lose her. Because that’s the cycle of it, isn’t it? Someday we’ll die and have to start over. Someday we’ll have to find each other again. I see the shape of it. I see how it must be. But even contemplating that parting, however long or brief it is each time, how much I miss her, unknowing, unaware that it’s her, each time. Me in the circle alone that night, not knowing what any of it meant, but feeling her out there, and longing for her so deeply. It’s agony and ecstasy. That’s the way its been for hundreds, thousands of years. Maybe a lot longer. Rosemary said there are infinite universes. Who knows how long some of them have existed.

Whoa, Duncan. Time to have a margarita. That’s enough of that for one day.

He stepped, in comfortable black loafers, across the gravel drive towards the side of the house. He waved a little to his new driver as he did, indicating the man could come back later. His name was Barry, and he was Chinese-American, of an indeterminate age, with slender, boxy glasses and a friendly, serene smile.  Duncan thought he looked oddly familiar, but couldn’t place his face no matter how hard he tried to remember it. Barry nodded to him, giving a little wave in return, and slowly backed the Mercedes from the drive.

It’ll be strange not having Samuel as my driver as often anymore, Duncan thought, but it only makes sense for him to be Kenzie’s personal driver. He adores her and would do anything for her, and I want her to feel as safe and happy as possible as she transitions into a wider role for the organization. I know it’s hard for her to give up the Post. But I also know it’s her dream to write this book--and I know she’s the most important aspect of us being able to do anything we’re dreaming about with the company. Anything that makes this easier on her is something I’m more than willing to give up if need be.

Besides, I like Chopin and Debussy. Barry has good taste. I feel like being so close to Kenzie all the time is making me constantly see the wonderful things in other people; the things I maybe wouldn’t have payed attention to before. He felt it again; that washing nostalgia, of time falling in on itself, expanding, distorting into a whirlwind of the outlying thing beyond time, full of grace, far too beautiful and vast to conceive, and yet always around them, holding them in its woven threads. He saw the thread again--gold tinged with blue--that tethered him to her, dragged him, pliant, into her arms. He heard another burst of laughter as the music became more distinct (blackbird singing in the dead of night...take these broken wings and learn to fly...all your life you were only waiting for this moment to arrive); its earnestness was unmistakably Kenzie’s, her snorting yelp rising over the humid air to push a shiver of affection down his spine. As he turned the corner with the flowers he could see the outline of her golden hair bouncing as she ran across the yard on bare feet, away from Claire who was chasing after her, in cut-off denim shorts and a wrapping peach blouse covered in soft pink flowers, and a round red water balloon poised in a raised fist. Duncan could see that Claire’s blonde shag and her cheek were damp, rivulets of water falling down her neck. Uh oh, payback time.

Kenzie turned, laughing, her mouth poised up to the sky; for a moment she glanced across to Claire, who advanced on her, and then Kenzie seemed to sense him, to see him from the spot where he stood very still, gazing at her with his hands full of flowers. Her head turned, the chestnut silk of her hair whipping along her shoulder, and she let out a little scream of happiness towards him that made his nerves sing.

“Dunny!” She called out, and then she was racing towards him, her little teeth peeking from her slender mouth, her eyes bright, cheeks flushed. She fell against him softly, careful not to crush the flowers--he clutched at her arms, tucking his mouth against hers, awash in the sweet scent of her sweat and the sunlight on her skin and the rose of her.

“Hi baby,” he whispered, and she hopped back on her toes, eyes on him, full of jade and tiny golden droplets, still gripping his fingers. “I missed you today.”

“Don’t let Claire get me!” she replied, laughing again, slipping around him as Claire came up to him, panting, at a slow jog. Duncan held one of the bundles in his arms out to Claire, and her face changed from her expression of frustrated amusement to one of wonderment.

“Oh my god,” she said, reaching out insistently, almost involuntarily. “Holy shit, these are so gorgeous. Are these from that circle you told me about, Kenz? The one with the flowers growing in spirals?”

“Yes, Clairebear, yes. Loooook at them,” Kenzie breathed, and her little arms came around Duncan’s waist, her face burying itself in his shirt. He leaned his mouth down to her temple, pressing tiny kisses there, loving the scent of her sweat there, the saltiness of it on his mouth. “Aren’t they the most beautiful flowers you’ve ever seen? And look, they haven’t wilted at all.”

“They really haven’t, wow,” and Claire leaned her face down into the bouquet Duncan had handed her. Her bouquet had a ring of goldenrods, looking as fresh as if Kenzie had just picked them, with what seemed like a hundred of the alyssums in purple and pink in the middle, and three huge magenta-colored fuschias in the center. Duncan watched Kenzie’s sweet little face soften towards her best friend, felt the drift of her complete happiness. My Clairebear.

Did you tell her yet? He thought down to her.

No, not yet. I was waiting for you. And her expression of soft sincerity moved to him; her eyes were so wide and had such depth, he could barely stand to look into them. Princess Kenzie. I have such a tribute for you. Such a sweet delight for your blessed eyes. I can’t wait to give it to you. Her gaze flickered; the gold seemed to seep into them, and she bit her lip with a smile.

Give me my present, Prince Duncan. Give me my present, baby.

Soon, baby, soon.

“Duncan--” and Claire’s voice dragged them out of their repose. “--you really need to assign Kenzie her own PR team. Or help her choose her own. Or something. I’m getting calls every day from people trying to interview me about her. It’s insane. DUNCAN, MAKE IT STOP.” She was laughing, but the last part came out as a strangled plea.

“Claire, I promise, now that I’m in charge of Shepherd Unlimited, Kenzie will have the most flawless PR team on the east coast. I’m sorry anyone’s been bothering you--I’ll make sure that stops.”

Claire gave him a look of mock relief. “Well, thank you, Mr. Shepherd. I admit, I am selfishly motivated. I want my phone to stop ringing, it gives me fucking anxiety.”

“Dunny--you know who I want to ask?” Kenzie tugged on his elbow and looked down at her. Stay right there, baby. I love you so close, tucked against me. “That girl from Vanity Fair. River Tsukamoto. I loved her. I wonder if she’d leave the magazine if we offered her a pay raise.”

“Baby, if you want her, we’ll get her. We’ll make her an offer she can’t pass up.”

Duncan glanced up to the deck as he heard the door slide open, turning away from her, intent to tease her for just a little longer; Madeline had just come out with a tray of icy tumblers of margarita in her hands, each garnished with a lime wedge and line of salt around the rim. She wore red-rimmed glasses today and a tee shirt that said I LIKE BIG BOOKS AND I CANNOT LIE, a long black spandex skirt falling to her ankles, sparkly, colorful bracelets on her wrist--Erik followed behind her in a feather boa in iridescent cobalt blue, and a blazer covered in bronzey sequins (Duncan noticed he was not wearing a shirt underneath), a bowl of tortilla chips in one hand, a huge mixing bowl of guacamole in the other. Harris shyly followed at the rear, holding the massive tray of hard and soft-shelled tortillas. Duncan noticed a vast spread of taco toppings of all varieties on a long fold-out table they’d pulled onto the deck; shredded cheeses and lettuce, shrimp, shredded chicken, crumbled beef, tofu, diced tomatoes, pickled jalapenos and radishes, roasted corn, Mexican-style rice, a huge bowl of spicy-looking salsa and at least five different kinds of hot sauce. Duncan’s stomach rumbled and Kenzie glanced up at him, grinning.

“Oy, you three!” Madeline spotted them, cocking her head up to them, then down at the margaritas. “Come make this tray lighter, Momby’s orders.” Kenzie broke away from him (come back, baby) and he followed after her, admiring the fall of her hair again, imagining the peony and rose crown in it (gold leaves, tiny crystals). Claire was already back on the deck, shyly coming up to Harris (who, Duncan noted, was wearing a tropical shirt covered in palm trees) and going up on her toes to kiss his cheek--the sincere smile that crossed Harris’ face was enough to melt the heart of anyone who witnessed it. Besotted, Duncan thought. That’s a mood, Harris. There is so much beauty in everything, and to see it so clearly is a gift I can’t fathom the weight of.

“This man,” Madeline cocked her head at Harris and Claire as Kenzie reached her, grasping two of the margaritas in her little hands, “is such a dream. He walked right out of 1940’s pre-code Hollywood if you ask me.”

“I agree,” Claire whispered, and Harris looked away. Is Harris blushing? Duncan grinned down at Kenzie, who was at the crook of his elbow now, holding a margarita up to him. He dipped down to kiss her, achingly slow, and she laughed a little into him, the chime of it clenching at his heart. He sure is. I love them so much together. Dunny, Claire is so happy. I love her so much. To see her so happy like that is so wonderful, I can’t stand it. She looks so beautiful.

It was all Duncan could do to nod to her, his hand in her hair, then he moved gently away from her to where Madeline was placing the tray on the deck table. He gently reached out a hand and touched Madeline’s turned shoulder--Madeline looked up at him, and then she smiled, a deep smile of aching warmth that sent a dizziness through his temples, threatened his eyes instantly with tears. She pulled him against her; Duncan’s was immediately enveloped by her linen, wine-rich scent.

“Still waiting on that mother of yours,” she murmured against him. “I heard you talked with her today. Good boy.”

Duncan clenched his arms around her a little, lost in the intensity of his emotions. “Hey, Momby.” He closed his eyes, fighting off the instant urge to sob. Hey, Momby.

“Oh, honey,” Madeline’s hand came up to his hair, stroking for a short moment before he stepped back from her. “You should be proud of yourself. I’m fucking proud of you. And you should’ve heard how proud my little Kenzie Lou is. I’m proud as fuck of both of you. You’ve weathered this insane storm like it was nothing.”

“I’m--I just--” Duncan’s breath hitched. Kenzie ducked under his arm, her cheek pressing against his chest, her arms coming around his waist. Shhhh, Dunny, baby. Golden wave after golden wave. His voice became a whisper in his own ears.

“I’m very fortunate.”

“Yep.” Madeline laughed a little, two fingers coming up to dip against his cheek, pinching it delicately. “Yes, Duncan Shepherd, my soon to be son-in-law. You are. Now go forth and be grateful.”

The sound of a car turning onto the gravel out front pulled his attention away from Madeline. There she is. Annette. My mother. And she really is my mother, isn’t she? She’s always been my mother. She always will be. Blood doesn’t matter here; I don’t think it really matters at all. I can feel that she’s my mother. Kenzie looked at him, knowingly, dipping out of his arm and leading him around the house, their drinks momentarily forgotten. Duncan knew what was in her mind; he could see it.

Let’s go welcome your mother into the new world.

At Madeline’s front drive he could see Annette slowly exiting her Mercedes, gripping Becket’s large hand for balance. The sun was setting behind her, and for a moment her dark hair looked like it was surrounded by a ring of fire. She wore dark sunglasses despite the lowering evening light, and a long white dress that fell to her calves covered in tiny flower bursts that immediately reminded him of the alyssum they had given her yesterday; Duncan knew, too, that that’s what Annette had been thinking of when she decided to wear it. She was thinking of us. She was thinking of me, and how much she loves me. And she was thinking of Kenzie too; how she’s always wanted a daughter, and can’t believe she didn’t see before how beautiful Kenzie is, and mom, oh, mom. He could feel her, like an echo that reverberated against him, feel the thoughts she’d tucked away today, hidden in the depth of her dark brown eyes as she slid her sunglasses off, staring at him with a shy, apprehensive expression.

Kenzie ran ahead of him, her little body crushing into Annette’s. The innocence of her embrace stopped Duncan’s heart. Kenzie, Queen of Roses, angel of heaven. He watched his mother’s face crumple with emotion; he hovered a yard away from them, watching as Kenzie pulled away from her, saying something softly to her. Annette nodded, her eyes glistening, her hand coming against Kenzie’s chestnut-honey hair. The vision of their faces so close together this way, Annette’s full of a peacefulness he could have never imagined, was dreamlike in its perfect splendor.

He went up to them now, the moment dissolving. “Hey mom,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Guess I can’t back out now,” she laughed a little, sniffing quietly. “There aren’t any sharp objects around Madeline, are there?”

“Just her tongue,” Kenzie grinned, and Annette laughed again. “Ah, yes. Sharpest weapon of all. I expect an earful.” Clearly they hadn’t spoken at the Gala--that was such a strange night for everyone, Duncan knew.

“Madeline is the one who invited you, mom. She wants you here.”

Madeline was coming around the side of the house, her lips pursed in a look of apprehension; but no malice. And she was curious, that was obvious--it had been years since Annette and Madeline had spoken to each other in person, let alone kindly. Kenzie stepped back as Madeline approached. Annette came forward a little, her face uncharacteristically nervous, and Duncan noticed she had a small box in her hands.

“Madeline, I--”

“Hug me, you ragged old hag.” Madeline pulled her into a crushing embrace; Annette let out a little strangled sound of astonishment, then a barking laugh.

“Jesus, Madeline, you’re suffocating me--”

“Oh, shut up. You’ve made it through worse than me. I’m sorry, Annie. I’m sorry about Bill.”

They broke apart. There were tears in Annette’s eyes again, but she was smiling. My mother has such a beautiful smile, Duncan thought.

Annette held the box out to Madeline in the sunset; “Bygones, and all that,” she murmured. Kenzie was leaning over the box curiously, her honey hair falling over her shoulder to dangle in the air (my Kenzie Lou) as Madeline opened it--inside the box were a pair of gold Versace Medusa head earrings.

“I think I see, now, that Medusa was unfairly maligned,” Annette whispered.

“Annie, they’re lovely. Not sure if they’re quite my style, but I’ll wear them just to piss off the conservative news pundits, that’s for sure. Thank you. Come have a margarita.”

“Can I see the house? I’d--I’d like to.” Annette seemed to want to talk to Madeline alone, Duncan realized--and Madeline softened, nodded, reached out her hand to link her arm around the bottom of Annette’s elbow.

“We won’t be long, my moon babies,” Madeline said over her shoulder to Duncan and Kenzie; then she pulled Annette towards the house.

“Fuck, Dunny,” Kenzie whispered up to him, intense happiness in her face. “I love them together so much. Fuck, I’m so happy. Look how beautiful they are.” Duncan looked to the retreating backs of their mothers, the sunset showering them in a pattern of orange and deepening sunflower-yellow. Madeline was saying something low to Annette and his mother threw her head back laughing, her mouth opening and chin raising in mirth. Mom. You’re so lovely. To see you happy this way is beyond words.

“Come on, baby, I’m starving,” Kenzie was pulling on his arm now, her fingers sliding down to his palm suggestively; she leaned away from him and he caught her under her elbows, pulling her back into him until she was flush against his torso.

“I missed you today, Princess Kenzie,” he whispered into the space between her lips, and Kenzie laughed; the sound made him shiver, made his ears ring, his head dizzy. He could feel the soft weight of the ring box in his pocket, its presence there like a tiny fire. Eat first, then the ring. When everyone is there.

“And I missed you, Prince Duncan.” She pushed up on her toes; Duncan lifted her into his mouth, feeling a chill of sensation flow through him despite the heat at the sweet taste of her; like the grapes of Dionysus in some paradise, or the ambrosia of Olympus. Hers is the sweetest of all tastes. His hands clutched her; one tangled inside her hair (I’ll never let go never let go never), cradling the back of her head, the other tight around her hips. Kenzie reclined back from him for a moment, still lifted into his arms, eyes dancing; he leaned to her desperately, starved.

“I love you, I love you, I love you--” he lost himself in the cadence of his own speech; his entreaties to her bled together, a wordless song. “I have something for you, and it’s so divine--almost as divine as you are--”

“Give it to me, Dunny,” she pressed her forehead against his, grinning. “Give me my present.”

“I want everyone to be there--”

“Oh, fuck, baby.”  Kenzie slipped down from his grip, staring up at him now, her face having drifted from radiant excitement to shy wonder. “I know what it is.”

“Kenzie.”

“Duncan.”

“Food first, baby.”

“Did you--did you find out if the place is still there? The one you saw with Adelaide so long ago.”

“It is,” he breathed, nuzzling his nose against her again, loving the scent of vetiver and roses at her temple. “Baby, it is. It’s been sitting there, untouched, waiting for us for decades. I feel sure of it, it’s not a coincidence--it’s Fated, it’s Her. They’re going to send me photos of it soon. I don’t know what it looks like now, if it’s any different, or if you’ll be able to tell from the way the pictures look, but--I have the most wonderful feeling. Baby--I’m going to have the most beautiful house built there for you, Kenzie. I’m going to have your dream house built there--your house, for you and you alone, and your garden, and your own greenhouse, and your horses--Kenz, it’s 16 acres, they’ll have so much room, we can ride them together, we can plant fruit trees--”

Kenzie abruptly burst into tears. Her face crumpled, lips thinning in a paltry effort to stop herself, her eyes squinting up and a tiny wail coming from her; Duncan crushed her into him and she buried her face against his shirt, immediately soaking it with a cascade of tears; her fingers gripped him tightly, bunching the fibers of the chevron-covered fabric as if he were the only thing anchoring her in a storm.

“Listen to me,” he whispered into her ear, swirling blue into her. Listen to me. Cry as much as you want, Kenzie baby. Cry as much as you need to. You can always cry against me this way--whenever you need to cry, I’ll hold you. I’ll hold you so close, in this life, and the next one, and the life after that. Listen to me. I love you. I love you, my moonbeam, my angel, my beloved, exalted love. I promised you I’d give you everything you’ve ever wanted. I promised you before I knew who you were--and even now, now that we know, it doesn’t really matter, does it? I’d still have given you anything; everything. Even if Rosemary hadn’t told us, we’d know anyway, deep down. I knew from the first moment I saw you. You, High Princess, will have whatever your heart desires. You’ve blessed this world with your radiance, and blessed me forever with your love, and so you will have anything you ever wanted. And we’re going to bring your sacred house to life.

He could feel her thoughts in return, shuddering: I’m glad Momby and Annette went to the house. I want to cry alone with you. I’m so happy, but I just want to cry, Dunny, just for a little while.

I know, Kenzie. Duncan felt the tears on his own cheeks; and was unafraid of them. I know, baby. Me too. He felt his tears drifting down into her golden hair, knew she knew now, in her golden thoughts, that he was crying too, her little arms tightening around him. And he thought, when your dreams come true, what can you do but cry?

-----

Everyone was gathered on Madeline’s long deck; the fireflies had come out, the fairy lights glowing. The tacos were long-consumed, the margaritas having eventually ceded into shots of tequila. The realtor had sent Duncan dozens of pictures of the acreage; it was huge, with an overgrown orchard of crabapple trees, several vast fields, an old farmhouse and dilapidated barn, and a wild energy that Duncan remembered acutely from that day so long ago with Adelaide; one that Kenzie could clearly sense from the photos, her hands shaking as she held Duncan’s large black iPhone, her finger sliding through them. She’s Here, in this place, Kenzie had thought to him, and he nodded. It’s one of those places, as we suspected, and it’s strong, like the black oak circle. The Veil. This is where we’ll build your temple, High Princess. This is where we’ll get away from the world when we need to, and where I’ll worship you for the rest of our lives.

Duncan couldn’t believe it; Annette and Madeline were both drunk, laughing with each other uproariously. Annette had been telling a story he’d never heard about milking free drinks from a very well-known politician when she was still in grad school, then quickly ghosting the date when he went to the bathroom, but not before taking the thousand-dollar caviar tapas she’d put on his tab and bundling it into a napkin in her purse. Duncan watched his mother with awe as she tossed back another shot of tequila nonchalantly, slipping a lime between her elegant lips. “Best caviar I’ve ever had, sweet with the taste of escape.”

“Annette, honestly, thank you for telling me this story,” Madeline was crying with laughter, and Kenzie was looking between him and their mothers with an iridescent glee in her eyes, reflecting more gold than ever in the fairy lights, her hair dazzlingly flipping, back and forth. “I prefer the Annette who fucks the bourgeoisie with their own AmEx.”

Kenzie had poured him another shot of the tequila alongside one for her, and he glanced around the deck table, at every face gathered with them; Erik was sitting in a deck chair across from Annette and Madeline, watching them with a bemused drunkenness, his fifth margarita held languidly between thumb and index finger, a silvery paper fan drifting in his other hand in the humid night. Claire and Harris were sitting close together on the long deck couch in the south corner beside the steps that led down to the yard; Claire was whispering something into Harris’ ear with her leg dipping over his knee, and his wide, friendly grin was breaking forth. They are lovely together, Duncan thought. They are meant to be together, too, at least in this time and place. I can see that very clearly. It’s like a map of them that’s all spread out in front of us; I think Kenzie can see it too. Us coming together brought them together too. As it was meant to be.

Lindsey Buckingham’s disgruntled wail bled out of Go Your Own Way on Madeline’s little stereo, fading--and Christine McVie’s gentle piano drifted out into the night as Kenzie brought his eyes back to her, clinking her shot-glass against his. For you there’ll be no more cryin’, for you, the sun will be shining…

He drank the shot down, wincing a little--it was his fourth tequila of the night, and it had done its job; he felt wildly bold now, ready to shout out his love for her into the night, to whirl her around in his arms until the two of them dizzily sank into the grass. I wish we were still in that starry field alone, laying against each other, dreaming of blue butterflies and golden-tinted snow. I love everyone, but I always want to be alone with you. He watched Kenzie for a moment as she made a face over her shot, sticking her little tongue out, rubbing a lime wedge along it in a cute tick that squeezed his chest. Nobody uses a lime after a tequila shot like that...except my Kenzie. She noticed him looking at her and kept her tongue out, wiggling it towards him pointedly now. What are you staring at, Duncan Shepherd.

My wife.

Duncan stood up, the night a balm to his buzzing skin; then, he knelt down in front of Kenzie, sliding the ring box out of his pocket in the soft, low light. Kenzie’s cheeks were flushed with the tequila--her eyes were glistening green-forest-gold, her hair falling around her shoulders in luxurious waves with sweat shining at her temples, the triple moons at her throat, the Cartier diamonds on her wrist. Her feet were bare and dirty with mud and grass; the black dress had hitched up around her thighs, exposing the whiteness of her smooth skin, and lime juice was shining on her bottom lip. Her tiny mouth trembled with a smile that made him swallow back a nervousness that he couldn’t place; I know you said yes already, baby, but you make me so flustered, you’re too fucking beautiful. I can’t fathom how you’re mine. I still just can’t comprehend it. You’re so moving. I’m shaken by you endlessly.

And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before...

Erik was the only one who noticed, for a moment--Duncan felt his eyes, framed by fake eyelashes (these with blue rhinestones), going wide, knowing. Then Claire screamed; everyone jumped, balking towards her.

“Holy fuck, Duncan!” Claire said, on her feet, hands pressed to her cheeks--Harris was staring up a her with a shocked expression--and then, Claire burst abruptly into tears.

“Clairebear, do not fucking cry!” Kenzie whined at her best friend across the deck. “I already cried today and you’re gonna make me fucking cry again. Or let him at least give it to me first. Clairebear. I love you.”

“Kenzie,” Claire sobbed into her fingers. “I love you both so much.” She sat back down beside Harris at this, peering through her teary fingers at them, hands drifting down to her mouth to watch. Harris tucked a comforting hand around her shoulder, smiling at her shyly.

Duncan watched this exchange, shellshocked, then realized the only sounds now were Songbird and the soft sound of Claire sniffling; Annette and Madeline were watching him quietly, their expressions serene, approving, and deep with emotion. Duncan noted, tears beginning to gather behind his eyes again, that Madeline had reached out to Annette’s hand and grasped it affectionately. Who would have ever imagined.

Duncan turned back to Kenzie. She was looking back at him now; she reached for his hand and her fingers were so warm and immediately comforting, so right, his eyes closed inside the feeling of them for a long moment.

“Some of the people here knew this already. Some of them didn’t--Claire,” he said, glancing to her, “We wanted it to be a surprise for you. We love you too. We love you all, so much. Thank you for everything you’ve ever done for us.” He looked around at their mothers; at Erik, whose rouged cheeks were now streaked with twin tears.

“Kenzie,” he whispered, then, and he saw her halo again; saw it glittering around the nimbus of her golden hair in the night, saw fireflies, emboldened by her aura, lighting softly in the air around her. “Mackenzie Stone. I love you more than anything in heaven or on earth. I love you with my body, my spirit, my whole soul. Please marry me.”

He opened the ring box toward her--Kenzie’s breath hitched as the moonstone caught the fairy lights, its cool, serene surface an immediate, exquisite, otherworldly thing. As fervid, as perfect an object for her as could be conceived; a devotion to her unspeakable loveliness, her beauty that I can only seem to describe as a color. Gold, gold, gold. The moon amid all that gold, cocooned in her heavenly sky. My Kenzie forevermore. The diamonds framing the stone glittered as his hand shook around the case it was tucked into; Kenzie’s face was awash in tears again, despite her plea to Claire.

“You know I will. Put it on me, Dunny, please,” she said quietly, holding out her elegant little hand. “I’ll never take it off. Never.”

Duncan took the ring from the little velvet box, feeling everyone’s intent eyes on them. He slid it gently up onto the ring finger of her left hand; Kenzie dipped her finger down and the stones caught the light again, dazzling him. Her thoughts were a song sweeter than any he’d ever heard before; the sweetness of her mind a prayer that extended all around them, spinning its shining threads into intricate geometries that he could barely conceive.

Duncan. Sword of the Evening Star. My Soulmate, Exalted for all time. It’s perfect. It takes my breath away, my love.

“Earth to Duckenzie,” Madeline crowed, her hand cupped around her mouth from across the table. “Some of us can’t read thoughts, though you two are constantly staring at each other as if you can.” Duncan snorted. Someday, Madeline, we’ll tell you all about it.

“Momby. It’s perfect. Yes. I will. Yes.”

For the span of a few seconds (infinite, me and you, baby) Kenzie stared into his eyes; he saw her halo still, and now he saw her wings, saw her otherworldly hair, lustrous in the night. Then Claire rushed to Kenzie and fell against her, sobbing again. Kenzie’s eyes still looked at him from the halo of Claire’s arms, and the devotion that lit them, twin stars in the shadow of the evening, from deep within the most secret part of her soul, he knew, was the only answer he would ever need to any question.

I love you. Body and soul.

#body and soul #body and soul fic #body and soul au #millory #duckenzie #millory au #body and soul fanfic #millory fanfiction #duncan shepherd #duncan shepherd au #duncan shepherd fanfiction #michael x mallory au #michael x mallory #duncan x mackenzie #duncan shepherd x mackenzie stone #duncan and mackenzie shepherd #mackenzie stone #mallory au #cody x billie #cody fern x billie lourd #cody fern fanfic #billie lourd fanfic #cody fern au #billie lourd au #collie au #my fic #witchqueenofdarkness #body and soul fanfiction

[notveryglittery]

Flirting with Danger, Ch2

summary: Patton doesn’t have his priorities straight. Virgil doesn’t have the patience for this. Roman has a delivery to make. words: 2,300 / ships: romantic royality, platonic moxiety warnings: one (1) very mild burn, mentions of guns/violence notes: last chapter was mostly me, this chapter was mostly @do-your-socks-have-holes-in-them and gosh do i love it!!!!!! they have such a distinctive writing style and i just really appreciate how they handle the sides!! @fandersfic-royality @fandersfic-moxiety

read on ao3 | Ch1: the first time | Ch2: *mcelroy voice* hotboy! Ch3: sky soliloquy | Ch4: the interview™ Ch5: you have my heart | Ch6: the second time Ch7: is this allowed??

For someone who’d nearly died, Patton was awfully cheerful the next morning. Virgil stumbled out of his room on little sleep- it had not been the most relaxing night, okay- and found him dancing around the kitchen island, humming to himself while mixing up pancake batter. They still didn’t have any milk, but Patton had his heart set on pancakes, so he’d found a recipe online last night that didn’t require it.

He rubbed his eyes and propped himself up in the kitchen’s entrance. “What’s with the good mood?”

“Oh! Good morning!” Patton turned around in a movement that could almost be called a twirl, forgot he was still holding a wooden mixing spoon and accidentally flung some of the batter at his roommate. Fortunately, Virgil had good reflexes and was used to living with him by now. “Oops,” Patton said a bit sheepishly, grabbing a paper towel to clean it off the wall. “I guess I’m a little distracted today!”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Virgil deadpanned. “Why, though?” He took in the blush starting to appear on Patton’s face along with his wide smile and groaned. “Don’t tell me- are you still swooning over that super-headache?”

Patton gave him a pouty almost-glare. “Do you have to call him that?”

“Yeah, actually, it’s in the Best Friends Contract. You should’ve read the fine print.” He rolled his eyes fondly, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. “Fine, get it out of your system, I know you wanna gush.”

The smile came back brighter than ever. “He was just so cool,” Patton practically squealed, spinning in a circle and pressing his hands over his heart. “Or, I guess technically hot- I was really scared but then he showed up and he wasn’t scared at all even though they had guns-”

“They what?!”

“-and his costume looks so good on him, I wonder if he made it himself, I wouldn’t be surprised, and his eyes, Virge, did you see his eyes, they’re so pretty, and his voice oh my goodness I almost melted, well, not really, ‘cause I was pretty tense then, but-”

“Wait, go back- Patton, you didn’t tell me they had guns, what the hell!”

“Oh, right- Language! But yeah, they did, one of them was threatening me, but it’s fine because he saved me-”

“That doesn’t make it fine!”

“It does too! That’s like the whole point of getting saved! He did something to the guy and I kinda fell and he caught me and carried me outside and he’s so strong and his arms and he called me handsome, can you even believe that Virgil, and then he even came out and talked to me after, everything he does is just adorable, wait oh gosh I think he might have been flirting, do you think he was flirting with me?!” Patton finally stopped talking, a little out of breath and starry-eyed, his hands pressed to his cheeks.

“Uh… I think…”

“Yeah?” Patton was grinning.

“I think your priorities are so incredibly messed up I don’t even know where to start.”

He dimmed only slightly. “But, Virgil, I think he likes me! Him! An actual superhero- why would I wanna think about the scary parts when I can think about the fact that I’m in love, Virgil, he set my heart on fire!”

“Oh, no, please don’t be.” Virgil did not need this, especially not first thing in the morning when he hadn’t slept well. He had so been hoping it was another one of Patton’s little infatuations that would be gone before next week. Now he was going to invest his whole heart in this dude and probably end up getting it crushed- from what Virgil had seen of this Prince dude, he wouldn’t be surprised if he only saved people’s lives for the media attention and praise it got him. He certainly seemed to thrive on it. “What are you even basing this on?”

“It’s love! It doesn’t have to be based on anything! Anyway, didn’t you see how he kissed my hand, it was- ohh, it was just the sweetest thing!” Patton clutched the hand in question to his chest, reliving the feeling. “How could I not be in love with him!”

“You’re just…” Virgil shook his head. He didn’t like to rain on his friend’s parade, but if he didn’t at least get his expectations down a little he was going to get hurt. “You had one interaction, Pat, how do you know he doesn’t flirt with everyone he saves? Maybe it’s just a, a way to calm people down. He’s a minor celebrity, for crying out loud, what are the chances of- look, all I’m saying is I wouldn’t start planning the wedding, okay?”

Patton frowned at him, clearly disagreeing, but not wanting to argue about it. “Okay, I won’t. ...Yet,” he added under his breath. He then dropped the subject (for now) and turned around to finish the pancakes, pulling Virgil along with him for extra help. It was in the middle of this that Patton realized he’d never gotten his phone back. He whined about it for a bit, over all the photos he’d lost, and the nice text messages he’d never gotten to save. Virgil promised they’d call the police station to see if it’d been turned in and that had significantly cheered Patton right back up.

Not long after breakfast was over, though, Virgil found out that Patton had actually absorbed his warnings for once, and that maybe this time he’d prefer to have been ignored. Blindly optimistic, lovestruck Patton had been way easier to deal with than the nervous mess he was now.

“Maybe you’re right,” he fretted, twisting his hands together as he paced in front of the living room couch. “Maybe- maybe he’s just nice and I got over-excited because I like him so much, and he was just trying to make me feel better after having a gun in my face, and he is a superhero, he must get people saying they’re in love with him all the time, I shouldn’t bother him even if I do see him again… But then again, he could have made me feel better without flirting- but why would he actually think I was handsome like that, I was a mess and scared and wearing a shirt for a kids’ show, he was just being nice, oh, I feel so bad for misinterpreting that, I hope I didn’t make him uncomfortable…”

“Slow down,” Virgil told him. He was sitting on the couch and trying his best to help, but his best wasn’t great in this particular situation. “You sound like me. As in, literally, you’re saying some of the same things I said… weren’t you this close to arguing with me about that?” he reminded him almost pleadingly. He wouldn’t have said anything if he’d known Patton would take his doubts to heart like this.

“Yeah, but then I thought about it a bunch!”

“Oof. Yeah, that’s always dangerous.”

“You know what, I’m just never going to go outside again, then I won’t have to worry about meeting him again or—”

Patton’s resolution to stay in their apartment building for the rest of his natural life was cut short when they heard a knock at the door. Only, it wasn’t the hallway door. It was the glass doors leading out onto the balcony. They looked over and saw the Prince standing outside, giving them a little wave as if this were completely normal. The second they made eye contact, Patton screamed and bolted around the corner into his room.

“Oh no you don’t, get back here, I’m not dealing with him alone!” Virgil caught the door before he could slam it shut.

“Noooo, I can’t talk to him like this!” He looked slightly panicked as Virgil dragged him out of the room by his collar. The collar, Virgil realized, of his pajamas, but it was too late now, wasn’t it?

“Look at it this way, Patton, you know how I feel about superheroes and you do not want me talking to him unsupervised.”

Patton paused in his struggling and stopped trying to push Virgil away. Sure, he had just been worrying about making the hero uncomfortable, and might not have wanted to bother him anymore, but… Well, could he be blamed for longing to see him just one more time? Besides, it wasn’t really fair to hand all of his problems over to Virgil. Best friends just didn’t do that to each other. “You have a point.” With a resigned sigh, Patton straightened his shirt out and steeled his resolve. The two of them walked back into the living room as if nothing had happened.

The hero on the balcony looked a little confused, but handled it gracefully enough. Patton fumbled with the latch and opened the sliding door. “Um- hi! What brings you here?” he asked with his most welcoming smile, clasping his hands behind his back to keep them under control.

“Greetings!” the hero exclaimed with a wide sweep of his arm. When Patton and Virgil flinched at his volume, he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Your phone!” he continued, his voice lowered but his gestures still plenty loud. “I’ve searched high and low, through every valley and peak, to find you so I might return it! It has been a grand adventure, but to see your smiling face…” He paused, looking at Patton with such warm eyes that he nearly fainted on the spot while Virgil groaned in the background. “Every hardship was worth it.” With that final declaration, he offered the device in question to its owner.

Before Patton could thank him, or even remember how to move, Virgil folded his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows. “Our address is in the phone,” he pointed out flatly, “couldn’t have been that hard to find him.”

Unexpectedly, the Prince made a face at him and replied, “Oh, hush!” Virgil recovered from his surprise quickly enough to stick his tongue out in response.

Patton couldn’t stop himself; a giggle spilled from his lips. That had just been too cute! The sound brought the Prince’s attention back to him, and Patton felt heat creep into his face as the hero’s expression softened into an earnest smile and he took a small step closer, not quite into the apartment, holding the phone out again. Right, that was why he was here in the first place, they’d just established that like ten seconds ago.

“Well, thank you so much for coming all the way here to give it to me!” Patton regained his voice, even if it was coming out a bit high-pitched. Then he reached out to take his cell phone, and would you look at that, there went his vocal chords again, because their fingers brushed and his mind blanked out for a second.

He wasn’t sure his heart hadn’t stopped beating for a second. When he pulled himself together enough to think, if not enough to pull away, their hands were still touching- the Prince was frozen in place as much as he was. Maybe he’d seen Patton freeze up and didn’t know what to do about it? Wait, was it just the light or was his face getting red? Patton blinked and narrowed his eyes in concern, opening his mouth to ask if he was okay, only to suddenly jerk his hand away on instinct and stumble back a step. His phone fell on the floor for the second time in as many days.

“Ouch!” he yelped, sticking his fingers in his mouth. “Was- was that you?”

“I am so sorry! I can normally control myself better than this, I- I don’t know what came over me!” The pyrokinetic hero took a step back, holding his hands up. There was no mistaking the color in his face now, as he was bright red with embarrassment. Patton thought he could feel the heat radiating off his palms even from two feet away. “I’m so sorry about that, I’ll just- go-”

“Oh- no, no, it’s okay, you don’t have to-!” Patton tried to tell him, but he’d flown off before he could even finish the sentence. He hadn’t seen the glare Virgil had been giving the Prince from behind his back. Patton sighed and slumped against the doorway, feeling an odd mixture of emotions- he’d actually come here, he could have just left Patton’s phone at the police station or something but he came to give it to him personally, and he might have been just as flustered as Patton when their hands brushed, and it seemed once again like he might have a chance- but then he’d just left and Patton didn’t have any way of contacting him and they would probably never see each other again!

While lost in his thoughts, Virgil disappeared and returned with a tube of burn cream. Patton turned to him. “Virgil, he left, what am I gonna do?!” he cried, slightly despairing.

“Wha- don’t ask me! You know how I feel about superheroes and love, especially when you’ve talked to him a for a total of like five minutes ever. How do you expect me to give you good advice?” As Virgil spoke, he lead Patton back into the apartment. “I can’t even give good advice about things I do know the first thing about, let alone crushes… don’t make that face at me, okay, I’m just saying.” He sat Patton down on the couch and took his injured hand carefully in his own. “Here, let me see what that idiot did to your hand real quick.” Patton sat still and patient, even though the fussing wasn’t really warranted and he would be all better by tomorrow morning anyway. He let Virgil rant under his breath for a minute or two about stupid “heroes” who don’t pay attention to the damage their powers can cause before speaking up again with what was on his mind.

“...Okay, but… do you think he likes me, though?”

Virgil let out a long sigh. He put his face in his hands, careful not to get burn cream in his hair. Finally, he looked back up, expression resigned. “You know what, Patton? Yeah.”

#sanders sides fan fiction #sanders sides #flirting with danger #royality #moxiety #nick's stuff #dani writes

[deepestwonderlandcloud]

Tatli Ask (Sweet Love) (Can & Ozge) - Chapter Six: Fill The Void

"Hi, Can."

Can laughed and helped Ozge stand up. He looked at her intently, as if not believing she was actually here.

"What are you doing here?" Can asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Of course, I'm eating dinner," Ozge said, defensively. "What about you?"

"I'm having dinner with my mother," Can said. "Who are you with?"

"Devrim, my best friend," Ozge said. "Well, I have to go back to my table, so..."

"I'm going back as well," Can put his phone in his side pocket.

Ozge nodded, and they went back to the outside dining area together. Ozge came back to Devrim already eating. She sat down, ate her lobster, casually taking glimpses of Can and his mother.

He's awfully nice tonight. Was his dinner that good or something? Whoa, his mother is so beautiful! She looks like she could be my older sister, honestly.

***

As Can talked to Guldem, he caught Ozge looking at them through his peripheral vision. He chuckled as he watched her spill her water on her dress, while drinking and looking at them.

"What's so funny, son?" Guldem asked.

"Nothing, Mom," Can smiled. "Shall we go? I already told Halis to wait for us by the entrance."

"Let's go," Guldem said, standing up.

Can stood up as well, fixed his shirt, took one last look at Ozge and left.

***

Ozge watched as Can and Guldem left, kind of hoping Can said goodbye to her before leaving. It was weird. It felt like she missed him. And she was glad she saw him tonight. Ozge shook her head, consigning to oblivion the thought of missing Can.

Ozge, get it together. Why on earth would you miss that jerk?

Devrim looked at Ozge inquisitively, observing her nervous demeanor.

"Are you okay?" Devrim asked, stabbing the crunchy fish fillet.

Ozge looked at him, as if waking up from a trance. A trance named Can Yaman.

"Yeah, I'm good," Ozge said. "Let's finish this quickly so we can go home. I think I wanna take a long rest to clear my thoughts."

Yeah, that's it. I just need some rest. Nothing like a good ole rest to take my mind off that jerk.

Ozge ate her meal quickly, trying not to think about anything else.

***

Can watched the tall, colorful buildings of downtown Istanbul, smiling. His mind was somewhere else. Quite specifically at the Mikla restaurant where he heroically caught Ozge just in time before she slipped.

Whoa, Can. Why are you thinking about Ozge? Get yourself together. It was just mere coincidence. I mean, what are the chances of her going to Mikla as well, the same day and time as you?

Can cleared his throat, focusing on the buildings outside. Istanbul looked beautiful at night time. The air was clear, the sky was, well, not raining the very least, and it as windy. He missed this. No other place could give him homesickness other than Istanbul. He loved the feeling.

If Demet was here, she'd be glad to be back in Istanbul too.

Can tried to imagine Demet. Her face, her features, her laugh, but this time, it was blurry. He couldn't really see her face. He tried to imagine the time they slow-danced. He failed. Instead, his mind drifted off to Ozge, and the feeling of her in his arms. He caught himself smiling. It was like he missed her. And seeing her tonight was all he ever needed to get going. Like her mere presence was enough to fill the void that was inside him.

"You look happy," Guldem said.

"Just really excited for Strawberry Place and my new investment, Mom," Can said.

"I'm happy for you too, son," Guldem grinned, then she turned to Halis. "Halis, please drop me off at the office. I have to meet with a few people before I go home."

"Certainly, Mrs. Yaman," Halis responded.

Can was still looking outside when his phone rang. He took it out. It was from Yildirim Iscan. The lawyer he hired to investigate Demet's death.

"Yes, Yildirim?" Can said. "Any updates?"

"Sir Can, I have been trying to get more information from the Sofia Police Department but they only give me minimal report. What I did find so far was from the car that Miss Demet was found. Apparently, the bumper and headlights were damaged almost beyond recognition, and there was red paint on the dents, of Miss Demet's white car. Another car crashed on Miss Demet's that night, which resulted to her car falling off a cliff to the river," Yildirim said through the phone.

Can's eyes widened. "What? Does this mean---"

"Exactly, Sir Can. Someone else is responsible for her death."

Can felt his heart drop at the information. He thanked Yildirim and told him to keep him posted for new information.

Demet was killed... Demet's killer is out there still... And that person has been getting away with it for three years!

Can's good mood was replaced by anger and hatred. He clenched his fist, trying to calm himself down. Guldem put a hand on his shoulder.

"Son, calm down. We will give justice to Demet's death," Guldem said, trying to comfort Can.

After dropping Guldem in her office, Can went home, heart heavy once again because of Demet and the new information he just received. He looked at their photo, their engagement photo, and tears welled up in his eyes.

I'm gonna find your killer, Demet. And I promise I will make sure they will go to jail. I will give you the justice that you deserve.

***

"Mom, is it possible to miss someone you just met?"

Ozge asked Perran as she sat on their balcony, petting their dog. Perran went to the balcony with a plate of Boreks, and put it in the table in front of Ozge.

"Why do you ask?" Perran said, taking one and sitting down beside Ozge.

"Nothing... I was just curious," Ozge said, trying to not think about Can.

"Well, I guess it's possible..." Perran said, chewing a Borek. "I mean, if you feel a deep connection with that person at first glance... I guess you might. Why? Did you meet someone special?"

"What? No!" Ozge exclaimed.

"Alright!" Perran laughed, putting her hands in the air in surrender. "By the way, I invited our new client for dinner tomorrow night. Don't be late, okay? Dinner starts at 7 PM."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be there," Ozge said, taking a Borek.

"I'm excited to meet this new client."

[jedifighterpilot2727]

Superfamily + dogs all cuddled up with each other and Lena thinking "this is nice"

I had several fluffy morning prompts so I kinda melded several together for this one! Mostly fluffy SuperCorp with a little Lexi thrown in!

Read it on AO3 - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10189040/chapters/23907345

Sunday Morning

Lena can feel something tickling her nose.

She shakes her head to brush it away, but that only tickles worse, drawing her slowly out of her dreams.

There’s an inhuman warmth pressed to her front, a warmth that can only belong to Kara; and the thought brings a slow smile to her face. Her eyes open to a faceful of blonde hair, no doubt the culprit of the tickling sensation, and she brings up a hand to smooth it down. The early morning tangles are pliant under her fingertips, and she brushes them until they’re no longer against her face, threatening to make her sneeze at any moment. Once she’s satisfied, she snuggles closer, slipping her arm back under the blanket and around her wife’s waist - teasing up under her t-shirt to linger on the warm skin of her abdomen.

With a sluggishness that only comes when she’s half asleep, Kara rearranges he own arm until it’s draped over Lena’s, clumsily linking their fingers together.

“G'morning.” Kara’s voice is rough with sleep, and Lena can’t help but smile, nuzzling her face int the once offensive hair, breathing in the scent of Kara’s lavender shampoo.

“Good morning, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Mmm.” Kara tugs her hand closer until they’re completely pressed together, Kara’s back to Lena’s front. “ ’S okay, what time is it?”

Lena leans over Kara to pat for her phone on the nightstand, squinting at the blurry numbers.

“7:26.”

“Just a few more minutes.” Kara mumbles, turning into the pillow.

Lena has every intention of staying awake, but the lull of Kara’s even breathing lures her in, and the next thing she knows she’s blinking awake to the sound of light thunder.

She looks at the time again.

8:30.

She groans, nuzzling her face between Kara’s shoulder blades and digging her fingers into warm skin. All too soon Lexi will be awake, and the dogs will be ready to go outside …

Her saving grace is that it’s Sunday, and Sundays are the Luthor-Danvers family’s official off day, with L-Corp closed for business and J'onn taking over Supergirl duties.

“Is it time to wake up?” Kara’s voice is still sleepy, but it’s lost some of it’s gravel.

“We probably should.”

Kara begins wiggling, and at first Lena is about to protest, because when she said it was time to get up, she didn’t mean right this second; and she isn’t quite ready to let go of Kara’s warmth and face the day. But Kara is only rolling over, her left arm digging awkwardly under Lena’s body until Kara has her wrapped in a tight, hug, her head laying softly on Lena’s chest.

This is her favorite part, she thinks. Waking up next to Kara. She feels as if she can face anything after waking up like this.

��Comfortable?” She teases, her fingers coming up to tangle in blond locks as she presses a kiss to Kara’s forehead.

“Mhmm.”

“We really should get up.” She says after a moment, because someone has to, and it seems to be up to her to be the responsible one this morning.

“Don’t wanna.” Kara mumbles against her sternum.

“We can make pancakes.” She prods, fingers dancing their way up Kara’s spine. “Chocolate chip pancakes.”

Kara raises her head at that, blue eyes sparkling.

“Have I told you I love you?”

“Hmm,” Lena tilts her head, pretending to think. “Not this morning.”

“I love you.” Kara grins, before leaning forward to press their lips together. “Like I really, really love you.”

“I love you too.” They kiss again, but Lena breaks it off before Kara can deepen it.  "I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.“

"I really don’t care.” Kara pushes back against the hand on her chest but Lena staves her off.

“I care.” She insists, and Kara’s lips twist into a pout.

Lena tries to resist, she does, but she’s a sucker for the pout; and she pecks a quick kiss to her wife’s lips before she rolls over her and out of the bed, grabbing her glasses on the way.

“That’s cheating!” Kara calls after her as she pads her way to the bathroom.

She shakes her hips.

“Double cheating!”

She quickly uses the restroom and washes her hands before smearing toothpaste on her toothbrush. She’s barely worked up a foam when Kara enters, strong arms wrapping around her waist and gentle kisses pressing against her neck. She can’t help but grin at their reflection in the mirror, and Kara must have the same idea because their eyes lock through the reflection.

It doesn’t last long, the minty freshness burning into her cheeks until she’s forced to swish and spit, tugging her dark hair over her shoulder. When she looks back up at the mirror, Kara is still smiling at her.

“What?”

“You’re beautiful.”

Lena blushes, but Kara spins her around before she can respond. There’s a kiss on her nose, but when she raises up for more, Kara waves her toothbrush.

“Sorry, my wife doesn’t like to make out with me until I brush my teeth.”

She rolls her eyes at that and presses a light shove to Kara’s chest that shouldn’t move the superhero but Kara rocks back on her heels for show.

“Fine, I’ll go wake Lexi, but just for that, you’re on pancake duty.”

Kara mumbles some protest but it’s swallowed up in toothpaste foam.

- - - - - - - - -

Waking Lexington is completely unnecessary, because the moment she enters the room, Daisy leaps from her perch at the foot of the bed, smothering Lexi with dog kisses. The little girl is unperturbed, patting Daisy and then pushing her away, before reaching for Lena. She gathers the little girl up in her arms, stepping towards the hall bathroom.

“Good morning, Mo Chroi, did you sleep well?”  

Lexi nods against her shoulder, she still doesn’t speak much, especially not in the morning. It doesn’t take much wrangling to get through the morning routine, and by the time the make it to the kitchen, Kara is leaning over the Keurig. Lena drops Lexi off on the center counter, but stops when she notices how her hair is sticking up every which way. She snags a hair tie from the all purpose drawer and finger combs Lexi’s hair into a quick braid. She looks adorable, in her mini super suit, socked feet swinging against the cupboard as she watches Kara pour orange juice into a plastic Supergirl cup.

“Good morning, little one.” Kara presses a kiss to Lexi’s forehead and passes her the glass of juice. She then turns to Lena, pressing a kiss to her forehead as well and eliciting a giggle from Lexi.

“Dogs are out on the balcony, I didn’t think they would want to go for a walk.” A clap of thunder accentuates Kara’s point, and Lexi jumps slightly.

“Hey, it’s just thunder; I know it’s loud, but it’s okay.”

Not for the first time, Lena finds herself wondering not for the first time just how loud thunder is with Kara’s super hearing.

Lexi nods quietly before taking a sip of juice, and Lena moves to the coffee maker to start the next cup.

“Since it’s such a rainy day and we can’t go to the park, how about we build a blanket fort and watch movies?” Lena offers, and she isn’t sure who looks more excited at the prospect, her daughter or her wife.

“Can Mac and Daisy come in our blanket fort?” Lexi has apparently decided to break her morning silence for this all important question, and Lena agrees immediately.

“Of course!”

“Can we watch Lilo and Stitch?”

“Stitch is my third favorite alien,” She shoots a wink at Kara, who’s measuring chocolate chips into a bowl of pancake batter. “So I’d be disappointed if we didn’t watch Lilo and Stitch.”

- - - - - - - - - -Hours later, when the pancakes have all been eaten, the blanket fort is sturdy above them, and the second Lilo and Stitch movie is playing on the tv; Lena takes a moment to survey the sight around her.

She’s propped up against the mass of pillows they’ve piled up to face the tv, Mac and Daisy sprawled out at her feet - puppy noses almost touching. Lexi is curled into her side, arms wrapped tightly around her giant teddy bear as her blue eyes are trained on the screen. Kara’s head is in her lap, glasses askew on her face as she watches the movie, Lena’s fingers gently massaging her scalp. If she listens, she can faintly hear the sound of rain pelting the windows.

It’s warm, and soft, and perfect - certainly more than she ever thought possible. Maybe it took her longer than most to find those she calls family, but it was certainly worth the wait.

#supercorp #Lexington Luthor-Danvers #the lexington chronicles #tumblr prompt #fanfiction