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momowritings · 1 year

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A New Religion

Pairing: Wolfwood x Fem Reader

Rating: 19+ MDNI

Song Inspo: Soweto by Victony, Rema

Summary: You're reunited with Wolfwood after all this time. You thought you were catching up with an old friend, but he tells you that you’re everything but that.

Word Ct: 4.1k

“Come onnn preacher man, you’re gonna let a woman like me walk all by herself?”

“You came here by yourself, didn’t you?”

You pouted and batted your eyes. “What if something happened to me? Here in Mecca city with a man with a 300 million double dollar bounty on his head, don’t you think it’s a little unsafe for me?”

Wolfwood flicked his eyes down to you hanging off of his arm. Your hands were warm enough for him to feel it through the sleeves of his suit, and you weren't letting up your grip. He tried to look into your eyes to see if it was the beers that you had that were talking instead of your true self, but you only had one glass that you nursed the entire time he had been in the bar. His eyes followed the way you licked your lips and pulled them back to smile again. Wolfwood quickly looked away, but you didn’t want that so you cupped his face with one hand and plucked the bent cigarette out of his mouth to smoke.

“I feel like priests shouldn’t be able to smoke,” you said after a long drag. “Ain’t it in the Bible somewhere?”

“God cares more about my heart than my lungs.”

“I’m sure your heart is struggling to keep pumping your dying lungs,” you said, and to Wolfwood’s surprise you placed your ear right on his naked chest. You pulled back to move your hair out of the way and your face was pressed up against his chest again. You took another drag of the smoke and tapped his sternum.

“It’s beating so fast, the poor thing. Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of the pack for you. Your body’s a temple and I’m willing to keep it that way,” you winked up at him.

“I don’t need you to finish anything for me,” he reached into his breast pocket to pull out his stash of cigarettes. He tapped out a new one, and before he could get his lighter you stopped him.

“Lucky you, I have one last match,” you opened your matchbox and showed him the stick. You stood like a flamingo, holding onto Wolfwood’s shoulder for stability and struck the match against the heel of your boot. A bright flame erupted before sizzling down to where you could bring it up to his face safely. The cigarette hung loosely from Wolfwood’s lips, and he made the mistake of looking directly in your dark eyes instead of the butt of the smoke. The fire danced in your eyes with delight, like a pyromaniac finally finding their passion. When he was able to hold a flame you blew the match out, and before he could stop what you were doing you switched out the cigarettes, putting the bent one back into his parted mouth and taking the fresh one for yourself.

“Hey!”

“It’s the least you could do for me, Wolfy. I got a long walk back to the motel. This’ll keep me warm,” you tipped your hat to him and turned on your heel.

“And what about me?”

“What about you, Nathan?” You yelled, but you never stopped to face him. Your hair bounced and your hips swayed as you walked down the street, and he could hear you smirking as you got his name wrong.

“That’s not my name,” he grumbled to himself, and he readjusted the Punisher hanging on his shoulder. He was about to leave the opposite direction himself, and the cigarette smoke filled his lungs enough for him to puff it out, but it tasted different. He held the smoke between his fingers and saw the light pink tinge of your lipgloss on the mouthpiece. It was barely there but suddenly cherries were the only thing he could think about. His head whipped around to find you and he could barely see the top of your cowboy hat poking through the crowd of people who were also leaving for the night. Then he saw your hat jerk violently to the side and into an alleyway.

Wolfwood parted through the ocean of bounty hunters, his blood rushing in his ears. The seconds stretched for miles and he pushed aggressively through the crowd as he got closer to where he saw you disappear, and when he finally rounded the corner he was moments away from unlatching the Punisher. He saw a dying cigarette and your white hat flipped upside down on the floor. Equal parts fear and anger surged through him. Before he could make any hasty moves a motion caught his eyes in the corner of the alley. You stood there hunched over and trying to catch your breath, your hair flopped over and filled with debris. A large man laid flat on his back, groaning and mumbling incoherent thoughts out loud. His fingers twitched to reach his gun on the floor but Wolfwood crushed his fingers with his foot.

“You okay?”

“Nevel!” You said, genuinely surprised to see him again so soon. “Me? Oh, I’m just peachy. Never been better,” you shook your hair out and put on a sweet smile.

“Do you need to…” he started, but you shook your head.

“Don’t let my breathing fool you. He’s so drunk he couldn’t tell his dick from his gun. I’m just a little out of shape, but I can still protect myself.”

“Your shape is fine,” he said, dusting off your hat and handing it to her.

“And what about my shape do you like?” You asked playfully, and snorted when he turned away to hide his flaming face. “Is it because I shared a holy cigarette with you? Is that why you can’t let go of me yet?”

“Let’s get you back to your room.”

“Now you want to walk with me,” you rolled your eyes.

“I just want to make sure you get to bed and then I’ll leave. I’ll carry you if I have to,” he warned.

“Carry me and that death machine at the same time? I don’t even think you could do that. I’m not that tiny—“

But you were hauled over Wolfwood’s shoulder before you could finish your sentence. You caught your hat before it could fall again and he adjusted both you and the Punisher to sit comfortably to leave the alley.

“Oh I’m going to tell the church about this, just you wait. A priest , manhandling an innocent bystander ! Is this because I haven’t paid my tithes? That doesn’t make me a sinner!”

“No, but killing people does,” Wolfwood jerked his shoulder up and you grumbled.

“You’re no better than me.”

“I just do my job.”

“Tell me, Father, do you ever do anything outside of your job,” you twisted and whispered in his ear. Your lips grazed the shell of his ear and a shiver went down his spine. “Caring for everybody else seems tiring. What do you like to do to unwind?”

“I’ll tell you if you can be quiet until we get to the motel.”

You pinched his butt in frustration, but surprised him once again by keeping your mouth closed. Wolfwood didn’t understand why you wanted to know, and he couldn’t tell if this was all a game to you. The only other time you talked was when he begged you for your room information so he could walk you right to it, but you were convinced he was trying to make you lose. When he reached the destination, he gently placed you back on your feet and fixed your tilted hat.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“I kept track of all of your transgressions,” you tapped your temple. “See you in the morning paper, you corrupted church man.”

Wolfwood chuckled as you turned around and unlocked the door to your room. He scoped behind him to ensure that nobody was watching you get inside. Before you stepped foot inside you asked him the same question.

“I don’t ‘unwind’. I’m given a job, I do my job, and another one is given to me. There’s no time for anything else.”

“Sounds… boring. Lonely,” you brushed the lapels of his suit and peered up at him. Wolfwood wished you would stop looking at him like that. It moved something in his chest he couldn’t identify. “You really don’t have time for anything else? Not even for a friend?”

“We’re friends?” He asked incredulously.

You slapped his chest and frowned. “Of course we are! Why else would you come back running to me? We always find each other no matter how long it’s been.”

Your eyes softened and you wrapped your arms around his waist. “I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on you. Thank you, Nicholas, for helping me tonight.” You kissed his cheek and let him go. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again but it wouldn’t kill you to write a letter.”

“I can’t be friends with you,” Wolfwood said slowly, and your eyes clouded over.

“What?”

He hooked his free hand around your waist and drew you in close. Your eyes widened and you splayed your hands on his chest to stop from crashing into it. You looked up in confusion but you could see Wolfwood trying to gather his thoughts.

“What I’m feeling for you isn’t friendly ,” he said carefully. His grip tightened around your body like a vice and your eyebrows sprung up. You ran your fingers over his bare skin, almost able to hear his heart thumping behind his ribs.

“And what is it— what are you feeling, Wolfwood?”

He could try to explain it to you, tell you how you’re one of the first people he thinks of whenever he brushes death, or how he prays that the time you spend apart would shorten from months to day or hours, but the words couldn’t make it out of his throat because it is impossible to accurately describe just how much space you take up in his mind. You hide in every crevice of his being, taking up residence in his heart, stealing every smoke filled breath and making it your own because in reality it was never his, and each breath he takes carries him closer to the next time he’ll meet you again.

He could try to explain that to you, but it’s much easier to close the gap between them and capture your lips with his. It’s much easier to guide you into the motel and kick the door close behind him. It is so much easier to gently lay your on the bed after shrugging off the Punisher and swallow your moans as you clawed his back to hold him closer. In a frenzied mix of tongue and lips Wolfwood tastes you fully, doing what he has dreamed of doing a thousand times before but could never bring himself to. Despite spending your whole life out on this godforsaken desert planet, every part of you is soft, and his fingers sink into the exposed skin of your stomach. Your fingers scrape his scalp and his eyes roll further back into his head, and the only times he unlatches his lips from yours is to rip off articles of his clothing and you do the same.

Your teeth bump each other when you meld your mouths together again, and it’s like touching a live wire.

Every nerve of his sings for you and it’s like you’re jump starting his heart. He gives you a moment to breathe, instead kissing the corner of your mouth, your jaw, the veins in your neck and the hollow in your throat. Wolfwood runs his tongue over your collarbone, licking the sweat that sat on your skin. His previous suspicions were confirmed. He could never be friends with you. Not when he’s on the verge of devouring you. His tongue skated down your body until he reached one of your breasts. Your chest rose and fell rapidly, inviting him in and he listened. He sucked and flicked your hardening bud until you were gasping his name, crooning praises at him and begging him for more. He had to lavish the other nipple with the same amount of affection, and came back up to kiss your lips once again.

“Do you understand why we can’t be friends,” he mumbled into your mouth. You nodded fiercely, snaking your arm around his neck to deepen this kiss. Wolfwood’s hand trailed in between your legs, gathering your wetness and stroking your clit. You mewled again, spreading your legs wider, grinding into his palm. You tugged his bottom lip between your teeth and urged him.

“I need more, Nicholas.”

“Can I—“

“Yes, yes, go ahead,” you rushed out, holding onto the last bit of restraint you had before you were dragged down to the depths of depravity with him. Wolfwood leaned away from you, which was the last thing you wanted him to do, but when he did you were finally able to take in his body the same way he was doing to yours. Red welts were already forming around his neck and creeping over his shoulders, marks that you made on him. He pushed strands of his hair up and out of his forehead and gazed down at you in your entirety. You were almost too bright to look at, like he had to avert his yes lest he hurt himself. He wanted to kiss every inch of your skin, murmur praises into your ear, send you to heaven above over and over again. So much desire coursed through his veins he was unsure as to where he wanted to start.

You saw his eyes filled with awe and it was like a spotlight on your body. You were still on your back while he rested on his knees between your legs, his pants still on but unzipped and unbuttoned. Although he wasn’t as close to you as you would like, his hands never left your body, and he caressed your calves as he canvassed your body. You could see his erection straining through his slacks and you bit your lip.

“It’s not fair that I’m the only one naked here, Wolfwood.”

You weren't even sure how he managed to undress you completely when you were sure that you had on more layers than him. His stares only heightened your sensitivity, but before you could say anything else he grabbed your ankles and dragged you to the edge of the bed, sinking to his knees on the floor in front of you. You propped yourself up on your elbows and looked down at him. He knelt down, kissing the inside of your thighs before hooking his hands underneath them and resting them on his shoulder.

“Forgive me,” he said, alternating which thigh he kissed, creeping closer to your heated sex that fluttered with anticipation. “I want to do this first.”

The sight of Wolfwood’s tongue flattening and licking a stripe from the seam of your sex to your clit was almost too erotic for you to watch. Your breathing trembled as Wolfwood wasted no time to open you up with his mouth and drive you to the edge. He lapped at your folds, moaning into your sex and his nose rubbed on your clit in a way that forced you to lay back down and silently cry into the sheets around you. You reached down and gathered his hair in your hands, pushing him deeper into your heat and he surged forward. He loved the way your nails scratched his head, and with that he showed his silent approval.

Pleasure filled every corner of your body. You arched your back, your hips lifting off the edge of the bed but Wolfwood was quick to follow and tightened his hold on your thighs. You jerked when his lips pulled back and he bared his teeth around your sensitive bud, and you snapped your head down to look at him again. His eyes were closed, but it did nothing to hide the sex drunkenness he was experiencing.

Wolfwood did the same thing again, mixing pain in with pleasure, and you rolled your hips into it, taking anything he gave you. Choked sobs tumbled out of your mouth, and they fell on deaf ears as Wolfwood was lost in his own pleasure. The mixture of your come and his saliva made it even easier for his face to glide against you, and he was getting addicted to the feeling. The sacrament he had consumed could never satisfy him the way you did. Your thighs started to shake around his head and he finally opened his eyes to look at you. Tears stained your face and with parted lips you whispered his name. You had this disbelieving look on your face, unsure of how he had gone this long without gasping for air. The sheets were clenched in between your fingers and your orgasm was dangerously close from breaking you. Wolfwood stretched his hand over to pinch your nipple, his fingers mimicking the movements of his tongue and you rode his tongue to oblivion.

With his tongue pressed on your clit, Wolfwood allows you to fuck his face, only slowing your down so he can ease his fingers into your dripping entrance to find your spot inside of you. With that you were both panting, and you felt the coil in your stomach tighten unbearably.

“Nicho las ,” you moan, your breath catching at the end as you finally crests over and you’re falling helplessly back down to earth. Wolfwood doesn’t stop moving his fingers inside of you, making you curl up and you try to push him away. You’re blubbering, and the tremors in your legs are crushing Wolfwood’s head between your thighs but he had no intention to stop. He thought maybe if he kept going it would dawn on you how he would completely devote himself to you.

“Nicholas, baby, please,” you groaned. “Please that’s enough.” He lifts his head up, a string of your arousal still hanging from his lips, and the bottom half of his face was shiny with your come. He licks his mouth clean and pressed one last kiss to your clit, and you release a weary groan from the sensation. He then kisses up your navel, your ribs, your sternum, your lips meeting each other when he crawls on top of you and you move back as well until you feel your head hit a pillow.

With all the strength you can muster up, you wrap your legs around his waist and flip him on his back. With him below you now, you grind into his erection and his hands are firm around your waist. You attack his neck, sucking and biting all the skin you can see, and Wolfwood melts into the bed. His fingers find your sex again, stretching his fingers to prepare you. You whined into his neck and licked at his skin.

“You make me feel so good,” you said, rolling your hips on him. “Nicholas, I need you right now. ”

Your words only made his cock ache and strain in his pants. He couldn’t believe that you were begging for him, needing him almost as much as he needed you. He wondered if he ever kept you up with thoughts of “what ifs” like he did you, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that when your hands feverishly shook while pushing down his pants. They would be ruined if you didn’t pull them down off of him completely, but neither of you couldn’t find it in themselves to care.

You pulled him out of his pants and stroked him gently. He was the perfect size for you, and you wanted to use your mouth on him, but the pained look on Wolfwood’s face showed that it would have to wait at a later time. It didn’t stop you from teasing him.

“Can you have sex? You know, as a man of God?”

Wolfwood’s jaw tightened. He watched your hand wrap around him and pump him leisurely, and it was almost enough to make him come. “I thought it goes against the religion.” You were pushing his limits, you knew it, but the way he swallowed and his eyes fluttered close only spurred you on. You thumb his slit, collecting the pre-come that beaded at tip and he drew a harsh gasp.

“I’ll throw it all away for you,” he promised. “I’d do whatever you want.”

“That’s a really big promise, Nicholas,” you whispered. You lined him up to your entrance, rubbing the tip of his cock up and down your sex and he was begging for release. “What if I abused that?”

Wolfwood couldn’t take it anymore and thrusted his hips up to seat himself inside of you. You silently cried out, your hand flying to his throat to steady himself but he welcomed it. The way you squeezed around his cock left him with no cognizant thought other than to get you to come again. His hips pistoned up, hitting the spot deep inside you until your moans turned to hymns. It made your toes curl and your hand tighten around his throat. He then realized in that moment, looking up at you with your name dancing on his tongue, that you are his religion. He only lived for you and it took him so long to finally accept it.

“Use me,” he panted. “Any way you want. I want to be yours,” he grounded your hips down on his and you traveled your hand up his throat to put two fingers in his mouth. You pinched his tongue with your thumb and finger before spitting in his mouth, which you sealed off with a kiss. Your hand went back to his throat and squeezed the sides just enough for him to whine into your mouth and switch positions.

With your back laid flat on the bed he pounded into you, and the bed threatened to give out. The sound of the coupling was enough to wake up other guests in the motel with the creaking of the bed and your wailing. Wolfwood was too enraptured in every emotion that flitted across your face, every change in pitch in your moans, the pressure of your hands on his body to be considerate of anyone else. The only thing that mattered was you .

“Tell me how you feel,” he prodded, kissing away your tears that he couldn’t truly feel sorry for. “Tell me you want me.”

“God, Wolfwood, I’m about to—“

“Say Nicholas. Say my name, please,” he reached down between you and found your clit. He circled his thumb around it at a much slower pace than what he was fucking your with, and he reveled in the way your eyes rolled back into your head.

“ Nicholasohmygod !” You tried to keep your orgasm at bay but Wolfwood was on a mission to break your consciousness. You tried to clear your mind for one last time, your hand resting on the back of his neck and feebly pulling his hair.

“Can you come for me, baby? Please, I want us to come together, Nicholas.”

Your wish was his undoing, and with a few harsh thrusts Wolfwood came right when you reached the peak the second time. You spiraled down together, and Wolfwood rolled his hips into yours until he had nothing left to give. You locked him in with your legs, breathing heavily as you finally stilled but you still couldn’t let go. He pulled out of you carefully but you still sighed from his absence. He quickly got up to go find a washcloth in the bathroom and came back with it damp to wipe your down. You would still have to take a shower, but you convinced him to hold you in his chest while your legs regained function.

“And if I asked you to run away with me?”

The question took Wolfwood off guard. He wasn't sure he heard you correctly, but the way you looked up at him with wide eyes proved that you meant what you said.

“Where would we go?”

“Anywhere. We could visit everywhere. You can’t leave me, not again.”

Wolfwood kissed the crown of your head. You were right, he couldn’t leave. He wouldn’t be able to live the way he had before now that you took this step. It would be too much for the both of you.

“Let’s leave before the sun rises.”

You squealed, jumping up on the bed and covering his face in butterfly kisses.

“I’m not tired enough to sleep, and sunrise is only a couple hours away…” you wiggled your eyebrows, and Wolfwood kissed you for the first time to mark forever.

#minimoe #trigun wolfwood #trigun fic #catholic imagery #but make it slutty #wolfwood x y/n #wolfwood x reader #choking #spitting #heavy smut #nicholas d wolfwood #nicholas d. wolfwood #nicholas d. wolfwood x you #nicholas d. wolfwood x reader

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0nlythrowharrybeaux · 1 year

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Wonderful World - Part 6^

Hello everyone, here's the next part! This one starts off a little lighter and ends the same, but all of the middle content is quite heavy and might be a bit of a hard read! There's a lot going on, please be very mindful of the warnings because if you have experienced any of the things mentioned in this chapter you might feel triggered.

Series Masterlist

Warnings: family fights, mentions of blood and periods & vomit, public humiliation, intense cyberbullying, mentions of suicide, detailed descriptions of panic attacks, grief and loss, car accident aftermath as a result of drunk driving, physical abuse.

WC: 11.1k

It was now 7:30am on a Sunday and Harry hadn’t slept a wink. There was this awful knot of mixed feelings in his stomach that he didn’t know how to get rid of. He was so happy he had kissed Diana, but that was also clouded over with the very evident regret they each felt for letting things get that far. His heart felt fine after Rebecca, it wasn’t broken or anything, but he couldn’t help but feel like he had been wasting his time. Rebecca probably felt that way too - so now all he wanted to do was make up for lost time and he had been impulsive and latched himself to the first pretty woman that caught his eye, that’s probably what happened. As Harry laid there staring at his ceiling thinking these thoughts he felt like shit, obviously that’s not what happened with Diana but it was the only way he could really rationalize his behavior.

“Fucking hell…” he groaned as he heard some knocks on his door. He got out of bed and threw on some sweats, taking his time. Then his phone started ringing and he looked and saw it was Henry.

“‘Lo?” He grumbled lowly, voice still low and raspy from lack of use.

“Hey man, I’m outside. Surprise!” Henry said and Harry couldn’t help but smile. Henry was the most thoughtful person he ever knew. He grew up with a mother, grandmother, and two younger sisters, he was a nurturer and he had a sixth sense for when someone he loved wasn't feeling their best.

“Alright, give me a minute. Need a wee.” Harry said and Henry chuckled.

“Yeah man, take your time. I’ll be…here.” He said and they hung up.

Harry washed up a bit to not look as dead as he felt and also threw on a shirt before hurrying to let Henry in. He greeted him with a bright smile and a paper bag from Blau’s - one of their frequented cafes during their grad school years. They had the absolute best bagels & lox.

“You have a toaster, right?” Henry asked as he walked over to the kitchen.

“Yeah, of course!” Harry chuckled as he followed behind him, “She’s just on hiatus.” He chuckled as he stooped down to one of his cabinets and pulled out the pink toaster and Henry chuckled as he proceeded to plug it in. “I’d bought it as a wedding gift for someone but one of the bride’s bailed so it’s mine now.” Harry explained as he started to bring out the things to make coffee. Harry put on some music to make the mood a bit more lively as they prepped breakfast and then Henry turned to him as the first notes of the The Dance version of “Dreams” started to play.

“Oh yeah!” Henry exclaimed as he swayed and shimmied his shoulders to the music, “-in the stillness of remembering what you had and what you lost. Ooh I said what you had, you know what you lost! C’mon H, take it away!” Henry encouraged and Harry chuckled as he start to sing along to the chorus with Henry.

“They say women they will come and they will go.” Harry smiled, “When the rain washes you clean you’ll know.”

“You will know.” Henry sang passionately before they both chuckled.

A few minutes later they both sat at the table with toasted bagels, cream cheese, onions, capers, and lox and of course, a steaming hot cup of coffee. Harry’s sour mood was mostly gone now, but Henry could see that he looked exhausted.

“So, how’ve you been doing?” Henry asked and Harry smiled.

“I’m alright. I swear.” He assured and Henry chuckled.

“Oh ummm, Grace told me about how you know Diana.” He said and Harry nodded, “Sorry man, I had no idea.”

“It’s alright, I didn’t either until the escape room. I figured we’d eventually cross paths again, just not as often as we have been I guess.” He explained and Henry nodded. “If I…tell you something will you promise not to report me to BBS?” He asked with a nervous smile and Henry chuckled.

“Not my field, not my business.” Henry shrugged and then his eyes widened. “Unless you harmed someone. Or killed someone. Or-”

“Bro, I didn’t harm anyone. Or at least I don’t think… I did?” Harry was even questioning that now.

“OK, then shoot.” Henry said as he put down his bagel and Harry exhaled before just saying it.

“I kissed Diana.”Harry confessed and Henry looked surprised.

“Oh…when?”

“Last night!” Harry said and Henry rolled his eyes.

“I get that, but like when? Her boyfriend was there-”

“He’s not her boyfriend. And it was when she went to the bathroom and I followed her.” He sighed. Harry was clearly frustrated at this and Henry bit his lip.

“I ummm…fucked a patient one time.” He said lowly and Harry glanced up at him and then burst into laughter.

“What?!” He said in shock and Henry shrugged.

“She was hot and well, we’re humans. We have feelings and needs and you don’t always pick the person, you know? Sometimes the moment is just right.” Henry said and Harry bit his lip and interlaced his fingers before resting his hands at the back of his head.

“This was more than a momentary lapse of judgement.” He explained, “Since the moment she brought her daughter in it was like… like a part of me woke up. I’ve never been so curious about a person before.”

“She is very beautiful.” Henry said and Harry nodded.

“Yeah.” He hummed, “There’s just always this really intense tension between us. Like just to be near to each other and when I kissed her it’s like…” he trailed off, “A few days before she’d gotten in a huge fight with her daughter and I wanted to help her feel better, so we got stoned at her place and she feels it too.” He explained, “We were saying that maybe if we just got to know each other it would help water down the illusion or whatever but it didn’t. It just made me like her more and now I’m fucked.”

“Have you considered that this is just a crush to distract you from-”

“I did and that’s not this. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about her as like a band-aid for now. Like I plan to keep my distance and then I hear her voice, or smell her fucking perfume, or see her and it’s like I’ve lost all fucking objectivity!” Harry said with frustration and Henry sighed, “She even stopped waiting in the office for her daughter and that makes her daughter think that Diana doesn’t care about her, but it’s an issue with me and her. But that’s already impacted the girl and we’ve barely even…spent time together.” Harry explained.

“Well, maybe it’s time to refer the girl.” Henry said and Harry sighed.

“I couldn’t do that to her. She just started opening up to me and she’s going through a lot at school.”

“Yeah, Grace told me.” Henry said with a slight frown, “Then just suck it up and don’t interact with Diana, H.”

“Yeah, we already agreed to do that last night. I texted her to apologize and that’s why she told Grace about the therapy thing.” He sighed, “She already told me that if I would be anywhere she wouldn’t go.”

“OK then, problem solved!” Henry said and Harry shook his head.

“No because she thinks it’s her fault. She said something about her leading me to compromise my professional integrity or some shit like that and I hate that. Like if anyone should’ve known better it was me. From the beginning!” Harry groaned and as Henry watched the frustration basically emanate from him in waves.

“H, you’re human. You’re attracted to her, she’s attracted to you. It’s literally nature. Not even just nature, biology. That’s literally how your body is made to respond to attraction and it’s unnatural to fight it. But hey, you both recognize that this can’t happen, for the good of her daughter, your client. Don’t beat yourself up for it. You slipped up and now you’re both on the same page to not let that happen again while you treat the girl. That’s it. It’s over. It’s OK.” Henry said with a calm tone and smile on his face but Harry sighed.

“And that’s where the problem lies. I don’t want it to be.”

“Well if that’s what you want then you know what you need to do. It can’t be both.” Henry said and Harry felt his eyes welling up and he blinked a few times but nodded.

“Yeah, I know…” Harry sighed.

*********

Diana went for a walk around her neighborhood in the morning just to clear her head as she thought about the best way to tell Gabe that they should just stay friends. To anyone looking from the outside in they would tell her to just say it like that, but she was not great at confrontation. It was hard for her to tell people things they didn’t necessarily want to hear, even as a mother, she struggled sometimes to say no to Celeste.

After her walk she got showered, ate some breakfast, and changed before she headed to pick up Celeste from Geri’s house. She truly hoped that whatever Celeste had been resentful about before was done and gone. She kept thinking back to what Harry said about her sharing with Celeste how being ignored made her feel, but she was hesitant. She didn’t want to make Celeste feel guilty for how she felt; like she had been when she was younger. Obviously, there are better, more correct ways to express frustration, but Celeste is 14! She’s still learning. As she thought about this she could almost hear Harry’s voice as he told her that she should use this as a teaching moment between her and Celeste and as much as she wanted his gorgeous self and his voice out of her head, it was the best thing to do.

********

Celeste was dreading being picked up from Geri’s house. She was still upset at her mom. Yes, it had been days of her icing her out, but her feelings were hurt. It felt like she was just waiting for her OK to go and get a boyfriend and now she was seeing some guy and Celeste was happy for her at first, but as the realization set in that this would just pull them apart, it was upsetting. When her phone buzzed with a text from her mom she sighed and started to pack up her things.

“See you tomorrow, OK?” Geri said and Celeste hugged her and then walked off to the car.

“Hi sweetie, how’d it go?” Her mom greeted her cheerfully.

“It was fine.” Celeste mumbled, “Got my period and I don’t have anything at home.”

“OK, we can drop by Target.” Diana assured.

“Cool.” Celeste said and then turned to the window and waved one last time to Geri before they took off in silence. It remained that way through their trip to Target. When they got back in the car Diana decided to try sparking up some conversation again.

“Did you guys finish your history presentation?”Diana asked with a smile.

“Yeah.” Celeste sighed.

“That’s good. It’s midterms this week so I don’t have anything to grade for my classes. Do you want to go do something? Maybe the mall? We can get lunch after?” She offered and Celeste just sighed.

“No, we stayed up late so I’m tired.”

“Oh, OK. That’s…that’s fine.” Diana said and Celeste just turned to the window again and Diana nodded, taking the hint that she still didn’t want to talk to her. She was doing her best to swallow down the lump in her throat, but this really sucked.

Celeste’s heart lurched in her chest when she heard her mom let out a quiet, but shaky exhale. She did feel bad, but she was upset and she didn’t want to get in a fight like the last time, so she’d rather just shut up until she had the right word. When they got home they both went their separate ways. Celeste was spending her time just catching up on some show a classmate had recommended to her and just doing nothing, she was very distracted though thinking about her mom and what she could say to her. She didn’t want to make her feel sad, but she wasn’t sure what she could say right now. Maybe she could talk to her tomorrow after meeting with Dr. Styles.

*********

Diana had beelined to the balcony and nestled herself into the little bench she had out there, it was her comfort spot. But even that was now something that had Harry all over it. Figuratively, but also literally, as she grabbed one of the pillows to hug she saw his ID for the university beneath it and sighed, it also had the faint scent of his cologne. Well now she had to return this to him somehow he would need it so that he wouldn’t get charged for parking on the campus, she couldn’t very well give it to Celeste to return to him the next day…or maybe she could weave a little story together about finding it on campus or something…but she didn’t want to lie to Celeste. She sighed loudly and slid the ID card into her hoodie pocket before she leaned back and just let all the tears she had been holding back from the night before come out.

The truth was that Diana suddenly felt very alone. She couldn’t, well wouldn’t, talk to her parents about parenthood. She had no other friends who were parents just yet. And the one person she had been talking to didn’t even have kids, but he was a therapist to her own kid. She felt like no one could really help her and in a sense it was true. Yes, there are overarching themes in having a kid and being a parent, but every person is different and even the advice you’re given is subjective! She was all alone and she wished that she had Wesley here to help. He was so patient and great at communicating, especially when he was frustrated. He would be so great at this. She sunk lower against the pillows and just laid there for a little and let it all out. Sometimes a good cry was a great way to clear one’s head.

*********

After binging two hours worth of a show Celeste was hungry for lunch and she decided that she wanted to sort of extend an olive branch to her mom in preparation for talking to her properly after therapy the following day. So she got out of bed and headed over to her mom’s bedroom. She knocked a few times and there was no response, she tried once more and again silence, so she opened the door a bit and peeked in and she saw that the curtains to her balcony were billowing in the breeze, so she must’ve been out there. So she stepped in and headed out towards the balcony and saw her mom curled up with a pillow to her chest. She frowned when she saw the dried up tears staining her cheeks. So she reached out towards her arm and gave her a light nudge. Diana immediately opened her eyes and Celeste noticed that they were swollen and a bit red.

“Is everything OK, sweetheart?” Diana asked, her voice was a bit raspy.

“Yeah. Ummm, I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch from that kebab place we like?” Celeste asked.

“I’m not really up for it right now, mamita.” She sniffled and Celeste felt a knot form in her throat at the rejection. “But you can order in if you want.” She assured. Diana was in an awful head space and had no idea that this was the olive branch, otherwise she would’ve jumped at the opportunity.

“Yeah, OK. I’ll do that.” Celeste said and then left right away with tears brimming in her eyes. She felt awful for making her mom cry. She went to her room and just ordered for the food to be delivered and she did not come out of there until the next morning when it was time to go to school.

Celeste was quiet on the entire car ride to school and well, her mom had given up on trying to strike up a conversation with her by now. So she left the car silently and headed towards the entrance already dreading her day. She was cramping and Megan was back from her suspension. She was in absolutely no mood to deal with anyone’s misdirected anger. She just wanted to go home and sleep.

Everything was going rather well for the first half of the day even if Geri wasn’t there today - her dinner the night before had apparently made her sick. It sucked because they had every class together. Megan had just glared at her throughout the day when they would coincide classes, but she hadn’t approached her. Ozzy was around and kept an eye out for her, even walked her to and from classes just in case. And now she was in her second to last class of the day, French. She liked it, it wasn’t too challenging for her yet and Mr. Corbin was very kind and helpful. He made things fun, so she always enjoyed his class - like now. He was having them do mad-libs but in French and they had all been laughing so much and with one loud laugh she instantly froze as she felt a particularly strong cramp hit her. She winced a bit, but carried on paying attention in class, she could go get on a new pad and some medicine from the nurse after class.

There were 10 minutes left of class and Mr. Corbin was walking up and down the aisles waiting for the students to finish their assignments and his eyes darted near the front of the aisle he was in as Celeste started to stand, presumably to place the assignment on his desk. But as soon as she did it was hard to miss the giant, red stain on her light jeans. The second Celeste moved she realized what was going on and then she felt Mr. Corbin’s hand on her shoulder.

“Celeste, just sit.” He said quietly and she glanced up to his eyes with concern.

“But I-”

“I know.” He said softly with a knowing look in his eyes and she was mortified, she wanted to cry, “I’m gonna text Ms. Alvarez, OK. Just stay here.” He assured and she nodded with tear-filled eyes. Mr. Corbin grabbed her assignment and hurried to his desk to text the nurse. Celeste stayed put and since Geri wasn’t there today the seat behind her was vacant, thankfully, so she wasn’t all up in someone’s face like that. She nervously glanced around to see if anyone else had caught sight of what happened and as she looked over her shoulder she caught sight of Megan who was furiously typing on her phone under her desk and then their eyes met and she sputtered on a laugh. Celeste felt the tears starting to pool at her waterline, this could not be any worse. It seemed like ages before the bell rang and as everyone else filtered out Ms. Alvarez came in with a sympathetic look in her eyes and that is what made Celeste finally start to cry and Mr. Corbin hurried out of the classroom to give them a little space.

“Oh! Don’t cry, honey!” Ms. Alvarez, the nurse cooed kindly, “It happens to all of us at some point.” She assured and Celeste sniffled.

“Ummm, I think someone took a picture.” She hiccuped, “That’s why I’m crying.” She explained and Ms. Alvarez frowned.

“Do you know who?” She asked and still nervous from Megan’s friends threats she shook her head.

“I just saw some of the kids sitting in the back laughing and on their phones.” She said and Ms. Alvarez sighed.

“Little assholes.” She said quietly and Celeste’s eyes went wide, “Pardon, that’s just mean. But they were probably just making fun. Don’t worry.” She said and Celeste nodded as she sniffled again, “Alright, let’s have you stand. I brought a hoodie for you to wrap around your waist from the lost and found.” She said handing it over and Celeste grabbed it and stood up carefully and then glanced back and saw that she had even leaked onto the plastic chair a bit by now.

“Oh my god.” She groaned in total embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s fine. It’ll come right off.” Ms. Alvarez assured and Celeste nodded through her crying. “I’ve contacted your next teacher to have you excused from class. I know the locker room showers aren’t ideal, but I have a pass that you can take to Miss Phillips so that you can get cleaned up. Do you have pads or tampons and extra clothes in your gym locker?”

“Ummm yeah, both.” Celeste said and Ms. Alvarez nodded.

“OK, good.”

“Can I at least help you clean this?”

“It’s alright. We have to do certain steps to disinfect if it’s a bodily fluid. I’m gonna be here for a little bit.” She said and Celeste groaned and Ms. Alvarez chuckled, “Don’t worry, it’s not an issue, it’s just the protocol we need to follow. Blood’s a biohazard.”

“Right.” She sighed, “Thank you, Ms. Alvarez.” Celeste said and the woman smiled.

“Of course, honey. S’why I’m here. Stop by later if you need anything else, OK?” She said kindly and Celeste nodded before she slowly made it out of the classroom and towards the locker room. She gave her note to the gym teacher, Miss Philips, who kindly found a plastic bag for Celeste’s pants and then she hurried to get washed up. She decided to wait the rest of the time in the nurse’s room and meanwhile searched through social media and found nothing. Which was definitely a huge relief, maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe the suspension had actually set Megan straight and she would no longer be giving her any problems. She was still a jerk so she was probably texting her friends about what had happened because she certainly saw. But there was technically no crime in having private conversations, even if the topic was humiliating someone else. When it was time to go Celeste thanked Ms. Alvarez once more and hurried to the pick-up spot where her mom usually was waiting for her.

“Hey sweetheart, how was your day? What’s that?” She then asked as she saw Celeste drop the plastic bag on the floor of the passenger side and she sighed.

“I had an accident. A bad one.” She mumbled.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I’m glad you had extra clothes with you.”

“Just my gym stuff.”

“But still. If that ever happens again you let me know, I’d be more than happy to come down and bring you whatever you need.”

“I know.” Celeste responded and Diana offered a smile, it was small, but at least hopeful.

“Are you still up for therapy? I can call Dr. Styles to cancel.” She said and Celeste shook her head.

“It’s fine, I’d really like to talk to him.”

“Oh, OK. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah.”

“OK, you tell me where and we can pick something up before your appointment.” Diana said and Celeste nodded as they took off. Her appointment was at 4pm, so they had a bit of time before Celeste had to see Harry. “Dr. Horner said that you should be able to get back to the jazz combo next week. If you want to try having your guitar lesson on Friday to see how everything feels I can get in touch with Justin?” She offered.

“Yeah, that’d be good.” Celeste said lowly.

“Sounds good.” Diana smiled. When they pulled up to Harry’s office building she put the car in park snd Celeste glanced over at her somewhat expectantly.

“Are you coming in with me?” Celeste asked and Diana rolled her lips together.

“D-do you want me to?” She asked.

“If you want to.” Celeste responded.

“Yeah, OK. Let’s go up.” Diana said and Celeste smiled a bit. Diana felt that sitting all alone in his waiting room would be the best opportunity to return his ID card without having to have a conversation with him. As always, they were a bit early and were just sitting around waiting until they heard the other door close and soon Harry was stepping out into the waiting room and smiling as he greeted Celeste.

“Hi! Ready to get to work?” He asked her and she nodded as she stood from her seat, “Excellent. C’mon back.” He said with a smile and didn’t even spare Diana a glance, which made her heart lurch in her chest. Was he mad at her? It shouldn’t have made her upset, but it did. Finally he acknowledged her before he slipped into his office. “Diana, nice to see you.” He said politely and she looked at him with some confusion for a moment.

“Ni-” she was cut off as he turned around and closed the door before she could even get her pleasantry out. She sighed in defeat and that overwhelming feeling of loneliness slowly started to possess every bit of her heart and mind. She bit her bottom lip hard to stop herself from crying. She then exhaled harshly and dug through the pocket in her bag to grab his ID card and stood and set it down on the reception desk in the waiting room and then she sat back down and decided that he wasn’t worth her tears.

*********

Harry’s heart was pounding out of his chest as he shut the door on Diana. The look in her eyes made him feel so guilty, but this is how things should have always been. He started to second guess it and it was making him anxious. Too anxious to treat someone, he just needed a minute to ground himself.

“I’m gonna use the bathroom really quick, just get comfortable OK?” He said to Celeste and she nodded as she plopped down in her usual spot and Harry rushed into the adjoining bathroom in there and started to just work on some breathing exercising to relax.

Meanwhile Harry used the bathroom Celeste pulled out her phone and was a bit confused as she saw that she had about 50 Instagram notifications. Her stomach flipped and twisted with anxiety. She opened up the application and saw that a bunch of people were tagging her in comments about her being disgusting and sad and pathetic, that she needed to die. Her eyes started welling up and against her better judgement she went to the original post. It was an anonymous account but the only post on the grid was a multi-picture post with her face on the first frame. It was altered to have her eyes scribbled over and two horns drawn on her head. She swiped to the next picture and it was a short clip of the moment she started to rise from her seat in French.

“Oh my god.” She whispered as she started to cry. As she saw this, the owner of the account posted a story and she clicked on it and immediately started to sob, it was a poll that said “Should Celeste Beltran kill herself? Definitely or Yes!” and the sickest part is that people had started to vote on it. She was angry and sad and hurt and she immediately felt her hands growing shaky and clammy.

The next story was asking how she should do it and it was then that she realized this was happening in real time. People were answering because the story kept getting longer. As she clicked through, reading the horrific things people were saying, her breathing started to get really shallow and she felt like her chest was being compressed. She dropped her phone on the spot beside her and put her hands over her chest as she started to hyperventilate. Her throat and chest burned from the lack of air in her lungs and she started to feel nauseous. Just then Harry stepped out of the bathroom and his smile dropped as soon as he saw Celeste in the middle of what looked like a panic attack. Her smaller body was trembling as she cried and gasped for whatever oxygen she could get. He rushed over and sat on the coffee table before her.

“Celeste.” He said as calmly as possible and her terrified eyes met his own, “Celeste, calm down. Look at me. Look right at me.” He encouraged but the lack of air to her brain was not allowing her to focus or understand anything at the moment. She felt like she was going to die, it hurt and burned so much. “Shit.” Harry sighed as he grabbed one of her hands from over her chest and squeezed it gently, “Hey, breathe with me. I’m right here, Celeste. I’m right here.” He said softly and she choked on a sob.

“I-I can’t.” She wheezed weakly as she continued hyperventilating.

“I know it’s hard, Celeste. But it’s going to pass.” He assured her and she gasped shallowly, he could see her face starting to go red. He needed to ground her soon or she would pass out from not getting enough oxygen. He looked around and remembered that she had said something about the candle he had burning the first time she had come in. Harry let go of her hand and rushed over to bring it over, “Remember this? You said it smelled like one your mum has.” He said and her eyes were darting around the room, “Try and smell it.” He said extending it to her and she took it with shaky hands and tried her best, “I know there’s a lot of noise happening in your head, but what does this remind you of? Are there any memories that are trying to surface? Focus on those, let them come forward.” He encouraged her calmly and she put down the candle and closed her eyes, trying to do as he said but she continued to sob uncontrollably, “C-celeste,” he stammered starting to get nervous at her lack of response. Suddenly her eyes blinked open, all swollen and bloodshot and focused right on his.

“P-please.” She gasped, “Help me.” She wheezed and he frowned. Everything started getting blurry for her and her ears started ringing. She could see that Dr. Styles was saying things to her, but she could hardly hear him over the ringing in her ears.

“I’m trying but you need to match my breathing. You need to slow down a little bit.” He tried to coach her through and then he saw her eyes starting to blink slowly. Her field of vision was starting to grow dark and she could see him start to panic. He needed to get Diana, now.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Harry muttered as he hurried to her side and just pulled her into his chest to prevent her form falling if she passed out, “D-diana!” He shouted at the top of his voice in a panic, “Fuck!” He sighed as he felt Celeste’s body lean further into his, “I’ve got you, petal.” He rushed out an encouragement to Celeste, “Diana!” He shouted again and the door burst open and she rushed into the room.

“Oh my god!” She exclaimed in concern when she saw Celeste in Harry’s arms. She rushed over immediately and sat at the coffee table before them with tearful eyes, not really sure what was going on.

“She’s having a panic attack.” Harry informed, “We need to snap her out of it, she’s literally about to pass out.” He explained and Diana nodded. She had no idea what to do with her this far gone. The one time she had a panic attack her mother gave her a slap across the face to get her to breathe again. Diana’s tears started to fall at the memory, she would never do that to her daughter. She shook away the memory and reached for Celeste’s hand and squeezed it hard.

“Sweetheart, I’m here. I’m right here.” Diana cried softly, “Please look at me.” She said as she gently stroked the side of her face that wasn’t buried in Harry’s chest. Her terrified eyes glanced to hers, “Good. That’s good, mamita.” She encouraged her and then placed Celeste’s hand over her chest, “Let’s breathe together. We’re all gonna take a breath together, OK?” She said and then glanced up to Harry who nodded, “Ready? One, two, and breathe.” Diana coached her and Celeste took a shallow and shaky breath.

“That’s good, petal.” Harry mumbled softly against her head, “Let’s go again.” He said and Diana counted down again, and they did this a few more times until Celeste was able to slow her breathing enough that she was coming out of the panic attack. Her body was still trembling, and she was still crying inconsolably, but she was out of danger. Harry started to loosen his hold on her but she clung tighter to him, “We’re not going anywhere, petal.” He soothed her, “Just gonna grab you some water, OK? I’m still here. Your mum’s still here.” He said softly and she slowly started to release him. When Harry got up Diana took his seat and Celeste immediately curled into her chest as she sobbed.

“I’m sorry.” She hiccuped, “I’m so sorry.” She said a few times.

“For what, mamita? You’ve done nothing wrong.” Diana assured her quietly. Harry then sat at the edge of the coffee table like he had been initially with a water bottle in his hands. Diana glanced up at him briefly before she broke eye contact.

“F-for making y-you sad.” She whimpered, “I-i’ve been s-so mean t’you.” She sobbed and Diana tutted.

“I forgive you, mamita.” She hummed as she rocked her body a bit, “I do get sad when you ignore me and shut me out like that, especially when I don’t know what I’ve done wrong, but we all need space sometimes. We just need to learn how to talk to each other better, specially when we’re upset at each other. We’ll do better next time.” She assured softly and Celeste choked a bit on her tears as she nodded, “Alright. Have some water.” Diana encouraged and Harry opened up the bottle before handing it to Celeste who had a few sips before she just exhaled loudly, much calmer than before, “Ya esta.” She whispered against Celeste’s head and then kissed her as she sniffled. They gave her a few minutes before Harry spoke up again.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” He asked, still sitting at the edge of the coffee table and she sighed shakily.

“I uh- I need t-to show you both something.” Celeste whispered.

**********

Both Harry and Diana were horrified as they saw what that account had posted about Celeste. As Diana read through the suggestions people were giving on how her own daughter should take her life she couldn’t help but feel her stomach churn.

“Excuse me.” She whispered as she hurried into the bathroom in the corner of the room. She swung the door back with whatever strength she had left in her body before she just fell to her knees harshly and started to vomit. She couldn’t help it. Everything in her body hurt. Celeste was an extension of her heart and soul outside of her body, everything that hurt her child, hurt her as well. Her body was trembling as she sobbed and another wave of nausea hit her and she threw up again. Once the spell passed she reached for the toilet paper with trembling hands and ripped off a bit to wipe at her mouth before she flushed everything away. She knew it was gross, but she didn’t care right now as she leaned on the seat and sobbed as quietly as she could. She needed to get it together for Celeste, but no one had ever prepared her for something like this. This hurt as much as when she got the call about Wesley and as the memories came back she started to cry so hard her head was throbbing.

August, 2005

Diana woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing loudly under her pillow. She groaned as she looked at the digital clock on the bedside table and it read 2am - she’d only been asleep about an hour. She reached under her pillow and flipped open her phone when she saw it was Sione. Wes and his friends probably ended up getting hammered and needed her to go pick them up from the party they had been at.

“Hello?”

“Diana!” The voice on the other side of the line was panicked.

“Hey.”

“It’s Sione!” He was panting.

“What’re you doing with-”

“There was an accident.” He cut her off and Diana immediately sat up. “It’s not good, Di. He’s not responding.” Sione swallowed thickly, she could hear the stress in his voice.

“Where are you?”

“They’re trying t-to get him out but…oh fuck…fuck!” Sione wept.

“Sione, what’s happening?!” Diana shouted in desperation, “Where are you?” She pleaded as he jumped out of bed, “Answer me! Please!” She shouted as the hot tears streamed down her face.

“Why are you stopping!?” She heard a voice that sounded like Micah’s shouting in the background.

“Please, help him!” Sione’s voice came through, though not directly on the speaker and for a few moments there was silence. She felt her heart racing and her stomach turning in anticipation. Her skin was covered in goosebumps as she listened for anything, “Wes is dead.” Sione whimpered into the phone and Diana suddenly couldn’t breathe. The phone fell from her hands and she stumbled across her room to get to her purse, she needed to go find him. She was barely breathing as she burst out of her bedroom in her pajamas, not seeing where she was going so she crashed into a table and knocked over a few things. She was sobbing so hard as she flicked on the lights and then her parents’ bedroom door flew open and her mom and dad were in the hallway looking angry and confused.

“Are you drunk?!” Her father asked angrily and she was frozen.

“Diana, contestale a tu papa!” Her mother, Regina, berated her, insisting that she respond to her father, but how could she when she couldn’t even breathe. She fell to her knees as she hyperventilated, “Que te pasa?!” Her mother came over to her in concern.

“N-no puedo respirar.” She whispered as she sobbed.

“Diana!” She shouted again as she looked to her father, “Mirame!” Her mother shouted, but her eyes were darting everywhere but her mom’s, there was no comfort there for her.

In her frustration, from her lack of response Regina’s hand came up and delivered a harsh smack to Diana’s face. The shock of the pain stinging and radiating through her face made her gasp in enough air and instead of responding to the plethora of questions bombarding her she just let out the most painful wail. She had never made a sound like that. It was at least 15 minutes before she was able to tell her parents what happened and her dad drove her to the location Sione finally disclosed.

When they arrived she ran out of the car and all she could hear was Gloria screaming in pain, so she ran up to the tape only to see Gloria reached for the coroners as they wheeled a black bag to their van. Darrell was trying to hold her back despite his own crying. Diana started sobbing when she saw the state of Wesley’s car and her hands came up to her mouth as she started to sob again. When she looked around she saw Sione and Micah sobbing on the sidewalk and she rushed over and theY immediately stood and hugged her.

“What happened?” She asked through her tears.

“The guy in the truck was fucked up and ran a red.” Micah sobbed, “We were just a minute behind him!” Micah explained monotonously as he shook his head, in complete shock.

“W-when we ran over to check on him, we could barely tell…” Sione said softly with a blank stare and Diana started crying harder, “The firefighter said that he died with the impact so he didn’t suffer.” He swallowed thickly.

Maybe knowing that made Sione feel better, but it didn’t make Diana feel better. It made her think about how unprepared he was to go. He didn’t know that he would never see his family or friends again, he was just taken in the blink of an eye. She was just lost in her thoughts when the police car’s lights came on and she saw the man from the other car sitting in the back seat, basically unscathed, the only visible injury to him was a bandage over his nose. Suddenly her entire soul just darkened with hatred. She had never wished ill on anyone, but she did that man. She hated him and she probably would for the rest of her life.

**** Flashback Over ****

“Hey,” Harry’s voice and hand on her shoulder caused her to turn her head towards him, “Are you alright?” He asked gently. And as she looked into his eyes, so beautiful, light, and full of concern and empathy for her, she recalled why she had chosen to be alone all these years; it was fear. She never wanted to feel the pain that she had felt that day. She never wanted to give her heart to anyone again just to lose them. And as his gestures of comfort started to warm her heart she abruptly reared back, putting distance between them.

“Please don’t touch me.” She whispered and Harry’s own eyes were filled with hurt at her sudden rejection. He could see that this was so much more than what had just happened and it made him feel concerned for her; he just wanted to make sure she was OK.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized immediately, “Can I get you anything?” He asked and she shook her head.

“I just need a minute. I’m fine.” She assured.

“Diana, you can tell me.” He said quietly.

“Harry, I’m fine.”

“Diana.” He just said and she grew irritated at his insistence.

“I’m not your charity case to fix! Please, just give me a moment!” She spat in irritation and he frowned. She wanted to apologize to him but she couldn’t, he needed to stay away. Far, far away from her.

“Fine.” He said flatly before standing up and leaving the bathroom.

After a few more minutes she stood up and rinsed her mouth and wiped under her eyes before she headed back out. Celeste and Harry were talking about what happened and they both stopped when she stepped back out.

“I’m sorry, that was just really upsetting. We need to take pictures of that before they take that down.” She said and Harry turned to Celeste and nodded.

“She’s right.” He said to Celeste. Diana took photos of everything that had been posted. When she looked at the time it was barely 4:30, the school administration office was still open.

“Sweetheart, I need to show Principal Whittaker. This is…so messed up. This is about your life now and I know you’re not happy about having told before but this has gone way too far.” Diana said to Celeste and she sniffled and nodded.

“I know, mom.” She responded lowly and Diana nodded.

“Dr. Styles is gonna talk to you about this and I’m gonna be right out there for a few minutes, I need to call the school office before they close.” Diana said and they both nodded Diana headed out to the reception area and dialed immediately, as soon as the line stops ringing she perked up.

“Ethan?” She asked before he even got a word in.

“Uh, yes, this is he.” The young man spoke.

“Hi, this is Diana Beltran, Celeste’s mom.” She said.

“Hi Ms. Beltran, how can I help you.”

“Something else happened to my daughter, something worse and I need to see Mrs. Whittaker first thing tomorrow, is that possible?”

“I’m so sorry, let me check he schedule.” He said and she heard him typing away.

“OK, yeah she’s free at 8:30.”

“Perfect. And we might need that girl, Megan and her parents to be there too.”

“May I asked what happened so that I can leave a note?” He asked.

“I’m emailing her what we found as we speak, I’m CC’ing you as well.” She said.

“OK, I’ll keep an eye out. I’ll let her know as well.”

“Thank you, Ethan. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, Ms. Beltran. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” She said and hung up. She finished attaching all of the evidence to her email and proceeded to take a few more deep breaths before knocking on Harry’s office door before stepping inside after he called for her to come in. “I’m seeing her first thing tomorrow.” Diana said as she stepped in, “Would you like to go with me?” She asked Celeste as she walked further in.

“I’d rather not even go to school.” Celeste sighed and Diana nodded.

“Yeah, you’re not stepping foot anywhere near that school until somebody answers for this.” She stated firmly. Harry was going to suggest that Celeste take the day, but it seemed that Diana already knew what to do. Celeste’s comfort and safety was the most important thing right now, and being anywhere those horrific kids was not in her best interest. After what had just happened Harry needed to assess for suicide, maybe she hadn’t even been thinking that before, but when a group of people on the internet is saying that you’re better off dead the thought just might cross your mind.

“Celeste, I need to ask you some difficult questions. Is it OK, to do that with your mom here?” Harry asked and Celeste glanced up at Diana.

“Don’t worry about me. You do whatever you prefer, sweetheart. I know Dr. Styles will take good care of you.” Diana assured and Harry glanced to her. Her vote of confidence after everything that had unfolded today was much needed. But despite him trying to gain her attention her eyes didn’t leave from Celeste’s figure on the couch for a second. As she thought about it for a moment, Celeste glanced between Diana and the floor a few times.

“Ummm, I think alone.” She responded and Diana nodded.

“OK, I’ll be right outside.” She assured and Celeste nodded and Diana stepped out quietly and closed the door behind her. She didn’t take offense or feel shut out, she knew that some things were just hard to talk about in front of your parents. She had a good idea of the direction in which Harry’s questions were going and she knew that she would not be able to maintain her composure.

********

Celeste let out a long exhale when her mom walked out and she pulled one of the pillows on the couch into her arms and hugged it tight.

“This would be nicer if you had that kitty from last time.” She mumbled and Harry smiled softly at her.

“You know, I was thinking the same thing. I think I’ll go pick her up of she hasn’t been adopted yet.” He said and Celeste nodded with a small smile, “How are you feeling about all of this?”

“I don’t know…a lot of ways.” she said honestly, “Confused, mad, sad…” she threw out a few words, “Am I that awful that people want me to die?” She asked as a few more tears fell from her eyes. It was a miracle that she even had more tears left. And well, Harry’s own eyes started to well up as he saw this 14 year old girl sitting before him and dealing with something that not even a grown adult was equipped to handle.

“What do you think?” Harry asked and she rolled her lips together for a moment.

“I don’t think I am…I haven’t done anything to anyone.” She said and Harry sighed.

“But you’re still being targeted like this, does that…make you feel like maybe they have a point?” He asked as gently as possible and she shook her head.

“I don’t think I should die for nothing. But I also think that…” she swallowed thickly, “i-if this is how things are going to be for me I would rather die.” She confessed in a small voice.

“And how would dying fix this situation?” He asked and she sniffled.

“Well for one, all of this would stop.” She sputtered on her tears and he nodded in understanding, “I wouldn’t have to be scared of what’s gonna happen every day. But also…maybe if I actually did die the people who did this would feel guilty.”

“How would they know?”

“I would make sure they knew it was their fault.” She said with a deep frown on her face.

“I see your point, but inversely, if you killed yourself - that’s what we’re talking about here, right?” he asked and she nodded nervously, “How is that justice for you? Where’s the satisfaction in that for you?” He challenged her and she frowned. “What if you do it and they don’t care? Or they spend their whole lives regretting it? You’d never know that, would you?” He asked.

“I guess not.” She accepted sadly, “But I’m also tired of fighting all of this.” She explained.

“Then don’t fight it.” He said simply.

“And pretend like none of this has ever happened? I’ve tried ignoring them already.” She frowned and Harry shook his head.

“No, don’t ignore them. Show them that you’re untouchable. Go in there and be who you are. Show them just how strong, brave, and beautiful you are. Inside and out. Show them what your mum sees, what I see, what your friends see.” He said with a small smile and she huffed out a laugh.

“Would that really work?” She asked and he smiled.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But it will help you.” He said and she sighed. “ I don’t care about everyone else and what they do, we’re here to help you. And if we let others dictate and define our us, our worth, or our feelings it only gives them more power over us, Celeste. Now, that doesn’t mean you should shut off your emotions, it just means choose who gets to see your vulnerable side. Show people like that girl, Megan, that she can’t make you feel anything she wants when she wants. You get to decide how what she does makes you feel. And you get to decide when and who you share those feelings with.”

“So don’t give her the satisfaction, basically?” She asked and he smiled.

“Yes. Exactly that. Why spend so much time trying to figure out what’s going on in someone else’s head when we’ve got so much going on in our own?” He asked and she hummed and nodded and then she sighed as she slumped back against the couch.

“Why does it have to be so freaking hard?” She pouted, feeling a tad discouraged still and he shrugged.

“I don’t know.” He said honestly, “But this is one thing I do know, awful things happen, but that doesn’t mean that good things aren’t happening.” He said, “We live in a wonderful world. A world where terribly beautiful and terribly chaotic things can happen. And when you’re on the crappy, chaotic end of things,” he said and she giggled, which made him chuckle, “You just need to find support in people or things that keep your eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel.” He encouraged and she smiled, “So, let me give you a little homework assignment.” He said and she sighed, “I know, as if you don’t already have enough, but you have as whole week to think about this.” He said, “Next time we meet I want you to have come up with 5 people, places or things that keep you focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. Now you might already be thinking of those things, which is great, but when we meet next I want you to tell me why you chose them.”

“OK.” She said and he smiled.

“Good. And I don’t want you coming in here and saying “my mum because she loves me”, alright? None of that surface level BS, yeah?” He teased and she laughed lightly.

“Alright.”

“Promise?” He asked and she nodded.

“Promise.” She agreed with a smile.

“Good.” Harry finished, “Before you go, is there anything else that we should talk about?” He asked and she nibbled on her lip.

“Ummm…how can I tell my mom what we talked about last time?” She asked nervously.

“You trust her, don’t you?” He asked and she nodded, “Then just tell her how you feel. There’s nothing wrong about feeling things, it’s how we use those feelings that can get us into trouble.” He said and suddenly it felt like he was talking to himself, “And like she said earlier, if you just need a little bit of time or space to figure out how you’re feeling or why you’re feeling some way, you can say that too.�� He assured. “You can say you’re upset and then say you’re not sure why. It happens to all of us sometimes.” He explained.

“Really? Even you?” She asked and he smiled.

“Yeah. Between you and me, I can be a bit of a grouch sometimes for no reason at all.” He said lowly and she giggled, “But specially when I’m hungry. Don’t tell anyone though, please.” He tagged in at the end and she was smiling now as she shook her head.

“I won’t. Your secret’s safe with me.” She assured.

**********

It was a little bit past 5pm when Harry’s office door opened and Diana stood from her seat. Celeste made her way out looking a lot more at ease than before, which was a relief. She walked over to Diana while Harry also came out of his office.

“Did you pay him?” Diana asked and Celeste’s eyes went wide as se reached into her backpack’s side pocket and grabbed the money and turned back to Harry.

“Sorry, I always forget.” She said bashfully and Harry chuckled.

“It’s alright.” He assured and she smiled, “I’ll see you next week, OK? Don’t forget your homework.” He said and she smiled.

“I won’t.” She assured and hurried over to Diana’s side.

“Diana, a word before you go?” He said and she turned to Celeste.

“Sweetheart, can you wait outside, I’ll be right there.” She said to Celeste who just nodded.

“Bye, Dr. Styles.”

“Bye. And Celeste, I’m really proud of you for not giving up. You can do this.” He smiled with encouragement and she nodded and smiled as she headed out. Once the door swung shut Harry’s smile dropped, “I just wanted to tell you that if you feel that the school doesn’t do enough about this Rebecca is a fantastic lawyer, I can give you her card.” He said and Diana nodded.

“Yeah, sure.” She nodded and Harry rounded the desk in the reception area and pulled open a drawer and grabbed a business card from in there before handing it over.

“That’s it. She works like, all the time, and she really liked you. So I’m sure she’d be happy to help with anything.” He said and Diana nodded.

“OK, cool. Thanks.” She said cooly.

“And last thing, I ummm…I don’t know what happened in the bathroom, but if you ever need to talk-”

“You dropped your campus ID when you went to my place. I left it on the desk for you.” Diana cut him off and he frowned.

“Di, please-”

“I’m fine, Harry. Just leave it.” She cut him off again and started to turned to leave and Harry grabbed her hand, which made her frown.

“You’re not fine.” He said quietly, shaking his head, his eyes pleading with her to just be straight with him.

“How can you say that? You don’t even know me.” She stated, trying to maintain her old facade.

“I know you enough.” He said and she glanced up to the ceiling and sighed before looking back into his eyes.

“Look.” She said seriously, “More than anyone, you know how badly we’ve fucked up already. I get that you’re trying to be nice, but that’s how we got here in the first place.” She explained, “I don’t want anything to do with you apart from your business with Celeste.” She said sternly and he shook his head.

“Why are you so fucking stubborn?” He asked with a frown and she scoffed.

“Me? Why are you so stubborn?! I’m telling you to leave me alone, Harry. So leave me the fuck alone.” She said again and he shook his head as he bit down on the inside of his cheek to distract him from the pain in his chest, “Are we done here?” She asked more calmly.

“Yeah, we’re done.” He sighed.

“And Harry?”

“What?” He asked.

“Thank you for taking such good care of Celeste today. I wouldn’t have been able to help her alone.” Diana said and he shook his head.

“No, thank you. I called you in because I needed help.” He said, “You did all the heavy lifting.” He said with a half-smile on his face and she just nodded once.

“Bye.”

“Bye.” He said softly as he watched her walk out. Harry took a deep breath and exhaled before walking over to the front door and locking it up. What a fucking crazy afternoon…

*********

It was around 6pm when Principal Whittaker called Diana’s cellphone because she had just arrived at home and reviewed what Diana had sent over earlier in the afternoon. She was completely horrified and said that she had managed to get a hold of Megan’s mother and that they would both be in the office at 8:30am the following day. She informed Diana that she had not informed her what exactly this meeting was about, but that it was related to her suspension and that an apology towards Celeste needed to be discussed. She explained that she did that in fear that Megan would delete all evidence beforehand if she was indeed the one responsible for the anonymous account. Diana was grateful for that, but even she knew that kids these days were sly, so while Celeste had a shower she contacted Rebecca and asked what could be done about something like this.

Thankfully, Rebecca was extremely helpful. It was illegal to threaten someone’s safety online in the state of California. She gave her some more advice on how she could get the page taken down and even told her that if any other page popped up, she had a friend who was in the FBI now and she could have their analysts track down the person’s IP address through some back channels. Which Diana had no idea ho or what that even meant, but it was good to hear that. After her conversation with Rebecca, Diana also got showered and ready for bed. And as she towel-tried her hair, she heard Celeste call for her.

“Mom?”

“Come in, sweetheart,” Diana responded and she saw Celeste peek into the bathroom before she wandered inside.

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” She asked a bit bashfully and Diana smiled.

“Of course you can.” She assured as she set her towel down on the counter.

“OK.” Celeste smiled.

“I’m gonna do a mask, want to do one with me?”

“Yeah. Let me go grab by headband.” Celeste smiled before hurrying off.

A few minutes later they were propped up against Diana’s headboard and singing along to the opened credits of Grease. After the timer went off to get their masks off they each did their own skincare routine before they found themselves curled up in Diana’s bed while the movie played on. Per her request, Diana lightly scratched at Celeste’s back. She would do this to her all the time as a little kid to get her to get to sleep, she was probably 9 or 10 years old the very last time she had done this to Celeste, it was comforting for her as well. Diana was humming along to the “Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee” when Celeste spoke up.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“I ummm…I want to tell you why I was mad at you.” She said quietly and Diana reached under the pillow and turned the volume down a bit.

“OK.” She said and Celeste sighed and then rolled over to face her.

“Sometimes I feel like you don’t…care about me as much as you used to.” Celeste explained and Diana frowned. That’s the last thing any parent wants to hear from their child.

“What makes you think that?” She asked instead of getting defensive right away.

“Well…after you got your new job you’ve been really busy. I know you told me you would be busier, but I didn’t think it would be like this. And then you put me in guitar and I felt like you just did it to keep me busy and out of your way.” She explained, “We used to do more things together. More things like this.” She expressed, “And so last week when you told me that you had a date with someone I started thinking that if you got a boyfriend you wouldn’t have any time for me at all. And it made me sad and angry that you were maybe replacing me.” She confessed and Diana pouted.

“Oh, my sweet girl.” Diana sniffled as she gently ran her fingers over Celeste’s cheek, “No one could ever replace you. And I could never love anyone the way I love you. Not anyone in the entire world!” She said and Celeste smiled lightly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that I was making you feel that way.” Diana apologized, “I just felt so bad for being more busy that I wanted to let you get involved in something that I knew you enjoyed, you know? That’s why I surprised you with he guitar lessons, I promise it wasn’t to keep you busy.” She assured, “However, you are right about us not spending as much time together. It’s my first year as a full-time faculty member and I’m still learning how to balance the work and everything else, and I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard. But I’m getting the hang of it! Trust me, I’ve missed spending more time with you.” She said.

“Me too.” Celeste whispered. “And what about the guy you’re dating?”

“I don’t think I’m going to date him anymore. Or anyone for that matter.” She said and Celeste frowned.

“Because of me?” She asked.

“No mamita, just… personal reasons, I guess. I don’t know.” she explained and Celeste nodded.

“OK.”

“OK? That’s it? No interrogation?” Diana smiled and Celeste giggled and shook her head.

“Dr. Styles says that it’s OK to not know things sometimes and that “I don’t know” is valid or something like that.” Celeste said and Diana chuckled.

“Yeah, he’s not wrong about that.” She agreed, “So you like him a lot, huh? Dr. Styles?”

“Yeah, he makes me feel better.” Celeste said and Diana smiled.

“That’s good. I’m glad.”

“Do you like him?” Celeste asked and Diana nodded.

“Yes, he’s very nice. I really like how well he gets a long with you and looks out for you.” Diana said.

“Do you think if I invite him to the spring jazz concert he would come?” Celeste asked and Diana sighed.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. Relationships with your therapist can be a bit tricky.” She said.

“Why?” Celeste asked and Diana hummed pensively.

“Well, because being a therapist is just weird.” She said with a smile and Celeste giggled, “Because people tell you everything about themselves, kind of like a friend, you know?” Celeste nodded, “But you’re paying them for that, so they’re not actually your friend even if it might feel like it.” She said and Celeste frowned, “Now, that doesn’t mean therapists don’t care for their patients, they really do! Like Harry- or Dr. Styles, he cares about you, a lot! I saw first hand today.” She explained to Celeste, “But the point of therapy is for them to be able help you figure out how to untangle the web in your mind, I guess? Does that make sense?” She asked and Celeste nodded.

“Dr. Styles did say something like that before. That we’re a team and that he’s just giving me tools to help me solve my own problems.”

“Exactly. So sometimes when they get a little too close or friendly with clients it can impair their judgement. Which isn’t good, they need to be objective.” She said.

“What’s objective?”

“Objective means…mmm, it’s similar to neutral. So they’re not supposed to have any personal feelings influencing how they help you.”

“How is that even possible?” She asked and Diana chuckled.

“I suppose with a lot of training, hard work, and experience.” She said with a shrug. “So all in all, I think it would be nice if you invited him. But I just don’t want you to feel disappointed if he declines.”

“Well if he says no maybe you can record one of the songs my ensemble plays and I can show it to him?” She suggested and Diana grinned.

“Yeah, we can definitely do that. I think he would like that.” She assured and Celeste smiled.

“OK.” Celeste hummed happily. They fell silent for a bit and then Celeste spoke up again, “Mom, when you do decide to date someone again I think you should go for someone like Dr. Styles. You know? Nice and smart, but who is also nice to me.”

“I would never date anyone who is not nice to you. And if I am ever with anyone and they are anything but amazing with you, please tell me, OK? You’re the most important thing to me in the whole world and if I ever am with anyone they would need to respect that and you.” She said and Celeste nodded, “Promise?”

“Promise.” Celeste hummed.

“I love you, cariño. With my whole, entire heart.” Diana said with a smile.

“I love you too, mom.” Celeste hummed softly.

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caz66 · 1 year

Text

For @goodboylupin candy hearts challenge - my candy heart prompt was ‘love bird’

135 days left though Sirius, as he crossed off yet another day on the calendar that he and Remus picked up on their last visit to the zoo. February's picture was of two penguins bending down into the shape of a heart. Sirius was, deep down (really deep down) a true romantic, in his own way. Remus was one of the few people who understood this about him, not finding romance in the yearly red roses that popped up in the shops, but in the every day to day. Like knowing he actually likes two teaspoons of sugar in his morning coffee, not one, but only in his first cup of the day. Or that while Remus will devour any chocolate based treat, but his true favourite is a Twix, with a cup of tea so that he can dunk it and use it as a straw. As he re-capped the pen, Sirius realised that tomorrow was Valentine’s Day.

And he would be alone.

Not that he was really alone, however this year Remus had been selected to venture to the Galápagos, ‘his dream job’ for 6 months. He knew they were scheduled for a video call tomorrow evening, or lunch time for Remus. It didn't make him miss him any less.

It had only been 45 days since their teary goodbye at Heathrow, as much as Sirius tried but utterly failed to hide the tears cascading down. Remus had a similar problem, but they both knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime for Remus, one that would not come about again with the island disappearing due to climate change. There was a soft knock on the door ushering Sirius from his thoughts, he not expecting anyone and James never knocked. Sirius padded over to the front door and swung it open. On the other side of the door, a delivery man was holding a large oval shaped object that was covered with a red velvet cloth.

“Hello?”

“Mr Black?” the man asked,

“That's me,”

“Great, sign here please,” he held out the electronic signing pad for Sirius to scribble something that looked like his name on with his finger. “Here ya go, glad to finally be rid of the chatter,” confused by the man's comment, Sirius had no choice but to take the object from the delivery man as he thrusted the item at him. One hand on the bottom, which turned out to be flat, and the other to the handle hooking out of the covering fabric. It was lighter than he thought it would be.

“Thanks,”

Bewildered, Sirius shut the door with his foot and placed the unknown delivery onto the coffee table in the living room. Gently he went to pull off the velvet material.

“Love you” a voice from underneath squawked. Startled Sirius dropped the cover.

“Err, hello?”

“Hello pretty,” the voice answered. Sirius was feeling quite disconcerted about what was in his home right now.

“Okay, I’m going to remove the cover now,” gently Sirius lifted the cloth fully off to find a cage, inside which were two beautifully coloured birds. Parrots to be exact, if his knowledge of birds was correct. The feathers around their eyes were burnt orange while the plumage of their bodies a vibrant green. Who would send him parrots? The man who could not keep a single house plant alive.

“Hello pretty,” the bird chirped at him.

“Hello,” Sirius replied, “ I wonder where you came from,”

“Love you, love you” the second bird chirped back.

“So a guy dropped two parrots off at your door, no note, nothing?”

“Yeah,” replied Sirius, studying the birds in the cage. He had been out to get some bird food, and the owner of the pet shop had supplied him with the best food for the parrots. “Like, am I a parrot parent now?”

“I guess so, unless there has been a mistake and there were for the McGonagall and her cat next door?”

“Unlikely James, I doubt she would get such extravagant food for the cat”

“Humm, well I suppose you should do some research to figure out how to, like, keep them alive and all that,”

“I guess, Remus would know what to do, but he is out of contact until tomorrow evening,”

Since the phone call, Sirius had gone out and bought them an extra large, 3 story bird cage equipped with swings, chew toys and puzzle cubes. It was much roomier than the travel cage they had arrived in and the two birds had taken to their new space. Over a few hours of research, Sirius has learned that the birds needed foraging toys, as well as ones that are shreddable and chew toys to help keep their beaks well trimmed. The puzzles help keep their minds sharp and stop them getting too bored. There was so much information to take on board about keeping them well looked after.

Sirius was rudely awakened to a joyful tune floating around him.

“The fuck?” questioned Sirius, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Wanting to make sure the birds were settled he had slept on the sofa, to nervous to leave them

“Fuck” the words were repeated back at him.

“Love you,”

“Fuck.”

“Fuck” the last coming from Sirius as it dawn on him that he just taught the birds to swear.

Sirius opened the cage door to freshen the bird's water, he took the water bowl out and to the kitchen. Once the bowl was re-filled, Sirius turned, taken aback by the sight to two beautiful birds sitting on the kitchen island worktop.

“Oh, um hi you two, how did you get out?” Sirius looked through to the living room and saw he had stupidly left the cage door open. Of course the birds would get out. Grabbing a few seeds he held out his hand to see if they would come to him. Much to his surprise they did, gently nibbling the seeds from his hand.

“Well, I think I need to give you names, you can be…” Sirius looked around the room for some inspiration, landing on the fruit bowl, “ Mango, and you will be known as,” Sirius looked around the room again, his eyes landing on the treat box. “Twix, Remus’ favourite caramel chocolate biscuit.” the birds bobbed up and down at the names, so Sirius took that to mean they liked them.

“Hello love, happy valentines day,” Remus’s tanned face flashed up on the screen.

“Re, hi, happy valentines day babe,” Sirius felt his heart grow three sizes upon seeing his boyfriend. “How are you? Did the parcel arrive okay?” Remus chuckled.

“Yes love, I’m good, we did the most amazing observation of the turtles nesting yesterday. And then I came home to a perfect parcel of tea bags, marmalade and, most importantly Twix's’,” At the mention of Twix’s, Twix decided to jump into the conversation.

“Love you,”

“Did you speak without moving your lips? Or has your screen frozen again?” asked Remus.

“Not frozen, nor did I speak. I guess, well there was a delivery.”

“They arrived?!” questioned Remus excitedly.

“You…. you sent them?”

“Yes, I thought you could do with some company in the house and I was so tempted to get you a puppy, but I know we don't have the time right now for one. And well, my friend from the clinic had these two come in, needing a loving home, and I just knew they were the right fit.”

“Parrots Remus?”

“Agapornis Roseicollis,” Remus corrected him.

“Pardon?”

“Love birds, rosy-faced lovebirds to be exact. Very intelligent birds.”

“Yeah, I'm realising that. I’ve called them Twix and Mango.”

“Haha, I approve”

“They can already escape from the ridiculously expensive cage I got for them.” Proving his point, Mango glided across the screen, before coming to rest on Sirius’ shoulder. Twix took delight in stamping his claws on the keyboard, bobbing his head into frame.

“Well, I must say, they suit you.”

“Fuck” squawked Twix,

“Oh god, you taught them to swear already? Don’t let them near Harry just yet, Lily has not forgiven me for teaching him ‘shit’,” Remus laughed.

“It was an accident,” Sirius chuckled back, “But tell me more about the turtles,”

“Shit,”

“Fuck,”

“Love you,” the love birds chorused.

#rscandyhearts #sirius black #wolfstar #remus lupin #remus x sirius #sirius and remus #wolfstar prompt #wolfstar fic #love birds #it is what it is

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soulsalight · 2 years

Text

plotted starter // @petrokhelidon

It was all going so smoothly, everything worked out the way it was planned. The flooding of the castle, the advance to the keep. Everything. Minimal losses were reported throughout, none thankfully within the small group with which they made their way through the flooded streets. And yet, there was something in the air beyond the wind of change, foreboding, and heavy.

It has him on edge while they make their way further into the castle. The rogues eyes his surroundings warily, Hien's presence at his side a welcome source of calm, but he too seems more tense the closer they draw to where the viceroy is hiding.

The bad feeling Thancred harboured throughout the battles leading up to this point finds its realization when one of the walls, due to a damaged support beam, comes down between him and the others. He hears Hien's voice over the sound of cracking wood and stone, but he's already moving, jumping out of the way just in time. He feels the edges of sharp stone cut into his arm as he rolls, less elegantly than he'd like, but still, to safety. He hisses in light of scraped skin, but comes to his feet mostly unharmed.

His name sounds across the rubble of the collapsed wall and he inhales to answer, only to find himself coughing with the dust in the air. "I'm fine!" He hollers back once he is able, knowing Hien and the others don't have the time to stop and wait for him. "Keep going, I'll catch up." His chest feels tight with worry already, the ominous nagging feeling in the back of his mind still not budging as he instead of continuing on ahead is forced to go the long way round.

His hold on his blades tightens, ears straining to make out if there are any more enemies in the near vicinity. It doesn't take him long to find another way, but there are some soldiers blocking it. Now left alone, he lacks any advantage beyond the element of surprise, but his quickly beating heart and the need to catch up to the others has him make the decision to engage in combat far quicker than he maybe should have.

Still, a first dagger is thrown and hits one of the soldiers right in the throat, leaving the man a gurgling mess as he stumbles backward and soon after hits the floor. The other man with him tries to take a shot at him, but the rogue is able to put of his aim by pulling and throwing another dagger right at him, causing the soldier to stumble back. The shot goes off regardless, but just misses him, the bullet zipping past his ear as he turns his head, causing his own breathing to hitch with a sudden wave of panic. He fights it down, seeing an opening as the soldier is forced to reload, leaving him just enough time to strike him down with his blade.

Blood is rushing in his ears as the second man goes down as well, this one's attack having been a little too close for comfort, but Thancred's managed to avert the worst, only left with the need to shake his head to get rid of the lingering adrenaline. Now, the only thing left to do is make his way after the others by jumping over some smaller pieces of rubble and then pulling himself up and over a nearby wall and into a window on the upper floor.

Shouting reaches his ears from below, and Thancred looks down to the streets and sees the first of the enemy troups retreating, the rest sure to follow soon after as the Domans and their allies chase them out. Thancred breathes out in a drawn out sigh, finally feeling lighter. The battle is won.

It's then that the castle shakes with an explosion, the ostentatiously decorated walls groaning threateningly under the strain, dust raining down from the ceiling. Startled, Thancred needs a moment to realize this means there are mere moments for them to leave. The battle is won. The enemy defeated, but the castle is lost.

With that conclusion drawn, Thancred turns and rushes to meet up with the others, feet moving as fast as they can carry him down the hallway and towards the viceroy's quarters. He makes it to the room just in time with another, closer explosion sounding from above. His eyes immediately scan for Hien, finding him towering over the defeated viceroy. It seems the explosion pulls Hien's attention away from her for a split second as well, the man's head turning. Their eyes briefly meet and for a moment all aches and stress is forgotten. Hien is safe. They won. They--

The viceroy reaches for her gun and Thancred's eyes widen. Lips part, but words fail him. Icy, violent fear grips him tight as he sees her raise her hand and pull the trigger within a heartbeat. Time seems to stop, the rogue paralyzed with what he's witnessing, his mind screaming to do something.

But as quickly as the panic rises it is dispelled as Hien deflects the bullet with a quick strike of his sword, and Thancred in turn is not prepared for the wave of relief that washes over him as he realizes Hien is left unharmed, his own knees near buckling with it.

But violent in intensity as the sensation is, it is also shortlived, for everything else, happens too quickly to do anything but react on instinct. The ceiling falls, dust is send flying and everyone scrambles to get out of the way. They're all left with but one moment of respite before they realize their safety is not the works of fate, but of Gosetsu holding up the crumbling castle on his shoulders.

This moment of relief, too passes too quickly, more shots ring out and they're all forced to watch helplessly in face of Gosetsu taking them all.

Thancred's mind goes blank, shock widening his eyes, the words exchanged between Hien and his mentor sounding so very far away even though Thancred instinctively rushed to Hien's side as soon as the castle's ceiling caved in. His gaze shifts between them, unbelieving in light of the calm he feels from them both.

Another crack and the sound of further crumbling of material snaps Thancred out of his stupor, his hand reaching out to curl around Hien's wrist as he finds the other still not moving, eyes transfixed on his mentor still even as Gosetsu's form begins to tremble and curl in on itself under the strain of the weight he carries. "Hien, we have to go." His own voice sounds strained with regret, but his tone is as firm as it can be.

The rogue pulls him along, glad to find Hien is able to beckon his Yol closer with a loud whistle so they both are able to jump unto its back. The huge bird moving below him is an unfamiliar feeling that has his whole body strain and scramble to keep himself upon its back, but when his fingers curl tightly into Hien's clothes and Thancred fits himself flush against the other man's back, it is not because of fear.

He can feel the rigid line of Hien's body against his, can feel the strain of tension ready to snap below his fingertips. There is a faint tremble there, too, until he feels Hien's chest expand with a deeper breath that soon after shudders out of him. Then, he can practically feel Hien put on a front, the resolve of a lord setting itself firmly in place. Thancred knows why.

The day isn't yet done.

It isn't over yet.

#petrokhelidon #petrokhelidon.hien&thancred.005

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smokes-and-bullets · 3 months

Text

@screamobeamkatana from ask

As the sound of running water was heard as she pulled the tampons from her nose washing off the dried blood as the two bobbled from there tied ends on her first finger, then hearing the click of the stove top turning off and walking over with a plate of cooked rice and vegetables, the other woman walked over to sit with the man on the other side of the table as she crossed a leg over the other, placing the plate down on a stack of some old skating magazines "i dont know you tell me, Mystery man. Either way, you looked like you needed some help and i gave it to you, your not that heavy of a guy, i normally carry alot of the sugar bags back at Bensons, so your pretty light in comparison" reaching into her headband to grab her lighter and a cigarette placing it in her lips, it bobbling around as she spoke only stopping for a moment to light it and take a small drag, then resting her chin in her hand over to him

"Hey i get it, you just woke up in some weirdos house and now there cooking you something, i can eat some of it if you want, just to show you theres no tricks here. or i can throw you back in that dumpster either way, at least finish my cooking" as she blew out a puff of thick smoke out of the side of her mouth "Sorry for the Cat hair everywhere btw, by Roommate is Shedding rn, and its always a bitch to get rid of" smiling sweetly a little as her two lower lip piercings gleamed in the light "So you gotta a name, Frenchy?"

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

"What... you're the one who helped me.. Why? Are you trying to confuse me on purpose?"

Moving away from the woman as she sat beside him, didn't trust this at all. Waking up in some strangers house, disoriented and out of it. Had it happen several times before granted the use of drugs was in play with that. If experience taught him anything, it was not to trust this.

"Eat it..." He wasn't planning on having what she made him anyway.

"Should have left me back in the dumpster..." Not the smartest choice of words but his mind was scrambled, was he hit over the head? Some form of concussion?

"How do you know I'm French anyway?"

His accent was light, not enough to tell unless she was assuming his nationality from his blond hair and blue eye. Could have easily been the light accent if anything.

Staring at her like hawk watching their prey though in this case, one who was vigilant in some random persons home. Should have been thankful, maybe anyone else would have been but this was too weird for him.

#screamobeamkatana

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lifeofkaze · 1 year

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Ashes

The merriest of merry Christmasses to the Queen of Angst, the Empress of Smut, the Monarch of Sending-A-Chill-Down-My-Spine While-Chuckling-To Herself.

@whatwouldvalerydo, thank you so much for this year of friendship, inspiration, and kicking my butt when I needed it. Thank you for being there when I need a shoulder to lean on, and thank you for letting me be your shoulder as well. Your friendship is something so special to me, and I cannot wait to hug you as high as my little arms can reach and have you drink me under the table without so much as trying next year.

Crăciun Fericit! 🎄👑

A/N: Talia Crane belongs to my wonderful @whatwouldvalerydo Akira Crane belongs to @cursebreakerfarrier Warning: Smoking, world weariness, Takira

Christmas has drawn a glittering veil across the city. Everywhere I look as I make my way through the crowded streets there are lights - in the trees, on the buildings, the lampposts, mounted above the shops and streets.

It makes for pretty pictures, all these lights, almost enough to distract from the other things Christmas has brought. The stress, the hectic looks, the way people elbow each other aside to get the best pick of the presents, the last mug of willed wine, the warm spot close to a heating vent. Love your next as long as it doesn't hurt your own comfort.

Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.

There's other things I see, too. Things that make me angry, but not in the same way. I see the tired faces of men leaving work after an extra shift, the sad eyes of children in hand-me-down clothes reflected in the storefronts they stare into, the desperate looks of the women furtively checking if - after honouring consumerism - there's still enough cash in their purses to buy their families a proper meal.

Once upon a time, I would have taken pity on them. That time has long since passed.

I glide through the crowd like a shadow. I'm among them but not a part of them, haven't been for a long time. I have always felt different from the rest, but never more so than at Christmas.

All the world coming together to play happy family for a day?

I spit.

I'd rather claw my eyes out.

I breathe a little lighter when I leave the road and move toward the riverfront. The air is cooler here, the wind harsh and biting. I put the collar of my coat up against its icy fingers reaching for my throat. I hate the cold, but the stifling crowds, with their bought cheer and plastic dreams, I hate even more.

My thoughts linger on the job I just finished. I try to put the grimy hands and sickly sweet words of the last hour behind me, but it's hard. It's getting harder by the day. It will be only a matter of time before matters will become serious again, and for once, I cannot wait for it. I can't wait for the feeling of cleansing, being reborn, of ridding the world of one more abomination and everything I have to do to make it so.

And for the self-hate, the disgust, the hours spent beneath a scalding hot shower. For that, too. I suppose burning with the fire of regret is better than burning in hell, if a place like that even exists.

Not like I would know. Or care.

My eyes find the spot glowing in the dark, close to the quay wall and the stinking river below. The lights from the city have disappeared, nothing left but the darkness and the cigarette hovering within it. The fire flares as it is pulled upon. It's too dark to see the smoke that comes with it, but that's just him - a fire in the pitch-black night. He leaves no trace, no ashes. He burns, and then he's gone.

"Akira," I say as I make my way towards the glowing point of light. It flares once more.

"Talia," comes the whisper from the shadows. Dark, almond-shaped eyes are illuminated for a moment. Then, everything is black again.

"What are you doing here?"

I ask this as if I didn't already know. As if I haven’t come this way knowing he would be here, like he always is.

"How was your date?"

I try not to shiver. I'm cold, not afraid, but you don't take chances with a man like him. He's like a panther in the dark - lithe, deadly, invisible. You don't cross paths with a panther on the hunt.

Unless you're an even better huntress.

"Why do you care, Akira? My business is none of yours."

"Everything that happens here is my business."

Again, the flare, his black, illuminated eyes. I feel a heat coursing through me that makes my heart beat faster. My blood is boiling.

"Not me. I don't belong to you. I belong to no one."

"And yet you sell yourself away."

"Because I choose to do so."

"Do you?"

His voice is soft, sharpened steel clad in velvet. He draws you in, gets what he has come for, and then leaves you bleeding. But I know how to blunt his blade. It's the reason he keeps coming back to me.

I hold out my hand. Another flare reveals black eyes fixed on me. The tip of the cigarette moves. It leaves an image in the darkness, the shadows set on fire for the briefest of moments.

I don't thank him as he hands me the cigarette, just bring it to my lips and take a drag. It tastes of him, of rich whiskey and smoke and a hint of copper. I inhale deeply, feeling the warmth relax my muscles, and blow the smoke towards the starless sky. The wind carries the ashes toward the river. I watch after them, but in less than a second, they are swallowed by the night.

"What do you want from me, Akira?"

"I want you to leave."

A cold, sharp laugh. "As if it were that easy."

"It is. One word and you are free."

"You don't have the power to do that."

"I have the power to do anything I want."

I flick the cigarette away. The tip leaves a gleaming arc in the air before the murky waters of the river extinguish it.

"You have no power over me."

"I have power over those you love."

Fury flares in me, hotter than the cigarette has been, more scorching than the brightest fire could ever hope to burn.

"Stay away from what's not yours. Do not meddle with my affairs."

"She is selling you for secrets."

"I am committed to her cause. You will do her no harm."

I step closer to him, his outline forming from the darkness. I can feel his eyes on me, observing my every move. The hunter and the prey. But he is mistaken. He has forgotten.

Talia Crane never is the prey.

My words form a silver cloud before my mouth as I whisper my promise to him.

"Touch my friends, and I will end you."

We stare at each other, one long moment, one short eternity. Darkness and shadow, fire and fury. Then, he gives the tiniest incline of his head. The panther has receded. For now.

I reach for the breast pocket of his coat without breaking eye contact. My fingers close around the sleek black cigarette case inside. I take another out and light it, but it's not as good as the first. It's missing his taste.

"One piece of advice, Akira," I say as I blow the smoke his way. "Don't mess with things beyond your power. You might find you'll burn yourself."

Akira moves like liquid shadow. One moment he is one with the night; the other, he is right there, so close to me that I can hear the beating of his ice-cold heart.

"You don't understand," he says as he plucks the cigarette from my lips. "For you, I'd burn the world to ashes."

#writblr #writer on tumblr #writers of tumblr #christmas 2022 #merry christmas queen #dark noir au #talia crane #akira crane #takira #if they don't fit this au who does

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writing-by-katt · 9 months

Text

Chapter 5: Planes, Pains, and Jellybanes

A shiny white-gold jet sits on the tarmac fueled and ready to be boarded. Strong arms gently pull Aksana from under Carina as Smokes simultaneously picks up the youngest Mezzasalma. The inured younger twin stirs slightly in the strong woman’s arms before settling back into a much-needed slumber.

Two hours pass before one of the twins stirs. Aksana stretches slightly, halting immediately when she realizes her sister is fast asleep, snuggled into her side. It isn’t often that Carina gets good sleep so Ana is determined to keep her asleep. As she gently rubs her eyes, ridding them of sleep, she inspects her surroundings. Obviously, they weren’t in the Navigator anymore as it was much brighter here.

The gentle hum of an engine paired with the cylindrical roof/walls confirms Aksana’s suspicions that they were indeed on a plane. It was disorienting, to say the least that she woke up on a plane going who knows which direction at an undisclosed time with no way of telling where they were.

White cabin walls brightened as the window-dimming features lifted slightly, giving the occupants more natural light to work with. The twins were seated on a loveseat-esque chair with the footrests popped out and seatbelts on so that they were secure but comfortable. They were slightly reclined with fluffy pillows and their tie blankets. A white leather seat identical to theirs was placed opposite them with a white and gold marble-textured table between them. A little vase of flowers rested in on the side closest to the wall between two windows.

Across the aisle, a long sofa of the same white leather with golden and blue accent pillows and a nice tassel blanket was tucked parallel to the plane’s wall. Carina twitched in her sleep making Aksana freeze and gently stroke her shoulder with her thumb. The younger twin settled back into her slumber as the older made note of the door at the far end of the cabin. It appeared to lead to the cockpit with a restroom on the side nearest the door. A mirrored ceiling allowed her to see the rest of the cabin behind them without waking her sister. There was a half wall with a little bar/coffee station and a mini fridge tucked into the far wall opposite a floor-to-ceiling closet with golden handles. At the end of the aisle was a door leading to who knows where.

Looking to the front of the cabin, Aksana notes a set of four individual white leather chairs surrounding two sides of a similar white-marble textured table. Only now that they’ve passed the small bout of turbulence that woke her does she notice the sounds of keys clicking. It is a bit hard to make out but a man is seated in the aisle chair facing her direction. He has a darker complexion than her, presumably tanned from days in the sun along with his genetics. It gives off a lighter olive-toned vibe. His hair is a dark, almost black, brown with hints of amber poking through. It’s shaved on the sides with a long strip on top that’s pulled back into a bun at the crest of his skull. From the ¾ topview she has, she can see that his broad shoulders are nothing to scoff at, they’re hardened from years of hard work and he looks exceedingly strong. They perfectly showcase his sleeves of tattoos that span both arms, his neck, and his hands. There seems to be one red tattoo under his right eye and his neck tattoos curl up around the back of his ears like little waves. A white, sleeveless, turtleneck fits snuggly around his defined chest and back and is paired with grey plaid slacks. The flash of something golden catches her attention in the mirror as she studies the man.

He clearly isn’t one of the people they met last night…no, this morning at the station. Aksana wonders what time it is.

On the other side of the cabin, the man with the laptop smirks quietly to himself. His little sister really thinks she is being sneaky, doesn’t she? He notices the way she quiets the youngest of their family while constantly sweeping the area for possible threats. Tattooed arms flex as he types his report, sending it to his father. The golden rolex on his wrist reads 6:57 am, meaning that it is around 1:00 pm at home, he should contact his oldest brother. A heavy sigh escapes his lungs as he reaches across the table for his gold-cased iPhone.

6:57 am

Vito: Aksana has woken, Carina still asleep. Just sent my briefing to father. On our way to Paris.

Viktor: Good, watch them.

Viktor: Paris? You’re supposed to land in Genoa.

Vito: We were supposed to land in Genoa. Now it’s Paris.

Vito: Figured we’d take the newest members of the family to visit one of the wonders of the world.

Vito: Plus Santo had a loose end to tie up real quick so he popped over there last night. Figured we’d pick him up

Vito: and the girls could get less overwhelmed if they meet us more slowly

Viktor: Damn it Vito. When are you going to grow up and tell us what you’re doing. Especially right now.

Viktor: Whatever. Be safe. I don’t care if they’re overwhelmed, they’re meeting the family as soon as you guys get back.

Viktor: Keep us posted.

Vito: *salute emoji* Rodger that colonel

Heterochromic brown and blue eyes scan the golden phone as Vito enters his Snapchat. He throws a peace sign while smirking with his toung ring on display with the caption: “Little sisters on board, ETA 5:00 PM at the airport =^.^=”.

Santo replies almost instantly with a picture of him pinching the bridge of his nose in an exaggerated show of annoyance at his brother’s antics. The golden rings on his fingers catch the light in the conference room nicely as his dark brownish-black hair flutters in a crossing breeze from an obviously open window. His caption says, “Ur an idiota V. We have no sisters.”

Santo’s chatbox pops up,

Ssantoxicity is typing…

“I’ll meet you at +82, just like last time. Fly safe little brother.”

Vito stands with an audible groan. The little bag on the table crinkles as he snatches it up before making his way over to his sisters, not caring if he wakes the youngest.

Without her headphones and being unable to reach for her pocketed phone due to her sleeping sister, Aksana’s mind whirled as she stared intently out the window. As the older sister, she was responsible for her twin’s safety, and she’d failed miserably. Rina may have been a better fighter but she should’ve never agreed to let her fight for the Jade Sisterhood. Sure, they’d needed money and protection because they couldn’t afford to keep getting jumped and it was terrifying but she was the older sister. Aksana should’ve figured something else out. Carina worked at Mooncents and did her cage matches so that the girls could save money to live on during the summer, Aksana’s measly fees for doing others’ homework and summers spent working at Mooncents couldn’t hold them over, they could barely pay the rent and utilities on their shitty apartment. Luckily, with Mint Mobile, she only had to pay around $30/month for both of their severely outdated phones. Her little sister had fought tooth and nail, sometimes literally, for the money used to buy their textbooks, school supplies, clothes, emergency fund, college funds, and any extra necessities. Along with all that, Carina ‘paid’ the Sisterhood, they were pretty much just skimming money off of her paycheck. Sisterhood fees included $5k/month for protection, $5k/month for no questions asked medical, and a $4.5k fee for the laundering services. Out of the $21,700 she earned off of fights this month, the Sisterhood took nearly $15,000 back. While the twins both worked with John and Miles, Aksana wasn’t working other than picking up Carina’s shifts when she couldn’t make them. Because basketball season is in full swing and she has her homework business, she doesn’t have time for her barista job. During the summer and breaks though, she works nearly $40hrs/week which helps the duo tremendously.

Squeaking quietly in surprise, Aksana’s head whips to see Vito plopping himself in the aisle seat across from a snoozing Carina. How had she not noticed him move? Was she really that invested in her own thoughts, she knows better?

Amusement sparkles in Vito’s heterochromatic eyes, a soft smirk playing on his lips.

“This kid is really calm for someone who’s just lost both of their parents.” Vito thinks.

“Alright, kid. Let’s get this over with. Tell me about you two, what’s your deal?”

Confusion clouds Ana’s facial expression, “...What?”

The man rolls his eyes, sighing dramatically, “Tell me about yourself and sleeping beauty there. I don’t care what, just like hobbies or something. Ya know? Like what was growing up in New York City like?”

“I don’t even know who you are, why would I tell you anything about myself or my sister? Who do you think you are?” Aksana’s voice is low, laced with not only threats, but promises. It annoys Vito. How dare this brat talk back to him.

“Well kiddo, I’m your brother, Vito, and I don’t like your fucking attitude. So, if you want to keep that petty little tongue of yours, talk.”

Vito watches as Aksana’s face twitches in an attempt to mask her anxiety. She doesn’t appear to fear him per se but he has succeeded in his goal to make her nervous. “Serves her right,” he thinks, “She has no right to speak to her older brothers that way. We need to set the ground rules now, rather than later.”

“I-uh..ok,” she won’t apologize. A strange man waltzing into her life when she wakes up on a plane after…no. She can’t think about that right now. Who knows what this guy will do if she so much as tears up.

Quickly remembering she was sitting there dumbly, Ana continues. “Uhm…I’m Aksana or uh Ana. This is Aria, well…Carina,” she hesitates, trying to think of what else to say. He’s her brother, he may have more information on them than he’s letting on. She continues with a steady breath, “I’m on my high school’s basketball team, I’m a point guard, I’ve got shoot game. Uh…let’s see…I like art, reading, coffee, and have always wanted to join the school’s dance team?”

“What’s stopped you? Didn’t mummy dearest pay your way?” The adult mocks.

“I-no. She didn’t. Not after–never mind.”

The teen clams up, no longer wanting to indulge the intimidating man sitting caddy-corner to her. His eyes try to search her gaze but she looks back out the window, turning her head completely to hint that she wants him to fuck off. He gets the hint but doesn’t acknowledge it.

Brushing over the topic for now, Vito starts the questionnaire back up, “Alright, you’re on the basketball team, is little Aria here on any teams or does she just get beat up for funsies?”

Aksana is at a total loss and it’s obvious. The girl clearly had no form of poker face, her emotions shone clear as day. The older brother knows he hit a string there, “Good,” He thinks, “She clearly has some form of guilt about the fighting. She just can’t seem to figure out what she should tell and what should stay secret. I can use that.”

“Aria is part of a cage fighting club, it’s part fun and partially about the money she gets from winning matches. She plays the violin, mother taught her, give her an instrument and she’ll attune to it faster than anyone else I’ve ever met. Oh, we both work at a cute little coffee shop too.” Her smile is full of pride as Carina snuggles deeper into her side. She really is the cutest little sister.

Vito hums, “Good good. Do either of you have any allergies? I’d rather not have an anaphylactic incident in Paris.”

“Paris? But Mr. Nix said,” Aksana’s voice is laced with confused excitement. She gets to go to Paris!? Maybe she can see the Eiffel Tower! Her eyes are bright with wonder, “He said we were going to Genoa and Genoa is in Italy right? Why are we going to France? Is it just a layover? Wait-”

A blue gummy bear hits the blonde smack dab in the middle of her forehead before falling into her stunned hands. She blinks a couple of times before giggling.

“Alright madam yaps a lot, I’ll answer your questions but sleeping beauty needs to be awake. I don’t like repeating myself,” the man’s eyes roll with mild annoyance, “now, kid, focus. Allergies. Al-er-gies. You two. Do you have any?”

Aksana hesitates, brow twitching. With a huff, she answers, “Alright alright, allergies. Let’s see…um…Carina is allergic to lavender, ginseng, nickel, dairy, matcha, and assorted skincare products. I’m allergic to nickel, oats, dairy, shellfish, and assorted skincare products. We honestly can’t figure out what ingredients are causing the reactions because there are so many of the same ones but yeah…”

“Any medical allergies? Iodine, penicillin, any of that shit?”

“Uhhh…I mean, no? I’ve never had any issues and we don’t exactly go to the hospital so…ugh I don’t know?”

Keys click as Vito texts his family chat. His oldest brother, Viktor, had requested some background information on the two girls that would be moving in with them. “Alright, what are your favorite colors, what size clothes do you wear, and what medications are you on?”

“Uh…is this an interview or something,” Vito’s harsh glare cuts Aksana off mid-sentence, “Oof…tough crowd. Erm…My favorite color is lavender but I also really like yellow. Carina likes pink and gold, oh and green, she loves plants. Uh…clothes size? I wear…well, I don’t really know? Like are you asking for dress measurements or something?”

Vito’s sigh cuts her off once more, “Alright. We’ll get you measured in Paris. We need to get your closets updated, this, “He gestures at all of her, “Simply won’t do. You’re representing the family after all. Now, focus kid.”

“Oh,” Aksana looks down, a tinge of hurt crossing her face, “Yeah…you’re probably right. Ok, so, uh medications? Yeah…We both take escitalopram and Ri-ri takes iron and calcium too. Why are we going to Paris, Mr. Nix said we were-”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? I said I’d answer that question when that one wakes up.” Vito jabs a finger at Carina. He can’t hide his annoyed pleasure as Aksana shrinks in on herself slightly. The way she acts so timid, afraid even, just makes him feel in control. Ignoring her completely, he turns his full attention to his phone, typing furiously in his family’s chat.

There was so much to prepare before the girls got home and so little time. Santo and Vito would buy their brothers, father, and staff, as much time as they could but they would have to work hard to stall. Luckily, Father had the day off anyway, Viktor and Luciano were in a meeting with a client that should’ve been wrapping up right about now, Adrik’s shift would end in the next few hours, and Dimetre and Damyan were out of school for fall break. Obviously, his youngest brothers were unhappy with their break being imposed on by strangers but whatever father says, goes.

Cesare, the twins’ biological father, had delegated the task of designing the rooms to Vito, he’d sent the schematics over before talking to Aksana so that the family would be able to start before needing to know the color scheme.

With the girl’s favorite colors, hobbies, medication lists, and allergies sent to the others, Vito grew bored of waiting for the youngest family member to wake. Aksana turned her head, confused, as Vito slowly leaned across the gap between him and Carina. Ever so slowly, he reaches an arm out before quickly shoving the sleeping teen’s left shoulder harshly.

He was expecting the girl to wake up but was completely unprepared for her to jerk awake and attempt to throw a punch at him. Aksana on the other hand, was fully prepared for her sister’s reaction. She firmly grasps her sister’s right wrist, keeping her from hitting their intimidating brother.

As Carina’s panicked eye searches her surroundings for exits and any other information, her body throbs with pain. She clutches her injured shoulder, the same one Vito practically punched a few moments ago, in an attempt to soothe the pain that radiates down her arm. The bright light in the cabin makes her head pound in protest. With paling skin and a dark circled eye paired with the various bandages covering the left side of her face and knuckles, Carina looks pitiful. It doesn’t help her that she’s hiding her face in her big sister’s shoulder as a way to keep the light from irritating her migraine further. Every time she moves, her skull throbs, her joints ache, and her face feels like someone sliced it open and rearranged the bones, oh wait. They did. She’d just chalked it up to exhaustion last night but damn, it feels like she has a hangover after getting into a fight with a man-sized raccoon.

Carina’s eyes narrow as she turns to the asshole who just shoved her awake by fiddling with her injuries. Vito mockingly mimics her scowl.

“Pathetic.” He thinks.

“What kind of weakling are you? How the fuck did you survive this long if you’re this pathetic after a little tussle? I mean seriously, jesus christ. Figure it out,” If it was possible, his eyes would be stuck in the back of his head with how dramatically he rolls them. He fishes a bottle out of his pocket and shakes out two pills before grabbing the back of Carina’s neck, shoving the pills in her mouth, and covering her breathing holes until she swallows.

Vito’s laughter fills the cabin as his youngest sibling gags on the aftertaste. The face she makes proves that she’s just as bad at hiding her emotions as her sister.

All of the coughing and Vito’s rough handling causes a spike in Carina’s pain receptors. The youngest twin’s breath hitches slightly as tears prick her eyes. Aksana’s piercing blue gaze takes the tattooed man off guard. Realizing he went too far, and this is his little sister, who just had a damn surgery and is running on like 3 hours of sleep, he pinches his nose bridge and sighs before throwing a gummy bear at the youngest. It bounces off her stunned face as he chortles.

He offers them the bag of mixed gummy bears and jellybeans as he answers their questions. “First off, yes, Ana, we were headed to Genoa but things changed. We’ll be meeting Santo in Paris, his business finished early so we may as well stop. Plus, as I said before, you two can’t be seen wearing that hand-me-down garbage that was in your apartment. You’ll disgrace the family.

Heterochromatic eyes scan perfectly maintained cuticles. “We’ll-”

“Who the fuck is Santo? Who the fuck even are you?! We’re supposed to be going to-!!”

“DO NOT. Do NOT interrupt me you entitled little shit!” Vito cuts off Carina’s line of questions with a low shout. His once amused smirk is replaced by a menacing sneer, his canine poking out like an alpha wolf growling at a lesser one.

With a heavy exhale from his nose, Vito continues, “I am Vito, one of your older brothers, Santo is my older twin. There. Happy?” The man sighs, noticing that the youngest is sitting tensed with eyes wide, ready to spring into action should he have an outburst like that again. The sunflower blanket covering her lower half slips down slightly revealing the bruises on her legs, he’ll have to have Adrik evaluate her when they get home.

“Alright. Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was going to say that we’ll be heading to a little cafe when we land. After that, we’ll head to the Gucci store before going to Avenu des Champs-Élysées where we’ll hit up Chanel and Dior. We’ll go to the Eiffel Tower for a little photo shoot and end the night with a dinner at one of the best restaurants in Paris, Guy Savoy. We’ve paid the owners to stay open longer than usual so that we can have the whole restaurant to ourselves.”

He pauses as Carina slowly shifts to a more comfortable criss-cross-applesauce position in her chair. Aksana, having fully recovered from their brother’s….outburst, takes the opportunity to write down the information given to them. Vito grins softly as she scritches in her little purple notebook with a sparkly puffball pen. “They really are just children, they’ve just had to grow faster than they should.”

It takes him a few moments as everyone re-adjusts their positions to figure out that Aksana is writing everything down because Carina has a strained look on her face. It’s as if she is trying to commit everything to memory but keeps losing the details. “She most definitely has at minimum, a minor concussion,” he muses.

“Now, ehem…sist-…girls, there are ground rules,” The word sisters feels wrong. These two are the reason that his mom left him. Why his father turned cold? Why his older brothers had to take over the family business much faster than they should’ve? But is it really their fault? No…he shouldn’t think that way. They didn’t ask to be born. Vito claps softly, “You represent the Mezzasalma family now. You are no longer Carina and Aksana Bjorno. Honestly, you never were. You’ve always been Aksana and Carina Mezzasalma, darling daughters of Apex Security’s founder and CEO, Cesare Mezzasalma. You are to stay within Santo or my line of sight at all times unless otherwise specified. Our family is…let’s just say our family is a prime target for unsavory folks. Seriously, what paparazzi doesn’t want the money shot? You are to follow our instructions. No questions asked. Do not question our judgment, it’s for your own good, to keep you safe. If something feels wrong, you are required to tell us. You have to listen to the adults in charge. Nix will be here to keep an eye out for trouble and keep the paparazzi away. That said, you two need to make us look good. This is going to be a headliner for a while, we can’t have your…ehem…background…making us look bad. Especially with the way you present yourselves, I mean seriously, do better.”

“It’s not like we really had a choice…” Aksana mumbles. Vito, choosing to be kind this once, ignores the comment.

“You two should feel blessed, it’s not every day that dependents like you get to bask in the presence of higher beings. Honestly, just one of my rings is worth more than your lives put together.” Tossing a mixed bag of gummy bears and jellybeans to the girls, Vito strides to the TV on the opposite side of the aisle. He turns on Bluey, an Australian animated show for pre-schoolers, before heading to the fridge where he fetches a plate of apple slices with peanut butter and cheese cubes along with an apple sauce with avocado slices for Carina, and two capri sun pouches. He sets them on the table before scooping Carina up and getting her settled in the loveseat he was previously settled in, much to her chagrin.

He feels her flinch as he does this, her attempt to break free of his grasp highly unsuccessful.

“Hey. We’re not little kids! What is this?! This show is for babies! Wha-” Carina slurs, pouting, being cut off by an avocado slice being shoved into her mouth.

“Stop acting like a baby and I might think about changing the show. Now, shut up. If you really need to know, this show has good reviews from children your age that have mental health issues. And you two,” he wiggles his finger side to side between the girls, “Just lost both your parents, home, friends, jobs, schools, and every sense of normalcy you’ve ever had. You’re being relocated to a country halfway across the world to live with 8 men you’ve never met, let alone heard of in a familial sense, and you’re dealing with injuries severe enough that you had to have an emergency reconstructive surgery, all within less than 24 hours. So yes. You get to be treated like children for a little bit. I’m not going to be this nice again, so shut the fuck up and say thank you.”

“I-thank you…Vito.” Carina says. Their eyes lock for a second before he walks back to his original seat to finish his work.

~~~

With two hours left of the flight, Nix emerges from the bedroom, tousled ginger hair graces tanned cheeks as he throws a leather jacket over his sweater. Nix’s dark-wash jeans, White and red Air Jordans, and light grey turtleneck sweater compliment his physique perfectly. A gun is tucked in his waistband, hidden by the jacket, and an earpiece disguised as an airpod rests in his right ear. His signature purple and gold sunglasses rest on his still-damp mop of wavy hair. In his hands is a, full, dark brown YETI backpack. He’s about to yell to the girls when he stops abruptly in his tracks. Aksana and Carina, in their respective seats, are fast asleep while the episode of Bluey continues playing. Aksana’s hand clutches Vito’s forearm.

The tattooed man’s head snaps around at the sound of Nix’s camera shutter. The ginger can barely contain his laughter as his old friend glares as menacingly as he can. “How the hell did Vito get into this situation?” He thinks.

“Don’t fucking ask shithead. Just help me up. My ass is numb.”

Nix grabs Vito’s free forearm, hoisting him up. Thankfully, Aksana’s grip loosens enough that the men can move without waking the girls. The peace doesn’t last long, however, as the plane hits an unexpectedly rough bout of turbulence. It jolts the plane hard, forcing the men to hold onto the table behind them for support and jostling Carina out of her comfortable slumber by depositing her on the floor with a thud.

Blinding white pain erupts from her head, back, ribs, shoulder, legs, and left arm. A strong pair of arms brings her back to reality as the pain slowly subsides. Vito had grabbed her by her good arm, leaning her against the seat, off of the painful area as much as he could. Hardened eyes meet pleading ones as Carina’s breathing steadies. The fall had winded her slightly, paired with the pain, it was a little difficult to get the oxygen she very much needed.

As Nix gently wakes Aksana, Vito’s rage grows closer and closer to boiling over.

“You two, go through that door, on the right-hand side is a bathroom. Go shower and get ready for Paris. We land in an hour,” He orders, “Carina, after you shower, I’ll tend to your injuries.”

Carina’s eyes widen with dread. Vito cuts her off before she can protest, “Remember the ground rules little girl? Don’t question me.”

Carina watches out of the corner of her eye as Nix folds their blankets and puts the table back into its upright position as she follows her sister to the door on the tail side of the cabin. Inside is a white, cream, and gold room with a large, comfortable-looking bed. A small crystal chandelier is fixed to the ceiling above the bed, casting small rainbows around the room. There are four windows in total on one of the walls. A closet is fixed on one side of the door, the other side is a wall, presumably for the bathroom they’ve been sent to.

“You go shower, I’ll be here to keep watch,” Aksana gives her sister a side hug and hands her a bag of soaps from the backpack, “I’m guessing there are towels in there, I’ll pick out an outfit for you ok? Then when you’re done getting checked up on, I’ll do your hair. Ok?”

Aksana knows her sister well. Carina hates new places, especially ones with no viable exits and the vulnerability of a shower is almost too much for her. It’s comforting knowing that they have each other to lean on right now. Everything has happened so fast, they haven’t even had time to properly process what’s happened.

Carina nods, “Thanks, Ana. Um..sounds good.” It’s nothing personal, Carina just has so many thoughts in her head that she can’t figure out what to say. She disappears into the bathroom. Just like the rest of the plane, it is white, cream, and gold. It has a laminate, floor a small toilet, sink, and shower. It’s just big enough for one person to change in.

“Makes sense.” she thinks. After all, it is a private jet and heavy things take more fuel than light things.

She strips down, actively avoiding looking in the mirror. She doesn’t want to know how bad it looks, she already knows it's terrible by how she feels. The hot shower, albeit quick, soothes her aching muscles as she massages her scalp and rids herself of the iodine residue. Stepping out of the shower, she brushes her teeth, and goes potty before wrapping a towel around herself and peeking out of the door to see Aksana lounging on the bed, phone in hand.

On the bed next to her sister is an outfit consisting of; A black one-shoulder tank bodysuit with the strap end on her right shoulder, giving access to her most prominent injuries, a high-wasted denim skirt that reaches her mid-thigh while covering her butt properly, and a set of insulated tights. A soft pink belt and a pair of Prada downtown leather sneakers are laid out as well.

Aksana hums softly as she helps Carina into the bodysuit and a pair of shorts for her evaluation. Vito needs to see the bruises on her little sister’s legs before she can put on the leggings so there isn’t any point in helping her with the skirt right now anyway. After pulling Carina’s platinum hair into a tiny ponytail and securing it with bobby pins and a soft pink headband, the older twin turns her around to get a good look at her face.

It’s the first time Aksana has seen Carina’s injuries without the bandages. She knits her eyebrows slightly as she examines the black and blue bruising that creeps up her sister’s left cheek to her brow before moving down to her jaw. There are three stitches on the side of her cheekbone where Elisabetta had to cut in order to pull the bone back to where it should’ve been in the first place. On her right cheek, Carina has a small cut that appears deep enough to scar and her left shoulder looks too similar to her face for comfort. A large black and purple bruise spreads from the anterior section of flesh between her humorous and clavicle down her bi and triceps before stopping at her radial-ulnar joint.

With Aksana’s help, she slips on a warm pair of socks before making her way through the door as her twin goes to freshen up.

Nix and Viktor are seated on the opposite side of the cabin, a first aid kit open on the table and a laptop open to a Facetime call with someone. Viktor ends the call as Carina’s soft footsteps approach. She avoids eye contact, fingertips tapping against each other as she rocks on her heels in front of the two men.

Vito’s harsh stare as he surveys the superficial damage on this little girl’s body makes her muscles involuntarily tense, preparing to flee.

Reluctantly, she sits herself on the table in front of Vito as Nix wanders to the other side of the aisle to give the uncharacteristically skittish girl privacy.

“Alright gummy bear, here’s what’s going to happen,” Vito starts, holding Carina’s small hand in his large one, “I’m going to check your injuries, sanitize them, apply whatever creams or salves or stupid shit I need to, bandage your face, and do a concussion screening. When we get home, I’ll have Adrik give you a more in-depth check-up. Don’t worry, Aksana will get one too, we need to make sure any health issues are addressed. It’s bad for our image if we let you two stay unhealthy. Now, if at any time you feel uncomfortable, tell me. If you feel pain, like actual pain, tell me. We don’t quite know if you have any broken bones or sprains. I’m not doing this to scare you, make you uncomfortable, or hurt you. This is for your own good.” Vito’s eyes never leave hers as he speaks. The sincerity of his words takes her aback, “There is just no reading this guy is there?”

Carina nods with a hum of acknowledgment. The teen barely winces as steady hands poke and prod at her wounds. He smears a cool cream over the bruises while explaining that it has pain relievers and agents that decrease swelling which will help the bruise heal as well as make her more comfortable. Things get a little awkward as Vito inspects her shoulder. He helps her remove the strap of the body suit, instructing her to hold it under her right arm so that the shirt was just low enough that he could treat the bruise. It wasn’t quite on her breast, more like the top of a sweetheart neckline strapless dress would reach, but she tensed and her skin heated up against her will anyway. Vito, ever the gentleman, worked on that area as quickly as possible. Carina may have fought in rings with hundreds of spectators with little to no clothing but it was different having someone all up in her business like this. She didn’t like it one bit and longed to be done as soon as possible. At least this man, her…brother, was professional and not a creep. She’d had worse doctors before Elisabetta, she just wished it was Elisabetta taking care of her right now.

For all the trouble the Sisterhood caused the twins, they took care of them. Elisabetta, Britta, London, and Aksana were the only people she allowed this close. Technically, the Sisterhood bosses were her bosses so they could do whatever they wanted but they always looked out for the twins. They saved them. They’d never do anything to hurt them for real.

Carina could feel the callouses on Vito’s hands through his gloves as he wrapped soft white gauze around her wounded arm.

“I don’t want this arm moving too much while we’re out and about. Adrik will skin me alive if it gets worse because I let you be stupid.” The honey-glazed baritone of Vito’s voice states, answering her question before she could even ask. He helps her back into the tanktop sleeve before moving up to the eye.

He first checks her pupil dilation with a bright light before having her follow his finger with just her eyes. “You haven’t felt nauseous or vomited since the hit, correct? Any dizziness, balance issues, ringing in your ears?”

“No..um..I don’t think so? A little…no?”

“Alright…Well, kid, I’ll be taking that phone of yours. Along with the rule of no strenuous activity or solid foods because of the whole zygomatic reconstruction surgery, you get to have no screen time for, at minimum, two whole days! Yay!” Skilled fingers wrap fresh bandages over her eye.

“Alright gummy, you haven’t developed diplopia, let’s hope it stays that way. You should heal properly other than a few scars, but tell me, who did you fight for?”

“Uh…The Jade Sisterhood? It was the end-of-month fight and the um… the Kings were being extra rowdy so it brought in a ton more money? We just have this deal ok?” Icy blue eyes avoid heterochromatic ones, “I fight, they protect us…They’d never do anything to intentionally hurt me…they wouldn’t. I fight. I bring in money. Boss said they’d take care of everything as long as I keep winning.

The twenty-six-year-old’s face softens slightly when he finishes bandaging the teen up. He hands her two pills and a little bottle of water before sending her back to change fully.

“Nix. I need you to find the motherfuckers who let a sixteen-year-old girl fight in an underground cage club. Whoever this ‘boss’ is, they shouldn’t be too hard to track down. Search for two groups, the Kings, and The Jade Sisterhood. I’ve got a bone to pick with them.” Vito snarls, slamming his fist on the table. “Kids shouldn’t be involved in this shit for fucks sake! They should be dicking around with their friends, not paying for a dumpy ass apartment, and fighting every goddamn week! MOTHER FUCKER!”

If the girls hear the bang of Vito’s fist, they don’t show it when Nix softly knocks on the bedroom door.

“Aria? Ana? We’re beginning our descent in 5 minutes, you need to come sit and buckle in.”

The girls look in awe at the city below them, Nix snapping discrete photos of their cute faces. Carina flinches a little as the wheels hit the tarmac but she’s eager to be out of the plane after the seven-hour flight.

Before they step out of the plane door, onto the steps where a Rolls Royce is waiting, Nix hands both girls a jacket. Carina’s outfit is accented by a light pink, swede biker jacket. Aksana’s lavender notched-collar walker coat perfectly accents her light-wash denim skirt, white turtleneck slim-fit shirt, and matching Prada sneakers.

“The air is so…crisp.” The girls state in sync.

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