#let him go abby

[melsordway]

I’m sorry. I am sorry that I broke us. I mean, I don’t even know what to say.

#11.15.22 #abby newman #melissa ordway #the young and the restless #let him go abby #he ain't worth it

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 08

PREVIOUS

FF knows that it might be possible to get a new flight and that the excuse of “Oh I found a flight so I could go spend the holiday with my Gran” would probably be unassailable even tot he great unknown of Andrew Minyard’s displeasure (FF has not yet figured out when the pin will drop and Andrew will come at him. The man is a stone wall but FF knows that Andrew doesn’t like him and that knowledge is confirmed every time Andrew and Captain Neil come into Nicky’s dorm and find FF there hanging out with Nicky and he sees both Andrew and Captain Neil frown at him.)

It’s just that it takes 7-10 business days for him to build up the nerve to have to call someone and deal with customer service and it would take more bravery than he currently has to press forward and actually get a flight that would WORK. He has a very limited window for when he can get to Washington. HIs Gran had called a friend to borrow a car to pick him up and that was only available during a 6 hour window on his arrival date.

He COULD get a taxi to his Gran’s house but… (“What if I get kidnapped, what if I get trafficked, how do I tell a normal taxi from a taxi that will take me to a place where I’ll wake up in an ice bath and down a kidney, what if the taxi driver doesn’t like me, what if the taxi driver wants to talk, I don’t have anything interesting to say! What if he says mean things about me in his native language on the phone and I have to pretend that I don’t know what he’s SAYING?)… he’d probably die during the hour long ride from the anxiety.

He tells his Gran and she promises to get a pie out to him A.S.A.P.

It almost makes him feel better until he remembers what he had agreed to when Andrew came at him at his WEAKEST MOMENT to get him to agree to spend an entire four days at the house in Columbia he has HEARD stories about.

FF, laying face down on the floor in Nicky’s dorm as Nicky pats his back: Nicky next time you see me about to agree to something that will result in me getting killed I NEED you to run up and just punch me in the jaw. I’m begging you. You know I’m a disaster.

Nicky thinking about how Andrew has gotten weirdly protective of FF since the whole step brother incident: I need you to understand that that will result in ME being killed which I am not a big fan of.

FF misunderstanding: My grandma’s not THAT strong Nicky. At most grandmothers from across the country will frown disapprovingly at you.

Nicky thinking about all the little old ladies who dote on FF for inexplicable reasons and how some of them know he’s FF’s friend and give Nicky the grandma experience he had lacked growing up: Somehow that’s even worse than what I was thinking :(

***

Nicky coming to check on FF hours later: Are…are you watching the Saw movies?

FF taking copious notes: I need to prepare myself to survive Columbia. Do you have a basement or will Andrew be moving me to a secondary location?

Nicky walking over and shutting off the TV: I think it’s time to go to bed champ.

FF: If I don’t sleep then Andrew can’t drag me to a secondary location. I bought a 20 pack of five hour energy because that is the most the CVS would sell me.

Nicky: They cut you off??

FF: Yeah the manager there said he’d sell it as a ‘favor’ to a ‘loyal customer’ but to destroy my receipt and I had to buy in cash in case I die from a heart attack so it’s not linked to them. So if I play my cards right I have around 4 days of energy right here. I have looked up all the foods that can make you sleepy and will be avoiding them to stack the deck.

Nicky guiding FF towards his bedroom: Y’know that includes turkey. Also those five hour energy shots will be murder on your tummy. :(

FF: I am willing to make some sacrifices so I can live to see 19 Nicky. Also I figure I can just drink an entire bottle of Pepto per bottle of five hour energy resulting in a net neutral situation in my stomach.

Nicky tucking FF into bed carefully: Or result in you going to the hospital for an overdose get some sleep Smith. Andrew is not planning on killing you.

FF already falling asleep because his stress energy is running out: You have no idea how much he dislikes me and how much pepto my body can handle but you’re right about going to sleep. I’ll need my strength to power through the reverse bear trap let alone a laser collar.

***

2 of Grandma Smith’s apple pies arrive in the early afternoon of Thanksgiving via a little old lady turning up at Abby’s house who is a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of Grandma Smith. The Foxes take a moment to marvel that somehow it is still warm despite apparently having been Granny expressed across the country despite the storm.

The delivering old lady pinches FF’s cheek and says not to be too disheartened and that his Grandma loves him and will see him for Christmas Break for SURE. She hands him a little note his Gran sent with the pies and he pointedly does not read it there.

This would make FF happy if he hadn’t been swearing up down left and right that he didn’t TALK to his grandma to Andrew whose eyes he can FEEL on him.

He manages a “THANKS.” In a perfectly normal tone. He has no memory that he already told Andrew and Captain Neil that he was spending the holiday with his grandma since he had blue screened at the offer last time and had rebooted in safe mode to power walk away from the situation.

“Your grandma is really nice.” Captain Neil says. “Those pies look good.”

FF, his anxiety momentarily overridden by a soul-deep love for his grandma, “My gran is the BEST and so are her pies.” And then he hears what he has said and walks back into Abby’s house to set out one pie for everyone else and goes and stress eats the second one on the living room couch after he promised Abby he’d clean up any mess.

He wonders if he’ll make it to Christmas Break as he sees Kevin Day staring at him in abject horror while Andrew stares straight at him.

Even with the attention on him he decides to check the note the other granny had given him from his Gran. It is in her native polish so he feels his shoulders relax since no one would be able to read it.

‘For my little Chicken, this isn’t your last meal like you texted me. I know you will be fine. I am thankful for you in my life every day.’

He tucks the note in his pocket and feels a little better.

NEXT

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242 @whataboutmyfries @sahturnos

#Fluent Freshman AU #Andrew is a man who can't help but be impressed when someone can put away an entire pie #Kevin is a man who is planning an entire diet plan for FF because JFC he's not going to let there be 2 ANDREWS #Nicky is jonsing for a slice but Abby won't let him have one until after dinner #FF gets to eat the pie because he's so visibly distraught about not seeing his gran and Abby's heart aches for him #FF gets to eat a pie on her couch #As a treat #Besides FF is down like 4 pounds he needs the weight #AFTG #AFTG AU #AFTG OC #AFTG shitpost #AFTG Fic #My Fic #andreil #FF - Pt. 08

[springlock-suits]

Au where Mike fucking died in that hallway and they made him possess the empty dog animatronic

#'mike wont let us take abby' 'we kill mike so he wont get in the way' 'abby wont play with us if we kill her brother' #'then we put him in an animatronic. then he cant stop us and abby can still have her brother' #'that sounds like a good plan with no flaws whatsoever lets do that' #fnaf movie #fnaf movie spoilers #i miss back when we would make aus n stories where the nightguard becomes an animatronic lets go back to that #theyre literally was a dog animatronic btw i dont have pictures but at first i thought it was bonnie #until i realized the red bow was like. a dog bone an a red ribbon #soo tempted to start drawing mike n abby as animatronics. the only thing stopping me is tired and lack of references #the doll animatronic in the movie reminded me of the doll animatronic charlie had in her closet in the novel series #and i know theres some doll on one of the frights covers too does anyone know anything abt that one? it looked like the animatronic as well #v nice to see a non sl human style animatronic. nice to know what those'd look like #actually makes a ton of sense to be a doll since freddy and gang are plushies #mike schmidt #abby schmidt #i wish we know what the feddy head saw trap was for tho #five nights at freddy's movie #five nights at freddy's movie spoilers #fnaf au

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Diagnosing these two with ‘Right Person, Wrong Time’ disease

#the wayhaven chronicles #living in the non-detective AU rn #this is post b3 messiness. Abby goes off the rails and then tries to be an Adult and fix things #loving each other so much it scares them #neither of them have felt this kind of thing before and they aren’t really ready for it #they have inner healing to do #so the safest healthiest option is time and space #loving each other and knowing they have to let go etc etc etc #(I’m also just practicing writing in Nate’s pov tbh) #my writing #x: abby/nate #n Sewell #first time she actually says she loves him and it’s when they go separate ways smh

[dayurno]

what would be the main topics of argument between jean and wymack, do you think? would kevin try to play mediator or just completely ignore them?

ANYTHING REALLY.... but i feel like the most trending topic for them to argue over is exy, because jean's opinion of the foxes never truly improves besides that kevin's addition (and, begrudgingly, andrew and neil, but he'd never say it with all the words) is the only good thing about their lineup. he offers no real suggestions on how to better it but he has an endless well of criticism that makes wymack want to climb up the walls. talking to jean makes him think that coach rhemann is a saint, and kevin even more so

i think kevin does make a point to move closer to wymack at some point in their professional career/post-retirement and jean is not unhappy about this but he's not entirely happy either. they will learn to tolerate each other and they will spend many christmas dinners and new year's eves and birthdays and baby showers together, and maybe along the way as they grow older they will realize that their resentment of each other is more for the sake of old times than any real reason :-)

re: kevin. he absolutely does not play mediator and has to very pointedly stay out of it if he doesn't want either to feel as if he's picked a side. the only person i can see caring to mediate is abby, and jean respects her enough to drop any subject if she asks him to, so it all works out. if they're getting Too into it though kevin is known to fake a headache (or any type of minor injury) to redirect their attention

#when kevjean settle down closer to palmetto wymack has the terrible chill that they might get kids soon #the idea is not Not discussed but it feels very real then #for what its worth i dont know what theyd do or if theyd actually adopt or anything like that #and if it came to it obvi grandfather david would eat it up no matter what #but i feel like a child would really seal jean moreau into their lives forever #im imagining him nursing a cocktail and complaining to abby like #abigail.... marriage you can divorce but CHILDREN ... are forever.... #hes always going to be the other father of my grandchildren.............. #and abby's like okay old man lets get you to bed #asks #wymack when his grandchildren are bilingual french babies: ABBY IM GOING TO KILL MYS #wymack #kevjean

[munamania]

obsessed w my friend. i named her jackie i think forever ago lolol one of the film girlz. anyway her not letting sam get a word in last night when we had to record a little podcast together for a project. he was sooooooooooo mad

#we were Chatting... #and look first yes it's cause he naturally kept just trying to talk over/through us and she would just keep going. yay<3 and then like #she just wouldnt let him talk for more than like. i wld say 30 seconds tops but thats like barely #esp bc he just kept going back to like Well and ahahahaa so quirky fact about me is i was hit by a car #girl we've heard all these stories already including the professor and it barely has to do with our topic why are we doing this #and then after me and jackie are talking abt that one insane prof who like on top of needing ketamine injections is just not a great #person hes such a character. but talking abt how he seems to be struggling to keep up w um. post metoo life and just like women #being any more than assistants in the industry. and after like a Whilllle of this conversation w examples of shit he's said that we had to #report lololol sam goes... 'and he's also a misogynist.' hello? melania clip #abby talks #later tried to corner me abt doing a roadtrip w him and his gayass bestie to see the eclipse. like me saying Oh idk #and then him being like oh do u want me to look at tickets for u etc. girl im sorry if i do anything im going home...

[kyolypso]

NEW GREAT PRETENDER MOVIE IS SO GOOD BTW.

#i have so many thoughts #i really enjoyed all the new characters!! #i usually dont like it when shows bring back characters that are supposed to be dead but they did it pretty well #dorothy doesnt remember anything from before and she is just living her own life #and the story is about Her first and foremost even if Laurent had his grubby hands all over the case #laurent really has grown a lot in the time since becuase hes keeping his distance he knows he shouldnt be anywhere near the case #and i understand him at the end when hes talking to her at the station. its very clearly a goodbye for him #hes letting go and letting them both go their separate ways #i also really like how unclear edamura's status with the crew is #hes clearly still friends with abby but he doesnt seem to have anything to do with the case #which is so good for him after the shit he went through im glad he actually said no and left #but he still keeps in contact with abby which makes me happy :) #also i did catch the cynthia name drop from i think the like cartel members?? made me gasp #SO SAD we didnt get to see her or abby :( #other notes the lady with the african restaurant was a delight i loved her #ALSO I SWEAR THEY MADE EDAMURA MORE TAN. HELL YEAH #grepre #great pretender #great pretender movie #great pretender movie spoilers

[grimbeak]

carlos coming home and overhearing cecil talking with esteban as cecils making spaghetti or whatever and estebans like "papa why are you mad at daddy :((((" and cecil turns and glares straight at carlos and is like "because daddy is a liar :)))" and carlos eats dinner soso fast and then hides at nilanjanas for the rest of the day

#he tried to go to abbys but she wouldn't let him in #carlos wtnv #wtnv spoilers

[corpsesoldier]

I don't find ellie's motivations during tlou2 that opaque tbh. like yeah the revenge quest drags and you're exhausted at the end of it and tired of witnessing the bloodshed. I'm pretty sure that's the reaction the game is trying to draw out of you (I died during the confrontation on the beach because I didn’t want to choke abby so I stopped mashing buttons lmao). but ellie's determination to see it through is, I think, another expression of her survivor's guilt.

I think ellie is, fundamentally, someone who is living in the blank pages past the end of her story. riley gets bitten and ellie doesn't die. tess gets bitten, sam gets bitten, and ellie doesn't die. she thinks she has a chance to create a world where that won't happen anymore, to anyone, but joel saves her and she doesn't die. she's left to navigate the aftermath with no sense of purpose. she's just supposed to keep going, and she's doesn't know how.

and then joel is killed in front of her and ellie doesn't die. again. everyone I've cared for has either died or left me. everyone fucking except for you. ellie struggles with what joel did to and for her, and ellie is allowed to leave him, because she knows joel won't ever leave her. she thought she had time to come back to him. to figure out all that out. she hadn't forgiven joel yet, but she wanted to try. and then suddenly all that possibility is gone.

I think the revenge quest is partly a way for ellie to align herself with joel posthumously. now that she doesn’t have the option to heal and grow her relationship with the living joel, she engages instead with his legacy. we know the kind of man joel is (was?), and so does ellie—violent, vengeful, often selfish. the kind of man that regards the necessity of violence with equanimity. in joel's absence, ellie molds herself in his image. this is what joel would do, she thinks. if it had been me, she thinks.

and that's to say nothing of the sunk cost of killing more and more of abby's friends on her quest to find abby herself. once you've hunted down one, two, three people who pose you no threat, once you've tortured someone, once you've killed a pregnant woman, what does that make you if you stop now? what does it mean if you decide you don't need to kill abby after all? if abby's death is not absolutely necessary, then what of the violence leading up to it, and the person executing said violence? even if ellie felt early in her revenge that she wanted to stop, that it wasn't worth it, she wasn't ready to confront the reality of what she had done. framing her revenge as necessary let her pretend she was the hero a little longer.

and I think part of the reason she persists as long as she does is because of her lack of purpose, and, frankly, her desire to die. again, fundamentally, ellie lives. even when she doesn't want to. even when she doesn't believe she deserves to. she can't save riley, she can't save the world, she can't even save joel who, regardless of the tenor of their relationship at the time, is a foundational pillar of ellie's life. so what can she do? maybe this one last thing. ellie's own life, her own happiness, isn't important. it was her death that was supposed to be important, but she woke up and it had passed her by. now she's got a cosmic debt she can never repay. I don’t think she expects to come back from seattle, but she also can’t stand to let down someone she cares about again, even if it's only their ghost. what’s her life in the blank endpapers worth compared to another failure?

and ultimately she lets abby go. because she sees lev. she sees abby turn away from her entirely because her boy needs her. and because ellie remembers joel as he was after the bloodshed, the kind of man he was trying so hard to be for her. there's something there about what we leave our children. something about the kind of person you become to protect them, and about the kind of person they really need, and where those modes diverge. what kind of father is abby? what kind of father does ellie want to be? joel at the end of tlou, bloodied, lying to her? or joel standing on his porch in jackson, waiting for when she's ready to come back?

#I don't tend to go here but I've seen this sentiment mixed in with some tlou criticism that ellie's actions in 2 don't make sense #and I don't agree #if you think that its fine obvs idc some things don't work for some people #but I think the way tlou2 inspects joel's legacy by focusing it through abby and ellie is rly interesting #tlou is about fatherhood its just some of the dads are girls. girldads if you will. #how do you forgive your father? how do you repay him? #how do you let him go because you know your child needs a different kind of father? #how do you give them a different world than the one you had to live through? #anyway. this isn't a thrown gauntlet I swear I just had thoughts I wanted to articulate about where I think ellie is for a lot of the game #tlou2 is divisive etc etc I know but I liked it #had some thoughts about it #back to your regularly scheduled necromancers #did a readmore because this got longer than I anticipated #don't want to blow up anyone's dash I know this isnt what I usually post about sdjgfsd #tlou

[mintedwitcher]

I am violently wrestling Evan Buckley out of Tim Minear's hands until that man can give him a love interest who doesn't just fuck off at random okay thanks.

#im . .. genuinely annoyed #by the idea that tommy is gonna be another one-and-done situation #literally what was the fucking point of it all then? #no let me guess. #tommy is going to see something at the bachelor party between buck and eddie #and decide all at once that buck is just too much for him #or that buck cant be ready for tommy because of eddie #which is such bullshit #even if there was any canon confirmation that buck likes eddie (which there HASNT BEEN. buddie shippers pipe down) #(inferrence is not the same as confirmation) #that doesnt mean that buck cannot have a meaningful relationship with anyone else #ESPECIALLY since Eddie is currently straight AND TAKEN #ESPECIALLY!!! when buck has stated bluntly that he WANTS TO BE WITH TOMMY #but no yeah this is a great fucking plan guys. give the abandonment issues baby queer MORE abandonment #GREAT writing skills you guys. really. top marks. fuck off. #look obviously i dont know what will happen #all of this is based on that one snippet saying that it looks like tommy wont be around after 7x06 #but if this is another abby situation. another ali. another taylor. another natalia... then what the fuck was the point? #oliver kept telling us this would be the season where Buck breaks the cycle. but theyve still got him on that fucking hanster wheel. #coming back to this hours later bc i forgot to add actually relevant tags whoops #911 abc #911 on abc #evan buckley

[stromer]

absolutely horrible day to be me

#DO PRETTY PEOPLE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU PATRIK?????!!! YOU SICKO #knowing no one will pick him up so he’s going to abby but freaking out nonetheless. girl i’m gonna hurl #LET WOMEN BE MID AND FOURTH LINE GRINDERS PLEASEEEEE #canucks lb

[ioannemos]

rewatching the chestnut man... mark hess my beloved 😭

#when he gets Deep in the Weeds and learns all about bones or the kristine hartung case and can't let the case go bc it Doesn't Make Sense #nylander he's not mentally unstable he's just autistic! #i'm love him #the chestnut man #my favorite #tv shows #personal #abbie needs a twitter #perhaps... at some point... i will try to watch something new

[aberooski]

What if I told you I was crying while working on the fucking Mario crossover?

It's the zero hesitation "I'm worried about him too" for me

#I don't even know why this is hitting me so hard #like the actual conversation has only JUST started and I'm already crying #they just want chazz back so they can all go home and be safe and all together again 😭 #and she knows atty's been taking losing him harder than he's been letting on and she wants to make sure atty's okay but she misses chazz too #I literally cannot be getting this emotional over the silliest idea for a fic I've ever had ✋😭 #yugioh gx #yugioh gx fanfiction #alexis rhodes #atticus rhodes #chazz princeton #stormshipping #your princeton is in another castle #abby's fanfic writer power hour #abby's in her unhinged era #abby after dark

[alliaskisthepossibilityoflove]

Okay, so I've finally watched through season 1 of 911 and please somebody tell me Buck’s posture gets better throughout the seasons? Because my back hurts looking at that boy making himself smaller for other people.

#And he sure as he'll deserved an apology from everyone but Abby in particular for not believing him about the girls! #911 tv #evan buck buckely #You know how it is #There is this podfic from someone you like from a fandom you know nothing about #And next thing you know you catch feels #And I'm so glad to be actually finally watching it because I'm really enjoying the show itself #But it's slow going #Let's call it savoring it #That works

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Title: willingness to bend

Rating: PG? Nothing much but some arguing further in. Abby is stubborn and not thinking straight, and Nate isn’t helping his case.

Pairing: Detective Abigail ‘Abby’ Brùn/Nate Sewell

Word Count: 3.6k

Summary: how the post-forest argument would have actually gone between Abby ‘fiercely independent and stubborn’ Brùn and Nate ‘worries SO MUCH but terrible about talking through things’ Sewell. Also known as ‘these two care a lot about each other they’re just bad at saying so’

I was disappointed there was no sort of conversation or confrontation with these post-trapper, especially picking the dialogue option that gets you the famous “i won’t allow you to endanger yourself” line. so I’m rectifying it by making things worse <3 no spoilers really this all takes place in the timeframe of the demo, but I’ll tag it just to be safe.

Abby wasn’t expecting Nate to be waiting for her.

She’d lingered behind at the Facility after the debriefing. Longer than she probably should have, given the circumstances of…everything going on. But she’d needed some kind of respite, a little time to process without Unit Bravo looming over her shoulder.

Getting food with Vieno had been the perfect excuse for some time away.

Unit Victor had been an unexpected surprise, but ultimately a pleasant one. The group had no problems dragging chairs over and making themselves comfortable. Willing to talk about everything and nothing, they had little regard for personal boundaries.

Apparently news about her traveled far, and she wasn’t sure how she felt being at the center of it.

It seemed positive, at least.

The conversations were light. Nothing more than gossip to fuel the rumor mills. Was Adam as hard headed as everyone claimed, something Abby only gave a noncommittal shrug to because the last thing she needed was her answer somehow cycling its way back to him. They’d reached a tentative peace, she didn’t feel the need to argue with him at every comment, and he seemed to tolerate her being around. No need to upheave that progress.

They’d asked about Nate afterwards. About her relationship with him, and she couldn’t bring herself to answer around the sudden lump in her throat. Vieno steered them off by calling them a bunch of ‘nosy gossips’, and it was all Abby could do to give them a grateful nod at the intervention. Conversation still flowed afterwards as they all talked amongst themselves, and she happily let herself drift to the background.

But the lump never eased.

It’s- ridiculous. Selfish, even. Everything that’s happened in the past 24 hours, and it’s her own personal problems sitting on her mind like lead weights, something she couldn’t shake off. Added salt to the wounds of everything else.

Maybe it stung because Nate had been her point of peace. Someone that could help keep her afloat even when it felt like she was spiraling. She didn’t have that now and she felt- she felt alone.

Too lost in her own mind to be considered anything remotely close to ‘good company’, she gave a distracted good-bye before excusing herself and somehow managing to find her way to her car.

The drive back, trapped in the silence, hurt more than it helped.

She couldn’t stop herself from replaying everything over in her mind, trying to pick out where she’d gone wrong to make him so frustrated. Outside of the level of danger that was becoming a regular occurrence in her life, she’d come out of the attack fine. Stressed, a little shaken, but unhurt. She hadn’t even fought, technically. The thorny mess of underbrush had done the work for her; she’d just taken advantage of her…familiarity with the area.

Not that it mattered. Nate still hadn’t been happy she wasn’t willing to let him hide her away while everyone else fought in her place.

So, he yelled. Sort of. As much as Nate ever raises his voice.

And in turn, she yelled back at him. And if she hadn’t been so caught off guard, she would’ve been embarrassed that it all happened in front of the rest of the team.

No, that didn’t settle in until afterwards. After the chaos settled and the adrenaline faded, forced to sit through a debriefing with as much distance as she could manage between her and Nate. It mixed with the slow burning anger she’d tried to swallow down until it formed something toxic that left a bitterness in her throat.

It wasn’t Nate’s frustration that stung. Or the yelling - though that hadn’t helped. That, alone, she could have taken; sat with and picked apart into pieces of something that made sense, given enough time.

I won’t allow you.

No, the anger came even before they’d been reduced to shouting at each other. It was the declaration of what she was allowed to do, as if that’s a decision he had the right to take away from her. One sentence, buried in her mind like a splinter. The more she dug at it, the more raw she’s left afterwards.

It’s not rational, not really. One panicked phrase, said in the heat of a dangerous situation, shouldn't have struck her as hard as it did. But whether or not it was sane or fair didn’t matter - it left her feeling angry and constricted.

She doesn’t register the drive until she’s sitting outside the chain link fence of the Warehouse. It takes effort to uncurl her fingers, idly rubbing out the cramps brought on by the white-knuckled grip she’d had on the steering wheel. Staring up at the decrepit facade, with her headlights painting shadows in the gloom of the night, a part of her considers turning around. Peeling out before she has to face anyone, although…she has nowhere to go besides here. A stray thought passes through her mind about crashing at Tina’s, but she squashes it before it has a chance to take root. It’s well past 2 in the morning, and while Tina would open her door to her, Abby wouldn’t put her out like that. And she isn’t sure she wants to deal with the line of questioning that would bring on, either. And, Adam had been clear about her order to come directly back to the Warehouse afterwards.

Another order. Another decision made for her. Only this one smarts less, because she’s used to Adam telling her what to do.

So, against every nerve in her body, she forces herself to shut the car off and climb out. Mentally talking herself into taking each step forward, more mechanical feeling than anything natural. She’s not in the right headspace to handle anything more than collapsing into bed.

It’s late, anyways. Maybe she’ll be lucky and everyone will be busy doing whatever it is that keeps vampires busy throughout the night. They’ll hear her arrival, she’ll be able to get to her room and push off dealing with anything for at least a few more hours.

She wasn’t planning on Nate being up and about. Even if she shouldn’t have expected anything less from him.

“You’re back.” He startles her out of her thoughts. Perched on the couch in the living room, a book in hand, it’s clear he’d been waiting for her return. He’s smiling, doing his best to look relaxed, but she knows him too well for him to hide the tension in his body. The concern in his eyes as he looks her over.

Both get worse when she chooses to stay rooted to her spot by the door instead of moving to join him.

“I was at the Facility.” She says, words stilted and awkward as she debates her chances of making it if she were to just rush through the room and leave. She’d thought- a part of her hoped her aggravation would ease, if she gave herself time, but seeing him has it trying to claw its way to the surface again, settling like a burning coal in her chest.

Maybe he’ll let it go. Maybe he’ll just say goodnight and let her go-

“I was worried.”

He means it, that’s the worst part of it all. A passing remark made with nothing but genuine care in mind, because he always worries when she’s away. When he can’t be around. He just wants her safe. And there’s a small, logical part of her that knows that. The part that’s fighting and failing to pull her temper back knows it’s meant in kindness.

But the threats she’d been desperately grasping onto snap, all the same.

“I was with Vieno. And another Unit.” Her tone is flat, bordering on harsh. “Do I need your permission so you can allow me to go anywhere without you?”

She’s lashing out now. Feeling twisted up too tight, throwing barbs in the hopes of something sticking. There’s no pleasure when her words hit their mark though, no enjoyment in the way she sees him flinch. Just a building pressure under her skin, a rolling nausea in her stomach.

She hates this. Hates everything she’s feeling, but is too far in to pull back now.

He sighs as he pushes up from the couch, and she shuffles the rest of the way into the living room to take a place in front of the fireplace. Just- to give herself somewhere to stand besides the front door, so it didn’t seem like she was seconds away from bolting. She keeps her eyes on the ground though, just to find something to look at that isn’t him. Still, she feels him take a place beside her, even with the deliberate space he’s kept between them.

“I suppose we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we really do.” As if drawn by a magnet, her eyes flit in his direction, unsure of what she’ll find. Frustration on his face? Exasperation in his eyes at her attitude? She’s not being kind, it would be deserved.

She isn’t prepared for the deep crease between his pinched brows. She isn’t prepared to find him looking so incredibly sad.

“I know I didn’t handle the…situation with the Trappers properly.” He starts after a brief pause, clearly trying to gather up his thoughts. She lets herself relax, just a little. At least this seems like a step in the right direction. “Seeing them close in on you, while I was too far to help, filled me with terror. Every worst case scenario went through my mind, and I shouldn’t have raised my voice.”

He sounds properly contrite, at least. His shoulders are drawn, hands pushed deep into his pockets. It's only her own stubbornness that keeps her from reaching out to him though. “It worked out, though.”

“That it did.” He smiles, but it’s a wobbly thing. Brittle. “All it takes is once, though. As I said, they will stoop to whatever means necessary to take you and I- I cannot bear the thought of that happening.”

“And I can’t handle sitting back, doing nothing while everyone else fights my fights.” She turns to face him now, and he mirrors her movement. “And I can’t handle you telling me what I’m allowed to do.”

“It’s our job to protect you, and we don’t mind-“

“But I do!” She snaps, cutting him off. She knows they’re making no progress. Two steps forward, three backwards. Unlike before though, she can see him trying to figure out a way to diffuse the rising tensions before they can come to head.

“We’re getting off point, and I’ve upset you again. I apologize, for then and now.” His apology soothes her annoyance, if only a little.

“Thank you.” He takes a few tentative steps forward at that, trying to close the distance. “But again, Nate, it’s not just the fight. It’s you trying to tell me what you’ll allow me to do.”

He pauses then, and she realizes he’d been hoping she’d just pass that point over in favor of being angry about everything else. “I shouldn’t have phrased it that way,” He says finally, carefully, and she narrows her eyes. “I misspoke, I’m not trying to make every decision in your life.”

Just certain ones, the thought is a cranky, nasty little one. “You’re going to have to let me help. If I’m going to be part of the team, let me act like it.”

His brows furrow at that. Reaching out, hesitating just long enough to give her a chance to push him away, he cups her face in his palm. Cradling her like she’s something precious, she can’t help but lean into him as his thumb traces her cheekbone. “Being a part of a team also means accepting your limitations and allowing us to help you, though.”

Any warmth from his touch vanishes then, chilling in her veins as she shakes him off. “What does that mean?”

“I told you to hide because, at that moment, that was the best thing you could have done to help us.” His tone is gentle, but Abby knows him well enough now to know he’s picking his words with care, working up to his point in a very Nate-like way. Kind, always so kind, but unwilling to budge. “Your safety is my priority, always. At times, that means you have to be willing to let us protect you.”

He’s not listening. He’s not hearing a word she’s saying, and she can feel her anger rising again.

“I handled myself though.” She’s trying to be reasonable. To quell the part of her that wants to snap, and snarl, and fight. “I didn’t even fight, I was able to handle it my way.”

“And what if you couldn’t? What then?” Nate crosses his arms, as if he isn’t sure what he’s supposed to do with his hands now that she’s out of his reach once again, and Abby has never thought he looked more stubborn. “I just wish for you to be safe, is that a bad thing?”

“It is when you expect me to sit back and let my family fend for themselves!” She won’t let herself focus on the fact that was the first word that came to mind, slipping out before she could stop it. Not here, not now. Not with so much tension, or with the storm of emotions making her chest ache. Or with Nate’s face lighting up, even in the midst of her yelling at him. She’ll dissect it later, with nothing but four walls watching her and the safety of an empty room around her.

“I’m simply asking for you to trust us,” He says slowly, as if to placate her, though all it does is further stoke her temper. “I- We can handle threats against ourselves, but you-“

“You almost didn’t before!” She shouts, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Memories of Nate, battered and bruised, laying in his own blood, flash in her mind, too quick for her to block them out. As if sensing her distress, he reaches out on instinct, but she jerks back before he can make contact.

She can almost pretend like the flash of hurt on his face doesn’t make her ache.

“I was taking care of myself long before you guys showed up.” As soon as the words are out there, she wants to snatch them back. Bury them, stuffed away in the dark where they belong. Panic and embarrassment has her pacing now, too much of something buzzing just under her skin. She was prepared for fighting, yelling she- she’s not ready to see pity from him.

Because maybe, that’s the true, awful core to all of this. Why Nate’s protectiveness feels like an ill-fitting coat, clinging too tightly. So long with no one, pushed to grow up too fast. She doesn’t know how to let somebody else care for her.

Would she even want to? To let herself be that vulnerable with someone else?

And Nate knows. Of course he does. Even with ehr pacing, and her stubborn refusal to meet his eyes, she can feel him watching. Picking up on every little thing she wants to hide from him but can’t, because he’s always seen too much of her. He’s close to hovering, she’s sure, wanting to provide comfort but unsure how. The thought makes her cross her arms, as if she can make herself a smaller target.

That’s what makes him finally move, though. A gentle hand on her arm to stop her in her tracks, providing a warmth she can feel even through her layers of clothes.

“You shouldn’t have had to.” He sounds so soft, so sure of himself. Steady, where she’s drifting. “And if I could, I would mend that for you. But you don’t have to now.”

Let me care, the words are there. Unspoken, left to hang between them, but there nonetheless. I would if you’d let me. I want to.

And it would be so easy to let him. To drop her guard and let him in. To let him take the few final pieces of her heart she has hidden away, because he’s already taken the rest. Given to him willingly the first time they’d kissed

She could.

She wants-

I won’t allow you.

But she won’t. Can’t.

“Well, I did.” She cuts through the silence that had grown between them with sharp precision. Squaring her shoulders, she turns to face him, trying not to miss his touch as his hand slips away, and forces herself to meet his gaze head-on. Whatever he sees when he looks at her has his shoulders slumping, ever so slightly. “Which means I don’t need you panicking over every little thing that could potentially go wrong, or you deciding what I’m allowed to do.”

There’s a rare flash of frustration in his eyes, there too fast for him to be able to tuck it out of her sight. “It’s not about permission, Abigail.”

“That’s exactly what all of this has been about!” She snaps, barely resisting the urge to yank on her hair in frustration and instead settles for pulling at her sleeves to give her something to dig her nails into. Her tone is rising again and she can’t stop. This is falling apart in front of her, too fast for her to do anything but embrace the inevitable crash waiting for her at the end. “You’re trying to tell me what you’ll allow me to do, stressing over things that might happen. None of this is going to work if you don’t trust me to know my own limits.”

“You ask me to trust you, yet you have an alarming pattern of paying little regard to your own wellbeing. So forgive me if I’m inclined to doubt your choices.” His tone is harsher than she’s ever heard it, words sharp enough to make her wince. He notices, immediately softening as he scrambles to backtrack. “I care about you Abby. So much.”

That’s all this is about. Everything it boils down to. But it’s not enough to fix anything. And that realization has her deflating, a sadness creeping in to replace the anger.

“But I’m human.” It’s a quiet sort of admission. One that hurts, because it doesn’t matter what she does in the end. How much she prepares herself, or tries to help. She’s still the weak link, and Nate will always treat her as such.

Half a dozen emotions flicker across his face in that instance, almost too fast for her to recognize. Fear. Frustration. Affection. Something- something heavier, deeper than the others, and she feels her heart thumping painfully against her ribs.

“That-“ He cuts himself off, tearing his gaze away to look at the wall. There’s something more there, that much she’s certain of. Something he’s barely bitten back, and part of her wants to grab him. Shake him and demand an answer, an explanation, anything to tell her she’s wrong. “You are.”

Nothing more. No deeper answer. Just a heavy hearted agreement, that hurts more than her own words had.

A bitter part of her wonders why she expected anything any different.

The fight leaves her as quickly as it had come. The exhaustion of everything suddenly presses down on her with such a fierceness that she’s left aching. So she crosses her arms again, like she can hold herself together a little while longer as she shuffles backwards. Desperate to space between them.

“I can’t do this right now.” She’s speaking more to herself than to him at this point, turning towards the door. “I can’t- I need to go.”

“Abby?” There’s a thread of alarm in his voice now, and she hears his muffled footsteps on the carpet as he keeps pace behind her. “Wait, we can talk-“

“All we’ve been doing is talking, Nate. And I’m done.” There’s a hollowness in her, like something carved out a piece of her, and she rubs her chest as if she can massage the ache away. A chill has seeped through her clothes, settling all the way down to the tips of her fingers, and she chooses to blame it on the lack of sleep.

“Please.” It’s one word, practically begged, but it’s enough to make her stall. Enough to have her spare one more glance at him. Frozen halfway from touching her, panic and desperation have brought a sheen to his usually warm eyes. Torn between having her stay, and afraid of pushing her further away has him teetering on an edge. “Please, stay?”

It hurts. So much, more than it should, and it isn’t fair. Leaving him like this, when a part of her wants to turn around and let him soothe away everything. Let herself be lost in him awhile and pretend like everything is fine between them. To take the easy path.

But she knows how that will end. Another fight, sooner rather than later. She knows she can’t keep burying things away, as much as he wants to when things get tough.

So she shakes her head, pulling the door open and forcing herself to look away before he can notice the tears she can feel burning her eyes. “I just need some time, okay? Give me some space.”

She doesn’t wait for him to answer. She can’t, not if she’s going to keep her resolve. So she leaves, letting the door slam closed behind her. And maybe, everything will feel a little less painful when the sun rises.

#Nate sewell #the wayhaven chronicles #twc #n Sewell #twc spoilers #my writing #this is so rough but I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing alskdldk #and the lack of ANY follow up to the argument bugged me #so I had to put my spin on it #Abby isn’t being Nice because she doesn’t know how to let ppl care and it scares her <3 thanks Rebecca lmao #she took nate going ‘i won’t allow it’ as him trying to control her. didn’t cross her mind that he’s genuinely terrified for her and in love #anyways they’re entire relationship timeline is getting shifted in my brain and slowed down from what it was in the book #and Nate doesn’t think he can protect her but is afraid to say that. since we see him saying he doesn’t think he’s enough for the MC #so his own panic at losing abby and her stubbornness lead to messes #if you see mistakes no you don’t lmao I’ve rewritten this three times now? #if mistakes survived they belong in here now

[sharky857]

What if Pierre was dumped into the luau soup and drowned for being a dick

But... But... Pierre is the lowest of the "bad quality food" one could ever dump in the potluck. 🙁 He would completely ruin the soup everyone worked so hard to make tasty. 😔

On the other hand... 🤔

Sam!

Sam might be perfecty capable of dunking Pierre in the soup. They may have banned him forever from dumping anything ever again in the potluck after that anchovies disaster, but nobody couldn't stop him from doing so for Abby's sake, if he ever acted fast enough ('sides, he actually gives zero 💩 about "impressing some old man everyone calls Governor").

#stardew valley #sdv #sharky's replies #anonymous #Sam be getting closer and closer to going to jail... 😂 #but is he gonna regret this one? Of course not~ #what would take him to snap like that? Methinks it could happen during one of their band's private tryout in his room #All three are there and suddenly Abigail has a breakdown and burst out in tears #which is quiet unusual for her to do so in front of others #and once Sam and Seb gets to know what happened Sam snaps real hard #and this time he vows to NOT let Pierre's toxic shenanigans go unpunished #(Seb seems to be chiller than his friend but ya bet he may offer to lend a hand. Just this once) #Abby might try to make him desist (she doesn't want anyone to get into troubles for her) but Sam won't hear any of it. #Fast forwards to the Luau and THAT happens. 😈 #*rereads rambling tags* This... This seems a good material for a potential fic.