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ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa · 4 years

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With Cherries On Top

Chapter 3: The Ring & The Save

Summary/Author’s Note: I’m so fucking excited for you all to read this I am like BOUNCING. Max in all of his glory being a fucking SHIT. But we love him dearly.

You and Max start learning a little more about each other. Your current predicament calls for a drink...or seven. And the two of you land in Alaska to meet your family. @pedropascalsource for gif credit. Look at that fucking shit and that grin...it happens a lot in this chapter as he starts to schmooze your family.

Pairing: Max Phillips x Reader (The Proposal AU) Word Count: 3.5k Warnings: R/18+ - drinking, alcohol, sass, so much sass, sexual tension, sexual innuendos, Max is a bastard man but he is...getting better?, also does he own casual clothes?

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [MASTERLIST]

You had taken Tylenol before you even went through security, but at this point you were pretty sure the entire bottle would not have prepared you for flying with Max Phillips. The non stop flight from JFK to Juno was almost ten hours and you had thought multiple times about stabbing your eardrums out with an ink pen. It wasn't that the flight was bad, in fact the flight itself was quite nice. First class was definitely a new experience but you could get used to it. The padded leather seats and extra leg room meant you could lean back and stretch. You propped yourself up with a pillow, and a book and was content to relax. There was just one problem, Max.

His presence was about as loud as he was and he insisted on chatting up the cute stewardesses, reading over your shoulder, and reminding you almost every fifteen minutes that this flight was boring. He at one point in time asked if you wanted to join the mile-high club and you fought the urge to snap your book shut and smack him with it.

The flight attendant walked by and asked if you needed anything and you sat up and gave her a warm smile.

"Yeah, um, I'll take a vodka cranberry, please."

Max raised an eyebrow and looked at you, "It's nine thirty in the morning."

"Oh, shoot. You're right!" You threw yourself over his lap and leaned into the isle to catch the attendant. Max grunted from the sudden weight of you and you bit back a grin. "I'm sorry, can you make it a Bloody Mary? Thank you."

You leaned back into your seat and opened the binder from immigration. Max dusted off his slacks and continued to look at you with curious disdain.

"Maybe you should eat something first?"

"It comes with celery, I think." You said without looking up. You could feel his eyes on you but refused to give him the satisfaction that it bothered you. The words on the page were suddenly the most interesting thing you had ever seen in your life and when he gave a heavy sigh, you grinned.

The attendant came back with your drink and you smiled as she set it on your fold out table tray.

"Is that the binder from I.N.S?" Max said and you nodded as you wrapped your lips around your straw and drank deep.

"Yup, and we have one week to learn all of this about each other. Which will be easy for me, because I can answer all of these questions about you--but you know nothing about me." You looked up and glared as he snatched the binder from you and started flipping through it.

"You expect me to believe you know all of this about me?"

"I do," you took another drink and turned in your seat to face him. "You never stop talking about yourself--and I've been listening to it for five years."

"Well," he said, flipping the page dramatically and looking at you with a grin. "I am my favorite subject."

"At least you can admit it."

He sat back in his seat and crossed his ankle over his knee, balancing the binder on his leg. "Alright, let's have at it then. What's my favorite color?"

"Red." You said without hesitation. "Which is ironic now, all things considered." He ignored the quip about his vampiric state and you leaned over the seat, making your drink slurp obnoxiously. "You know? Because of the blood--"

"Yes, I get the joke, dear." He moved his finger down the page. "What am I allergic to?"

"Soy, gluten," you ticked off on your fingers before waving your hand. "And a whole spectrum of human emotion."

"Are you going to be like this the whole time?" He looked at you exasperatedly and you shrugged. He sighed and shook his head. "Where did I grow up?"

"Transylvania."

"Okay. I'm done." He snapped the binder shut and you almost felt bad...almost.

"No! Okay, okay, come on, Max. I'm sorry," you put your hand on his arm and he looked down at it, making you pull back like he had burned you. "Queens. You grew up in queens. See?"

"Well, you grew up in Sitka. One down. Only two hundred and ninety-nine more questions to go."

You groaned and threw yourself over Max's lap again and held up your finger. "Excuse me, Ma'am?" You hailed the attendant. "Another Bloody Mary, please."

"Will you please, get off of me?" Max said, and you finished your drink and gave his nose a playful tweak.

You plopped back into your seat and leaned back against the headrest. "Next question."

"Do I have any scars?" He turned in his seat to mirror you.

"You have a pretty bad one on your knee. I see it every time you have your meetings with Ted. A.K.A--racquetball." Max nodded, indicating that you were correct and you continued. "So, what's it from? College sports, I'm guessing. What pretentious, frat-boy sport did you play? Soccer? Lacrosse?" You gasped and put a hand to your mouth. "Ultimate Frisbee?"

"You're very funny." He sneered and shook his head. "And I'm not telling you."

"What about me, Max? Do I have any scars?" You switched up the game. Proving that you knew everything about him wasn't going to get you very far with the government unless he could return the favor.

"No," he leaned in and lowered his voice. "But I'm pretty sure you have a tattoo."

You choked on your drink and the action made him smile. Taking a deep breath and a moment to wipe the tomato juice off of your sleeve, you glared at him. "Pretty sure?"

"Yes, when you had the nerve to be out with the flu and they stuck me with that idiotic temp, she accidentally transferred one of your calls to me. It was to confirm that you wanted to cancel your appointment with a laser removal company." He balanced his chin on his palm and continued to give you a smug grin. He was enjoying this now and it was suddenly a lot less fun.

"What are you getting at detective Phillips?"

"So, what is it?"

"No way," you took another large sip and blushed, turning away from him. "I'm not telling you."

"You know they're going to ask. I have to know. Is it a dolphin? An infinity symbol?...'live, laugh, love'?" He gave a mock gasp and put a hand to his mouth. He was imitating your earlier jest about his scar. This was still a game to him and all you had managed to do was encourage it by baiting him.

"You know, I really am glad you're having fun with this, but do remember I could go to prison. Give me that--" you snatched the binder back from him and he let you have it. "Next question. Whose place do we stay at, yours or mine?"

"That's easy," he kicked back in his chair and folded his hands on top of his chest. The action made you realize just how long he was. Between his broad shoulders and impressive calves, he barely fit in the chair. It had to be the alcohol talking. "We stay at mine," he said simply, drawing your gaze from his body.

"Why wouldn't we stay at mine?"

"Because I live at Central Park West. And you no doubt live in some squalid little studio apartment full of houseplants and a dusty, lonely, wine rack that you never use, because it's for guests you never have." He waved his hand as if imagining it and your jaw dropped.

You stayed quiet and closed the binder placing it in the pocket on the back of the seat in front of him. The small bursts of moments when Max wasn't being an asshole, it was easy to forget how real this was. He was charming and you both threw it back at one another so easily that it felt like a game. But when his real nature came roaring back to life and his dig against you was just a tad too deep--well, you didn't want to play anymore.

"What are you doing? We have more."

You sucked the rest of your drink down and put it on the edge of the tray for the attendant to take.

"We should get some rest." You said flatly, pulling the thin airline blanket up over your shoulder. "Knowing my mother, she has a big dinner or something planned."

"Wonderful," he said, folding his hands across his chest as he settled back into his seat.

The two of you stayed quiet for the majority of the trip. You frequently looked over your shoulder to see if he was even still next to you, as he didn't make a sound when he breathed. It was unnerving but no doubt had something to do with him being undead. Did he even need to breathe? You had certainly seen him do it. Was it an act? Fuck all of this was going to send your family over the edge.

The last time you pulled back your silk, airline stamped eye mask, Max wasn't in his seat. His table tray was pulled down and sitting on top of it was a small black velvet box. You looked around but he was nowhere to be seen.

Your fingers traced the shape of the box gently before you picked it up and pried it open. The ring that sat inside was stunning. It was gold, with a few small diamonds in the band on each side before leading up to the main piece--a large teardrop ruby rimmed with more diamonds. You weren't sure if the red stone was meant to be a joke but regardless, it was actually very pretty.

It slid over your finger in a perfect fit and you watched it sparkle in the sunlight from the window over your shoulder. Despite your frustrations, you had to admit, Max Phillips continued to be full of surprises.

Seeing Max rattle in his cramped seat while the puddle jumper took you from Juno to Sitka brought you more joy than it should have. His broad shoulders were folded in on themselves as and he was glaring straight ahead like finding a fixed point on the wall would keep him from committing murder. You knew the flight wouldn't be long, and after the amount of Bloody Marys you had consumed on the last plane, you were too buzzed to care.

As soon as your feet stepped down off of the stairs and onto the tarmac, you saw your family, waving and jumping on the side of the airstrip with a 'welcome home' sign. Oh boy. Here we go.

"Chad! Talk to me, champ." Max said loudly and you turned around to see he had put in his Bluetooth. It made you roll your eyes and you didn't bother to wait for him as you started towards your relatives.

Your mother was soft and sweet and the joy you felt as she squealed and threw her arms around your neck couldn't compare to any other kind of happiness. She smelled like home and fresh baked bread, like holiday candles and clean laundry--things that made you think of home. She pulled back to look at you like you had grown so much since she last saw you, despite being practically the same, and you laughed as she kissed each of your cheeks.

"Oh, I missed you!" She said, hugging you again before passing you off to your grandmother.

"Missed you, too, Mom. Hey, Nana," you said as you stooped down to hug the older woman.

Your mom paused and pulled you back close enough to sniff the air in front of you. "Honey, have you been drinking?"

“Oh--” you leaned back and shook your head, which was a mistake as the world spun just a little bit. “Of course not. There was a guy on the plane and he--”

"We don’t care about any of that," Your grandmother waved a hand to stop your mom from continuing to make a fuss over you. "Where's your man??"

You stopped breathing for a moment as you were suddenly reminded that you were lying to the people who loved you the most. With a bite of your lip, you looked over your shoulder and gestured to Max who was slowly making his way over to you and still talking on his earpiece.

"That's him, the one in the suit."

"Oh, my," your mom said, lowering her welcome sign and taking in the sight that was your boss and now assumed lover.

"You've been keeping that from us for five years?" Nana said as she elbowed you in the ribs and your mother glared at her. “He seems a bit overdressed.”

“Yeah,” you said, glancing down at your leggings, warm boots, and well worn over sized sweater in comparison to Max’s custom blue suit and silk tie. You hoped to god that Max had brought more suitable clothes for what was supposed to be a relaxing family oriented week in Alaska. “He does, doesn’t he?”

“Chad--I think I lost you. Can you hear me? Hello? Helloooo? Shit.” Max tapped the device in his ear repeatedly as he looked around like he would be able to see where there would be better signal. He had yet to acknowledge either you or your family and you clenched your fists at your side.

“Honey,” you said and Max had the audacity to hold up his finger to you as he continued to turn in a half circle. “Honey.” You tried again and finally you raised your voice curtly, “Max!”

“What?” he hissed and you reached up and took the earpiece out of his ear. It took everything you had not to turn and chuck it into the harbor. You gestured to your mom and grandmother and Max’s face changed into his large and inviting smile.

“We agreed not to bring work onto this trip, it’s family time, right?” You raised an eyebrow and he glared at you. “This is my mom and grandmother,” you gestured to them, keeping a firm hold on his Bluetooth and almost daring him to try and get it back.

“You won’t get any reception on that thing anyway, dear,” your grandma waved to Max and then around to the vast landscape. “Too many trees.” She took a few steps over to him and gave him a hug like he wasn’t a complete stranger. You had to give Max props, he hugged her back and managed not to look entirely uncomfortable as he silently worried she was going to wrinkle his suit. “Now, do you prefer to be called ‘Max’ or ‘Satan Reincarnated’? Because we’ve heard it both ways.” She laughed as she patted his chest and smiled up at him.

“Nana!” You looked at her wide-eyed and Max grinned from ear to ear. How was it that the elderly managed to get away with saying the most inappropriate things?

“Oh, have you?” he glanced at you and you felt your face get hot. “Max is fine. As long as I can call you Nana.” He continued to offer that grin that you knew to be his trademark salesman smile but it made your grandmother positively beam.

“Of course!” she said, patting his chest again and adjusting his pocket square. You ran a hand through your hair wanting to scream.

“Shall we?” You interjected and grabbed your suitcase with one hand and your mother’s arm with another. The two of you walked pointedly towards the edge of the pier and she looked at you with parental concern.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you reassured with a shake of your head, slowing down for Max and your grandma could catch up. “I’m just tired.” If you continued to lie this much you were certain your nose was going to grow pointed.

Your mother helped the elderly woman down the ladder that connected the main strip to the edge of the pier where the family speedboat was parked. The chill off of the water made you shiver, it was definitely coming up on winter time and with the constant overcast came icy waters and snow. Max was just lucky it wasn’t summer time as the non-stop sunlight would have been an issue.

Looking over the ladder and feeling your body sway without even being on the water, you were starting to regret the amount of drinks you had had on the plane. You put a hand to your lips as a small amount of indigestion came up to the middle of your throat. Max stopped beside you and held his hand out expectantly.

“I’ll take my headset back, thank you,” he snarled and you ignored him. “Are you going to be sick? Pull yourself together--”

“Pull myself together? Pull m--” you shook your head and slapped the small device into his hand. “Unbelievable, you’re unbelievable.”

“This is going to be a long fucking week,” he said, looking at the boat as your family settled in. “I’m not getting in that. I cannot get these wet. They’re Armani.” He gestured to his shoes and you vowed in that moment that if you did wind up vomiting, it would be on those shoes.

“Hence the boat,” you gestured. It was the only way of getting to the island that the tiny town resided on, you were happy to make him swim but somehow you doubted that would go over very well with your family. “Either you climb down or you can stay here and I’ll see you in a week--”

“Fine. Fine.” He stopped arguing and climbed down the ladder, hopping the last few rungs to land firmly on the pier. He held up his arms as you passed down the suitcases and tossed his shoulder bag to him and he placed them in the back of the boat. “Are you coming?” he added impatiently as you leaned heavily on the railing at the top of the ladder.

“Give me a minute,” you said through gritted teeth.

“I told you to eat something. You’re drunk--”

“I am not.” You argued with him, straightening your posture and turning around to climb down the ladder. You were going to prove him wrong even if it meant that you landed on your ass. It was simple, all you needed to do was put one foot down in front of the other and keep a tight hold. Rinse and repeat until your feet were firmly planted on the wooden boards--simple.

“Lookin’ good, sweetheart,” Max said, and you didn’t have to look to know he was staring up at your ass. “Those leggings are nice--are you wearing a thong?”

“Oh my god, shut up, Max,” you paused and leaned your head against the ladder, wanting to both strangle him and dive into the pier and let the ocean take you far away from the week ahead of you. After a few moments, you regained your sense of self and took a few more rungs down.

“Almost there,” he encouraged and you let out a heavy sigh. “There ya go--annnnd, congratulations. I am now five hundred years old.”

“Good for you, old man,” you quipped and tried to push passed him. Your boot caught on one of the loose boards and there was nothing to catch yourself on as you started to tumble. Despite refusing to admit that Max was right, maybe you should have eaten something. Your desperate attempt to forget your current situation was about to land you in the middle of the freezing gulf. You heard your mom gasp from the boat but instead of hitting the water, Max’s arm shot around your waist and pulled you back against his chest with ease.

You stumbled and grabbed the front of his suit coat as you tried to turn around and he tightened his grip. He looked down at you with a grin that was much different than the one he had been giving your family. “Got ya.”

“Nice going, Max!” your grandmother cheered and you knew there would be no living with him after this.

“Thank you,” you said curtly and tried to move from his arms but he didn’t release you.

“What, no kiss?” he smirked, keeping his voice low enough that your family couldn't hear him. “I did just save your life.”

“Let. go. of. me. Max.” You said through gritted teeth and you braced for him to force a kiss on you for the sake of your family, but to your surprise, he released you. The way he watched you as you climbed into the boat, all dark eyes and wide grin, sent a shiver down your spine.

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chickensarentcheap · 3 years

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Never Gonna Be Alone- Chapter 47

Title: Truth

Warnings: profanity, slight angst, mentions of suicide attempt, depression, mental health issues

Tagging: @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @miss-smutty, @tragiclyhip

“Esme told me. About your so-called girls trip. That it was nothing but bullshit.”

Sighing heavily, Riley leans back against one of the panes of glass; legs stretched out in front of her, arms folded across her chest. She’d only arrived an hour ago, and the initial joy and excitement of being rushed by a horde of children had been quickly replaced by frazzled nerves and nibbles of anxiety. The moment he’d approached when she’d been alone in the kitchen, she’d known it wasn’t with good intentions; the deep rumble of his voice, the tense shoulders and jaw, the increasing darkness taking over his eyes. And she’d barely gotten words of acknowledgment and acceptance out of her mouth when his fingers had curled around her upper arm and she found herself being manipulated her towards the sunroom. The door closing behind them and her brother in planting his large, strong frame directly in front of it.

She’s been witness to his ire; possessing a hair-trigger temper that’s been unleashed many times in her presence. Unsuspecting motorists in town that have come too close to his kids while in the crosswalk; profanities hurled in their direction, objects thrown at the car, a foot put through a headlight or front grill more than once. Overzealous parents at the soccer park or lacrosse field that believe their eight year old is the next athletic superstar; pacing the sidelines while screaming insults at teenaged referees and freaking out over poor play of their own kid or others on the field. Only to have a tattooed, six foot three, ‘built like a brick shit house’ coach storm across the grass to confront them on their bullshit; quietly yet intently calling them out and often physically escorting them away from the game. Or men that have the audacity to not just check his wife out, but make lewd remarks about her to their buddies or even attempt to follow her while making suggestive and highly sexualized comments. Never imagining that her husband is either just feet in front or behind her, or even across the street waiting to meet up with her.

They always regret their decision when they see him happen upon the scene; casually and calmly greeting her with a warm -albeit brief- embrace and a chaste kiss to the lips before turning his attention to the culprits. While some will put up a good fight and try to defend their egos and their masculinity by arguing with him, most attempt to apologize their way out of the mess they created. Stammering and stumbling over their words; frazzled and intimidated and even visibly shaking from the fear of getting their asses handed to them.

She’s even unintentionally wandered into the house while Tyler and Esme have been engrossed in a blow out themselves. Shortly after his release from the hospital; the horrific and constant pain and the frustration of slower than expected healing getting the better of him and causing to snap. Nothing too serious; raised voices and cupboards being slammed and plates and utensils being angrily tossed into the sink. By BOTH parties.

While seeing the actual explosion of his temper is bad enough, it’s the lead up that tends to be the scarier. The darkening of the eyes and the cold, fixed glare. The way his shoulders tense and his jaw clenches. The visible throbbing of the vein his neck; surgically repaired twelve and a half years after a teenager’s bullet that sliced through it and nearly taken his life. And while his height and his powerful build and the myriad of tattoos and scars are intimidating to most that come in contact with him, Tyler is not a threatening person. At least not intentionally. He’s normally quiet and reserved; taking the time to sit back and watch and listen to the people and the activity around him. Thoroughly analyzing and calculating every move they make and the words that come out of their mouths; assessing whether they both pose a threat and if they can be trusted and allowed into his extremely small, tight circle. Once you get to know him, you realize that while he’s a big man, he has an even bigger heart; compassionate and patient and possessing so much love and adoration for his wife and his children. Enormously protective; wanting nothing more for them to be happy and safe. And willing to do anything and everything to keep them that way.

She has never been on THIS side of the fence; the one being targeted by that intense and unwavering gaze. Not once getting on her brother in law’s bad side; enjoying the teasing and light hearted bickering and the backhanded compliments that their relationship has been built upon. Knowing what subjects to never broach and what lines to never -under any circumstances- cross; acknowledging and respecting his triggers and always doing her best to steer clear from them. A mutual respect exists between them; Tyler grateful for the never ending support that Riley provides her sister with, and Riley ever thankful for the world that he’s created for her sister. A man that loves her so profoundly and unconditionally; making her the centre of his universe and putting everything he has and everything he is into giving her a good life. Making her a mother; something she’d wanted for years and had given up hope on when things between her and Mark had gone so wrong. A hands-on father and a partner in every possible way; devoting every spare minute he has to her and his kids and doing whatever he can to make amazing memories for all of them to carry into adulthood. She’s never seen Esme THAT happy; peaceful and content despite all of the issues that have plagued them and the rocky terrain they’ve covered together and the scarier than hell situations they’ve gone through. Somehow making her even stronger than before; resilient and phenomenally patient, yet ferociously protective when need be.

“I told her she needed to tell you,” Riley says, and nervously drums the fingernails on her right hand against the wine glass clutched tightly in her right. “That it had gone on long enough; her keeping that a secret. That you had the right to know and…”

“I had a right to know WHEN it happened,” Tyler interjects. “What I can’t figure out is why no one realized that then. Why you didn’t tell me. Why you kept it a secret.”

“She asked me not to. Said that it was better if you didn’t know. She was worried what it would do to you; putting that kind of extra worry and stress on you when you were already going through your own shit.”

“And you agreed with her?”

“No. I didn’t. I argued against it, actually. Right away I told her that it was a bad idea; keeping that kind of thing from you.”

“But....”

“But when Esme gets something into her head, it’s hard to sway her from it. You know that better than anyone. You don’t easily change her mind when it’s dead set on something. She was convinced it would be bad for you. That hearing something like that could trigger you and bring on an episode and…”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“She was worried, Tyler. About the issues it might cause. And I told her that you were a lot stronger than she was giving you credit for; you were more than capable of taking care of your shit AND hers. But she was adamant to do things her way and I didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was. I didn’t want to make her worse.”

“You should have called me. Right after you got off the phone with her. As soon as she told you how she was feeling, you should have hung and got a hold of me and told me what was going on.”

“It wasn’t my place to tell you. She asked me to help her, and I did. I went over to the house and I stayed with her and the kids. I did everything I could to calm her down and talk her off the edge…”

“That should have been MY job. I should have been the one to do all of that.”

“Well you weren’t exactly around, were you. You were thousands of miles away. On a job. A lot of good you could have done being all the way in Brazil. Instead of home with your family.”

A smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t do that. Don’t turn this around on me. What I do for a living and how I provide for my family is none of your business. I’m not the same guy I was when I met your sister. I’m not that deep in it anymore.”

“You run a mercenary business. You may not be the one going out there and putting your ass on the line and killing people, but you’re still sending other guys to do it. Your hands aren’t clean, Tyler. Don’t pretend they are. I don’t care what you do or what you used to do. I don’t care how many lives you’ve taken or HOW you took them. But don’t act like you’re innocent. Not with your track record.”

“This isn’t about me or what I do for a living or what I send other people to do. None of that matters. That’s business. It has no bearing on my personal life. I’m not the same guy when I’m working as I am when I’m at home. When I’m a husband and a father. That’s the only thing you should give a shit about. How I treat your sister. And I love her and I will do anything to protect her.”

“You wouldn’t have to do that if you didn’t do what you do,” Riley counters. “ Do you ever stop and think about that? How you wouldn’t have this fear of something happening to her or someone hurting her if you weren’t who you are?”

“I wouldn’t have met Esme if I wasn’t who I am. You seem to forget that part. That she was in it just as much as I was. That she was working WITH me. She’d been in the game for a while; before she ever met me. So she’s not entirely innocent herself, is she. If she had been, she never would have shown up on my doorstep that day. I never would have laid eyes on her. There’d be no us and there’d be no kids. And your sister and those kids? Best damn things that ever happened to me.”

“I don’t deny that. Same way I don’t deny how much you love her. Or that you’d do anything for her. But she asked me to keep it a secret. She wanted to protect you.”

“And you just went along with it.”

“Against my better judgement, yeah, I did. I didn’t call you because I didn’t need your help. I had it under control. I got her calm and off the ledge and…”

“I should have been the one doing all of that. And if you’d just called me…”

“And what? What would you have done? What could you have possibly said that would have been any better than what came out of my mouth? Look, I understand; I get why you’re pissed. She shouldn’t have lied to you. And I told her that.”

“ You should have never kept that from me. You should have told me what happened. The things that she said. That she was that bad off. That she was going to hurt herself.”

“I don’t think she was going to do it. I think she was anxious and panicking and scared and,...”

“It doesn’t matter if she was going to do it or not!” he argues. “The fact she even said it is bad enough. And you should have told her you weren’t going to lie for her. You should have told her to fuck off when she even brought up this bullshit of wanting to protect me. And you should have called me and told me and I would have come home. Right away.”

“It wasn’t my place to tell you. She asked me to help her and keep it a secret and I did. Because she’s my sister.”

“She’s my wife!” he snarls. “The mother of my children. And I’m sorry if it pisses you off that both those things trump her being your sister. Don’t even compare the two. I’m her husband. I had every goddamn right to know what happened!”

“You did,” Riley admits. “But I’ll hold firm that it wasn’t my place to tell you.”

“My wife tells you that she wants to kill herself and you don’t think it’s your place to tell me that? What if you weren’t around, Riley? What if you didn’t live right next door? Or even in Australia.? What if she hadn’t been able to call you for help?”

“It doesn’t matter. Because I DO live there.”

“It fucking matters to me. What if she’d tried to call you and couldn’t get a hold of you? What then? What if she had decided to go through with it? You know what have happened? One of my kids would have found her. They would have wondered why mummy wasn’t up in the morning to make them breakfast and get them off to school. And they would have gone in there and found her. Dead. Kids, Riley. MY kids.”

“I never thought of that. I never…”

“Do you know what that would have done to them? Finding their mother like that? Do you know how bad that would have fucked them up for the rest of their life? If they’d seen that?”

Struggling to hold back a flood of tears, she takes a swallow of wine in an attempt to wash away the lump of emotion threatening to choke her. “I just never considered all of that.”

“I know what it’s like to lose your mother. At a really young age. It screwed me up. And it continues to screw me up; everything that came after it and all the bullshit I went through because of my father. And the way I lost her? That was bad enough. But it would have been nowhere like how my kids would have lost their mother.”

“I’m sorry, Tyler. I never…”

“I had a right to know. As soon as she told you how she felt and what was going through her head? You should have called me. I would have been on the next plane home. There is nothing in this world that is more important than her. Nothing.”

“I know that. I know how you feel about her. I see it every time you look at her. The way you smile at her and always find little ways to touch her. The way you watch her when she talks. I’ve always seen that. And you’re right; I should have called you. But my main concern was taking care of her. Making sure SHE was okay. I did what she asked.”

“What stopped you from telling me after you got her settled? Once you realized she was going to be okay. What stopped you from calling me? Some stupid fucking promise you made to her?”

“It wasn’t a stupid fucking promise. She was trying to protect you. She didn’t want to put it on you. Didn’t want to take the risk of it causing you issues. And I have to say, I agreed with her. To an extent.”

“I’m not some fragile fucking piece of china you have to coddle and keep away from everyone. I’m a grown ass man. And I may be messed up and have mountains of shit I deal with every day, but I am more than capable of taking care of your sister. Of my wife.”

“I know. I know you are. And I’m sorry that it came out this way. That she waited this long to tell you. I’m sorry that…”

“Don’t.” Tyler holds up a hand to silence her.. “Don’t do that. Don’t put all the blame on her. I get where she’s coming from; she’s neurotic and she worries about me and she’s got it in her head that she needs to protect me the same way I do her. Doesn’t matter how many times I tell her I don’t need it or that I don’t want her doing it; she’s going to go ahead with it anyway. But you? Going along with that? When you know what she means to me? How can you stand here and defend this? Act like it’s no big deal that you kept this from me? What the fuck, Riley?”

“I said I was sorry. That you had to find out this way. That it took this long. What more do you want from me?”

“How about admitting you fucked up? That you never should have gone along with it. That you should have called me. How about admitting all THAT?”

“Let’s get something straight, Tyler. You’re not my boss. I’m not one of your ‘guys’. You don’t dictate how I do things. You don’t question my decisions. You don’t chastise me for ‘bad behaviour’. I love you. I think you’re a great guy. In the same way I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to Me-Me. I think you’re an amazing husband and an even better father. But you’re my brother in law. That’s it. I have no ties to you other than through my sister and my nieces and nephews. My loyalty lies with Esme. First and foremost. And I’m sorry that you think this is some horrible betrayal. I did what my sister asked. That’s it.”

“What you did was wrong. And you fucking know it. We aren’t just talking about some girl, Riley. We’re talking about my wife. The mother of my children. My SEVEN children. The woman that I love more than anything in this world. Who I love more than I ever thought I could love another human being. Who saved my life. And if you can’t understand why you should have told me…”

A knock comes to the door, followed by the rattling of the handle .“Dad?” TJ’s voice from the other side. “Can I come in?”

“Not right now, mate. Auntie Riley and I are talking about some stuff. That little ears don’t need to hear.”

“Mum wanted me to check on you. To make sure you were alright. You’ve been a little...off...for a few days.”

“Tell your mum I’m okay. That there’s nothing for her to worry about.”

“Yeah...right…” TJ scoffs. “This is mum we’re talking about. She worries no matter what. You think you’d be used to it by now. You’ve only been married to her for like a hundred years.”

“Twelve,” he informs his son. “In October. Feels like it’s been a hundred years some days.”

“I won’t tell her you said that. I know how much you hate sleeping on the couch. Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“Everything’s fine, Teej. I’ll be out in a few minutes. Go and get washed up for dinner, okay? Make sure your brothers and sisters do too. Food will be here soon.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“You’re gettin’ as bad as your mum. I’m fine. Everything’s good. Go and do as I said. Tell mum I won’t be much longer.”

“Alright,” TJ reluctantly agrees, and Tyler waits until he hears him walk away; heavy, stomping footsteps across the kitchen floor as he shouts the information from one end of the house to the other.

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree when it comes to this,” Riley says, and downs the remains of her wine. “I’m sorry that I didn’t call you. That my main priority was my sister and not calling you.”

“For the last time, your sister is my wife. And my main priority is her. Twelve and half years. That’s how long I’ve been with her. That’s how long I’ve been going through hell and back with her. FOR her. You don’t even know the half of what we’ve been through together. The crap that we’ve dealt with. I’m the one that’s been there; by her side through every fucking shitty thing that’s been thrown us. I’m the one that’s gotten her through a lot of hard times. The one that’s talked her down and kept her calm. Who’s been stepping up and being there for her no matter what I’m going through. So don’t you stand here and tell me that I couldn’t have done a better job than you when it comes to taking care of MY wife .”

“I could have been there for her too, you know. And I would have been had you NOT moved her all the way to the other side of the goddamn world.”

“You know who you sound like right now? When you say that? I’ll give you three guesses but you’re only going to need one.”

Riley scowls. “Don’t you even go there. I am nothing like her. I’m the one that accepted you into the family. I’m the one that saw how good you were with her. FOR her. I’ve always been on your side, Tyler. Even when everyone else was against you and I ended up getting alienated for it. Kicked out of my own family because I always defended you. Because Esme was happy and in love with you and I could tell you felt the same way about her.”

“So you were on my side. So what? You want some kind of award for it? A fucking cookie? You were a kid, Riley. You weren’t even a senior in high school when we moved to Colorado. You had no clue what happened. Why we had to leave Australia, how we were broke as fuck and ended up living in your folks’ basement. It broke your sister’s heart to leave. We didn’t have much, but we were happy there. Happier than either of us had been in a long time. She had someone that loved her and a beautiful baby girl and she didn’t want much more than that.”

“You’re right. I don’t know the details. I don’t know the reason you guys came back. I WAS a kid. And totally absorbed in my own world. But it didn’t mean that I didn’t care about my sister. Or miss her. That I wasn’t glad she was back.”

“She never wanted to go back to Colorado. That was all me. All my idea. And she went along with it and she tried to make the best of it and it nearly fucking destroyed us. You have no clue how bad things got. The issues that being there caused. How close we came to ending everything. All she ever wanted was to be back in Australia. She would cry about it at night; tell me that she wasn’t happy and that she was worried being back in the States was going to destroy us. And it came close. So fucking close.”

“I didn’t know that. I know that you had some problems. That you started drinking again and got back into the job and the pills and…”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know. That we’ve kept back. From everyone connected to her family. I didn’t just move your sister to the other side of the world. I gave her what she wanted. I busted my ass to make it happen; to get her back there. To get her home. Because that’s where she wanted to be. So don’t fucking pretend you know what we went through and don’t ever accuse me of taking her away from you. Because that’s not what happened. That’s just what you’ve been told.”

“It is,” she admits. “That’s exactly what I was told. I mean, I knew most of it wasn’t true. I knew you weren’t controlling or abusive and that you didn’t force her to go back. I knew you weren’t that kind of guy. But I WAS a kid. And still stupid enough to believe most of the bullshit that was being fed to me.”

“When I say there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for your sister, I mean it. They aren’t just empty words. I’m not just saying it to hear myself talk or to make her feel better. I say it because it’s one hundred percent true. And had you called me, I would have been on the first flight home. I would have said ‘fuck the job’ and got on the next plane out of there. So I could help my wife.”

“I’m sorry, Tyler. I SHOULD have called you. But I was so worried about her and I thought what I was doing was right for her.”

“You played a really dangerous game with my wife’s life. Do you realize that? How badly it all could have backfired on you? How one little thing could have set her off? If you’d just called me, I could have talked her down. I could have gotten her off that ledge. A lot easier and a lot quicker than you did.”

“You don’t know that. You don’t…”

“I DO know that. Because I’m the one that she needed. I’ve always been the one she’s needed. And that’s not just going to stop. Not until I’m dead and buried and I can’t do it anymore. What she wanted at that time and what was best for her, were two totally different things. And the fact you didn’t realize that? That you played this fucking game with her life?”

“That’s not what I was trying to do. At all. I thought I was doing what was best for Esme. That’s what we both want, right? To do what’s best for her?”

“That wasn’t what was best for her. That was possibly the WORST thing for her. I know she’s your sister, but I’ve shared a life with her for more than a decade now. I think I know her a hell of a lot better than you do.”

“Of course you do. What the two of you have? That love? That bond? That’s way more than she’s ever had before. With anyone.”

“Don’t ever play a game like that again, Not when it comes to Esme. You have no idea what it would do to me to lose her. What it would do to my kids. HER kids. So don’t you ever again underestimate my ability to take care of my wife. Don’t you EVER get in between me and her again.”

Riley approaches him; slowly and cautiously, palms raised in both surrender and a plea for calm. “That is NOT what I meant to do. I would NEVER do that. I wasn’t trying to cause issues between the two of you. I was trying to help her. That’s it.”

“Well you almost made an even bigger mess, so…” his words trails off and he takes a step back when she attempts to embrace him. “...don’t do that. Don’t touch me. We’re not back at that point. We won’t be for a while. I’m not the kind of guy that just hugs it out, you know?”

“I’m trying here, Tyler. I’m sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. For the lie to get as far as it did. I told her to tell you. I told her…”

“Oh my god…” he chuckles and shakes his head incredulously. “...you just don’t get it. You either didn’t listen to a goddamn word I said or you don’t give a fuck. You never should have went along with it. It’s as simple as that. You should have called me. So I could take care of my wife. But you didn’t. You fucked up. You caused all of this. Don’t put all the blame on her. I won’t let you do that.”

“Can we at least agree that we both want what’s best for her? That even if we DO make mistakes, all that we really want is what’s best for Esme?”

“I think that’s one thing we CAN agree on.”

“And can we go out there and at least pretend to be friends? I don’t want to make things worse on her. You know she’s struggling. That she’s having a really hard time right now. Can we at least do our best to not make things harder for her?”

“Yeah…” he nods. “...I can do that.”

“I really am sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t think things through better. But I really did think I was handling it fine. That I was doing what was best for her. For my sister.”

“I know what’s best for her. For my wife. Even more than she does. So I appreciate your help, but I think you need to step back and realize that you don’t know shit. Not when it comes to this kind of thing. Next time...and I hope to hell there isn’t a next time...you call me. Regardless of what she says.”

“I will,” she promises. “I definitely will.”

“This ends here. What we talked about, the things that were said. She doesn’t need to know. It’s better if she doesn’t. If she asks, we had a heated discussion and disagreed on a lot but we got through it. What really happened doesn’t go further from this room. Understand me?”

Riley nods.

“Don’t you ever question my loyalty or my ability to take care of my wife,” he warns, then turns on his heel and heads for the door.

*****

It’s shortly after midnight when she hears his footfalls on the stairs. The sound familiar and comforting; the slight drag of the right leg, the soft creaks as wood shifts and flexes under his weight. Three hours ago he’d gone upstairs to tend to the kids’ bedtime routines; keeping the older yet easily distracted ones on track, giving the littlest their baths and combing out the girls’ hair and helping them into their pyjamas. Since her confession earlier in the day, he’s been even more hands on and attentive than usual. Practically glued to her side and quick with the affection; spontaneous hugs or arms wrapped tightly around her from behind, gentle fingers combing through her hair and tucking it behind her ears, kisses pressed to her forehead or temple or corners of her mouth. Insisting on either helping her with things around the house or refusing to do anything at all; ordering to sit back and relax and let him and the kids take care of her for a change.

While it had been both welcome and appreciated, she’d also been well aware that he’d been overcompensating. Her admittance to thoughts of self harm and suicide not doubt a kick to the gut; opening his eyes to just to the depths and the extent of her own issues, and feeding into his number one fears. It’s always been his worst nightmare; losing her unexpectedly and to something he could have controlled, or at least prevented. Illness and an accident on the road are horrific in their own way; a disease that eats away at her and eventually kills her, or something that suddenly and unexpectedly occurs and snatches her out of his life. But to lose her to something he could have stepped in and stopped is completely unacceptable in his eyes. An assailant he could have fought off or at least prevented from getting closer to her. An action by her own hand would be something he’d never considered. In twelve and a half years she’s never spoken of harming herself; the one who’d had to stop him from taking his own life.

It had definitely blindsided him; how close he’d come to losing her and never even realizing there’d ever been the potential of it. And not being told sooner had devastated him. She’d seen the pain in his eyes; the hurt and the anger and the feeling of betrayal. He’s always stepped up and taken care of her regardless of his own issues and suffering; pushing everything aside to focus solely on her and what she needs.

Her not relying on him in the moment had done more damage than actually carrying on the lie. HE should have been the one she called. Confident he would have been able to calm her down and talk her off the ledge; giving him the time to get home and concentrate on her problems and her needs. And he would have done it; abandoned the job in favour of returning to Australia and focusing solely on her. But she hadn’t been in her right frame of mind; immediately believed that she had to protect HIM.

She definitely regrets THAT decision. And for keeping it a secret as long as she did.

“Hey,” she greets, looking up from the tablet resting on her thighs as he reaches the bottom landing. Clad in a pair of shorts made from cut up sweats and an old and tattered muscle shirt; the fabric littered with messes composed of dried paint, tiny hand prints infused with glitter, and stains made by various baby ‘accidents’ over the years. Hair messy and sticking up in several different directions; a pout curving his lips and the heels of his palms pressing into his weary eyes.

Twelve and half years later and he still brings about so many emotions and reactions. From lust to adoration to love and even melting because of moments of sheer adorableness; this big -and often intimidating- heavily tattooed man that possesses the strength and know how to kill with his bare hands often so cute and pure that her heart -and her hormones- can barely handle it.

“Hey,” Tyler says in return, pausing to lock the front door and set the alarm before switching off the foyer light and padding into the living room. “You’re awake.”

“I was going to say the same thing to you. You’ve been up there for a hell of a long time. I wasn’t sure if you’d crashed hard or been abducted by aliens. Or if you were just avoiding me. Like the plague.”

“Well I’m happy to report that no aliens showed up and anally probed me.”

“Your worst nightmare,” she grins. “Anyone getting anywhere near your ass.”

“I let you near my ass.”

“Let me rephrase it. Anyone exploring your ass with more than a finger.”

“First off, you’re disturbing. Second, I had three little ones fall asleep on me. Before that, one story turned into two, two turned into three, three turned into a dozen. Can you maybe burn all the copies of Goodnight Moon? Can they mysteriously disappear? Because I have been reading that damn thing almost every night for almost twelve years. What’s left of my sanity can’t take it anymore.”

“You know, instead of resorting to burning books, you could always say no to your children.”

"Yeah, not gonna happen.” He drops down heavily beside her. “I did crash, by the way. In Addie’s bed. I just woke up about ten minutes ago. She kicked me right in the nuts. Good thing you don’t want anymore kids.”

“There’s something so cute about that.”

He frowns. “About her kicking me in the balls?”

“No. About you falling asleep there. This big, burly guy with all his tattoos and scars totally crashed in a frilly canopy bed fit for a princess. I would have LOVED a picture of that.”

“Sorry to disappoint. None exist. You don’t get a chance to publicly humiliate me on social media. Not on this night, anyway.” Sighing, he pinches the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger, then stretches out his legs and places his bare feet on the coffee table. “And why would I have been avoiding you? What would be the reason for that?”

“Well I did fuck up. HUGE. And I did hurt your feelings. And offend you. All at once.”

“We talked about it. We said shit we needed to say. It’s done. Over with. Let’s keep it that way, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she agrees, and slides closer to him on the couch; tucking her feet under her body as she snuggles into his side. “Let’s.”

Wrapping an arm around her petite frame, he drops a kiss on the top of her head. “What are you doing?”

“Looking up ideas for the backyard.” She holds the tablet up for him to see; an image of a tiny cottage made of distressed white wood and boasting a shingled roof and a sunlight and pink shutters on the windows. “We finally have the opportunity to totally concentrate on it. All the renos out of the way, all the garages and the granny flat are built, the pool house has been redone. Now we can work on other things. What do you think? It’s a she shed. I would LOVE a she shed.”

“That’s what they’re actually called? I’ve been calling them bitch barns.”

“You would,” she frowns, and he chuckles when she digs an elbow into his ribs. “Think you could build it?”

“Shouldn’t be hard. I’ve built a lot more complicated. And if you really DO want one, I’ll get on it. Soon as we get home.”

“I really do. Want one.”

“Then a bitch barn you shall have.”

She scowls.

“She shed,” he quickly corrects. “A SHE SHED you shall have.”

“And I was thinking a fire bowl. For the corner of the first floor deck. Closest to the pool. One of those propane ones. With the coloured glass stones. We could build a seating area around it, maybe get another swing to hang near it.”

“Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it. Just buy what you need or give me a list and I’ll take care of it. You know I really don’t care about this kind of stuff. I mean, it’s not that I don’t. It’s just that I trust you and you always pick out nice shit and it always looks great when it’s done.”

“You really ARE the best husband on earth,” Esme declares, and presses a kiss to the side of his neck; lips covering the scar long ago left behind by Farhad’s bullet and the surgery to repair the vein.

Smiling, he gives her hip a gentle squeeze and then runs her palm over her ribs and up onto her arm. Tightly clasping her shoulder as he presses a kiss to her forehead. “I try. All I wanna do is make my girl happy. And if what makes her happy is making the house look nice and wanting it to be beautiful and comfortable for all of us, then I’ll do whatever she needs me to do to make that all happen.”

“You DO trust me,” she chides, and leans forward to set the tablet on the coffee table before once more snuggling into him; arms circling his waist and her head resting on his chest. “How do you know I’m not going to buy stuff you’ll hate? That I’m not going to go crazy with the pastels? Or pink? Addie would LOVE that. We do share a favourite color, after all.”

“First of all, I know how much you love colour. The brighter the better. Second, you’d never do that; just buy stuff that you’ll like. You’ve NEVER done it. Not once in the past twelve and a half years. If you know I’ll hate, you won’t do it. That’s just not how you work.”

“Damn it,” she grumbles, and playfully pinches the sensitive area below his right ribcage. “That’s what I get for being so predictable.”

“It’s not that you’re predictable. It’s just that I know you. Very well. Better than you know yourself sometimes. Isn’t that kind of our ‘thing?’. Knowing one another better than we know ourselves?”

“Been our thing since almost day one. It’s kind of weird, don’t you think? As screwed up and as damaged as we were, we just...I don’t know...took to each other.”

“Is that before or after I tried to choke you out?” he chides.

“It was almost like we’d known each other for years. We knew what the other was thinking, we could express things to one another without even using words. We trusted each other. And it’s not like trust came easily to either of us. But for some reason, we knew we could. We had faith in one another.”

“My instincts told me you were good people. That I COULD trust you. And what do you always say? About how good my instincts are?”

“You have incredible instincts. They’ve never lied to you. At least not as long as I’ve known you. I have to say…” she grins up at him “...I’m quite happy that they thought I was good people.”

“It’s pretty safe to say I’m happy about that too.” Giving her shoulder another squeeze, Tyler slides his arm further up and wraps it around her neck, pulling her flush against him as he kisses her. Nothing urgent nor intense; fingertips and the pad of his thumb repeatedly grazing along her jaw as his lips move slowly and sinuously against hers. Her eyes still closed when he pulls away; the bridge of her nose wrinkling when he presses a kiss to the tip of it. “I feel like ice cream,” he announces. “Want some ice cream?”

“Hmmm…” She tilts her head to the side, crinkles on the bridge of nose deepening as she considers it. “...cheese toast.”

“And ice cream?”

“Why not? You only live once. Do you think we could have sex afterwards? My cramps went away and my period isn’t due for two weeks, so…”

“We can have sex first and then cheese toast and ice cream?”

She frowns. “Naww. Cheese toast first.”

“Are you telling me you’re picking cheese toast over having sex with your husband? Do you realize how hurtful that is? How offended I am?”

“I’m sorry! You know there’s anything in this world that’s better than sex with you. Nothing. But I’m hungry. And...well...this is cheese toast we’re talking about. You know how much I love cheese toast.”

“You claim to love ME, but I dunno…”

Her fingers fidget with loose strands of thread on the neckline of his tank. “Don’t be like that. You damn well know that I love you. Don’t want me at full strength? You don’t want me running on an empty tank do you? Because then I’ll get tired easily and I won’t be at my best and…”

“Won’t bother me. Your best is only at a B plus.”

“B plus! You asshole!” She aggressively ruffles his hair, then laughs when he curls an arm around her waist and dumps her onto her back. “You’re mean,” she dramatically pouts, as he places a foot on the floor and a knee on the couch beside her; palms above her head and pressed flat against the cushion as he looms over her.

“The meanest. But you know what?” He places a small peck on each corner of her mouth, then her lips. “I will still make you your goddamn cheese toast.”

“I knew you loved me,” she says, and then curls two fingers around the chain that dangles around his neck and pulls him into a kiss. Long and deep and intense; legs wrapping around his waist and her ankles locking together at the small of his back.

He grins down at her. “So is this a yes to having sex BEFORE cheese toast and ice cream?”

“It’s a promise to have sex with you AFTER cheese toast and ice cream.”

“Don't do me any favours,” he grumbles playfully, kissing her a final time before reaching around to pry her ankles apart. “You know….” he grimaces at the stiffness in the small of his back as he stands. “...you’re damn lucky you’re so cute. That I love you as much as I do.”

“Yes. Yes I am,” she agrees, and slides off the couch and follows him through the living and dining rooms and into the kitchen. Lending a hand by gathering bowls and spoons from the drainboard next to the sink; carrying them to the island and then perching on the edge of one of the barstools. “They’re all asleep? All the beasts?”

“Every last one. Even Millie and Alannah crashed earlier than usual. That’s a nice change; none of their bloody laughing and raiding the fridge and waking me up at three am.”

“We’re going to have to think about where she is going to go when we get back home. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to keep those two in the same room. I would like to have some semblance of sleep. All the square footage we added and all the rooms we made, and suddenly there is no room at the inn.”

“Could always clean out the garage and make another bedroom in there. It’s only going to be temporary, yeah? She’s not staying with us forever. I hope. I love the kid, but…”

“What about the granny flat? We added one above the new gym but it hasn’t been used yet. Could put her in there.”

“She’s eleven. We are NOT giving an eleven year old her own apartment.”

“What about the den? Downstairs. It WAS a guest room at one point in time. That’s where you stayed. After Dhaka Part Two.”

“I kind of already told Tanner he could use that for his science experiments.” He gives her a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

“We could always put Brookie in with Addie. I’d say the other way around, but Addie will not give up her princess room. For ANYONE. I don’t even want to attempt trying to convince her to. Brookie won’t give a shit. She’s not attached to things like Addie is. She’d sleep out on the hammock every night if we let her.”

“She’d also do anything for Addie. She told me that Peanut’s her best friend. That that’s why she even agreed to tag along to the American Girl thing. Because Addie is her bestie and she asked Brookie to go with her.”

“One upside to having them close together. Friends for life. Unless one of them turns into a total dick head and completely ruins things.”

“I highly doubt either of our girls are going to turn into ‘he who shall not be named’. Things were always toxic when you were growing up. Our kids aren’t in that same kind of environment. We’re making damn sure of it. We aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but…”

“But we aren’t totally fucking up our children. We’re actually giving them a good home. A healthy one. Which is kind of surprising considering most behaviour is learned and neither of us grew up with the healthiest of parent child relationships.”

“We just went the opposite way. Instead of turning out like what we knew, we made sure we didn’t.”

“A lot of people aren’t that lucky, you know. A lot fall into the same patterns. Repeat the same mistakes.”

“Well we aren’t a lot of people, are we. I think we’ve shown that a time or two.”

“Do you remember what Gaspar said? About how two broken people can’t come together and make a whole?”

Tyler frowns. “I try NOT to remember anything he said.”

“He said that they’d only make things worse. Make EACH OTHER worse. I like to think he was wrong.”

“He was wrong about a lot of things. Not just that. Take it from the source, babe. Don’t take anything he said to heart.”

“He seemed a little too invested in what was going on between us. What was it to him? What did it matter whether we were hooking up or not?”

“He was just worried I’d get distracted. That I’d let my feelings take over and forget everything else.”

“More like he was worried your dick would run the show. Not your head. And that would be dangerous.”

“Something like that.”

Popping two pieces of bread into the toaster, he pushes down the level and then turns his back towards it; facing his wife as he leans back against the counter. He’ll never tell her the whole truth; Gaspar attempting to convince him that she was simply using him as a way out of Dhaka. That ‘putting out’, showering a profoundly damaged and lonely man with affection and want, and promising an attempt at a future would guarantee her his full attention ; that he’d stop at nothing to make sure she survived the ordeal. Even before Gaspar had shown all his cards and brought up the ten million dollar deal, Tyler hadn’t believed a word of what he was saying. He hadn’t been in that cramped and squalid hotel room. He didn’t hear the deep and intense conversations that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning; the confessions made and the fears talked about and the tears shed. It hadn’t been just sex. A connection had been made and a foundation laid down. Wrong place, wrong time. Perhaps a little too quick by society’s standards. But it had been nothing like Tyler had ever experienced. And he’d felt no need to either explain that to Gaspar, or defend it.

“Did he say anything to you? About me?”

“Other than he thought I was thinking with the wrong head? No. Not a damn thing.”

“Just the offer.”

Tyler nods.

“He didn’t say anything about me? Even leading up to that? Seems weird. That he’d just bring the offer up out of nowhere.”

“What does it matter? It’s almost thirteen years ago. Why are we even talking about it? About HIM? None of that should matter anymore.

“Just some things made me think about it. Shit that he said to me. When he cornered me in the upstairs. I don’t know what brought it up. Sometimes it happens; it hits me out of nowhere. But you’re right…” She sighs heavily and manages a smile. “...it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I know it makes you a little testy. Even now. What he did.”

“He’s dead. That’s what he deserved. Makes no sense to go back and dig him up.”

“It doesn’t,” she agrees, and then thankfully changes the subject. “You know, I really need to get my shit together. We go back home in five days and I have done nothing to prepare for it. I’m usually so far ahead of the game by now. Do you realize how much has to be packed away? Things I need to box up and have shipped because we won’t be able to take everything on the plane?”

“Do you realize you’re not the only adult in the house and there’s someone fully prepared to help out? WE have a lot to do. Not just you. We’ll start today.”

“You have your little shopping trip with Desi today,” she reminds him. “No way are you skipping out on that. He’s been going on and on about it for DAYS. He will legit ugly cry if you bail on him.”

“Then we start when I get back. Doubt I’ll be gone that long. You’ve gone shopping with me. In and out in half an hour.”

“You are in for a rude awakening. Going shopping with Desi is a whole other experience in itself. That man LOVES his fashion and his bling and he doesn’t go home until he’s exhausted every square inch of his favourite stores. Takes him half an hour just to decide what side of the store to start on first.”

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

“He wants to play dress up with you. Use you as his little doll. He sees the potential. He’s going to get you into some three thousand dollar suits and some skinny jeans and…”

“It’ll be a cold day in hell when I wear skinny jeans. What is wrong with the way I dress?”

“Nothing. I don’t care what you wear. You look good in whatever you put on. That being said, I prefer when you’re taking your clothes OFF…”

“I don’t want to be his little plaything. His science experiment. Why can’t I just be who I am? Why do I have to change? As long as you’re not complaining…”

“Like I said, I don’t care what you wear. You always look good. But Desi wants to do this with you. He wants to dress you up and make you look good. Fashionable. He wants to see you in some Huge Boss and some Gucci and some Tom Ford.”

“I’m more comfortable in shit from Target.”

“Just humour him. He’s got amazing fashion sense. It won’t hurt to have a few of Desi’s staples and favourites in your closet. And personally? I’d kill to see you in a pair of skinny jeans. They’d make your ass look incredible. Or even more incredible than it already is. Not to mention you’ve got those crazy, long ass legs.”

“Why don’t you just cut to the chase and say you want me to buy a pair? Because if you want me to…”

“Nope. Has to be your decision. I’m not telling you what to do. But I will say the thought of you in skinny jeans? Totally makes me hot for you. Hotter than you usually make me, And that’s pretty damn hot.”

He stares at her pointedly, then returns to spreading thick layers of Cheese Whiz on two pieces of toast.

“Just saying. They would. Did I not go out and buy TWO sexy outfits for you? To wear on New Year's Eve? Not just one, babe. TWO. And believe me, they are way out of my comfort zone. But it’s what you wanted so I went and found ones I thought you’d find incredibly hot. And just might make you self combust in record time.”

“I’m not supposed to do that until AFTER I get you out of the outfits.”

“You said sexy, so I got sexy. And think about it. Think about how hot you make me on a regular basis. Extremely hot, right? So if I say you in skinny jeans would make me even MORE hot…”

“So if I put them on whenever I want sex, I’ll immediately get it?”

Esme nods. “More than likely.”

“And if I want to add to my mile high club points, I just need to wear them on the plane?”

“If your children aren’t there, yup.”

“Fine.” He sets the plate of toast down in front of her. “I’ll get the damn skinny jeans. But I don’t ever want to hear you say I never do anything nice for you.”

“I never say that to begin with, so…” she tilts her face up towards him, hand on his hip as he leans down to peck her lips.

She never tires of it. The random embraces; wrapping his arms around her from behind while she stands at the stove or the washing machine or while standing in front of the bathroom sink brushing her teeth. Curling an arm around her waist and pulling her tightly into his side during their walks on the beach or always taking her hand while strolling through town. The little unexpected kisses; placed up on her temples or cheeks or the corners of her mouth or dropped onto the top of her head. Even at the dinner table or while sitting on the couch he always finds a way to maintain physical contact; sides of thighs touching or a foot resting against hers, shoulders or elbows lightly pressed together. It had taken years for him to open up to both accepting and giving affection; a childhood wracked with horrendous abuse and no love shown, a first marriage whose novelty had worn off quick and gone cold and stale, years building up walls around his heart to avoid connecting with anyone and therefore preventing the brutal sting of loss.

Out of nowhere it had all come together, and the change in him was like night and day. He didn’t initially stiffen up when embraced and became quick with the touches and the hugs and the kisses. Suddenly comfortable with both verbal and physical expressions of adoration and love. Now she cherishes every single moment of it. Knowing how far he’s come and how hard he’s had to work; so willing to sacrifice personal comfort to be the kind of man he felt she wanted, needed, AND deserved.

“You’re kinda cute, you know that,” she comments, biting into a slice of toast as she watches him; the way the muscles in his arms bulge and twist with even the simple task of scooping ice cream. It never gets old. Seeing the way his body moves and how it feels under her fingertips; hard muscle and smooth skin that boosts a handful of scars of various shapes and sizes.

He casts a grin over his shoulder. “Just kinda?”

“Very cute,” she declares. “And hot. And sexy. And oh so fuckable.”

“All those things rolled into one, huh?”

“You’re quite the catch,” she says, leaning back against him when he stands behind her stool; tilting her head back and smiling up at him as he reaches past her body to set the bowls on the counter. “I lucked out. I knew you had potential. The day I met you in your little shack. I knew a good thing when I saw it.”

“I was half in the bag and feeling pretty damn good from Oxy. Hardly a good thing.”

“Please, you looked so freaking hot. With that shirt tight around your arms and your kick ass haircut and your blue eyes and your nice butt. You know what was REALLY sexy? When your hair would fall across your forehead. That did funny things to my insides.”

“Just back then or…?”

“Still does it to me even now.” She reaches up to push the wayward tresses off her forehead, smiling when he presses a line of kisses down the bridge of her nose. “And I don’t care what you say. You ARE cute. We’re going to forever agree to disagree on this one, But I did, you know. See the potential in you.”

“Let me guess. It was all in my eyes?”

“And your smile. The way you smiled at me was...I don’t know...different. Than the way anyone else ever smiled at me.”

He sidles up beside her, snagging one of the spoons and digging into his ice cream. “Something tells me you’ve had a lot of guys smile at you.”

“Not a lot. A few. But none of them have ever smiled at me the way you do.”

“That’s because they don’t love you. I do.”

“You didn’t love me when you first smiled at me. It was still a different kind of smile.”

“That was a ‘damn she’s cute, I wouldn’t mind banging her’ smile.”

She gives a derisive snort.

“What? You WERE cute. In those little shorts and that tank top and your piercings and your ink. I was impressed. And for the record, I DID want to bang you. Right away. You were fresh meat.”

“Oh my god,” she rolls her eyes and tears a piece of toast off with her teeth.

“You were. I’d never seen you before. You just showed up on my doorstep. Like this little present being delivered just for me. And I hadn’t sex in four months, so….”

“Poor baby. My heart bleeds for you.”

“You were a new face, had a wicked little body on you, a tongue ring. Is it any wonder why I wanted to rail you?”

“That’s all I was to you. Fresh meat. A new piece of ass.”

“At first. But then I got to know you and everything changed. Very quickly, I might add.”

“It was rather quick,” Esme admits. “Do you ever regret it? How quickly it DID happen?”

“What guy in their right mind is going to regret banging you?”

“I don’t mean the sex. I mean everything else. The whole quiet stuff afterwards. The cuddling and…”

“Okay, let’s get one thing straight. You cuddled up to me.”

“Tyler, give it a rest. It’s been twelve and a half years. I’ve known for a long time that you actually enjoy cuddling. And you’re a master at it. You enjoyed it that first night. You hung back a bit, but you gave in pretty quick.”

“I don’t know…” he shrugs, and a slight blush creeps into his cheeks and the tips of ears. “...I was comfortable with you. It felt...nice.”

“Are you blushing? You are! Baby…” she stands on the bottom rung of the stool and presses a kiss to his temple. “...you’re so freaking adorable.”

He frowns, gently using his elbow to push her away. “Stop it.”

“Blushing. With your wife. Who you’ve known for more than a decade. Who is the last person you should get embarrassed in front of.”

“Esme…”

“Why would you be embarrassed? Tae…” she nuzzles his cheek with the tip of her nose, then sits back down on the stool. “...God I love you.”

“I don’t like talking about this stuff. The...I don’t know...emotional stuff. I can talk about sex all day, every day. But THAT? The other stuff that went down between us?”

“That other stuff was amazing and beautiful. And totally not what I expected from you. That’s what made it so great. This big, muscly, tattooed and scarred up mercenary being so cuddly and spilling his guts and crying to me and…”

“Oh fuck…” he groans. “....can we not do this? Talk about this stuff? Please?”

“I’m just saying that the after stuff? That was pretty amazing too. And you don’t need to be embarrassed about it. I mean, you ended up marrying the person you did all that stuff with. You’ve had kids with her. Seven of them. You don’t have to be embarrassed about that stuff. About anything, actually.”

“It’s just not who I am. Even now. I don’t talk about that stuff. I’m not comfortable with it.”

“Even with me?”

“It’s nothing to do with you. I just get..I don’t know...weirded out. I liked it, alright. Being like that with you. It had been a long time since I’d done anything even remotely like that. And it felt good. It felt right. YOU felt right.”

“Strange, huh? Totally wrong place, totally wrong time. But it felt so good.”

“It did,” he agrees, and presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth.. “And I don’t regret a damn thing about it. About you. About us.”

Smiling, she curls an arm around his waist and leans into him; hand repeatedly stroking his lower back as she takes turns delving into her ice cream and enjoying the cheese toast. The silence between them has never been awkward; neither ever feeling the need to fill the minutes with mindless chit chat. It’s companionable and it’s relaxing; the close proximity of their bodies and their familiar smells is its own form of intimacy. It’s the comfortableness that exists between two people that have seen each other at every stage of their lives. The lowest of the lowest and the highest of the highs . Grieving AND celebrating. Bloodied, battered and broken and in near perfect health. Who’ve experienced the miracle of birth and the devastation of loss. Who had seen each other at their very worst right at the start, yet still chose one another. And STILL keep choosing each other. Every day. Regardless of the pain and obstacles thrown in their direction.

*****

“It’s weird that Riley and Sheana left so soon after dinner,” Esme breaks the silence, pushing her empty plate away; using the spoon to swirl now melting ice cream around in the bowl. “I thought they’d stay longer. They usually do.”

“Probably just tired. It’s a long flight. Sometimes we handle it well, other times we feel like complete and utter shit for a couple days.”

“Is it wrong that I’m glad they decided to stay at a hotel this time? I love my sister. And Shaena. Dearly. But I can not handle any more extra people in this house. Not when we’ve got so much to do and Ovi’s wedding is right around the corner. House guests are the last thing I need to be dealing with.”

“I was thinking I’m more glad they chose the hotel because I didn’t want to hear them getting busy. Weird, considering the kind of porn I used to watch. When I was single and having to tend to my own business all the time.”

“Oh please. You probably had all kinds of Sheilas on speed dial. And USED to watch? You STILL watch that stuff.”

“I’ll have you know, that I haven’t watched any that doesn’t involve me and you….or just you...in years. Why do I need to? I’m married to a goddess. Why watch fake shit when I watch the real stuff? It’s got the most beautiful girl in the world in it. The woman I love. What’s hotter than that?”

‘“You have issues, you know that?”

“If my issue is that I love and lust you, then yeah. I guess I do. I DO have issues. And trust me, babe. Those videos? Fucking amazing. Gets the job done. In record time.”

“Oh God,” Esme groans. “I do NOT need to hear this.”

He leans into her, playfully nudging her with his elbow. “Do you want to watch them with me? Tonight? Get you in the mood?”

“You think that’s what it takes for me to get in the mood?”

“No. I know it doesn’t take much for me to get you there. It would just be really hot. Watching them with you. Do something nice for me.”

“I do plenty of nice things for you. Who went from once a year butt stuff to near daily?”

“But you like that though. That’s why you give it up more. Just watch it with me. Just one of them. And then we’ll make another one. On New Year's Eve.”

Sighing heavily, she shakes her head. “Remind me again why I married you?”

“Because I dick you down like no one else ever has. And because of my eyes. And my butt. Probably my voice too.”

“The whole trifecta. Eyes, butt, voice.”

“And because you love me,” he adds, and lightly and teasingly ruffles her hair. “That’s the main reason.”

“Yes,” she agrees. “I DO love you. Despite what’s in my best interests. And you’re right; Shaena and Riley DO get a little...wild.”

“And loud. Very loud.”

“You realize we do too, right? That we can be insanely loud.”

“No. YOU can be insanely loud. You’re the loud one.”

“Yeah, you’re the groaner and the growler and the swearer, I forgot.” She spoons the remains of the ice cream into her mouth. “I still think they left way too early. Totally uncharacteristic of them. Did everything go okay? When you talked to her?”

“Best as can be expected, I guess.”

“You totally lost your shit on her, didn’t you.”

“Did you hear me yelling?” He gathers up the empty bowls and carries them to the sink. “Throwing shit around?”

“You long ago mastered the art of losing your shit WITHOUT doing any of that.” She swivels her seat around; watching as he rinses the dishes and cutlery and then loads them into the dishwasher. “Tyler James…”

Smirking, he dries his palms on the thighs of his shorts. “Esme Michelle…”

“You did, didn’t you? Lost it.”

“I may have been a little harsh. No more than she was.”

“Riley harsh? Never.”

Leaning back against the dishwasher, he crosses his arms over his chest. “I said what I needed to say.”

“Which was?”

“I told her that you ‘fessed up. About the whole fake girls weekend thing. And I said I was pissed. That she didn’t call me. Let me know what was going on. That I had a right to know that my wife was in a crisis.”

“I wasn’t in a crisis. I was…”

“I had a right to know,” he forcibly repeats. “My wife calls her sister and says she wants to kill herself? That is definitely something I should have been told.”

“She only kept it quiet because I asked her to. I made her promise not to tell you. I was worried; I didn’t want you going off the deep end hearing something like that. I didn’t want you spiralling because I was.”

“You think I’m THAT weak? That I couldn’t handle hearing that?”

“I don’t think you’re weak at all. I’ve never thought that. You’re the strongest person I know. In every possible way. But I didn’t want to put something else on you. You were away on job. You needed to stay focused on it. It was your priority.”

“YOU’RE my priority,” he retorts. “ There’s not a job in this world that could EVER be more important. In fact, other than my kids? NOTHING is more important than you. You never should have asked Riley to lie for you. You shouldn’t have put that on her. That wasn’t fair to her.”

“I know,” Esme admits. “But I wasn’t exactly in my right mind, was I. And at that time, keeping it from you seemed like the best thing. For everyone. I didn’t want to add more to your plate. The business was just starting to really take off and things were crazy busy and you had a lot going on. I didn’t want to give you more to deal with. I didn’t want to burden you.”

“You’re my wife. You could never be a burden. If you’d called me, I would have gotten on the next plane home. I would have talked you down and got you off that ledge and I would have come back to Australia. You know I would have.”

“I do know you would have. Which is why I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want all that extra on you. You were busy and…”

“I am never too busy when it comes to my family,” he interjects. “You are the most important thing in my life. Nothing else comes close. And I know you think you need to protect me, but I am more than capable of handling things like this. When I have I not stepped up? When I have not shoved my own shit aside to take care of you? When have I not been there when you needed me?”

“You’ve always stepped up. You’ve always put everything aside for me. I’m not arguing that. I’m not saying you wouldn’t have come home or that you wouldn’t have dropped everything to get back to me. I KNOW you would have. But I wasn’t in my right mind. It was telling me I needed to keep it from you. For all the reasons I’ve told you over and over again. It wasn’t to hurt you, Tyler. I would never, EVER, hurt you.”

“Well it did hurt,” he confesses. “A lot. The fact you turned to her instead of me.”

“She was right next door. You were thousands of miles away,” Esme attempts to reason. “I needed help right there and then.”

“And I would have helped you. If you’d called. But you didn’t. You didn’t even give me the chance.”

“It wasn’t intentional. I was scared and I was panicking and I just acted in the moment. That’s it. I wasn’t thinking rationally. I wasn’t thinking ‘hey, let’s find a way to hurt Tyler’s feelings’. Because I would never do that and you know it.”

“She should have called me. You might not have been in your right mind, but she was. And she should have gotten a hold of me. That’s what I told her.”

“And what did she say?”

“That she did what her sister asked. That that’s where her loyalty lies. With you. And I told her that you being my wife and the mother of my kids totally trumps the relationship she has with you. What if you’d never gotten a hold of her? What if that pushed you right over the edge and you had done something?”

“I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I was freaking out and my brain was all messed up. I wasn’t thinking rationally.”

“One of our kids would have found you. And I can’t stop thinking about that. The fact you wouldn’t have been around in the morning and one of them would have went looking for you and they would have found you. Do you know what that would have done to them? Seeing that? That’s your kids. MY kids.”

“What do you want me to say, Tyler? I’ve already said I was sorry. Do you want to say it a million times more? Because I will. Yeah, I should have called. And when I WAS in the right frame of mind again, I realized how badly I fucked up. Because in the end, it was you that I wanted. It was you I wanted taking care of me. Not Riley. Not some stupid psychiatric hospital. YOU.”

“I can’t pretend that it didn’t bother me. That it didn’t hurt. The fact you didn’t trust me with it. With you.”

“You have that right. To be hurt. And I’m sorry. Because that is NOT what I meant to do. I would never pick anyone over you. EVER. And I’m sorry I did. If I could go back, I’d do everything differently. But I can’t. And I know you’re hurt and you’re pissed and you probably hate me right now…”

“I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. I love you. Which is I wanted to be the one to take care of you. Because I DO love you. We’re supposed to be a team, Esme. We’re supposed to be in this together. And sometimes….I don’t know...sometimes I don’t think you’re as invested in that part of things as I am.”

“That’s not fair. I have given everything to you. Right from the beginning. I was willing to give up my life for you. On that bridge. I gave up my family. Any friends I had. I moved to a country on the other side of the world. I started a whole new existence. For you.”

“I didn’t hold a gun to your head,” he reminds her. “ You made the decisions you did on your own.”

“Because I was in love with you. Because I wanted to be with you. But I still gave everything up. And I feel like I keep giving and giving and giving. And I’m scared one day there’s going to be nothing left to give. Then what? I won’t be of any use to you. Or our kids. “

“So somehow it’s my fault? That you keep giving and giving? Like you’re the only one that’s being doing that? I gave up things too. Most of them I needed to. The booze, the Oxy, the living in some crappy little shack in the outback. Those needed to go. But I also gave up everything I knew for you. I walked away from the job. TWICE. And I know I got sucked back in…”

“It wasn’t your fault. You had no control over that.”

“...but I started that business for you. Because you didn’t want me going out there anymore. You didn’t want me getting my hands dirty. Putting myself in the fire.”

“Do you blame me? Tyler, you have a wife. You have SEVEN kids! Why would you risk yourself when you have so much to lose? Especially when you’re not a hundred percent. You know damn well you’re not where you were thirteen years ago. You’ve admitted that yourself. Why would you go out there under those circumstances? Leave your family? People who love you? Why would you…?”

“Because I’m a selfish bastard, Esme. Just like everyone says I am. Have you ever thought maybe they’re right? That I really AM that person?”

“You’re not. You’re selfless, if anything. You’re not who they say you are. You never have been. Where is this coming from? I thought we were talking about Riley? How did it turn into being about us? Into a fight? How…?”

“I’m not trying to fight with you. I’m not.”

She valiantly holds back a flood of tears. “It sure as hell feels like you are.”

He finally approaches her. Crossing the room in two long strides and gathering her in his embrace; one hand resting on the small of her back and the other buried in her hair. “I’m sorry.” Gentle pressure draws her head into his chest; fingertips softly massaging her scalp. “I didn’t mean to take shit out on you. That’s the last thing I wanted to do. But I was angry. I still am. More at her than you. You weren’t thinking right. She was. She knew better.”

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she turns her teary face up towards him. “She was just doing what I asked. And at the time it seemed like the right thing. I’d give anything to go back and do things differently.”

“Don’t cry, baby. Please don’t cry.”

“I know I hurt you. I never meant to. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“So am I. For making you cry. I fucking HATE when you cry.”

“I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Crying. I think it’s my hormones. Oh God..." she chews anxiously on her bottom lip. "...maybe I’m starting menopause.”

“Or maybe you’re just married to a humongous asshole.”

“No, that’s not it. You’re not THAT big of an asshole.”

He stares down at her pointedly.

“You are a bit of one. You know you are. So don’t look at me like that.”

“Yet here you are,” he uses the front of his muscle to clear the tears off her cheeks and wipe her runny nose. “Twelve and a half years later. Putting up with it.”

“The sex is good. Really good. Really, really, REALLY good.”

“I knew it. Just using me for my body. And my dick.”

“That’s it,” she sniffles. “That’s all it’s ever been about. Your body and your penis.”

“You know, I’m just enough in love with you to accept that. And put up with it.”

“I love you. More than you could ever know. I love you more and more every day. Please tell me you never doubt that.”

“I don’t,” he assures her, then gently cradles her face in his palms and presses a tender kiss to her lips. “And I never will.”

#Tyler Rake #Tyler Rake fan fiction #Extraction fan fiction #Chris Hemsworth #Chris Hemsworth extraction #Chris Hemsworth Tyler Rake #Tyler Rake x OFC #Tyler Rake fan fic #Extraction fan fic #Esme and Tyler series

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miss-nov · 3 years

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Freddie Lounds Headcanons Because She Is A Boss Bitch Who Deserves A Backstory!!! (NBC's Hannibal).

Was born and raised from ages 1-13 in Southern Connecticut (Westbrook) before moving to Lafayette, Louisiana where she lived before moving to Orono, Maine for College (The University Of Maine) and stayed there to go on with her Journaling Career.

She was born November 5th, 1976. (I'm assuming the show takes place in the early 2010s as the show doesn't seem to be necessarily in the same year as the books are per se). Her full name is Fredrica "Freddie" Lisa Lounds.

Freddie is vegetarian because in her younger years she couldn't stomach the sight of butchered animals of when her father went hunting and decided to not eat meat.

Freddie's father is named George James Lounds and he's a country man through and through and has worked as both a fisherman (in Lafayette) and a ranch hand (Westbrook). Comes from a Christian background. Only moved to a more urban area for his wife. They married September 12, 1969. Born January 23, 1956 in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Appearance: Pale Blue Eyes/Red, Curly Hair/ Pale and Freckled/ 6'3"/ Burly.

Freddie's mom is named Laura Lisa Lewis. While she's never worked a job she is know to volunteer and be active in her community. Very much a charismatic busy-body. Comes from a Christian background. Always dreamed of living in a nice cottage in the country side of France and seriously plans to in her retirement plan. Born July 17, 1957 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Appearance: Dark Brown Eyes/ Strawberry Blonde Wavy Hair/ Tanned/ 5'2"/ Slender.

Freddie's older sister is named Christine "Chrissy" Renee Lounds. Is a stay-at-home mom and mother of Danny James Turner. She married Grant Roger Turner in April 4, 2002. Lives on a small farm in Wolftrap, Virginia. Agnostic beliefs. Regal and able to hold a mean grudge. She has rather rocky relationship with Freddie. Born December 4, 1970 in Westbrook, Connecticut.

Appearance: Wavy, Partly Sunbleached, Red Hair/ Pale Blue Eyes/Tanned/5'5/Lithe and Slightly Toned.

Freddie doesn't know her grandparents on her Father's side because they're alcoholics. She knows virtually nothing about them, not even their names.

Freddie is/was close to her grandparents, Kenneth Hiram Lewis and Lois Renee Miller, on her mother's side. Kenneth was born March 30, 1930 and died in 1991. Lois was born June 25, 1928 and is still presently alive.

Freddie is Bisexual and while her parents are accepting it is difficult to them to understand everything that comes with it so it isn't a topic that comes up often at Family Events.

Freddie is a decent enough cook but the only thing she can bake is bread. Other baking things tend to burn.

Her father and her tend to be slightly emotionally distant.

Freddie bonds with her father by fishing though she never actually eats the fish or help gut and clean them but she likes the comfortable silence. It makes her feel close to him.

Freddie bonds with her mother by helping pick out knick knacks to cram into the kitchen and living room. Her mother insists she takes one to take home with Freddie everytime she visits. Freddie always caves in and does.

Freddie and Christine rarely bond and mostly fight and bicker but when they do it's mostly over watching/playing with Danny. Occasionally one of them reaches out to mend their relationship but it never ends up working out. They can go months without talking to each other but both sisters know that when it really counts they're there for one another.

Danny James Turner is a hyper and energetic boy who wants to be firefighter when he grows up and went as far to convince his mom to get a Dalmatian puppy which he eloquently named her Dotty.

Danny is one of Freddie's pride and joys. She isn't sure if she'll have kids herself but enjoys her visits with Danny. She taught him how to play basketball.

Freddie isn't close with her brother-in-law but she is polite and cordial with him.

Freddie visits her parents on every single holiday without missing a beat. It slowed once they got a cottage in France when she turned 30 but she still makes time for them.

Has no Aunts and has one Uncle, Jessie Hiram Lounds (May 18, 1954), on her Father's side but he only visits on Christmas.

Freddie tends to be an attention seeker as she felt Christine was favored more. Her envy of her sister multipled in high-school as Christine got better grades, was nicer and more well-liked, got all the boys' attention, and all the teachers' praises. Freddie felt she couldn't live up to her sister's standards and harbored a little resentment because of this and it caused the rift in their relationship. It worsened as Freddie entered college but evened out when she graduated.

It's because of her jealousy of her sister that she wants to be rich and famous so that can set Freddie apart from Christine once and for all.

Freddie calls Christine "Chris" to annoy her.

Freddie, since she was a young girl, had always been found eavesdropping and listening to the gossip that circulated between her mom, her grandma, and their friends. She was the type of person to stir the bot whenever she got bored because she found it incredibly entertaining.

Freddie contemplated going into law in her Junior before settling on Journaling as a Senior.

Freddie was in her high-school's newspaper club, photography club, and the lacrosse team.

In Freshman year Freddie would publish rumors in the school newspaper if you paid her and even made a gossip column for it. This lasted up until Junior year before getting permanently shut down after Freddie posted a raunchy rumor about one of the teachers. This almost got her expelled and kicked out of the newspaper club. In the end she got two months detention and had to write about school games instead.

Freddie has almost gotten suspended twice after getting into fights with people after she published cruel gossip about them.

Freddie took Advanced English classes.

Freddie favorite elective was creative writing.

Freddie is trilingual and speaks English (Native Language), French (Secondary Language), and Spanish (Third Language).

Freddie can sign almost all bad words in ASL and half the alphabet. She doesn't know anymore than that.

Freddie wants to go on a trip visiting all the hotspots of Spain before she turns sixty.

Freddie is a huge horror fan. Her favorite horror movies are Psychological ones.

Freddie LOVES trashy, reality television. The trashier and more dramatic the better.

She also enjoys true crime though the episodes where it ends up being a cold case makes her incredibly upset.

Freddie has a green belt in Karate.

Freddie enjoys Yoga and on a biweekly basis goes to a dance studio down the street of her apartment for lessons.

Freddie had a rebellious streak all throughout high-school and her Freshman year of College.

In College Freddie double majored in English and Journaling. Freddie minored in law and when she had a free period, secretly popped into the criminology classes. She was never caught. She played on the lacrosse team and the basketball team.

Freddie hasn't dated much and had only one long-term relationship (Two Years). She only is bothered by this when she thinks how much she wants a kid.

On three separate occasions had thought about adopting and raising a child on her own but chickened out; She's convinced she'd be a terrible mother.

Freddie adopted a black, stray cat fresh out of college, on the first night she moved into her apartment. She named him Pesky.

Freddie likes hyper-sexual pop and sorrowful balleds, there's no in-between.

Freddie writes poetry occasionally, sometimes about something important and other timesfor no reason at all, but it's always in the same format.

Format: Near rhymes/steady meter/rhythm/ short/ last stanza is always two lines.

Every poem she writes about Pesky is pinned all over the side of her fridge.

Favorite color is a tie between Sky Blue and Pastel Green.

Has a secret blog under the name "RedFred" where she critiques horror films.

Freddie hates serial killer with a vehement passion due to the fact that her best friend and first crush, Hannah Mayes, was murdered by one. The killer ended up in prison for life but Freddie felt like it wasn't enough. It was one of the deciding factors of the Lounds moving from Connecticut.

Freddie still has nightmares about it.

Anywho that's all I got for now!! I hope you enjoyed!!

#hannibal #nbc hannibal #hannibal nbc #freddie lounds #freddie lounds headcanons #freddie lounds hc #freddie lounds post

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vcidgalpin · 4 years

Text

Second Chance at First Line Pt 2

Stiles Stilinski x Reader (Eventually)

Season 1 Masterlist

Word Count: 1969

A/N: Scott and Allison’s relationship develops.

Warnings: dead body? is that a warning idk

After pulling on the Wolfsbane, a rope pulls out along with it. Turns out, the Wolfsbane rope thing was buried in a spiral around the wolf’s body. Scott gets mine and Stiles’ attention as he stares down into the hole. Looking in it, I cringe at the horrid site of a body cut in half of a girl. She looks sort of young.

“You have to call your dad. Like, now,” Scott says to Stiles, who is standing, mouth agape at the sight still.

“Stiles,” I say, a bit louder than Scott, snapping the boy out of his frozen state. “Call the sheriff,”

“It’s too late right now, God knows what he’ll think about us being here at night and just so happening to dig up a body by accident,” He made a fair point.

The next day, the three of us ended up back at the Hale house, going there in just Stiles’ Jeep this time, watching Stiles’ dad handcuff Derek and push him into the squad car. Stiles slips into the passenger side of the car, and questions Derek. Not long after, I see the sheriff drag his son out by his arm roughly and start scolding him. I walk over to his side, Scott staying put by the Jeep.

“Okay, well, how 'bout you help me understand exactly how you came across this,”

“We were looking for Scott’s inhaler,”

“Which he dropped when?”

“The other night,”

“The other night when you were out here looking for the first half of the body? Aka, the night that you said you were alone.” I have to force myself not to scrunch my face up at his slip up,”

“Yes- Wait no. Crap,”

“So you lied to me,” Disappointment laced his voice.

“That depends how you define lying,” He’s not making this any better for himself.

“How do you define lying?”

“Reclining your body in a… horizontal position?” He says, gesturing his hands an unnecessary amount.

“Get the hell out of here,” Barely a second passes before Stiles turns on his heels saying,

“Absolutely,” I stand there for a beat, awkwardly. The Sheriff’s eyes scan me, probably confused as to why I was hanging around the boys all of a sudden.

“Hi, I’m Y/N by the way,” I instantly regret speaking, my speech sounded forced and nervous.

“How come I’ve never seen you around Stiles and Scott before? I didn’t know Stiles had other friends if I’m being honest,”

“I just, I’m a new friend.” I pause before the word friend, hesitant to use it as I don’t really think this can be classed as a friendship.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Refreshing to have a new face around, but I guess those two have already corrupted you enough to drag you into their bad choices. Be careful,” He seems like such a genuine and friendly person. I feel like only a man like him could be able to put up with having such a frantic kid. I smile smally, before wondering over to Scott and Stiles.

---

In the back of the Jeep, I scroll through the tabs on my phone about Wolfsbane being used for burial. It wasn’t something I knew a lot about, so I felt like I had to prove myself more, as this was basically the first thing that I was there to be knowledgeable and helpful about. I sighed after a while, fed up of finding nothing.

“Nothing?” Scott turns to me, and I gently shake my head. I feel a headache start to come on, so I put my phone down and lean back into the seat.

“Maybe it’s like a ritual or something. Or some special skill werewolves can learn.”

“It’s not something you can just learn. I know that much,”

“Yeah and that seems about as far as your oh so large knowledge goes,” Stiles spits back, scowling. I was just trying to help.

“Sorry I don’t know about this one, rare, confusing thing that we have stumbled across okay? You need to chill out,”

“I need to-”

“Stop! Stop arguing so much!” Scott seems to be in some sort of pain.

“Are you okay?” I ask Scott, and lean forward a bit too fast, my head making me feel like I’m spinning. My throat also starts to feel really scratchy and dry all of a sudden.

“No. I can’t- I can’t breathe, my head-” Scott suddenly pushes his hand to the ceiling of the car. It’s happening to Scott too… Wolfsbane. I grab Stiles’ bag from the floor and unzip it, my eyes instantly recognising the rope with Wolfsbane on it.

“You kept it?!”

“What was I supposed to do with it?”

“Stop the car,” Scott basically screams out. Stiles’ does as he says quickly and Scott takes the backpack, jumps out of the car, and lobs it as far into the trees as possible. I hop out of the car, as does the other boy. We walked around the car, to go to where Scott was, but it turns out he had gone. He was angry, and he was missing.

---

We searched for hours before Scott finally texted Stiles back, saying he was at the school, getting ready for practice. Stiles sped the whole way there and rushed into the changing rooms to get ready. I got dragged in there by Stiles. I got a few weird looks from everyone on the team, but I tried my best to ignore them. I faced the wall, giving the boy some privacy, and we went and found Scott.

“You gonna try and convince me not to play?”

“Scott, this isn’t a good idea, and you know that.”

“I want to play. I want to go out with Allison. I want a semi-freaking-normal life, okay? Don’t you get that?” I totally got that. Hesitantly, I nodded, ignoring Stiles’ annoyed glance. I couldn’t lie to Scott. Stiles’ sighs before speaking,

“Just- Don’t get too stressed out there. Or angry. Don't think about Allison being in the stands. Or that her father's trying to kill you. Or that Derek's trying to kill you. Or the girl he killed. Or that you might kill someone. If a hunter doesn't kill you first-” Now it was my turn to glare at Stiles. “I'm sorry. I'll stop. Good luck.”

I rush over to the stands to sit by Lydia, but she gets up just before I sit down, and stalks over to Scott. She pulls him in, so they are standing chest to chest. I don’t miss the jealous look on the second boy’s face as he watches.

“I want you to remember one thing for tonight,”

“Winning isn’t everything?” I shake my head softly. Knowing Lydia, that is definitely not what she was going to say. She laughs in his face.

“Nobody likes a loser,” her hand ran down his clothed arm, and then she pats his chest before walking back to me. The game commences. Scott quickly gets a chance to get the ball, and he runs for it. Jackson also begins to run for it, and rams into Scott’s side, pushing him to the floor. Aren’t they supposed to be a team? Unconsciously, my fingers cross, praying Scott doesn’t let Jackson push him past tipping point. Jackson scores, and eats up the praise he receives. He doesn’t deserve praise, but I stand up with Lydia and Allison smiling anyway. Lydia turns to the two of us and gets us to raise a sign she made. It read ‘We Luv U Jackson!’ in bold letters. I see Scott’s eyes meet the sign and jealousy wells up in them, noticing how Allison is celebrating Jackson’s selfish play. The whole team that was playing, except Scott, all huddled together. I want to listen in, but Allison’s dad is sitting so close to me, I don’t wanna raise any suspicion on myself or Scott. I do still faintly hear Scott start to growl at whatever Jackson had said to his teammates. This is not going to end well.

“Which one is Scott again?” Chris Argent speaks suddenly, making me jump a little in my seat.

“Number 11. Otherwise known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball this entire game.”

Lydia replies, judgingly.

“I hope he’s okay,” Allison says softly, her voice showing so much care. ‘I hope so too’ I think to myself. The whistle blows and Scott and another boy fight for the ball. It ends up launching up high. Scott jumps onto the other’s shoulder, catching the ball that was still flying through the air. From the corner of my eye, I see Mr. Argent squinting his eyes at this. Scott is going to mess everything up. The boy swiftly dips and dives between players left and right before scoring. The crowd erupts excitedly again. Another play starts, and a guy from the opposing team throws Scott the ball, deliberately. 40 seconds left on the clock, Scott scores again, the lacrosse ball tearing through the net of the goalie. As the timer counts down, Scott starts to clearly struggle, close to freezing up in one spot near to the goal. I hear Allison whisper,

“Come on Scott,” This seems to wake him up from his daze, and he scores again, just as the clock runs out. Everyone in the crowd starts flooding the field, cheering. I see Scott tear off his gloves before sprinting off into the distance where I lose track of him. Stiles finds me in the mass of people, asking,

“Where did he go?”

“I have no idea,” Before we can go off to find him, Stiles grabs my sleeve, not hard, but enough to stop me running off. Confused, I start to ask him what he’s doing but he speaks first.

“Dad? What’s wrong?” The sheriff raises his finger for a moment, telling his son to wait. Must be a call from the station or something.

---

After learning that the medical examiner determined the girl to have been killed by an animal, and not a human, ruling Derek out as a suspect, we hurry off, heading to the changing rooms to look for Scott, Stiles leading the way, his grip on my wrist. Looking around some of the lockers towards the showers we stop in our tracks, seeing Scott and Allison kissing. Not surprising, but I feel a smile coming onto my face, happy for them both. They part after a moment.

“I’ve got to get back to my dad,” Allison smiles, and she turns, noticing they’d had an audience. “Hi Stiles, Y/N.” I raise my eyebrows, teasing her. Her eyes glance down to see Stiles’ hand around my wrist, and she smirks back. I didn’t even notice until that point, blushing hard as I pulled my arm away. Allison leaves, and we approach Scott, who is grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“I kissed her,”

“Saw that,” Stiles replies, breathily.

“She kissed me,”

“Saw that too,” I say, nudging his arm.

“I don’t know how but I controlled it. She gave me control, helped me pull back. Maybe it’s not that bad.” She could be his anchor. I stop myself from saying it, it doesn’t seem like the time. I mean, they’ve only kissed once.

“I hate to be a bearer of bad news, because you seem totally chill and everything now, and I don’t really love the idea of ruining that but, we just heard something,” Scott tilts his head, curiously.

“They looked at the other half of the body we found. They say that it’s clear an animal killed the girl. Not a human. Derek, being human, no longer a suspect, was let out,”

“Are you kidding?”

“Nope. And it only gets worse. They ID’d her. Her name is Laura Hale.”

“Hale?!”

“Derek’s sister”.

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#teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf series #teen wolf rewrite #teen wolf season 1 #stiles stilinksi imagine #stiles stilinski #stiles stilinksi x reader #stiles x reader #stiles x y/n #scott mccall #allison argent #lydia martin #jackson whittemore #derek hale

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fandomrewrites · 4 years

Text

Season 1, Episode 2: Second Chance at First Line

Hello all! I’m going to be posting twice a week until I finish season 1. If you want to read the full story so far the link to my Wattpad is in my bio. The story is called Scar and (Y/N) is Scarlett McCall. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and as always, constructive criticism is appreciated!

Season 1, Episode 2: Second Chance at First Line

Pairings: Scott McCall x Twin Sister, Lydia Martin x Best Friend, Nate Wilson (OC) x Reader

Warnings: Mention of death

Word Count: 2,993

Season 1 Masterlist

I was in my room pacing with my cell phone clenched tightly in my hand. Scott has been missing for what felt like hours and I was starting to worry. A loud ding made me jump. I quickly looked down and saw that I had a text message.

From Stiles: Found Scott. He’s ok

To Stiles: Thanks

After getting the text from Stiles I made my way downstairs and waited for him to drop my brother off. About 5 minutes later the front door swung open and I quickly stood up from the couch. “Are you alright? What happened?”

Scott slowly shut the door, took a deep breath then turned to look at me, “There are hunters.”

“Hunters?”

“Yes, hunters. They have weapons and they come after werewolves. They tried to kill me!”

“Well, how did you escape? Did they hurt you?”

“Yeah, but I’m fine now. I guess that’s one bonus to being supernatural, I heal fast. And Derek helped me.”

“Derek Hale?”

“Yeah.” Scott took another deep breath then started going up the stairs, “I’m going to bed. I need to think of an apology for Allison.”

I started following him up the stairs to our rooms, “I’m sure she’ll forgive you, just don’t do it again. Goodnight.” I gave him a small smile then shut my door as he continued down the hall to his room.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Monday after school I was talking with Scott in his room. He was catching me up on what happened during practice and how he realized Allison’s father is one of the hunters from the other night. Sitting here talking to Scott I can see how drained he is, both physically and emotionally. I can’t help but lean over and pull my twin into a tight hug. Scott sighs and tightly hugs me back before I can offer any other comfort mom speaks up from the doorway, “Late shift again for me, but I’m taking a night off to see your first game.”

Scott and I pulled away from the hug when she started talking. Scott quickly replies, “Mom, you can’t.”

“I can and I will. One shift won’t break us. And what’s wrong with your eyes? You both look exhausted.”

“I always look sleep deprived... Is that hot?” I look between my brother and mom when I ask.

Both of them reply with an eye roll the Scott continues, “It’s nothing. Just kind of stressed.”

Mom chose to ignore me and answer Scott, “Nothing else? You’re not on drugs or anything?”

“Right now?”

Mom’s eyes widen and I glance at Scott, “What do you mean right now?” Mom quickly asks looking back and forth between my brother and me, “Have you ever taken drugs?”

“Have you?” I challenged in a monotone voice before my brother could get another word out.

Our mother gasped at the two of us and instead of answering the question says, “Get some sleep, both of you.” She walks out of the room and not even a minute later a web chat invitation from Stiles popped up on my brother’s computer.

We both walked over, my brother sitting in his computer chair and me standing behind him leaning against the back. “What’s you find out?” Scott questions his best friend.

“It’s bad. Jackson’s got a separated shoulder.”

“Because of Scott?”

“Because he’s a tool. It’s not your fault Scott.”

“Is he going to be able to play?”

“They don’t know yet. But for now, they’re counting on you for Saturday.” Stiles pauses and starts coming closer to the video camera. He’s trying to tell us something but the screen keeps freezing. Finally, Stiles types It looks like someone’s behind you.

Scott and I both freeze in fear and slowly Scott clicks on our image to enlarge the picture and check behind us. We can just make the silhouette of a man and we both quickly turn around. I moved out of the way of Scott so he didn’t hit me with the chair and as soon as we were fully turned around, Derek Hale grabs a hold of Scott and slams him against the wall.

I freeze in place looking around the room to try and figure out how to make sure he doesn’t kill my brother right in front of me. “I saw you on the field.” Derek is completely ignoring me, his attention focused on Scott, “You shifted in front of them. If they find out what you are, they find out about me. About all of us. Then it’s not just hunters after us. It’s everyone.”

“Maybe we can have a calmer discussion...” I tried to talk but both men are ignoring me.

“But they didn’t see. No one did...”

“And they won’t. Because if you try to play that game Saturday, I’ll kill you myself.” Derek then pulled Scott from the wall and the him across the room quickly leaving just as fast as he came.

*_*_*_*_*_*

I was sitting in Algebra staring straight ahead with my head in my hand waiting for Lydia and Scott to finish the practice problems on the board. I could tell they were talking to each other but I was too far away to make out the words. Lydia and Scott both looked annoyed with one another or maybe they are annoyed with the topic of discussion. When Lydia finishes her problem she saunters back to her seat to my left.

“What were you two talking about?”

“Just the game coming up. I told him he has to play since Jackson isn’t at peak performance.”

I nodded then turned my attention back to the front of the room.

After class Lydia and I went our separate ways and as I turned the corner someone pulled me into an empty classroom. “What the hell?” I threw my other hand against my heart and looked up at the person who grabbed me.

“Hey, babe. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Nate pulled me against his chest wrapping his arms around my waist then pulled me in for a kiss.

I pulled away, “Stop being dramatic. We see each other every day. And we will be going out after the game on Saturday.” I looped my arms around his neck as I talked.

“Yeah, but we will still be with other people. I want a night for just the two of us.” He leaned back down and started kissing my neck.

“Mmm.. well we will have a date night soon then, but until then,” I pulled his face away from my neck and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, “I need to get to class, and you do too.”

*_*_*_*_*_*

I was sitting in Scott’s room once again, this time waiting for Stiles as Scott fixed his lacrosse stick. He refused to tell me anything until his best friend was with us. Within a few minutes, Stiles burst through my brother’s door, “What did you find? How did you find it? Where did you find it? And yeah, I’ve had a lot of Adderall.”

I gaped at Stiles wondering how he said all of that so fast and in one breath. “At Derek Hale’s,” Scott replied as he finished working on his stick.

“Well, what was it?”

Scott turned to face me as I asked the question, “Something’s buried there.” He then turned to Stiles, “I smelled blood.”

“That’s awesome,” Stiles said at the same time I opened my mouth to say, “That’s terrible.” We then glanced at each other and Stiles continued, “Whose blood?”

“That’s what I need your help to find out. And when we do, we’re going to help your dad nail Derek for the murder. And then you are going to help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing.”

“Damn, why does it always have to be the hot guys that are murderers?” The two boys looked at me with the classic really that’s what you’re thinking faces. “Shit, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

*_*_*_*_*_*

Scott, Stiles and I all made our way to the hospital so that Scott could smell the half of the body that was found. As we pass the morgue, Scott slips through the doors as Stiles and I stand in the corridor waiting. Stiles notices something in the nearby waiting room and quickly walks off. I look to see what caught his attention and see my best friend sitting in the waiting area. I rolled my eyes, checked down the hall and then followed Stiles into the waiting room.

Stiles is talking to Lydia and I can tell she is not paying attention at all. “I gotta go.” She quickly says then reaches up shutting off a Bluetooth headset that was hidden behind her hair. She stands up and gives me a big smile and hug, “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting my mom. I’m just waiting for Scott, he had to got to the bathroom. What about you?”

“Jackson is here getting his shoulder checked out.”

Just as she finishes talking I see Jackson round the corner rubbing his injured shoulder, “Hey (Y/N/N).” He quickly greets as he turns to Lydia who immediately starts asking him about the doctor visit. I turn to Stiles who is bitterly looking at Jackson and Lydia which makes me roll my eyes. Then I turn back around as Lydia addresses me one last time, :We will see you later.”

Before I can reply she takes Jackson’s hand and walks out of the waiting room and down the hall. I turn back around to see Scott yank a pamphlet out of Stiles’ hand. “The scent was the same.”

“So he buried the other half of the body on his property.” Scott nods along to Stiles’ remark.

“We have confirmation that Derek murdered that girl.”

“We are going to need a shovel.”

“And this is where I gracefully bow out.” They boys looked at me but before either of them could speak I continued, “Listen even if I come with you there is no way that I am unburying half of a dead body.”

“Then you can be there for emotional support.” Stiles grinned at me as I yet again roll my eyes.

*_*_*_*_*_*

“I can’t believe you actually convinced me to come with you guys.” I groaned as I stepped out of Stiles’ jeep. Both boys pulled out shovels and smiled at me.

Scott spoke up as soon as we stepped away from the jeep, “Something’s different.”

“Different how?” Stiles questioned as I raised my left eyebrow.

Scott just shook his head and sighed as he started to make his way over towards the side of the house. “Let’s just get this over with.”

I sat on the side watching as the two started digging. While they were digging I decided to keep an eye out for any movement indicating Derek’s return/ “What do we do if Derek comes back?”

“We run. All in different directions. Whoever he catches first? Too bad.” Stiles instantly replies.

Scott looks horrified at the thought of Derek catching any of us, “I hate that plan.”

A few minutes later and Stiles tells Scott to stop digging. When I realize that they found something I stand up to look in the hole. There at the bottom of the hole is a black bag with a drawstring tied in knots. Stiles starts untying the knots and when the bag is fully opened, we all jump back in surprise. Staring back at us is the upper half of a dead wolf. “What the hell is that?” Stiles asks in a panic.

“Uh, a wolf.” I deadpanned.

“Thanks, I can see that.” He then turns to Scott, “I thought you said you smelled blood? As in human blood?”

“I told you something was different.”

As the two were talking I started looking around and I noticed a small pretty purple flower that had recently been planted near the grave. I thought it was weird that there was only one there so I walked over and gently pulled at the stem. Attached to the stem was a thin piece of twine also buried in the dirt. “What are you doing?” Scott questioned as he finally noticed I was not paying attention to their conversation.

I didn’t answer and instead kept pulling at the twin. The twine was looped around the grave in a giant spiral, about 10 yards out, I reached the end of the rope. With the pile of rope and the flower gathered in my arms, I turned back around to look at my brother and Stiles.

They were standing in wonder looking down into the grave. When I make my way back over to them and look at the grave, staring up at me is the upper half of a girl.

*_*_*_*_*_*

It was finally Saturday, the boys drove to the Hale house to watch Derek get arrested but I declined the offer to come with them. Instead, I spent the morning catching up on homework, making a sign to cheer on Nate and Scott, and picking out what I was going to wear for the game. Scott or Stiles could catch me up at a later time.

An hour before the game I quickly got dressed in black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and black ankle boots. I grabbed my phone and the sign I made then headed downstairs so my mom and I could get to the school and find a seat.

My mom and I sat down waiting for Lydia who always sits next to me at games. When Lydia joined us Allison sat on her other side and her father next to her. Soon after we were all seated the whistle that starts the game sounded and the team was off the bleachers and onto the field.

As the game starts Jackson has the ball, throws to another player, then grabs the ball back scoring the first point. Lydia, Allison and I reach down to grab the poster Lydia made that says We luv u Jackson!

As the game continues the girls and I switch back and forth between holding up the poster for Jackson and the poster for Nate. The players seem to be making sure that Scott never gets the ball.

As the next quarter begins Mr. Argent leans over and asks, “Which one is Scott again?”

“Number 11. Otherwise known as the one who hasn’t caught a single pass the entire game.” Lydia answered for Allison as I elbowed her and quickly glared before focusing back on the game.

“I hope he’s okay,” Allison says quietly.

“I hope we’re okay. We need to win.” Lydia then pulls up the poster again but this time flips it over. She looks between Allison and me, “A little help girls?” The sign now reads Jackson is #1!

When the whistle blows to start the game back up the ball flies into the air, Scott jumps up catching it with deadly accuracy. I immediately pick up my sign as my mom and I stand up holing either end, cheering Scott on as loud as possible.

The team is one score behind and the game is almost over. As the whistle blows, the other team has the ball. Scott goes to do a slap check but instead, the opposing player tosses the ball right to Scott. Scott makes his way to the goal and scores!

Twenty seconds left in the game, the whistle blows and Scott gets the ball again. He is surrounded by opposing players as he closes in on the goal, it looks like he doesn’t know what to do for a brief moment and then he scores.

The game ends and we won! All thanks to Scott kicking ass in the final quarter. My mom, the girls, Mr. Argent, and I all make our way out to the field to congratulate the players. I spot Nate first and give him a big hug and kiss, “You did amazing, as usual.”

“Thanks, babe. Couldn’t have done it without you cheering me on.” He gave me an over exaggerated wink. I shook my head and laughed giving him one last kiss, “I need to find Scott, I’ll see you later.”

I made my way away from the crowd to try and find Scott only to be pulled away by Stiles. “Come on, I think he went to the locker room. I gotta tell you both something.”

When we made it to the locker room we saw Allison and Scott kissing. We both stopped moving and awkwardly hung back waiting for the two to separate. When they finally do, Allison says goodbye to Scott and walks past Stiles and me, saying a quick hi then continuing back to the field.

“I kissed her,” Scott said in a dream-like state.

“We saw,” Stiles confirms as I nod.

“She kissed me.”

“We saw that too.”

“Sorry to break you out of this drunk in love thing you got going on but Stiles, you said you needed to tell us something?” I question turning to the boy standing next to me. This gets Scott’s attention and he makes his way closer to the both of us.

Stiles nods then starts talking, “The medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found.” He took a breath then continued, “I’ll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines the killer of the girl to be an animal not human. Derek is human, not an animal. Derek, not killer. Derek let out of jail. And here’s the bigger kick in the ass. My dad ID’d the dead girl. Both halves. Her name was Laura Hale.”

“Hale?” Scott and I questioned.

“Derek’s sister,” Stiles confirmed.

#Sister McCall imagine #teen wolf imagine #lydia martin imagine #series rewrite

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staliaqueen · 5 years

Text

bittersweet | 10

pairing: stiles stilinski x oc a/n: last chapter for season 2! and this is the longest chapter yet, and I’m really proud of how it turned out. so excited to see what you think of this one. warnings: cursing, lots of feels, fluffy angst? angsty fluff? .....bittersweet? wordcount: 2719

<<prev || masterlist || next>>

Stiles

“Good morning,” said Coach into his megaphone, as he walked into the locker room, Valerie right behind him. She had her notepad and pen ready. Exactly what she needed it for since it wasn't practice, I couldn’t tell you.

“In less than an hour, aircraft from here will be joining others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind.”

“What?” I heard Melissa mumble beside me, to no one in particular. She had come to support her son for his game.

“Mankind,” Coach continued. “That word should have new meaning for all of us today.”

Melissa tapped my shoulder. “What the hell is he talking about?” she asked.

“He does this every year,” I answered honestly.

Melissa raised her eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“-We are fighting for our right to live!” Coach bellowed.

A loud, “Yeah!” came from everyone on the team except Scott and I.

Melissa furrowed her brows, before a look of recognition spread across her face. “Wait. Is this-”

“Yeah,” I said, already knowing what she was going to say. “It’s the speech from Independence Day.”

“-but as the day the world declared in one voice-“

“It’s Coach’s favorite movie.”

“-We will not go quietly into the night!”

“He doesn’t know any sport-speeches?” Melissa asked.

“I don’t think he cares.”

“-Today we celebrate our independence day!”

Cheers came from the rest of the team.

“Well spoken, Coach,” said a voice from behind him. I knew exactly who it was - and it wasn’t good.

“I might’ve chosen something with a little more historical value, but there’s no denying your passion.” The tension in the room increased tenfold when Gerard stepped up from behind Coach and addressed the crowd.

“And while I haven’t been here long, there’s no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school. I know you’ll all be brilliant tonight, even with only one co-captain leading you. Now, I’m your principal, but I’m also a fan. So don’t think I’ll be content to watch you merely beat this team. Get out there and murder them.”

Scott and I exchanged a nervous glance. This was not going to be good.

“You heard the man!” Coach said. “Asses on the field!”

The team beloved “Yeah!” again. Everyone but Scott and I.

---

“Your dad coming?” Scott asked. He was sitting beside me since Coach had been forced to bench him. Just like the good old times.

“Yeah, he’s already here,” I said, pointing to where my dad was sitting in the stands.

“You seen Allison?”

“No, I haven’t. You know what’s going on?” Because I certainly didn’t.

Scott exhaled. “Not yet.”

“It’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”

Scott didn’t answer.

“I mean, like, ‘people screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming’ kind of bad?”

Scott looked back over at me. He was silent for a while, mulling over my words.

“Looks like it,” he said.

I sighed and looked down at my feet for a bit, contemplating whether I should say it or not, and how I’d say it if I did. “Scott - the other night, seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I’m just lying there and can’t even move, it just-” I paused, trying to find words to describe it. There weren’t any. “I wanna help, you know? But I can’t do the things that you can do. I can’t.”

“It’s okay,” said Scott. I appreciated him trying to reassure me, but I knew he was lying - it wasn’t okay.

“We’re losing, dude,” I said, shaking my head.

“What the hell are you talking about? The game hasn’t even started.”

Valerie sat down beside me on the bench. She was holding her clipboard in her hands. I got a quick enough glance at it before she put it down beside her to see that she had been writing on it - but it didn’t look like it had anything to do with lacrosse.

“Now put on your helmet and get out there!” she said, smiling.

“Wait what?” I said. “Me? Why?”

Valerie rolled her eyes, but the gesture didn’t seem to have the same venom behind it as usual. “Because you’re gonna play, asshat. You’re in for Greenberg: Coach’s orders.”

“What? What happened to Greenberg?”

Valerie shrugged. “He sucks. You suck slightly less.”

A slow grin spread onto my face as I fully realized the situation. “I’m playing? On the Field? With the team?”

Valerie grinned. “Yes you are, now get the hell out there.”

“Shouldn’t you be mad about this?” I asked. “Why are you smiling?”

“You think I’m not gonna give you one chance at winning our bet? I can be a bit mean sometimes, I admit that, but I’m still fair.” She smirked.

I knew what she was referring to. In our freshman year, while Valerie had been teasing me about being benched all the time, we’d made a bet. If I ever scored a goal during the whole of High School, I’d win, If I didn’t, she won. I had mainly just agreed to it to make her shut up, to be honest. But if I won, if I scored a goal tonight, (and she even said an own goal would count) Valerie would owe me two weeks of burgers from Joe’s Burgers.

They were the best in town.

“Now go!” she said. I didn’t have to be told a fourth time. I tried to grab my helmet and lacrosse stick and elegantly get out on the field. Keyword: tried. Once I’d finally managed to clumsily grab my things and stand up, the last thing a heard was a giggle coming from Valerie, before I ran onto the field.

“Oh, dear God,” I mumbled to myself as the reality of the situation was setting in. “Oh, God.” I was gonna get my ass kicked.

The whistle blew and it didn’t take long for the ball to be passed to me, but before I could register what had happened - much less do anything - I was tackled.

I heard the crowd groan, and I sat up, only to see that the ball had fallen down on the ground beside me. I quickly got up.

“Oh, I got it, I got it, I got it. I got it, I got it,” I said, trying to pick it up, but it didn’t go that well. You know when you sweep the floor, and you’re trying to sweep all the dust you’ve gathered up onto the dustpan but it just won’t work? Yeah, that’s what was happening now.

When I finally managed to pick it up, I was tackled again.

This continued for most of the game. I barely managed to catch the ball (I did get hit in the head by it once, though), and when I actually did, I would get tackled immediately.

After a while - when there was just a short time of the game left, and we were down by two points - the ball rolled forward towards me, and stopped right before my feet.

I looked around. All the players were on the other side of the field, and they didn’t seem to know where the ball was. Hesitantly, I picked it up. The other players finally noticed that I had the ball, and started running towards me. So with no other choice - I ran towards the goal.

I knew the fact that I had a completely clear field was supposed to be a good thing - but the other players slowly closing up behind me was honestly terrifying.

I stopped right in front of the goal in panic. The players were closing up behind me and I had no idea what to do.

The world felt like it was going in slow-motion. I could hear voices screaming at me, but couldn’t make out the words. Finally - one voice seemed to pierce through my daze. It was Valerie’s.

“Shoot it, Silinski!”

And I listened. I shot the ball.

Everything was completely silent for a split second. I didn’t even register that I’d actually scored a goal until I heard the crowd erupt in cheers all at once.

“I scored a goal?” I asked, still not quite believing it. “I scored a goal! I scored a goal!”

High on my adrenaline rush from scoring the first goal of my life, for the next play, I managed to pick up the ball again and score another goal. We were now tied with 9 - 9. I needed to score another one if we were going to win. So when I was passed the ball in the next play, I ran towards the goal and scored again.

The crowd erupted in cheers for the third time. Grinning, I looked over at them, while my teammates cheered around me. The world felt like it was going in slow-motion again, but this time, in a good way.

At the front of the crowd, I saw Valerie. She was cheering loudest of them all. I had no idea what had happened to make her stop being mad at me, but I sure as hell was thankful for it.

But then - just as I was having the time of my life - the lights went out, and everything went dark.

---

Walking up the stairs and towards my room, I see my dad standing there, talking on the phone.

“Yeah, I’m not finding any clues here. Listen, if he... if he shows up at the hospital... okay thanks.” He hung up. “Oh, come on, Stiles. Where the hell are you?”

“Right here,” I croaked out. Dad turned around, a look of relief on his face upon seeing me, but it was quickly replaced by worry. He walked up to me and examined my face, where I knew a bruise was showing.

“It’s okay- dad, it’s okay,” I tried to tell him. He didn’t seem to believe me.

“Who did it?” He asked sternly.

“It’s okay, it was just a couple of kids from the other team,” I lied. “They were pissed about losing and I was - I was mouthing off, you know. The next thing I know-”

“Who was it?” he asked again.

“Dad, I don’t know,” I said again, raising my voice slightly. “I didn’t even see them really.”

“I want descriptions.”

“Look, Dad, come on, it’s not even that bad.”

“I’m calling that school, I’m calling them and I’ll personally go down there, and I’m gonna pistol-whip these little bastards-”

“Dad! I just - I said I was okay.”

He’s quiet for a little while, but seems to calm down a bit.

“God,” he mutters under his breath before pulling me into a hug. I hug back tightly, trying my best not to let tears fall down.

---

I heard a knock on the door of my bedroom.

“Dad, I said I’m fine.”

He knocked again.

Sighing, I got up from my bed, muttering to myself and as I opened the door ready to reprimand dad for being too worried. But I froze when I was who was standing on the other side.

“Hi,” said Valerie.

“Hi.”

“Your dad let me in.”

“He did? Yeah, of course he did.”

Valerie's eyes seemed to fixate on the bruise on my cheek. She drew her brows together in concern and reached her hand out as if she was going to touch it. Midway through the gesture, however, she seemed to think better of it and her hand fell down to her side again.

“What happened to your-”

“Oh, uh, yeah it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” I lied. “Uh, what. uh, what are you-”

“Yeah, right - I, er, I realized that I owe you this. Congrats on the win, by the way,” she said, holding out a Joe’s Burgers bag. I hadn’t even noticed she was holding it.

“Er, thanks,” I said, taking it from her. But she didn’t move. It seemed as if she had something else to say.

“Do you wanna come in?” I asked. She nodded and walked past me into my room.

“You have seventeen missed messages from Scott,” she said as I closed the door. Walking towards her, I took my phone from my desk where it was laying and put it in my pocket.

“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”

Valerie quirked an eyebrow. “Are you ignoring him?”

“No. No, not really.”

She nodded, and I fell silent, waiting for her to say what she wanted to.

“I got a letter from Erica,” she said quietly, finally looking up into my eyes. “She explained some stuff.”

I gulped. “Explained what, exactly?”

“That there wasn’t a lot she could tell me, but that she was running away and she was going to be fine. She wrote that the weird stuff happening hadn’t been your fault and that you were just trying to help.” She took a deep breath, her eyes flickering down to the floor a bit before they looked back into mine.

Valerie’s eye color was hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen them. They’re blue, would be the simple way to describe them, but they’re so much more than that. The normal ways one would describe blue eyes: icy blue, lightning blue and so on, just didn’t apply to her. Because Valerie’s eyes weren’t cold. Despite the color, they possessed a sort of warmness to them that was hard to describe. Looking into her eyes almost felt like looking into blue fire.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you guys, but you’re obviously involved in some deep shit. Now I don’t know if it’s some sort of cult, or whatever, but it’s obviously something a group of High Schoolers shouldn’t be involved in. But I trust Erica, so I understand that you can’t tell me anything. I’m okay with that,” she said. On the outside, she looked determined - but I could see through that at the confusion underneath.

I wanted to tell her everything, so desperately. I wanted to tell her about Erica, and Jackson, and Gerard. I wanted to tell her about kanimas, werewolves, and about alphas, betas, and omegas. I wanted to tell her what had happened to her best friend. I wanted to tell her the truth.

But I couldn’t. I knew I couldn’t. And that was the worst part.

“Listen, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but it’s obvious that you’re pretty shaken up. Just, be happy about one thing.”

I raised my brows and narrowed my eyes in a silent question.

Valerie smiled. “The game. You were amazing.”

I let out a breathy chuckle. The game. It had felt so awesome last night, but now, with everything that had happened... it felt so insignificant. I had honestly forgotten about it until Valerie gave me the burgers.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No, I mean it. Look, it was pretty much over - and then you caught the ball, and you started running, you scored - and the tide just turned.”

It felt weird listening to her talk. I wasn’t used to getting praise - much less from Valerie - but it felt good.

“And then you scored again,” she said, a smirk starting to grow on her face. “And again.” Her smirk deepened, and I managed a slight smirk back before my face dropped.

Valerie stopped smirking, and smiled instead. That same heartwarming smile I’d only ever seen her direct to two people. That same smile that I’d always wondered what it would feel like directed towards me. And now that I knew - I never wanted the feeling to disappear.

“You weren’t just the MVP of the game - you were a hero.”

I smiled, but there was no joy behind it. Shaking my head, I said: “No, I’m not a hero, Valerie.”

“You were last night.”

And with that statement she left the room - leaving a feeling in me I wondered if I’d ever feel again. It wasn’t happiness - I knew that. I couldn’t feel that right now, not with everything that had happened. But it wasn’t sadness either. I don’t know if Valerie could ever make me feel completely sad ever again. No, it wasn’t happiness nor sadness - It was both. In between. A combination. A mix of good and bad. It was... bittersweet.

“So,” said dad, who was now standing in the doorway, “are you guys friends now?”

“No.”

“Do you still hate each other?”

“No.”

(not my gif)

taglist: @idontgiveahufflefuck64 @woyee

bittersweet taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @theholydestiny @1967-chevy-impala-called-roscoe @cherry-sweet-cherry @kingidols-blog @xceafh @purple286 @bilesxbilinskixlahey @chipster-21 @profoundscissorshandsdiplomat

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stars-and-rose · 5 years

Text

marching/concert band! au: boys with crushes

basically,, I just went through band camp and gained inspiration for this au! also i just love it. so i wrote some cute little shippy scenes,, but it’s basically admitting they have crushs,, not a confession scene. yet. so have some band au! prinxiety and logicality minifics!! note, these take place in their junior year, so patton isn’t drum major yet- he’s drum captain,, and roman and logan aren’t heads yet!

----

Virgil adjusted the pin on his strap, glaring up at the sun as if he could prevent it from admitting heat. As much as he loved band, marching the same sets over and over in the burning sun wasn't his favorite pastime. He could practically feel his eyeshadow melting off, and his arms felt gross from the sunscreen he'd piled on. His water bottle was thankfully cool. It wasn't as cold as he would have liked, but it would do. Virgil took off the cap and chugged the water. Around him, the rest of tenors sat in the grass, enjoying the short water break before Thomas would order them all back into set zero. The band was getting the show down quicky. Sound-wise, there were some issues, but the marching was going nicely. Maybe that was because the tenor section had only gained two freshmen. Patton and Roman had complained at lunch about the ridiculous amounts of percussionists and flutists that had joined this year, but Virgil's section had gotten lucky. Speaking of the two freshmen, they were sitting next to him, talking loudly about cute guys. Virgil listened idly, deciding the girls had a decent taste in boys. Then, he heard, "You know the flute's assistant section leader? "Oh man, he's hot." "I know right? He's got really pretty eyes. I heard he plays lacrosse and is in choir too!" Alright, the girls had great taste, but that wasn't going to work. "Back off." Both girls whipped their heads around to look at him, confusion glowing in their eyes. "Huh?" "He doesn't know it yet, but Roman? He's mine." Virgil allowed himself to feel smug for a few seconds before he heard a familiar voice yell. "Yes! Virgil Tempest you amazing boy you just earned me twenty bucks!" It was Virgil's time to whip his head around. The head section leader of the tenor's, a boy named Joey, was grinning like a manic. "Cathy is going to lose her mind knowing you admitted it first!" "What? What are you talking about- did you make a bet on me? About what?" Virgil demanded. Ignoring the raging equipment manager, Joey yelled across the field, "Cat, I want my twenty!" There was silence for a few seconds before the flute's head section leader let out a groan. "Damn it Roman I had my faith in you, you shit!" ------- Logan slammed down the top of the printer, clicking the go button as he spun around. The other librarians were running around the library. It was the last game of the year- yet it seemed half of the band managed to lose their music. They had to leave for a neighboring high school in less than an hour, and Logan had arrived early to start the copying process. Even with the early start, they had only begun to make a dent. This year's head librarian, a girl named Leah, groaned from her spot at the paper cutter. "I've got an idea. We kill the entire band." The other assistant, a clarinetist named Theo, nodded their head from their position on the floor. "Perfect. You get brass, I'll get woodwinds, we'll team up to get percussion, and Logan will keep us out of jail." "Of course you make me the brains of your half-hazard homicide plots. Besides, you are afraid of blood Leah." She rolled her eyes, turning away from the paper cutter and almost knocking over the plant sitting on the edge of the table. Theo gasped. "You almost killed Roger! You'd break Patton's heart!" Speak of the devil. The drum captain entered the library, holding a bag from Lottie's. "Why are we breaking my heart?" "Leah almost knocked over the plant you bought," Logan explained with a small smile. Patton gasped. "I trusted you with Roger. Don't make me take him off you!" Theo snorted. "Is there a reason you're here, Pat? Love you, but hell is breaking loose in here." "Oh! Now I feel bad. I brought Logan some Crofter's cookies from Lottie's and some made him some coffee." As he spoke, Patton handed Logan the bag he was holding. Logan opened it, revealing wrapped jam cookies and his favorite galaxy coffee mug, warm to the touch. Leah and Theo shared a look. "Oh, it's okay, Pat." "We promise we're fine." "Oh, okay! If you say so. I gotta round up drumline." As soon as Patton was out of sight, Logan pulled a flashcard out of his pocket, cheeks burning. "I guess you would say I have a 'crush'." --------- "Oh man, I can't believe that was real." Patton smiled at the sophomore next to him. Michael still had a dreamlike look on his face, even though they had left All-State Orchestra four hours ago. In the front seat, Thomas chuckled. "You both did incredibly. I can't believe I got to take two kids to All States. Then, I get to take three to All-State Jazz, and Millie has two she's taking to All-State Choir." Patton nodded. "Virgil and Roman have been talking about it. I don't think I've seen Virgil without him humming his audition piece, and Roman's drunk before green tea in the past week than he has his entire life." Michael nodded. "I bet. How you'd like All States?" "Oh, it was so much fun! Though, my arm hurts." Thomas snorted. "That's to be expected. Your solo sounded amazing, Pat." Patton winced. "I almost missed the Director cueing me in." "It happens." Thomas turned the car onto a familiar street. "We're almost at the school. I love you guys but please make sure you have rides ready, and get your bags. We've got school tomorrow and we all need to be well-rested. "My dad told me he's already at the school," Michael replied. "What about you, Pat?" "My older sister told me I'd have a ride waiting for me." "Which Lark child will I be seeing tonight?" Thomas asked. "No idea!" After Thomas pulled into the school, Micheal giggled. "None. Look, Patton." Patton glanced out the window, and a grin formed on his face. Logan, wrapped in a blue overcoat held a sign reading, "Congratulation, Patton, ' in his beautiful cursive. His cheeks were flushed from the night, and when he met Patton's gaze, he offered a soft smile. "Boys." Patton breathed. "I think I'm in love." ------- "Huh. All of your notes are right." Evelyn practically chucked her flute into her lap. "This is hopeless! It's the end of me. I'm buying a plane ticket and flying to Idaho and becoming a potato farmer." Roman rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm the drama queen of this section. You'll get it, Eve. Thomas wouldn't have given you the solo if he didn't think you could." "Can you play it again?" She asked, glaring at the sheet music. Roman raised his flute to his lips, closing his eyes. He'd played these measures multiple times with Evelyn, and playing was easier if he wasn't staring at his music. The soft melody filled the air. Then, Evelyn groaned. "You play it much better." Roman lower his instrument. "Maybe you're not putting enough feeling into it?" "What?" "Well, it's a ballad. A love story. A song about lovers who have finally reunited after a long war and are falling into each other's arms." "Yeah, Mr. Sanders told us that when he passed out the piece." "Pretend you're playing it for your girlfriend," Roman suggested. "Put all the passion into the piece, as if you were the soldier returning to their love." "Huh." Evelyn nodded. "Is that what you do?" "Yeah." "You're single though, right? Then who are you playing it for?" "Mmm. I imagine I'm seeing Virgil after he's been gone for years. I play it for him." "So, you finally admit you have the hots for Virgil? Took you long enough! Cathy is going to rage that she wasn't around to hear it." "Wait, huh? Eve you bitch! Get back here!"

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rocket-remmy · 4 years

Text

First, You Focus|| Nell and Remmy

Takes place sometimes back in March but Olivia and I are messes and just finished recently

Nell reassures Remmy that they were made for this.

@nelllraiser

So this was it. Remmy stared at the empty cage, watching people trickle in. The darkness that had fallen on the town seemed to bring in a bigger crowd. Maybe everyone was just trying to distract themselves from thinking about it. Remmy could relate. Although, they were here for a different distraction. They’d watched a few fights already, and the anxiety inside them had begun to grow. They wanted to feel that freedom they’d felt on the beach again. They wanted to close their mind off to all the thinking and all the crying and all the shit that had been going on and just focus on one thing. Like how they used to. Put everything aside and just focus. One thing. One moment. One goal. Lancer’s mantra repeated itself in Remmy’s head. One thing. One moment. One goal. Don’t die. Stay focused. Complete the mission. He’d always tack on after that if everyone didn’t come back, it wasn’t a success. Success only came in teamwork. It’s why they’d all been so close. They all knew each other inside and out. The little ragtag group of bomb techs, going into the field every day wondering if it would be their last. Remmy blinked the thoughts away again. This was why they were here. They needed to stop thinking about all of that. Hitting things had always worked before, and it had helped at the beach.

Someone bumped up against Remmy and they were pulled from their trance like stare at the box. Nell was supposed to be here by now. Glancing down at their wrist-- and then forgetting that they didn’t wear a watch, and never had-- they moved away from the entrance and towards the back, where the fighters gathered before the matches. There were a few others idling around, and Remmy moved to an empty corner, sitting down. Hands trembled slightly, but they squeezed them together, closing their eyes to count to ten. They could do this. This would be good. Nell said they would be good at this, and Remmy would give anything to be good at something. To be proud of something.

Even though Nell had seen Remmy in action, and knew that they were incredibly capable of warding off all manners on danger, she couldn’t help the prickle of nerves that had settled into her stomach. She knew what happened in this Ring. How people got ripped apart. And after the conversation with Bea on the beach about leading friends into danger...she was more on edge than usual, especially with Evan’s ghost still trailing her everywhere. But hadn’t that been the point of keeping him around? To remind herself to be careful with those she loved? But this wasn’t the Nell that Remmy needed right now. Nell deserved to have their moment, and be happy in it— so she quickly shook herself out of her thoughts, put a grin on her lips, and went to find Remmy where she said she’d meet them. Seeing them in a moment of silence, she offered a little, “Hey,” to warn them of her presence before reaching out to put a hand on their shoulder. “You ready? I’m so ready to watch you kick butt, and own this.”

When Nell’s voice cut through the sounds of the ambling crowd, Remmy opened their eyes and looked up. She was smiling, which was reassuring, and Remmy tried to smile back. “Hey!” they said, scooting over so she could take a spot next to them. Supposedly they would call Remmy when it was their turn to head into the ring, and they were supposed to wait back here until then. Remmy was sure that if their heart could beat, it would be pounding right now. The vial in their pocket felt heavy. Felix said it would take only a few minutes to help calm the anxiety so Remmy was waiting a moment to take it. “Oh, um, yeah! I’m definitely ready, just like, got pre-game jitters, I guess,” they said, giving Nell a shrug. “Did you get nervous your first time?”

Nell didn’t hesitate to settle herself next to Remmy on the bench, continuing on with her encouraging smile. Truly, she hoped this was as good for Remmy as it had been for her. She had needed a place to get out everything she felt inside. A place where she could just unleash what was inside her without having to worry about anyone or anything, somewhere where she could just release all the pent up energies that always seemed to be swirling inside her. Nell wanted that for Remmy, too. “Jitters make sense. You can use them, though. Turn that nervous energy into fight energy.” Her lacrosse coach had said something along the same lines to her team before a game on multiple occasions. A little hum was pressed from her lips before she answered Remmy’s question. “Yes...and no. I wasn’t necessarily nervous about getting hurt- or things like that. I just wanted to do well. I wanted people to see what I could do. To prove myself, I guess.”

Remmy thought quietly on Nell’s words for a moment. “Yeah, I...I think that’s mostly it. Cause, like...I can’t really be hurt. I’m not worried about that. I just...I wanna be good, do good,” they said, giving a little nod. “I wanna finally be good at something and like, feel good about it, you know?” They kinda figured Nell did, otherwise neither of them would be here. The first person was called out-- a tall, burly looking guy, with strange eyes. Almost snake like. Remmy ignored it and turned to look back at Nell. “And, hey-- you don’t have to prove yourself to me or anything. I think you’re pretty great already. And powerful. Not a lot of people would like...face danger like at the beach. And like, everything else you’ve faced.” The crowd roared over something, probably the introduction of whatever that first guy would be fighting. Remmy looked from the doorway back to Nell. “Is it always this, um, full?”

Nell nodded, perhaps understanding Remmy a little more than they knew. Hadn’t this been how it had started for her? At least...somewhat. She loved hearing the approval of the crowd, whether it be due to the performer genes that ran through her blood, or long-buried need for approval. Thankfully, she liked to think it was more solely for her these days. “You’re gonna be good,” she assured, her voice full of passion and belief, as if it could single handedly fill that need to be good that Remmy was feeling with the sheer power of her voice. But it seemed Remmy had decided to turn the tables on her with their kind words, and some of her ferocity melted away, replaced by a soft smile. “That’s….sweet Remmy. Thank you— really. And you know- I mean- the same could be said for you. You’re good. You really are. I’m honestly surprised you weren’t needed for the whole pure of heart bit. I bet you could have done it, though.” Then she stood to peek through the door at the crowd, taking it in before turning back to her friend to answer, “It’s a pretty good crowd, actually. That’s good for you, though. It means more money being bet, probably.”

Nell’s words were a comfort. They were gonna be good. They could feel it. That little rush of adrenaline inside of them as they listened to the crowd cheering just outside the doors. Remmy glanced up at Nell as she stood. “I mean...thanks for the vote of confidence, but there’s like...no way someone like me could’ve been pure of heart. I-- I was a soldier, Nell. And soldiers...follow orders. No matter what.” They looked at her with tired eyes, remorseful. They didn’t need to say it for it to be heard-- they’d fired the same guns as all their friends. Into the same places. At the same people. Remmy looked back down at their feet. “I’m just trying to make up for everything. In whatever way I can.” They stood to join her at the doorway. Whatever had been in the ring with the snake-eyed man, it was dead now, and being dragged off. Remmy felt a small pang of guilt. Was killing creatures for fun really okay? Nell seemed okay with it, though, and like she’d said...these were bad creatures. And it wasn’t like human authorities could take care of the problem. So it was up to them. Remmy gave a little nod, swallowing. “Yeah...I hope so.” They turned a nervous eye to Nell. “Only one more person before me.”

Nell knew she’d never been a soldier in the sense that Remmy was, but she could at least understand making decisions that seemed to leave a mark on the soul, things that stuck with you, and things that you’d never truly know whether or not the right decision had been made. Certainly, she had her own choices that she tried her best not to dwell on. “I mean, I obviously don’t know everything but— just knowing you, I wouldn’t blame you. Maybe you shouldn’t, either. If that’s what- you’re talking about, I mean.” Her words had started off as sure and calm, but she began to clam up a bit towards the end, suddenly remembering that she wasn’t generally good at talking about things like this, and beginning to wonder if she’d been doing it right. All this talk of sadness and guilt probably wasn’t the best hype up for a fight, so Nell turned back to Remmy with a grin on her lips once more, trying to encourage them again. “It’s gonna feel great. Fighting out there. With the adrenaline and the crowd and everything— there’s nothing like it. And they’re gonna love you.”

Remmy knew this wasn’t the time to be talking about this. They hadn’t meant to bring it up, but Nell’s words somehow drowned out the need to insist she was wrong. It just...didn’t matter anymore, anyway. It was over and done. And Remmy wasn’t pure of heart. They weren’t anything. They just...were. They just existed to exist, now. Had to go on because throwing this away felt more like an insult to their dead friends than anything. They understood that now. And so, they’d make of it what they could. They just nodded, slowly. “Yeah, I-- I hope so.” The crowd roared again. Remmy heard the sound of cracking bones, someone crying out in pain. Whoever was fighting now wasn’t doing so hot. They turned away, trying not to think about it too much. This was their choice. It was only a few seconds later that the bell rang and the crowd cheered even louder, boos and cries of joy intermixing. Remmy looked from the crowd back to Nell. Swallowed. “Well…wish me luck?” they said, waiting for the referee to usher them over, hands wringing together. “Don’t bet too much on me, I don’t wanna be responsible for making you go bust.”

Nell turned back to the action as it closed, a brow rising as the contestant finished their battle. Well...that was one way to end things. She could only hope it didn’t worry Remmy or anything of that like, truly thinking that this Ring business would be good for them. As they cleared the arena and reset for the next fight, she was focused on Remmy once more, giving them a confident nod. “I think you’re going to kick-ass even without luck. But if it makes you feel better-” she clapped a hand on her friend’s shoulder, giving them an encouraging squeeze before heartfully saying, “Good luck. And I’ll be right here, I’m not leaving. Now go out there, and show them who’s boss.”

Remmy smiled over at Nell, feeling a little more confident with her encouragement. It was a little sad, they supposed, that people’s encouragement meant so much to them, but they couldn’t help it. “Thanks,” they said, starting to head out, before stopping. “Oh, wait--” they turned back to face Nell, easing the bracelet off. The same bracelet that they had made when they’d first met. The same bracelet that had saved Remmy’s life who knows how many times at this point. “Here.” They placed it gently in Nell’s hands. “Keep this safe for me?” Before backing away, giving one last nod, and heading out. It was time.

#chatzy #chatzy: nell #nell

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kanima-claws · 4 years

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LARA JEAN.

LACROSSE was a sport she secretly, for the life of her, could not get into. Her entire school went absolutely nuts for it and yet every time she’d been dragged to one of their games, she couldn’t understand a thing. Which, in hindsight, she felt rather stupid about because it was one of the easiest sports to understand. She’d blame it on her lack of attention and regard for it. Mostly because, at the time, she didn’t have a point to caring about the game or why it was important. And this applied to … pretty much all of the sports. Fear not, Lara Jean Song Covey was now a sports enthusiast with the help of Kitty and Chris. After all, she couldn’t go forever being bubble-headed about it. If she couldn’t get into the school spirit, how was she going to enjoy the rest of high school? Watching the games had meaning now, and she actually felt excited standing in the bleachers with Chris, listening to her shout out obscenities over every ‘bullshit’ call by the referees.

Plus — and by total accident — she may or may not have befriended Jackson Whittemore. Well, was that even the right label for them? She didn’t want to be too friendly in case he was absolutely repulsed by her presence but he didn’t seem to hate being around her from the looks of it. She could have it all wrong but still. It may have to do with the fact that they’re partners for a year-long project … it wasn’t assigned but it was a class she had zero friends in and he just so happened to be absent during the pairings. Fate, right? Being an outsider led her to have false perceptions of the lacrosse player and yet she found herself seeing him in a completely different light the more time she spent with him.

And — Oh, surprise, surprise, the coveted Cyclones won the game and she was rushing to get off of the bleachers before the crowd turned into a stampede that’d bury her alive. Which was already failing. She’d lost Chris and she couldn’t see anything. Curse being so short! The crowd began shoving her to and from, and she just gave up and let the wave of overly-excited fans push her wherever they desired — and how convenient she ended up smashing face first into the chest of Beacon Hill’s best lacrosse player.

“Jackson!” she shouted over the crowd, practically wheezing. Man, she needed to work out more. This was unacceptable. “Great game! Sorry — I didn’t mean to bump into you, or headbutt your chest. I’m just — there’s so many people, dude,” concerned eyes glanced over her surroundings, brows raising in slight exaggerated terror — for comedic purposes, of course. “High five?” and with that, she sheepishly raised her hand. Post-game etiquette was … something she didn’t have.

LACROSSE was easily one of the most important things to Jackson, ask anyone. Well, they might say his stupid Porsche came first, but that wasn’t true. Yeah, he had a bitchin’ car, but his parents gave that to him. You couldn’t buy the talent he had in lacrosse, it had to be built up. It had to be earned. It was a skill that had to be sharpened, perfected. Well, you could buy the workout gear, the right foods, the protein powder, the equipment, the uniform...but that was besides the point. Blood, sweat and tears were poured into everything he did to get to where he was now. You didn’t get where he was by pretending to run a mile every morning just so you could post pictures of you in your yoga pants on Instagram. During off season, there were no days off. Everyday was a rise and grind day. The second you slipped off your game was the second you could be replaced.

Being the lacrosse captain made him an essential part of the team. He wasn’t some bench warmer that could be used to replace some random number on the field, no, he was crucial. When the team didn’t know what to do, they turned to him to pull out all the stops and bring them home to glory. There was no “I” in team, but there was one in winner, one in important and one in captain so what difference did it make? There was also one in Whittemore and not one in bench warmer, so he knew he was in the right place.

Lacrosse made Jackson feel like he was significant. No drugs could compare to the high he got from the roar of the crowd, the energy of the team getting hyped up in the locker room, the field lights shining down on him, the sound of the ball going into the net. Putting on his jersey felt like he was putting on a suit of armor. In it, he was invincible.

The burning in his calves, an ache, and injury wasn’t bad, it just meant it was another day where he had given his all. Waking up sore on a Saturday morning was just a reminder that what he did was real. Lacrosse might just be a game, but to Jackson Whittemore, it was an integral part of who he was. His drive, his grandeur, his pride all came from this sport. He wouldn’t give it up for anything.

Twenty two seconds till the end of the game, they needed one more point to take snatch another win. If he was a weaker player, his sprint across the field should’ve sent him into a wheezing fit on the grass. Adrenaline coursed through his body, propelling him through the air like a jet engine. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine...Giving everything he had, he raised his stick and sent the ball flying into the net just in time. The roar of the crowd was deafening. Like a dam breaking, the crowd flooded onto the field. People patted him on the back, jumped on top of him, screamed his name. Rather than frightening him, it ignited him, making him feel like the star he was.

With all his padding, the little bullet that was Lara Jean hitting his chest didn’t even make him stumble back. If anything, it would hurt her more than him, but he hoped she wasn’t hurt at all. Brows raise as he glances down at her, “LJ, hey—” Oh, she was adorable if not a little too helpless for her own good. With a chuckle, he gives her her high five, clasping their hands together and shaking them up in the air. “Thanks.”

Letting go of her hand, her pushes some of his sweat slick hair off his forehead. “Surprised this crowd didn’t sweep you away, Little Bit. I mean, I’m glad, but sports fans are ruthless.”

High school sports fans were no exception. Parents who were vicariously living out their glory days through their kids took this very, very seriously.

☆ﾟ*・ﾟ starter reposted for @c-ovey・ﾟ * ☆ﾟ

#c. lara jean song covey #v. tbd #c-ovey #I'VE BEEN WANTING TO USE LACROSSE! JACKSON ICONS FOR SO LONG SO THANK U #also i know u said u were gonna repost it on ur new blog but i've been itching for them #so i hope this is okay!!!

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neshabeingchildish · 5 years

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Your Mom

Did not intend to have so many OCs here, but it's a moms-centric chapter and has some other folk you might come across in college - friends, coworkers and stuff. I gave Charlotte’s mom the name Rosemary and Jasper’s mom the name Pansy. Bear with me. Sorry. ILU thanks.

Your Mom

“Are the straights okay?” a friend typed as the caption of a post with a bride grabbing the groom and forcing him into marriage. Charlotte kept scrolling. The straights were not okay for a number of reasons, and that was one of the ones that she didn’t relate to, at all. There’d be no dragging of men to the altar for her. She was almost certain that somebody might have to drag her to one, in order for it to go down, if she was perfectly honest, but she’d lucked out and managed to find a decent man who managed to remake himself into a godsend for her, and she believed it was what she deserved.

Being pampered on her period was one thing, but Jasper’s nurturing was like… constant. He’d figure out that something worked and he would go for it, tried and true and be her rock through just about anything. Some people didn’t like for things to remain the same. They felt like it was stagnant or got stale, but Charlotte hated change. She liked to be comfortable and the rollercoaster of fitting herself into Jasper’s world was one that had been uproarious and uncomfortable. While she hated that he seemed sad that he didn’t have the time to do a lot of the things that he used to, she loved not needing to dress up, go out, small talk or be seen by his friends as a bitch or a buzzkill, interact with people who were way drunker than her, and way stupider, even on their smartest days… Like… She was glad that he was too busy to socialize. But, she also felt bad about it, because Jasper thrived on that energy.

He flourished and blossomed and without it, she was worried that he might wither into his former sadness. SO, she got out of her comfort zone, hated it the entire time and plotted to try to get schedules to arrange a couple’s camping trip with some of his frat bros and their current interests or partners. She felt more comfortable about doing something that they wouldn’t be on campus for and able to invite every stoner and wild child in town, but something that she could also enjoy. Nature, hiking, maybe even a little partying by the campfire, or perhaps, they could rent a cabin! She still had to sort the details out whenever she could figure out when schedules would allow it. But, it also meant speaking with his bosses. Now… The tattoo parlour, it was all good. They loved him. He brought a lot of customers in, and a lot of traffic and they considered him like family - he had that effect on people. But, the internship… It was unpaid and he also hadn’t been there for very long. She did some research to figure out who she might be dealing with. She knew that the guy at the firm who took him on was an alumnus of his fraternity, but she didn’t know much else. A little delving couldn’t hurt. This dude’s name is Bart? He goes by Barty? Wait… Bartholomew Buttkiss? She cackled and kept looking. Typical WASP shit. Involved with more companies than he would ever put on the Internet, children looking like they’re about to do The Purge, grandchildren looking like The Village of the Damned. Game hunting (exotic animals, asshole…), golf (eye roll), lacrosse champion… Jazz enthusiast… “Okay… Maybe I can work with this, Mr. Buttkiss.” Charlotte searched through his profiles and through interviews and really put WAY more time into that than she even had into planning the actual goddamn trip! BUT…

She showed up at the firm, around when Jasper usually took a lunch break (when he might have called her), but early enough that she was able to be there whenever Barty was gonna be heading out for golf with a buddy. Don’t ask her how she found that out… She wore a long jazz festival shirt with cute little musical notes leggings and packed a huge basket of treats, including some peach tarts, old Barty’s faves and she came up to the desk as she saw him coming from out of the work area. “Hi!” She said to the receptionist, “Hoping that Jasper Dunlop is available for lunch. I can certainly wait, if he’s not, but I hope it’s possible to let him know that Charlotte is here. I brought some treats for your troubles.” She set the basket on the desk and opened it to let the smell out. “I recommend the peach tarts. They’re homemade.”

Barty headed over to the desk and asked, “I’m sorry, what’s happening here?”

Charlotte smiled at him and offered her hand, “Hi! I’m Charlotte. My fiance is an intern here. I’m trying to treat him to lunch, a little surprise. I brought enough treats at least for a few people.”

“You said that you’ve got peach tarts, huh?” Barty asked and looked into the basket, then helped himself. He made a bunch of obnoxious noises that she almost broke character behind, before declaring, “These are some of the best peach tarts I’ve ever tasted! You made these? Mmmm.” He grabbed another.

“I did! I didn’t know what to make, so I have a selection of stuff here. Help yourself.”

“Jasper, was it? He’s a good kid. You’re his fiance?” He gave her a lookover, and she couldn’t tell if he was judging her or just looking. “I didn’t realize that he was engaged.”

“It’s new. I’m trying to make sure that I’m a good, supportive woman, you know, but you can’t tell a man anything when he’s used to doing things and being successful. I’m trying to plan a camping trip, for instance, and he INSISTS that there’s no way that he’d ever be able to take the time off. He’s never gonna ask for it, so I have to just do what I can and squeeze in these little moments where I can, you know? Gotta make sure that he knows that I love him enough to bake for the office and set up picnics.”

“Are you gonna be a housewife?”

“In this economy?” She asked, and laughed. “No. I mean, he wants to be the breadwinner, but I’m actually one of the top people in my class and already working professionally in my field, lower level things. We’ve all gotta start someplace, right? I’m at Ridgemont Diagnostics…”

“REALLY?” He was impressed. “Are you a debutante?”

“Oh, no… I’m doing all of it on this,” she pointed to her temple.

“Interesting. Well, listen, when does Jasper need some time off? He’s an intern. It’s not like the place will fall apart without him.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s more like he’s just passionate about proving himself and earning his keep. I was thinking definitely a weekend before hunting season kicks off. Him, some of the fraternity guys and their lovely ladies, just taking a break, you know?”

“Of course. Listen, here… what was your name again?”

“Charlotte Page, Sir.”

He dug into his wallet and gave her a business card. “I want to get that tart recipe from you and you can email me when you want to take Jasper away. AND a jazz fan?” He said, noting her shirt, “I didn’t really know that kid had such good taste. His wardrobe is… interesting. Very nice to meet you.” He grabbed another tart and went on his way. It was a few minutes before Jasper ever came out.

He was smiling, in a simple button shirt with a very bright tie which she said, “Hey, F Sized… Stop wearing ties to work. Or wear like… old man ones that your boss might like.”

“He says that my ties are interesting.”

“Yeah, he told me the same thing. But, it was the way he said it.” He nodded and removed the tie. “So… Just so you know, you’re gonna have a free weekend and you, me, Coogie, Snek, and Fisher are gonna go camping.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I just wooed your boss for a free weekend for you and the fellas are gonna bring a girl and we’re going camping near the mountains.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because you haven’t been able to do anything that you enjoy with your friends, and I knew that I could most likely ask your boss without making it seem like YOU were trying to get out of work. Come on, I’ve got you some maple bacon pies and an extra thick milkshake. It’s thicker than you,” she said and winked at him. Whenever they got outside, she also pinched his butt. “I love that thing,” she said, smiling fondly at it.

Hey, I am taking Jasper on a camping trip with some of his buddies. Can you look at the list of stuff that I’m bringing along and tell me if I left anything off? *Sends list*

Rosemary: Baby, I’ve never been camping before in my life, but I know that you’ve never been ill prepared for anything, a single day of your life. I’m sure if there’s something to think about that you’ve thought about it. Some of that stuff, I wouldn’t have even thought of.

Adanna: Friend, I think that you’re overthinking your relationship every since the ring. You know what’s best for yourself and Jasper. You’ve known for years, from what he’s told me and his dad. He thinks that you’re the smartest person alive and the most caring. Just trust yourself. You don’t need to ask us these things.

Charlotte: I just have never thought that I would ever be a fiancee or wife and it seems like I have to, idk, do something above and beyond? No?

Rosemary:You think that I’m over here going above and beyond? Honey, your dad is lucky if he gets my best as exhausting as it is to live with a man. As long as you love him, that will show up in how you treat him and what you do. There doesn’t need to be extra stuff…

Charlotte started another chat, with just her mother and Adanna: Okay… but, Jasper has a very rocky childhood and his family wasn’t really very loving, so I feel the way that I feel because I feel like I have to still undo some of the programming he’s had of what love is. I’ve sent him “I love you” messages before he goes to bed, every single night for almost 4 years now, just to try to get it in his mind that who loves you is the person who does nice things for you and to you. I have reminders in my phone to give him compliments, just as a self esteem booster, even though I know he gets plenty of fan love or whatever. I just… wanna do this right, you know? I didn’t wanna say all that in front of his mom.

Rosemary: Would she even care?

Charlotte: I don’t know, but he would. That’s his mom. He’ll always love her, no matter what.

Rosemary: I dread my grandchildren being exposed to somebody like that.

Adanna: Why don’t you have everyone over and try to speak with her about the things that are unresolved?

Charlotte: Like… everyone? Why not just you and Mom?

Adanna: Sure, that sounds good to me.

Rosemary: I’ll do anything for you, Charlotte. She’d better watch herself…

She planned it for after the camping trip, which was fine. She wasn’t super excited to spend time with Jasper’s friends, but somehow, they were all so much more bearable than they usually seemed. Maybe everyone was growing up now, but not too much. All the ladies kept asking about wedding details and Jasper loved dishing about that, while Charlotte just kind of smiled uncomfortably, not wanting to admit that she didn’t know half this information and sort of having to bond with the fellas anytime it started up. “How’d he finally convince you?” Fisher asked. “I wanna know what to avoid.” He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. He simply clanked his beer bottle against hers and took a drink.

“I’ve known for a while that I’d be with Jasper for a long time, if he remembered that I care, and he eventually did.” She shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her rose beer (which was the only beer that she drank); she was a wine or daiquiri girl.

“Well, he initially told us whenever he first mentioned you that you were the woman he wanted to marry. I’m talking when we were pledging. He was all stressed out and sweaty, worried about the amount of time and energy he had to put into pledging. I thought he was crazy, but then we saw you and I was like, Ahhh, I get it now.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“That you’re hot,” he said and smiled. She pursed her lips and looked at him. “What?”

“You’re the dude who had everyone calling me Warden Page freshman year!”

“So?” She scoffed and shook her head. “Anyway, when are you two getting married?”

“Probably after senior year. I’ll still have some studies, but by that time, Jasper will probably be restless being a fiance and want to get the official stuff done.”

“When you say senior year, you mean like after next year, or after Big Dog gets the rest of his credits?” She looked confused. “With the whole major change thing…?”

“Oh! Oh, that!” She had no idea wtf he was talking about, “Yeah. Probably after THAT. The whole major thing…” She stuffed the bottle back into her mouth, finished and said, “I’m gonna go to the cooler for another. You need one of yours?”

“Yes, please, Warden Page.” She narrowed her eyes but was smiling gently.

Charlotte waited until after the trip to ask Jasper, “So… what is the whole major thing… something with your credits?” He thought for a moment, then realized that they hadn’t discussed this yet and also that someone must’ve brought it up.

“Okay, I meant to talk to you about it, but I hadn’t figured out how to, just yet.”

“Why not in the same way that you told your bros?” She said, with a tight smile, trying not to be angry. Whatever this was, they could handle it.

“Well, I told them because I didn’t know if I’d need to stick around and live in the frat house for a little longer, because I switched to a double major and might have to add about a year, probably less! To… to… my transcript…” He looked so worried that she was going to be upset with him, but she was relieved. She didn’t know what she thought that he’d say, but she thought it was about to be awful.

“Okay. Well, next time, please talk to me about things like this. Why… Why don’t we just… Maybe get an apartment together or something? I know that you’re at mine a lot already, but it’s a little small for you to you know, move all of your things in.”

“I’d prefer that we waited until after I’m done with school.”

“Okay… do you also wanna wait until then to get married?”

“Yeah. I think it’s the responsible thing to do, right?” He gave her a half smile, tentative, like he was really waiting on her to answer him.

“Right… But, also… if you’re reconsidering… I get it… I’d you know… understand…”

His eyes grew wide, “You’d understand? I wouldn’t understand that at all. Why would I have second thoughts about being with you?”

“I don’t know. You just were super excited and ready to marry me ASAP, and now, you’re going to school longer, don’t wanna live with me AND want to prolong the wedding date.”

“I don’t want any of those things. I’m trying to make sure that I’m doing right by the woman who says that she’ll have me for the rest of my life. That’s something I take more serious than anything else. We’re gonna be a family, build a family… I’m not gonna build it on immature mistakes and hollow hopes. I’m… trying to do the work to be good enough.”

“You’re beyond good enough.”

“Good enough to feel good about it all. If we get an apartment and I have to cut corners somewhere, or accumulate debt or something - that affects us negatively and I just… I’m not doing that. I refuse to do that. I’m gonna be a good man, but also a real man.”

“You’re already that, Jasper. Never forget this, please?” She gave him a hug and kissed him on the chin, then grabbed a handful of butt. It was right there, so she kinda had to.

“I appreciate the level of butt stuff that I’ve gained by proposing,” he said and pulled her in by hers to kiss her. She didn’t know what he was talking about. She’d been playing on that donk since year one… She used to bounce stuff off of it.

Henry had the pleasure of bringing Jasper’s mom to Charlotte’s. Rosemary and Adanna rode together and pulled in shortly before Henry did. Henry and Jasper rushed to hug each other upon his arrival and Henry had a huge binder with material, colors, etc… stuff that you just wouldn’t be able to see very well on the computer or phone. He said he’d go say hi to Char and Jasper smiled towards his mother and said, “Thank you so much for coming. It really means a lot to us that you made the time.” She nodded, but didn’t offer anything else. But, whenever Rosemary and Adanna got out of Adanna’s van both women squealed happily and rushed to hug him.

Charlotte sighed from the window as Henry came in and looked over her shoulder. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

She shook her head, “She didn’t even try to hug him. Everybody hugged him BUT her. This is the type of stuff that I have to help him through. She doesn’t even TRY! Why have a kid?”

“At least she only had one.”

The others came inside and Adanna immediately placed her hand over her heart, “I love the energy in this place, so much.” Rosemary hugged her daughter, then Adanna and Charlotte pulled Pansy into a hug, whether she wanted it or not. Jasper wrapped his hands around Charlotte’s waist from the back and said, “Let me know if you need anything.” He kissed her on the cheekbone and said, “I’m gonna look at this wedding stuff Hen’s got.” Lady and Tramp came running out of the bedroom and Jasper called them over to him, and he and Henry each grabbed one and went out to the patio with them and their stuff.

“Want a drink or anything?” Jasper wondered.

“What have you got?”

“Juice or like all kinds, water, and I’m sure Char has some wine and rose beer.”

“Rose beer? That sounds gross. Is it gross?”

“No idea. I don’t drink, Man.”

“Oh yeah. I mean, I know you don’t drink, but you haven’t curiously tasted it or anything?”

“Naw. I don’t need to put that shit in my body,” Jasper said, petting Tramp’s head. Really, he was afraid of drinking. What if he had a problem with it, like his dad? He wasn’t gonna risk Charlotte the way that Jack Leigh had risked he and his mom. Speaking of, he glanced into the living room to see Charlotte inviting the ladies to be seated and letting them know what refreshments she had available.

“There’s sweet potato bites, varying garnishing like avocado, tomato and radish sprouts, or ricotta, cranberry walnut… I couldn’t decide which recipe was better. There’s also cucumber wrapped chicken or seafood with greek yogurt dip… some fruit, and Jasper’s got some goat and lamb in the kitchen… for dinner, with the sides and stuff. Anyway! There’s also spritzers.”

“Charlotte, relax. Have a seat,” Rosemary advised. “We’re not hard to please. We’re here to support you, not for food.”

“Thanks, Mom.” She sat down and asked Jasper’s mom, “How are you? How was the drive?”

She looked put on the spot, but answered politely, “Henry drove. It was fine.”

Charlotte nodded and smiled, then sat back in her seat. “Jasper took off tonight from the parlor, so that he and Henry could catch up, but he’s probably gonna pop in and out of here, just because he worries a lot. I’m thinking of suggesting that he moves on up to an in-person therapist. He’s been doing the therapy text service for years now and I think it’s been super helpful, but I really think that he could benefit more from someone face to face.” Pansy squirmed a little, but she didn’t say anything. “For instance, he told me that he just wants to get everything right, he doesn’t wanna get a divorce or remarry or anything like that, so he’s tacked on some more courses and we’re not going to get married or officially move in together until after that’s done.”

“That sounds like a wise choice!” Rosemary offered.

“It is, but it's not Jasper, you know? He’s impulsive. He’s very take action. He doesn’t usually plan it out this way.”

“That’s your influence, Sweetheart. Be proud of it.”

“I just really want us to be married already!” Charlotte said and was embarrassed after she did.

“Oh my God… Are you pregnant?” Pansy sat up abruptly and asked.

“What? No! I have a perfect GPA and educational and career trajectory. If I get pregnant, it’s gonna be on purpose, even with your son’s virility.”

Rosemary recoiled, “What does that mean?”

Casually, Charlotte said, “Oh, I took a sample from him to test it in the lab. He is extremely fertile. We won’t have any issues whenever we’re ready to create children… I just really love him and ever since he proposed, all that I can think about is what it’s gonna be like to be his wife. I know that isn’t very feminist, but he’s the kind of person that you just know will be excellent at these things. I’m slightly impatient about it and now it’s being pushed further away.”

Rosemary smiled and told the others, “I know what’s happening here. Whenever Jasper proposed, Charlotte’s brain plotted out a timeline of events and she maybe even made a vision board shortly afterwards to factor in that she now was gonna be a wife, and she’s made the adjustments and committed them to memory. She likes comfort and a huge change is making her uncomfortable, therefore, anxious. All she needs is a new plan of action for her timeline, but she does not like to have to change plans.”

“Mom, I am VERY versatile. I’ve had to make a lot of adaptable changes at work.”

“Changes that affected your home life?” Her mom asked. Charlotte frowned and grabbed a sweet potato. “Thought so. So… where do things change, on your last timeline?”

"I THOUGHT that I was getting married in less than a year… but now it's closer to two years."

"Have you told Jasper about how much you want to marry him sooner?" Adanna asked.

"No. I could tell he was serious about the route that he wants to go and I wanted to make sure that I don't persuade him into anything that he might resent me for later. He's very… afraid of making mistakes with serious stuff. I can't pressure him knowing how scared he is of failing."

"You don't pressure him. I'm suggesting just telling him how you feel."

She looked at his mom, "What do you think about it?"

"I think that kids get married so quickly these days and then they just fall apart. It's better to wait." Rosemary rolled her eyes and Pansy quickly tacked on, “I did the same thing and it affected my only child for the rest of his life and affected my life, too. So, I’m just throwing caution into the wind. Be sure that it’s what you are willing to do, not just what you think that you want.”

“My daughter makes good decisions,” Rosemary said.

“I’m sure.”

“What do you mean, “I’m sure?” Rosemary asked, her eyebrows up in challenge.

Pansy sighed and said, “She makes good grades and what-have-you. I don’t doubt that she’s a smart girl. I also know that being smart isn’t the only qualifier for being a good wife or good partner…”

“What are the other qualifiers on your list, Miss Pansy?” Charlotte asked and Rosemary leaned in closer, with pursed lips staring almost directly into Pansy’s face. Charlotte tried really hard not to snap, but since BEFORE she and Jasper were together, when she hadn’t even been a consideration, this woman had an issue with her and she was convinced it was because she was too brown for her liking, but she wanted to hear her admit to something, since they had the air and opportunity.

“Well, you have to be willing to put up with a lot. Jasper is very needy and demanding. You’ve gotta have a lot of patience. He’s sweet, but not the smartest boy around and can haphazardly jump into unwise decisions. He wants a lot of attention and validation, and can be extremely exhausting about it…”

“Ever think that was because he was starved for those things?” Charlotte reflexively asked. Pansy gasped and Rosemary snorted. Adanna covered her mouth with a hand, but didn’t react beyond that. Charlotte was there, now. The woman had taken her there. “Listen, I can’t say that you made bad decisions. I don’t know your heart or your mind. I don’t know your intentions. What I can say is that I know Jasper. He’s NOT needy and demanding. He wants someone to show him love and he deserves that, so to me - that isn’t a burden. He’s VERY smart. But, he doesn’t know everything. He was semi-sheltered and didn’t have a frame of reference for a lot of stuff, but whenever he had the chance to go out into the world and learn and experience things, instead of having conversation topics and true facts withheld from him, whether out of misplaced protectiveness or shirking uncomfortable responsibility - Jasper is an all A student who is seen as an activist in this town. He’s a community leader. He still has weird ideas sometimes, but he’s also helped reformed a lot of things around here that a lot of these people didn’t have the drive or the heart to ever face head on and try to tackle. And it isn’t exhausting that he wants lots of attention and validation. It's heartbreaking, because I know for a fact that he didn’t get it from home and I know that I have to be one of the most present and stable suppliers of it, because even though he’s shown everyone that none of the things you just said about him are accurate, you still treat him that way, and your his mom, the person that he would most want to treat him how he deserves to be treated. He has to get that from Internet fame, from campus popularity, from town celebrity, and whenever he comes home to me, it still wasn’t what he was looking for, because he wants it real, from somebody that he loves. Currently, that’s me. I’m that supply. We’ve been together almost 4 years now, and you have yet to tell him that you’re proud of him, or that he’s made a good decision, or that you LOVE him, WITHOUT invalidating it shortly after with some contradictory behavior. You have yet to tell him that you’re happy for him, for winning competitions and trophies, and making dean’s lists and having a hand in public policy reform. Are you… a fucking soulless monster?” Charlotte’s voice cracked. Rosemary was ready to fight, now. Hurting your own child was bad enough, but now she had spread her malice to Rosemary’s child and that wasn’t something that Bolton folk tolerated.

Jasper had peeked into the room and saw Charlotte’s face and told Henry he’d be back. The woman turned whenever the patio door opened and Jasper threw a pissed off glance in Pansy’s direction, certain that whatever was wrong with Charlotte, she was the cause of it. “Babe, you okay?” He asked, in a gentle tone and went right to her, collecting her hands and trying to get her to make eye contact with him. “Come on, let’s regroup, okay?” He helped her up and brought her into the bedroom. Their mothers began to quietly bicker about what had just happened and what had been happening. Jasper sat Charlotte on the bed and told her, “If you want her to leave, I’ll go tell her to leave, right now. No questions asked.” He cupped her cheek. “She can hurt me all she wants, but I draw the line at her hurting you. You do too much and you don’t deserve that.”

“You don’t either.”

“I know, I know, but…”

“But she’s your mom and you love her? But, what? She raised you? At least she was there? Please, help me understand why she’s so important to you that she gets to hurt you for 22 consecutive years and be brought along with you while you try to break out of the cocoon of that strife?”

“I… will let her go, if that’s what you think I should do.”

“I don’t… That’s not what I’m trying to do - make you feel like you need to let your mom go. I just want to understand it.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Well… I want to know that I did everything in my power to make sure that she felt like I was worth it. I want to feel like IF I ever did have to leave her behind, there was no other choice. I just don’t like the thought of leaving somebody behind just because they’re not who you’d want them to be. She didn’t do that to me. She kept me close, and she could’ve given me up. She let relationships fall apart whenever her husbands didn’t want me. She… wasn’t perfect, but she tried. I think that she’s been hurt, too. And she doesn;t have anybody else to tell her to contact a therapist, or focus in hard on loving her, and trying to build with her… I’m it. I’m all that she has. My stepdad doesn’t even look at her anymore. I know how it feels to have people around and still feel lonely. I don’t want that for my mom, no matter if she’s not nice to me. No matter if she might deserve that. Because, what if she doesn’t? What if there’s something that we just don’t know and she doesn’t know how to tell us? I just… don’t want to hurt anybody like that. Not even her.”

“But, you would, if you thought that was what I wanted?”

“I would do what was best for you, if I had no other options, yes.”

She sighed and shook her head, “I’d never ask you to sacrifice your morals. I just hate that those are what brings you pain.” She cupped his face and they kissed. As though kissing could release every bit of stress and turmoil carried into the room and nothing else could. It was a moment before Jasper noticed that they weren’t alone. He broke the kiss and turned to stare at his mother, who was staring at the ground. Charlotte’s eyes followed, then she rolled them and got up to leave. Pansy caught her wrist, gently, then quickly let go.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. That was new. She let go of Charlotte and looked up at Jasper. Charlotte stuck around. “I should have been better to you, for you. It’s entirely possible that I resented you, because of Jack… That’s not fair and nobody ever wants to admit it. We want to think that we did our best and that we were good parents. We make a ton of excuses. Mine being, at least I was around, at least I wasn’t a drunk who almost killed him in car, at least I didn’t hang out with potheads and shady musicians and witches!” Jasper was speechless. She came into the room and sat next to him. “I hated your father. I still hate him. Whenever I agreed to let him see you, I hated it, but it seemed like what you wanted, so I tried. He was cordial. He seemed like he was changed, like he was trying… then he showed up one day with this WOMAN who he’d met through Roscoe Bolton, of all people!”

“You mean Adanna? The nicest woman in the world, who he met through Uncle Rox, the coolest dude in the world?” Jasper corrected her.

“I mean Adanna, who I recognized as a woman who built up a witch shop on her marijuana revenue, who he met through one of the only people that I’ve ever hated as much as Jack!”

“Wait. You hate MY uncle? Everybody loves my uncle, and it doesn’t make sense to me because he’s always been kind of a wreck until a few years ago, but what did you have against my uncle?”

“He wasn’t good company!” Pansy practically squealed. “He didn’t make Jack do anything, so it’s not like I blame him for Jack’s discrepancies, but first of all, he was a shady musician, always convincing Jack to come with him on tours for weeks, despite knowing that he had a pregnant wife at home who needed him…”

“You also needed money and Dad’s job wasn’t making enough. Those tours were!” Jasper fussed, defensively. She’d hit a nerve bringing Uncle Rox into this, especially after whatever she’d done to upset Charlotte.

“I would have preferred to struggle a little bit than to be lonely and depressed while I was pregnant. And Roscoe kept introducing him to women, who like I said, it’s not his fault, but why even do so? Just remind him to call me. Why is it so hard to just say, ‘I know we’re touring, but don’t forget why you’re doing this?’ You know why? Because he understood, like Jack did that the only reason he married me was because of you and when I saw that he was still communicating with that man and still meeting women through him, I figured he was probably still going on tours, smoking pot, drinking, losing himself in the arms of some pretty thing and trying to clean up for his visits and I-” She clenched her fists. “I wasn’t going to be that stupid anymore. I didn’t expect to take my anger out on you. I didn’t expect to treat you like you were Jack and I didn’t expect to treat your friend like she was Roscoe, but whenever I saw the two of you together, all I could think about were the nights that all I got was a drunken phone call asking about my son, who I was at home with, by myself, stressed, depressed, infuriated and barely holding it together, while he partied and drank and couldn’t hold down a decent job to save his miserable life. You came home one day, and said that you met this cool dude, your friend’s uncle. You were so excited to meet him and you thought he was so cool and looked up to him and I knew who he was and I told you to stay away from him. You ignored me. You never ignored me, but you did… Like your father.”

“Okay,” Charlotte interrupted, sick of this, “I get that. I would be extremely pissed off at people who affected my life in that way too, but Jasper didn’t do that to you.”

“I realize that. I’m not making any excuses. I’m just… trying to… open up to my son…”

Charlotte sighed and said, “Okay. Jasper, I’m gonna be out here, if you need me.” She didn’t want to hear any more of this, but Jasper looked worried about her leaving. “Unless you want me to stay?”

“Please?” He asked, in a low voice. She returned to his side and wrapped her hands around his, looking at his crying mom with zero sympathy. As far as she was concerned, the woman was turning things around and what she just needed to say were a few things: I was wrong. I’m sorry. You deserve better. I will do better. Charlotte didn’t give a damn about any other words. But, she looked at Jasper’s empathetic face. He did. He gave a damn about this woman. He always would. THIS was one of those sacrifices that people spoke about. Because, there was no way that she could be with him and not have to put up with this chick, at least sometimes. She freed one of her hands to stroke his hair and it broke his trance a little bit. He glanced at her and smiled, his eyes lit up and for a moment, he forgot that he was listening to this sob story from the person who had hurt him for most of his life.

“I’m so sorry. I was wrong and I don’t know how to fix it, but I want to try. That’s why I’ve been trying to be involved and why I’m here. I just want to do better in the future…” Pansy eventually uttered. Charlotte could almost visibly see a huge weight lifted off of Jasper’s chest and shoulders and mind… Like… She could visually spot the worry lines evaporate and see the insecurity melt away. It was extremely weird, but beautiful. And, she still didn’t have a fuck to give about that lady, but the way that Jasper hugged her, the comfort that he took in that declaration, whether or not Charlotte trusted it, it made her heart swell. He deserved those things. And she’d better be true about trying to give them to him.

#A Chasper Fic #chasper #henry danger #hd fanfic #Nesha HD Fics

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clubdolan · 6 years

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Wishes Come True | N.C.

I watched a Make-A-Wish video and was ~inspired~.

“Her name is Riley, she's eleven, she has been diagnosed with astrocytoma, a brain tumor, has had three surgeries and currently is going through chemo.” The guide from Make-A-Wish handed Noah a picture, “Her wish was to meet Peter K, aka: Noah. So you have an hour with her, more time if you want but an hour is necessary.”

She untangled a few lanyards and handed one to Noah with his name on it, “Her mom’s name is Carol, she should be coming down any time to take us upstairs, it’s all a surprise, she doesn’t know her wish was granted—

“Oh my goodness, it’s Peter K.” A voice behind them said, “I cannot believe I am seeing you in person after seeing you on a screen. Thank you so much for coming.”

Noah stood up and hugged her, “I am so happy I could be here and very excited to surprise her.” He kept hold the mom’s shaking hands, “I brought her a gift too, if that’s okay?” He gestured to a basket sat on his friend’s lap. “It has Peter’s lacrosse hoodie in it, a book signed by some of the cast and some other fun things.”

“That is very okay, super okay!” The mom smiled, tilting to look at the basket. “Are you Elsa.. on Once Upon a Time?”

The girl that sat with the basket on her lap looked up, “Um, yeah, I’m Lilly.” She stood up and stuck out her hand.

Carol let go of Noah’s hands and shook Lilly’s, “Riley and I used to wait every week for new episodes of Once to come out, we loved when Anna and Elsa showed up. It was right when she started her first round of chemo and it was such a magical show for us.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet to hear.” Lilly smiled, “Did my hair give it away?” She gestured at the long blonde hair that set on her shoulder, “It’s usually the giveaway.”

“That and your beautiful eyes.” Carol grinned, “Can you come upstairs too? Riley will just be… so excited!”

“If they say it’s okay, I can.”

Everyone looked at the Make-A-Wish lady as she hand-wrote Lilly’s name on a pass. “I can’t say no.” She laughed, handing the lanyard over.

As they made their way to the elevator, Carol continued conversation. The Make A Wish lady grabbed the basket of gifts and Noah’s publicist followed.

“So Elsa and Peter K walk into a hospital….” Noah joked as they waited on the elevator to get to the top floor. His hand sat gently on Lilly’s back and she leaned into him until the bell dinged.

“Her older sister Rachel who is fourteen is here too, she doesn’t know about the surprise either.” Carol mentioned, “I don’t even know how to do this. Do I just have you walk in? Do I announce it?”

“Can I just go ask if I can watch the movie?” Carol nodded, filming right behind him as he opened the door. Without saying a word he sat down in the chair next to the girls on the bed, “Oh I love this movie, can I watch it too?”

Both Riley and Rachel slowly looked over at him, his curls hung right at the top of his eyes as he grinned back.

“Peter……Noah… Noah??” Riley asked, pulling on her sister’s arm.

“Riley… Riley???? and Rachel???” He joked back, acting like he was freaking out.

“Mommy, it’s… mommy you knew?” Riley yelled, “Rachel did you—

“I didn’t know!”

“Can I at least get a hug?” He asked, sticking his arms out. Riley’s little body covered in purple butterflies pajamas seemed to hop off the bed and onto Noah’s lap as her arms wrapped around his neck.

The Make-A-Wish lady stepped in the room, “My wish was granted? My wish was granted!” She stood up and pointed at Noah, “It’s here! He’s here!”

Everyone in the room was laughing at her reaction, Carol filmed the whole thing and Noah’s publicists snapped pictures on her phone.

“Sit down, you all can chat for a bit.” The Make A Wish lady said, pulling Riley’s table to the side. “But we might need another chair?”

“Another chair? Don’t tell me Lara Jean is here!” Riley dramatically said, “If it’s not Lara Jean is it Margot? Or Kitty?”

“It’s no one from my movies.” Noah gave a hint, “Your mom is the one that recognized her.”

Every eye in the room went to Carol, “It’s was our favorite show to watch when you first had chemo—

“Once Upon a Time!” Rachel and Riley yelled at the same time, “There’s so many possibilities.”

“Think….” Noah tried to give a few hints, “Cold…. Queen…. Ice—

“ELSA?!” They both guessed again, giving Lilly the cue to step in the room.

“Hi” She waved, walking towards them. “I’m Lilly.”

Riley and Rachel sat in shock as she stood in front of them. Riley stood up on her bed and gave her a hug, “Hi Elsa Lilly!”

She took a seat next to Noah and they recorded a few bits for Make A Wish before most people left the room and let Rachel and Riley have their own time with Noah and Lilly.

Questions about being on set, future movies, tv shows, signing her iPhone case, etc. Riley had them all.

“I actually just filmed something where I play a robot-girl, I think it comes out next year, it’s got a lot of editing to do because half of it is all made up.” Lilly scrolled on her pictures to find one of her in her outfit with wires coming out of her neck in special effects makeup.

Riley opened her gift, laying it all out on the bed. They had all become so comfortable in each others presence that neither Noah or Lilly had noticed that Lilly’s hand was on his leg, listening to Rachel tell a story about something that happened at school.

“I have school here, on my computer.” Riley pointed.

“That’s how I finished school.” Noah said, “You too, right?”

Lilly nodded, “On set most of the time.”

“Do you two wanna be in a movie together?” Rachel asked.

“I’d be fine with that.” Lilly laughed, “Can it be a tropical movie? I just filmed in England and it was freezing the entire time.”

“It can be a tropical movie about a pirate.” Riley explained, “And a mermaid, you can be the mermaid.” She pointed to Lilly.

“What if I want to be a mermaid?” Noah frowned, “A merman?”

“Okay, you both can be mermaids and you can run from a bad pirate who is trying to get you. But you get eaten by an octopus!” She laughed, pointing at Noah.

“Oh noooo!” He dramatically said, falling back into his seat, “Death by octopus?”

“It’ll slurp you up! And Lilly the mermaid will escape and become a princess and ban the pirate from ever being in the ocean again!”

“I’m down with that.”

“You get to survive and be a princess and I die by octopus slurps? Not fair.” He pushed her shoulder.

Lilly pushed back, “Super fair. I’ve died three times in movies and you’ve never died once.”

“But an octopus?” He asked Riley, “Why not a shark or a…. whale?”

“Because an octopus has eight legs.”

“That’s the best reason I have ever heard.” He smiled, “You should write a movie for us and send us the script to give a director.”

“That’s a lot of writing.” Riley sighed, “I’ll just give you ideas, okay?”

“What other ideas do you have?” Lilly asked.

Riley explained for over twenty minutes her ideas for movies and super heroes and everything in between. She stood on the bed exaggerating how tall a monster was. She ran around the room describing a cape for a super hero.

She stood in front of Lilly and looked at her hair, “You could be Rapunzel too, you just need a braid.”

“Do you know how to braid?” Riley nodded, pointing at the little braid in Rachel’s hair, “Then give it a go.” Lilly lifted her up to her lap and Riley’s fingers went to town separating hair and winding it together.

Noah took a few pictures of them, watching them giggle and tell secrets. He looked back through the pictures, admiring the smiles on both of their faces.

“You like her, huh?”

He was shook out of his zone as Rachel spoke to him. “Huh?”

“You like Lilly.”

“I mean.. I—

“It wasn’t a question.” She shrugged, “It’s obvious.”

“What’s so obvious about it?”

“I’m fourteen, I know when people have crushes on each other.” She moved closer to him and they both watched Riley continue braiding Lilly’s hair. “You keep taking pictures of her and you were smiling really big when you looked at them. She keeps touching your leg and you hold onto her hand. But mostly, because your phone background is the both of you and people only do that when they have crushes. Mine is Harvey.”

Noah looked next to him, “You’re smart.” He nodded, “Do you think she likes me back?”

Rachel took a second to look at Lilly before explaining, “Yes, for sure. Like I said she keeps touching you. She keeps smiling at you too. And the way she looks at you is… she has that look… you know the look?”

“The look?”

“The heart eyes, like the emoji.”

“You’re saying literal hearts come out of her eye—

“No..” She rolled her eyes, “The look you get when you really use the heart eye emoji. Did she come to New York with you?”

“She might have?”

“So she did?”

“Yes, we’ve been here for a few days.” He admitted.

“So you’re on vacation together?” Rachel kept interrogating. “The rumors are true, you’re dating.”

“What rumors?”

“I sit in this hospital a lot with my sister and I read a lot of news on twitter. Yesterday you were a trending topic. Leaving the basketball game…..” She tried to remind him, “You held the door open for her?”

“As any gentleman would do.”

“You carried her shopping bags?”

“Some of it was mine.” He defended.

“And you’re staying at The Plaza, paparazzi caught you leaving there too. That’s a fancy hotel.” She grinned, “Do you even try to keep up on the gossip about you?”

“No, I try to ignore all the gossip. But I—

“Have you kissed her?” Noah whipped his head around to look at her, “Well that’s an obvious yes!” Rachel laughed loudly, getting both of the girl’s attention.

“What do you think?” Lilly asked, turning her head so you could see the one braid go down the side.

“I think it’s beautiful.”

“It needs to be longer to be Rapunzel’s but you can get extensions.” Rachel said, “So you two are dating? Like the internet says?”

“Huh?” Both Riley and Lilly asked.

“Apparently we’re a dead give-a-way once you see us together on the trending topics of twitter.” Noah sighed, “She’s a little detective.”

“Nilly is real?” Riley looked up at Lilly with inquisitive eyes.

“Why else would they randomly be in New York together staying at the same hotel? You’re wish was Noah, not the both of them. She just so happened to show up with him.”

“She’s good.” Noah shook his head and grinned.

Riley’s face lit up, looking at Lilly, “Please say you’re dating him.”

“You think I should?” She whispered down to her.

“Yeah, he’s cute.” Riley giggled, looking over at Noah.

“Hey! What are you whispering about me for?” He pulled her off Lilly’s lap, “What are you telling her?”

Riley moved around and put her hands to his ear, “That she should date you because you’re cute.”

“You?? Think I’m??” He pointed at himself before cupping his hands around Riley’s ear, “Well I think she’s pretty.”

“You better tell me what he’s telling you.” Lilly threatened, “Or I’ll tell—

“He said you’re pretty!” Riley yelled, hiding her face in Noah’s chest.

“Told youuuu….” Rachel smiled at herself for being right. “Life’s too short to keep secrets that make you happy.”

“And she’s funny” He kept whispering in Riley’s ear, “And she makes good brownies.”

“So Nilly is real..” Riley looked up at him, “Really real?”

“Yes.” He laughed, “Because you two started asking questions.”

Carol came in as Noah was ticking Riley, Rachel was laughing and cheering him on as Lilly smiled sitting next to them all.

“So meeting Peter K was all you imagined and more?” She asked, lifting Riley off of Noah and onto the bed.

“Yes!!” She jumped up and down on the bed.

“It’s time for your check-up so it’s time to say goodbye.”

Riley and Rachel pouted, looking over at Noah. “We’ll keep in touch with you guys, I’ll get your mom’s phone number if that’s okay? We can FaceTime.”

“Perfect!”

They took more pictures and Lilly hugged both girls, “You’ve been so sweet to meet, I’m so glad I tagged along today.”

“Me too.” Riley smiled, touching the braid that was still in Lilly’s hair.

Noah hugged the both of them, “Is there anything else you need?”

Riley quickly shook her head no but Rachel stopped him, “Riley wants a kiss on the cheek!”

“No I don—

“You said if you ever met him you wanted a kiss—

“No—

“Yes—

“No I d—

She froze as Noah grabbed her hands, “You want a kiss on the cheek?” Riley nodded on time, squeezing her eyes shut. He puckered his lips out and quickly smooched her cheek, she blushed as he hugged her again. “Bye, Miss Riley.”

The walk out of the hospital seemed longer than the walk in before they hopped in a car alone and were off to dinner.

“That was the cutest. All of it. The cutest thing.” Lilly said, “I about cried three or four times.”

“Ugh, me too. When she was talking about her therapy and how she was so excited for a wig I was a mix of happy and sad cry.” He laughed, “You were so sweet with her.”

“Me? You were so cute with the both of them.” She shook his arm, “She is in love with you. You just made that little girl’s life. She will be thinking of that and talking about it for so long. Especially the kiss.”

“I wanted to just pack her up and bring her with us.” He smiled, “Her sister was hilarious, so observant.”

“I heard you think I’m pretty.” Lilly winked at him.

“Well yeah, I guess I did say that.” He fake stretched and put his arm on her shoulder, making her laugh, “I didn’t think it would be appropriate to tell a little girl how hot you were.” Lilly looked up at him, “Didn’t want to mention how good you looked last night in—

She smacked his arm and pointed to their driver, “…nothing.” He whispered in her ear, so close she could feel his lips move.

“You just did a Make A Wish, you can't act like that!”

“Is that in the paper I signed?” He laughed, “Was that a secret thing?”

They sat in silence on the way to lunch, both checking social media and posting about Riley and her Make-A-Wish. Lilly found Rachel’s instagram where she had typed out a long post about how nice they were and how excited her sister still is that it had happened. She commented on the post how nice it was to meet them and she couldn’t wait to FaceTime them soon! Noah commented soon after with a lot of hearts and my favorite girls!!!!

“So.. since people know now.. or.. kind of know now..” Noah started, “Do you think we should.... like... I don’t know....”

“Like?”

Noah’s face squished together and he held in a laugh, “Can I post a picture of you and talk about how cute you are?”

Lilly grabbed his face and laughed, “You can do whatever you want.”

“So I can?”

“Yes, I don’t care.” She kissed him, “Just don’t like.. not a weird picture.. like not one from a shoot.”

“No it’s one I took.” He smiled, scrolling through his photos. She could tell he was typing as his fingers tapped the screen. He kept erasing and typing more and looking at her then smiling and typing again.

“Whaaaaat?” She kept asking, trying to look at his post.

“Nooooo, stop.” He pulled his phone back, continuing to type.

Lilly sat with her arms crossed, watching the New York streets pass by. Her phone buzzed and she looked down, ‘@ncentineo has posted a new picture’ ‘@ncentineo has tagged you in a picture’.

@ncentineo: So there’s this girl & she makes me ridiculously happy. 😍

“Awww, No” She hugged onto his arm, “You’re too cute.” He kissed the top of her head.

@lillygriffin: It’s untrue......... He is not local, nor organic. But he’s cute. 🤗 So I guess it’s okay.

Lilly posted a picture of him and watched her instagram notifications go non-stop. She watched the orange bubble pop up with new followers, likes and comments every few seconds.

Noah slid the phone from her hand and put it in his pocket, “How about... we go eat and ignore our phones? Then go take a nap before we go out tonight?”

Lilly agreed, looking out the window as they pulled up to their lunch spot. Sullivan Street Bakery was barely busy. They were arriving just before the lunch rush which was the plan. “You know this is--

“Your favorite lunch in New York.” Noah finished her sentence. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”

Lilly hopped out of the SUV and pulled her purse on her shoulder, “What?” She looked back at Noah who stood on the sidewalk, his hand sticking out towards her. His lips pouted at her and he wiggled his fingers, “Hold my hand, baaaabe.”

Lilly took two steps back and grabbed his hand. His smile grew and he squeezed her fingers, leading her inside. Lilly grabbed onto his arm with her opposite hand, it was their first intentional public display of dating and her nerves quickly hit her.

“What’s wrong?” He looked down at her as they waited for a table.

Lilly looked up at him, biting on her lip. He gently grabbed her chin and lead her mouth to his, kissing her quickly, “Nothing.” She smiled, “Nothing’s wrong. Everything is... perfect.”

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wolfieimagines · 6 years

Text

Second Chance at First Line pt. 2

(A/N): Hey guys! How are you! I’ve been preparing for my first year in college and creating final memories with my friends. I hope you all are having a fantastic summer and don’t forget about sunscreen! Enjoy the second part of episode two!

Warnings: Cursing and a dead body.

Word count: 4,124

I made it into math class with a few seconds to spare before the tardy bell rang. There was an empty seat next to Stiles. I smiled at Scott and Lydia as I passed between their rows. Stiles moved his stuff off of my desk and reclined back with a pen in his mouth.

“Thanks.” I mumbled. I kept my face down and relax back into the plastic chair. I took out my laptop and opened the word document app.

Throughout the period, I pretended to take notes but actually played games on the other tab. The teacher was going over the worksheet he handed out earlier. I paid little to no attention to what the teacher was saying but my eyes snapped over to the board when I saw Lydia move up. On the board was a fairy complicated problem for both volunteers, but Lydia knew how to solve it. I let out a quiet snort when I saw who was next to her: Scott Mccall. I looked over to Stiles who was looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

“Is Scott playing tomorrow?” I whispered to Stiles, using my palm to cover my mouth from the teacher.

“Uhhh. No, he’s kind of refraining from anything that will anger him so he doesn’t wolf-out.” He replied not caring if the teacher caught him.

“Well, Lydia might persuade him to play.” I said looking at the two up at the board. Lydia was

“What? How?”

“You see what they’re doing up there?” I asked leaned closer to Stiles and pointed at Scott and Lydia.

“Solving equations.” He replied sarcastically which caused me to roll my eyes.

“No. Lydia is whispering to Scott about her internal crisis that she must and I quote, date the captain of the winning lacrosse team.” I tell him, “And since Jackson is injured by you-know-who and is unable to play, she is going after the next guy who can lead the team.”

He gaped and dramatically threw himself back into his seat. Lydia made her way back into her seat, giving me a smirk along the way. I looked at Stiles, who was pouting. Scott was staring at the problem at, most likely processing what Lydia said to him.

“Mr. Mccall, you’re not even close to solving your problem.” Our teacher scolded him.

“Tell me about it.” He whispered under his breath, causing me to chuckle.

When the bell rang for dismissal, Scott bolted out the door. Lydia, Stiles, and I were packing up our bags for next class. Lydia had a free block next class so she typically leaves campus with Jackson. She slung her bag over her shoulder and gave me a smile.

“Bye babe.” She said.

“Bye.” Stiles said behind me.

Lydia raised an eyebrow. I stifled a laugh and rolled my eyes. She walked out of the classroom, as Stiles waited for me to finish packing up. I looked over at him and gave him a pity smile.

“Let’s go, yeah?” I tell him.

We walked out of the classroom and into the corridor. I noticed Lana leaning against lockers with two other girls from the dance squad. She gave me a glare and her lips turned into a snarl. I gave her a short glance and returned my attention to the boy next to me. He was talking about how Lydia said bye to him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that she was talking to me, he was so excited. I noticed a couple of men in officer uniform at the adjoining hallway. I grabbed onto Stiles’ sleeve and pointed at the officers.

“Hey, that’s my dad.” He said pointing at the older man, “Let’s go see what their talking about.”

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down the hallway. We met up with Scott at his locker.

“Hey. Come here.” Stiles said to Scott. Scott curiously looked around and walked cautiously.

“What?” He whispered. Stiles positioned Scott to face his father.

“Tell me what they’re saying. Can you hear them?” Stiles whispered while pointing at the group of adults.

Scott pulled away from Stiles’ grasp and focused into their conversation.

“A curfew,” Scott said causing Stiles’ mouth to gap in disbelief, “because of the body.”

Scott turned to look at us. Stiles released my wrist and threw both his hands up. He made multiple scoffing sounds while looking between us and his dad. I watched in amusement. Scott, being used to this behavior, just gave Stiles a moment to calm down.

“Unbelievable. My dad is looking after a stupid animal whereas the damn killer can hang out, doing whatever he wants!” Stiles says, stroking his chin in annoyance.

“You can’t exactly tell your father the truth about Derek.” Scott tells him. I nodded in agreement.

“Scott is right. We don’t really have any proof that Derek killed the jogger and we can’t give away Derek without giving away Scott.” I tell them. Stiles sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“Well, I need to do something.” Stiles murmured under his breath, “I can do something.”

“Like what?” Scott asked. I looked straight at Stiles.

“We ca-“, Stiles started to speak.

“No. That is a bad idea.” I cut him off, already knowing what he was about to say.

“What?” Scott asked.

“We can find the other half of the body.”

I rolled my eyes and left the conversation to join Lydia and Allison. They were standing at the other end of the hallway, both giving Scott glances. I sighed as I made my way over to the girls. Lydia smiled as she saw me come closer. She held out her hand for me to grab, closing the distance between us.

“I was introducing Allison to the players on the Lacrosse team.” Lydia said with a hint of mischievous undertones.

“How nice of you. Trying to set her up with someone?” I sarcastically asked looking at her and Allison. Being friends with Lydia for so long, you start to pick up her ulterior motives. I noticed Greenberg a few lockers down, trying to listen into the conversation. Well I think it is Greenberg. Everyone knows who he is, but nobody seems to know what he actually looks like.

“I just think we should help her with social connections.” She replied. I shook my head and smiled.

I noticed Stiles walking by and waved him over. He excitedly joined the group when he saw Lydia.

“Hey.” He said trying to lean back into the lockers cooly, “Hey Lydia.”

She ignored him and stared at me with rage. She nodded her head to the side, indicating that she is leaving. Stiles stared at her in awe as she walked by him.

“Come-on lover boy.” I tell him as I dragged him along towards the gym, “Bye Allison!”

I was getting a snack from the vending machine, while talking to Lydia on the phone. We were currently at Beacon Hills Hospital for Jackson’s checkup. I told her I was going to get food, but only found my favorite snack to be in a vending machine 4 floors above the waiting room. I pressed the code for it only to have it to be lodged between the glass and the spring.

“Oh you got to be kidding me.” I said.

“What?” Lydia asked through her Bluetooth.

“The last one got stuck.” I groaned in annoyance.

I ranted about the poor luck I have, cursing under my breath.

“Hold on, give me a second.” Lydia said before I heard a click. She put me on hold. I growled and went for the snack on top of the one I pressed. Luckily it had worked, now I had two snacks. A Reese’s cup and my favorite flavor of chips.

I took the elevator down to the waiting room. My abdomen was sore from dance practice earlier this afternoon. Lana made me do planks each time I made a mistake on the routine, even though we are just learning it.

I hung up the phone as I reached the floor Lydia was waiting on. On my way there, I noticed Stiles with a sour face while reading a magazine about the menstrual cycle.

“Nice.” I said to him pointing at the magazine he was reading. He blushed and placed it on his lap. I tossed him the Reese’s and he barely caught it after fumbling it a few times.

“You okay?” I asked concerned.

“Yeah. Scott is checking out the morgue.” He replied with a nod. “You?”

“Jackson’s arm check-up.” I told him, taking a seat next to him.

I opened the bag and began stuff my face, “So, do you enjoy reading about ovaries in your spare time?”

He began to choke on his on saliva. His words began to crash into each other, so he just sat there opening and closing his mouth. He let out a small, higher octave, “No.”

“I’m just joking, relax.”

He relaxed for a few seconds, then tensed as he notice Jackson entering the hallway. Lydia got up and walked towards her boyfriend.

“He said not to abuse it but one shot won’t kill me.” He said shaking the prescription medicine bottle.

Lydia got closer to Jackson. Their faces only a few inches apart.

“You should take one before the game too. The pros do it all the time. You want to be a little high school amateur? Or do you want to. Go. Pro?” She said closing in on his face.

I scrunched my face in disgust, witnessing my best friend and brother make-out in the middle of a very public place. I looked over at Stiles with sad eyes. He looked away from the awful scene and looked back into the magazine. I patted in shoulder in remorse. The couple seemed to have forgotten about me, and left the hospital doing who knows what. Actually, I do know where they’re going and what they are about to do, but I’d rather not imagine it.

Scott took the magazine away from Stiles and whispered, “The smell was the same.”

“You sure?” He replied, getting overly excited. He stood up from his chair and grabbed Scott’s shoulder.

“Yes!”

“Wait.” I interrupted, “Did you smell a dead body?”

Scott looked over to me and deadpanned.

“Yes.” He repeated, but much quieter.

“So he did bury the other half on his property.” Stiles analyzed the new information.

“Which means we can prove he killed the girl.” Scott added.

“What. No.” I rejected.

“I say we use it.” Stiles said ignoring my interjection. Scott looked between us as if we were the miniature angel and devil on his shoulders. He slowly looked towards Stiles, I let out a huff.

“How?”

“Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek or because you want to play the game he said you couldn’t?” I asked, unsure whether Scott is doing this out of rebellion.

“There are bite marks on the legs, (Y/N). Bite marks.”

“Okay!” Then we’re going to need some shovels!” Stiles excitedly said clasping his hands together.

We’ve been hiding behind massive trees for almost an hour. Scott and Stiles were keeping an eye on the Hale house. I was in charge of holding the shovels. I looked out into the woods with boredom. The dead body they were looking for was the same one from few nights before. I felt her spirit cry. Before I dozed off to sleep, a car engine turned on. I can assume that Derek left his property.

“Wait, something’s different.” Scott whispered. He walked into the open, Stiles trailing closely behind him.

“Different? How?” Stiles asked.

I try to catch up with all three shovels in my arms. The shoes I was wearing was not made for the outdoors. I internally started crying because of the Louboutin are getting dirty. My heels were sinking into the wet dirt. I caught up to the two boys as they circled around a fresh patch on the ground.

“Here.” I said handing them their shovels.

They took the sticks and started to dig.

“I don’t know. Let’s get this over with.” Scott said.

I walked up onto the porch and sat at the edge so my legs dangled. I played on my phone and secretly taking pictures as they teared up the yard.

“You know, you could help us dig.” Stiles said to me.

“I could, but every company needs a supervisor to have things run smoothly.” I replied taking another picture. It was of Stiles scoffing and Scott taking a moment to relax.

“You’re not even supervising!” He groaned.

“I’m doing one better. I’m capturing moments we have together.” I said taking a selfie with both in the back, “Scrapbooking is my hobby.”

“Let’s keep going, he might come back.” Scott said throwing his shovel back into the dirt.

“If he comes back from doing whatever he is doing, what do we do?” I asked, leaning on the old wood.

“Then we get the hell out of here.” Stiles said nonchalantly, continuing to dig.

“Well what if he catches us?” Scott asked.

“I have a plan for that.” Stiles replied.

“Which is?” I questioned, amused.

“You run one way, I run the other. Whoever he catches, which will be (Y/N), too bad. No offense.” Stiles said looking at me for a second with a shrug.

“I hate that plan!” Scott said. He didn’t like putting others in danger, especially someone he considered as a friend.

I smiled at Scott’s rejection. I large shriek came out of nowhere and I quickly covered my ears. It was the spirit. Her crying became louder as they dug closer to her body. It gave me a migraine. The boys were too busy to notice my behavior as they freaked out over the wolf’s dead body. My necklace burned my collarbone, begging to create the portal to the City. I wanted to help the spirit, but I couldn’t expose myself in front of Scott or Stiles. I opened my eyes to see Stiles following a trail of rope covered in tiny purple flowers. The wolf transformed into the upper half of the girl from the woods.

“Oh shit.”

I was back in my room. It was a few hours after calling the police. I paced around my room. I needed to go back to the Hale house and send her to the City. It was nearly 4 in the morning. No doubt that police officers would be patrolling the area for Derek, and I could be caught easily. The necklace scarred my collarbone. My head piece taunted me. Sighing, I grabbed the gold ring and raced out the door.

There was no lights near the Hale house. My bare feet squished the freshly dug dirt. The spirit was all alone. It seems like she was tied to the spot. I check the surroundings before enlarging my scythe then placed my head piece on. My tattoo peeled off my back replacing it with wings. I swung my scythe in a circle, opening the portal. The spirit looked up at me.

“To the very end. I will walk with you, hand in hand, in another life.” I chanted then held out my hand for the spirit.

She reluctantly took my hand and floated up. I guided her towards the portal and nodded. She entered with a nod. I give it a few seconds before cutting the portal in half with my scythe.

Today was the first lacrosse game of the season and that also meant the first time the dance team will be preforming. We’ve been practicing before school, during lunch break, and after school until its way past dark. To say the least, we we’re ready for tonight. Since uncovering the rest of the body, I haven’t talked to Scott or Stiles. I was a bit sad about that, but tonight I’ll be able to watch them play and hopefully talk to them then. During lunch, Lana distributed the uniforms. The top was a tight, white long sleeve with an open back that tied at the bottom. It had a maroon BHHS patch over the chest. There was an option whether to order a skirt or shorts, I opted for the shorts. It was a maroon, high-waist shorts with decorative buttons on the side. I was pumped. Lydia couldn’t help but to smile at my excitement. She was coming to the game with Allison.

It was half an hour before the game started and the bleachers were already filling up. The dance team was in charge of getting the crowd excited for the players to come out of the locker room. We shook our maroon pompoms in the air while jumping to the beat of the music being played through the speakers. Some of the members went up into the stands and brought students down to dance with us.

I notice Allison and Lydia waving at me from the bottom of the stands. I jogged over with my pompoms, I let out a loud cheer. Lydia rolled her eyes, but Allison gave me a large smile. A man was standing behind them which I assumed to be Allison’s father.

“Hello, I’m (Y/N), Allison’s friend.” I said freeing my hand from a pom for him to shake.

“Chris Argent. Nice to meet you.” He replied grasping my hand.

“Well. Let’s go sit down.” Allison her father off, “Good luck, (Y/N).”

I wave them goodbye and returned to my squad. They were lining up for the lacrosse players to run under their arms. I joined at the end of one line, across from Lana. She gave me a plastered smile and turned her attention to the stampede running towards us. It would be a lie if I didn’t say getting smacked in the face with lacrosse sticks, repeatedly, hurt. When the last player ran though, I notice all the other girls groan and rub the cheeks. While the players got into a group circle, we got into 3x4x5 formation in front of the stands. The music started and we got into position.

The whistle rang, signaling that the game started. Scott looked like he was about to fight the referee on the spot. Jackson tossed the ball to his teammates. I noticed that he wasn’t passing the ball to Scott, who had an open shot to the goal. Jackson ignored him and took his shot. Luckily, he scored. We cheered. Scott looked over to the bleachers and his face expressed in pain. I followed his gaze and saw Lydia and Allison holding up a sign for Jackson. I let out a deep sigh and returned my gaze to the heartbroken boy. Jackson was close to Danny and another teammate. He whispered something to both of them but Scott heard anyways. I made my way to Stiles.

“Do you think he is going to be okay?” I asked.

Stiles gave me a glance and shrugged.

“He better be, because there is a werewolf hunter 10 feet away from him, and probably ready to take down his werewolf ass.” He replied biting his fingernails.

The coach was screaming at the players to come over to the bench for half-time.

“(Y/N)!” Lana screeched. I ran over to the squad’s mini circle. She was going over the last minute details before we split up into subgroups. There was three songs in total that we were preforming, I’ll only be in two of those since the other one was only for seniors.

Lana, Sasha, Q., and I walked towards the middle of the field. We got into a square formation, heads down and hands clasped together. I was standing behind Lana. Our school was cheering for us and the music began to play. It was a fast paced song and burned my core from rapid movements. The dance was a little risqué, or as Lana likes to put it, “motivational”. The first song came to an end and Q. and I stayed on the field still in the final pose, waiting for the other underclassmen girls to join us for the second song. The performances ended faster than I thought it would. The girls and I were pumped with adrenaline as we watched the seniors preform. We were dancing along in the sidelines, joking around as well.

The second half of the game began shortly after. Stiles was still sitting on the bench and Scott was on the field. My brother was huddled near Danny and some other player. Scott clenched his stick and glared at the group. I saw a yellow glow flash from his helmet. The referee, who was closest to Scott, placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay kid?” He ask. Scott nodded his head and shrug the hand off his shoulder.

The referee looked at Scott and shook his head in irritation. He blew his whistle and the game resumed. I picked up my pompoms and nervously cheered for our team with the rest of my squad. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lydia and Allison holding up a “We love Jackson” sign. To my surprise, Scott started to bring his A-Game. He performed as if he was competing in gymnastics at the Olympics. Scott scores and everyone erupted in joyful screams.

“Go Scott!” I cheered him on.

Coach was screaming at the team members to pass the ball to Scott. Jackson went against Coach’s orders and passed it to everyone besides Scott. The other team got a hold of the ball and started to make way to the goalie. Scott rushed over and blocked the opposing member’s path. He let out a small growl and glared at the poor boy. He reluctantly tossed the ball to Scott, confused by what he just saw. I groaned at Scott’s behavior as everyone else cheered. He scored again, tying the scores. Scott does his gymnastics routine with the ball. He moves all the way to the front of the opposing team’s goal, but abruptly stops.

“You can do it Scott!” My squad mates and I yelled.

He shoots and obviously scores. He drops his lacrosse stick and gloves. We all run onto the field to congratulate our team. Scott rushes away, off the field and I notice Allison trailing behind him. I push my way through the crowd, losing sight of the two. I did notice his best friend though. He was at the bleacher’s side, talking to his father. I grabbed the back of his jersey and appeared at his side.

“Hello sir.” I said to his father, “I’m (Y/N) and I would like to borrow Stiles for a bit.”

The sheriff nodded with a curt smile. I led him towards the school doors.

“If Scott wolfed out, which I am pretty sure he did, then Allison is in trouble.” I said as we speed walked towards the locker room.

I saw the tall girl walking towards the showers and stepped into the room. I was yanked back by Stiles. He trapped me between his arms and looked into the room. He watch the two kiss and focused back to me. He noticed the state we were in and immediately fumbled away.

“I –er, um, yeah,” Stiles stumbled out incoherent words just as Allison walked out. She lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. We watched her leave through the same doors she came in. We walked into the locker room where Scott had a big grin on his face.

“I kissed her.” Scott said in a daze.

“Yeah, I saw.” Stiles said, happy for his best friend.

“She kissed me.” Scott replied.

I scoffed, “I didn’t see! Stiles trapped me in the hallway.”

Stiles ignored me, but flushed, “I saw that too. Pretty good huh?”

“I don’t know how but I controlled it! I pulled it back! Maybe I can do this. Maybe it’s not that bad.” Scott said excitedly.

“Yeah we’ll talk later then?” Stiles asked. He was about to leave us, but Scott noticed Stile’s chemo signals change.

“What?”

“The, er medical examiner looked at half of the body we found…” Stiles started to say.

“And?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Well, let’s keep this simple. The medical examiner determined the killer was an animal, not human.” Stiles said, he looked at our confused faces, “Derek human, not animal, Derek not the killer.”

“So he was let out of jail.” I finished pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Are you kidding?” Scott groaned.

“No, and there is a bigger problem. My dad identified the dead girl, both halves. Her name was Laura Hale.”

“Hale?” Scott screamed.

“He was married?” I questioned, surprised.

“No. His sister.” Stiles corrected.

Tag List:

@colorful48

@rosep16

#Scott Mccall x reader #Scott Mccall imagine #Stiles Stilinski imagine #Stiles Stilinski x reader #Allison Argent #Lydia Martin #Jackson Whittemore #Teen Wolf #Teen Wolf imagine #Teen Wolf x reader #Teen Wolf Series rewrite #Derek Hale #Mccall pack #Hale Pack #Second chance at first line #tw #season 1

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