#and lindsay sounded so happy talking about when they first kissed and still remembered exactly how it happened

[wish-that-i-was-buckys-girl]

Hey! I just discovered your blog and I was wondering if you'd be okay doing a Lance tucker x reader where they get in an argument but it has a fluffy ending where they're closer than they were before? Maybe they confess their feelings to each other? I totally understand if you're not able or comfortable to write this.

Merry Christmas! 🎄🤶🎅🌲🎁

Authors Notes: Hey! I hope this is something similar to what you were looking for. They’re expressing their feelings in some way, just maybe not the way you’d think. I hope you like it!

Lance Tucker x Reader

Warnings: Arguing, swearing, insinuation of possible cheating, and some downright shitty friends.

Word Count: 3K

Trouble in Paradise

(Not my gif)

_______________________________________________

It was New Year’s Eve. The year had been stressful to say the least but even worse, Lance’s buddies were coming over for a party. It’s not that you didn’t like his friends. Well, it was that. You didn’t like them. Ever since you and Lance got together three years ago, they have done nothing but try to convince him to date hotter women. “Date” being a loose term.

Overheard conversations during football games and dart/pool games and the basement went something like this.

“Oh, come on Lance you saw the chicks you used to pull. They were smokin’. Why don’t you just live again? Or better yet, you don’t even have to break up with her! Just, you know, tell her you got competitions and when she doesn’t suspect it, book a couple hotel rooms. What’s the harm?”

“Lance, buddy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you don’t exactly have a trophy wife. Aren’t you the one with the gold medal? Shouldn’t you be looking for a gold medal wife instead of a bronze one?”

“I like her Lance, I really do, but remember that Victoria’s Secret model you hooked up with regularly like 5 years ago? What was her name... uh... Serenity! Yeah, why don’t you give her a call. You guys seemed to really click.”

The worst part of it all was they never really got to know you. They brushed past you while you cooked some food for them in the kitchen. You and Lance took turns cooking but somehow you always found that you were cooking when his friends were coming over. You had never really put much thought into it, until tonight.

“Honey! I’m home from the gym!”

You were making taco dip, guacamole, homemade Mac and cheese, and Buffalo chicken dip for the big party. You ordered pizzas, subs, and other sides to top it off. You never knew how much 8 men could eat, until you started cooking for 8 men.

Lance came up behind you and gave you a sweet kiss on the cheek as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “How’s my pretty girl doing?”

“Fine, I guess.”

You both knew you weren’t fine.

Lance sighs loudly. “Angel, what is wrong? You know I just want to help you.”

“We can talk about it later. Right now, I just want to get in my cooking zone and not think about anything.”

Lance puts his hands on his hips and stares at you authoritatively.

“Well, I’m gonna go quick grab a shower and come back down to help you finish cooking before the boys come.”

“Sounds good” you said with a half-smile. You were dreading tonight.

_______________________________________________

True to his word, Lance came down and helped you finish cooking the rest of the food. It remained quiet for most of the time you spent together. Lance could feel the tension in the air but didn’t want to ask again if anything was wrong before the party. It was New Year’s Eve, he was supposed to be celebrating with his friends, not trying to start a fight with you.

You were infuriated Lance didn’t bother to ask you why you were so upset. You always felt second to his friends, why is that? The first year you were dating it wasn’t like that. You were the center of attention in all regards, you didn’t want to be, but he treated you like the only girl in the world. Now?

“Hey babe I’m going out with the guys I’ll see you tomorrow.” You knew full well he would drunkenly slip under the covers at 3AM. Why was he out so late? What was he doing?

“Sweetheart the guys are coming over to play pool do you mind ordering us some pizzas?” Why couldn’t he do it himself?

You really did not mind that Lance had friends. You encouraged him to hang out with them even though they said horrible things about you, but enough was enough. There’s hanging out with your friends, and there’s being with your friends 24/7, leaving your girlfriend to stay home and watch movies by herself.

After you finished cooking you went upstairs to the bedroom to watch a movie. By yourself.

Surprise, surprise.

You heard the front door open for the first time tonight. You wondered if any of the guys would bring over their girlfriends or “hot dates.” You didn’t know if that would relieve your stress or infuriate you even more. If they did bring someone, they wouldn’t be so focused on it being a “boys’ night.” However, if they did bring someone, why couldn’t you come downstairs to hang out with them?

You heard a slap of hands exchanged and what you assumed to be a half hug after it.

The men continued to pile in around 8PM. Some of them brought a date, but others didn’t. However, you noticed one of the guys brought two girls. Why would he do that?

You decided to put on some nice clothes to go downstairs. Other men were bringing their dates, and this was your house. You deserve to celebrate too.

You worked your way down to the basement, wanting to spend time with your definitely above average looking boyfriend. You were so happy to call him yours, even though he frustrated you to no end sometimes. From what you overhear, he never sticks up for you.

You strutted over him and placed your hand on his back gently. He quickly turns around, angry almost and begins to say something “I told you I don’t want.... oh, hi baby.”

You looked at him confused. What was that about?

“Hi... what’s uh, what’s going on?”

“Oh nothin’. Just Evan and I got into it earlier about something and I thought he was coming to bother me about it again. But then I turn around to see your pretty face and that doesn’t even matter.”

He brings you in for a tight hug and rests his chin on your head. You loved him. You loved him so much.

Out of nowhere Evan comes up behind you, noticeably drunk, the scent of liquor oozing off of him. There’s a girl attached to his right arm. She’s tall, slender, and blonde. You thought she was too attractive for Evan, until he started to speak.

“Lance, meet my girl Lindsay here. She’s really interested in you and wants to talk to you about your gold medal.”

You can’t say this never happened. You were used to women throwing themselves at Lance. You were always so proud to call Lance yours, but other women wanted that opportunity as well. It got so bad to the point where women would send random lewd photos to his work email to gain his attention. It never worked thank god. Every time you saw pictures like that you got suspicious, but every message read “don’t you want to see what you’re missing out on?” or something to that degree. Lance was always patient and kind with you about it, knowing you were easily frustrated and cautious of him because you knew what he was like before. However, you knew he wouldn’t cheat on you, and he always has an explanation if he thought you were ever worried.

“Excuse me?” You said looking at Evan.

“Come on Y/N. Let the man have a little fun.” Evan retorted.

“This isn’t letting him have ‘a little fun.’ Letting him have ‘a little fun’ is hosting this party, not you trying to actively encourage him to cheat on me, right in front of me no less.”

Lindsay sneers at you. “Who are you? Get in line sister. Evan told me I would get to talk to him.”

You raise your eyebrows in disbelief.

“I don’t know if I have to spell it out for you, if you can even spell, but I’m his girlfriend.”

“Y/N come on baby it’s not that big of a deal. She just wants to talk to me about my gold medal that’s all.”

“The gold medal you won in the Olympics or the one tattooed around your dick Lance?”

“I’ll only talk to her about the one I won in the Olympics and you know that.”

You had had it. You were so incredibly tired of Lance never sticking up for you when it came to situations like this. You never threw a fit when his friends would make stupid remarks, but this was the last straw.

“I don’t care anymore Lance! Talk to her about your dick tattoo. Hell, let her even see your dick tattoo close up while she’s sucking you off. I’m done.”

Without giving him a second glance. you turned on your heel and walked upstairs to grab your car keys.

Lance sprinted up the stairs after you, shouting your name. You didn’t care. You ran to the garage and hit the button to open the door. Lance thought you went to your room, so he sprinted to the third floor thinking you were there. He finally realized you were actually leaving when he heard the start of your car. He saw you back out of the driveway like a bat out of hell, and all he could do was watch from the window.

_______________________________________________

You drove to the nearest diner, hoping they would be open even though it was New Year’s Eve. Thankfully, they were. You always comforted yourself with food when shit like this happened. Who doesn’t love food? You can’t say that entirely though. You also tended to starve yourself in situations like this as well. Neither coping mechanism was healthy, but it got you through it.

You ordered a breakfast meal, quickly glancing at your phone to see if anyone had texted you.

24 missed calls from Lance❤️🥇

You knew he was worried about you, but you weren’t ready to call him back yet. You knew he couldn’t come searching for you either, all of his friends still being inside, waiting for the ball to drop. This was going to be the first year you and Lance wouldn’t kiss at midnight, all because of his stupid friends who hate you for no reason.

You ate your meal as you saw Ryan Seacrest introduce one artist after another on the television.

The clock was nearing midnight. You didn’t seem to care. You contemplated going to your friend’s house, knowing they would gladly accept you and support you, especially when they knew how much of an ass Lance’s friends could be. You decided against it, not wanting to bother anyone.

You glanced at your phone again.

28 missed calls from Lance❤️🥇

Not only that, but it had looked like he texted you as well.

“Where are you going???”

“Y/N???”

“Baby come back here please I’m very upset and I want to talk”

“Baby please come back and talk to me.”

And about 15 other messages similar to those.

You were heartbroken. You wanted to go home, but you knew you needed to stand your ground.

As the many thousands of people in NYC count down to the New Year you sat and ate your bacon and pancakes.

Lance saw all of his buddies laughing and having a good time. He couldn’t have a good time until he knew you were safe and that he would have everything fixed. He knew he fucked up big time, but he thought you were overreacting to the extreme. Was it really that bad you needed to leave right away?

His annoyance throughout the night grew as Lindsay began to pester him about his interests.

“Lindsay, I don’t know how to tell you this in a nice way, so I won’t. I have a girlfriend. She’s the sexiest, smartest, and sweetest woman on this planet, and that’s all that matters to me. Now please, go bother Johnny or somethin’.”

Lindsay didn’t like that. So much so, she dumped her whole glass of whiskey on his brand-new Nike shoes. He didn’t care she was upset. All he cared about was you.

Evan came back up to Lance for the last time of the night.

“Heyyuh pal. I didn’t mean to make your lady run out on ya.”

“But you did Evan. You fucking idiot, you stupid fucking fucker. You ruined this night for not only me, but my girl who is probably out sobbing to her friends about how much of a shit boyfriend I am. And you know what? I don’t blame her. I deserve it.”

“C’mon man don’t be so *burp* hard on yourself. Hey, at least you can go have fun with Lindsay eh?” He says while wiggling his eyebrows.

Lance was fuming. “Evan if you don’t get the fuck out of my face, I’m going to floor you in about 6 seconds.”

Evan held up his hands and backed away, finally getting the hint he was becoming a nuisance to not only Lance, but the party itself.

He listened to all of his friends count down to the new year in a drunken haze. He slouched over the home bar, drinking himself into a stupor with his seventh gin and tonic. He didn’t care about any of the calories he was consuming. He didn’t care about anything. He knew he wouldn’t have his Angel to hold and kiss into the new year. He wanted nothing more for this night to just end.

_______________________________________________

You snuck back into the house around 4AM, hoping Lance wasn’t awake. You drove around for hours after the ball dropped, the diner closing at 1AM anyways. You listened to 80’s music, calming yourself down. Music always helped you meditate.

As you slowly closed the door you saw Lance sitting miserably in his recliner. He was no longer drunk. Just incredibly depressed.

He turned to look at the door, hoping that the door opening and closing wasn’t just some sleep induced hallucination. As soon as he realized it was you, he jolted up and ran to give you a hug. You stuck your arm out before he could reach you.

He looked devastated.

“I want to talk Lance. I-”

“No, no I fucked up. Let me do this. I have been shit. I have been absolute and utter fucking garbage to you when it comes to my friends. I let them talk to me like I’m still a bachelor. I know you overhear the things they say, and it hurts you. And I let them do that. I don’t know why. I have no reason. It was so fucking stupid of me. You have to know I don’t want any other woman on this planet. You’re my day and my night. I would be lost in this depressing ass place of a world if it wasn’t for you my sweet Angel. My beacon of light.” He stopped his rant briefly to cup your face and stare into your eyes lovingly.

“It all stops here. No more stupid guy shit. You’re my number one and you deserve to be treated that way. If any of my friends continues to disrespect my baby, they’re out. I don’t care who they are and how long they’ve been around. You’re my baby. You’re the only thing that matters.

It felt like a weight had just been lifted off of your chest. You loved him. You really did.

He pulled you in for the tightest hug that he could have possibly ever given. He kisses the top of your forehead for what seems like a hundred times.

You look up to him while he’s still embracing you.

“I like Johnny. Johnny can stay.” You say with a smile.

“Keeping Storm it is, got it.” He returned with a smile.

A lightbulb goes on in Lance’s head. “Oh! Come here, come here, come here. I saved this for you.”

You follow him into the living room, your hand wrapped in his. He flicks through the TV menu, clicking to find the recording from earlier.

It was the ball drop.

“I recorded this for us. I didn’t want to miss kissing my baby into the new year.” He said with a smile.

“Lance Tucker, you are the sweetest man alive, do you know that?”

“C’mon, you know I’m still an asshole. I just have my moments.” He says with an eyeroll.

You slapped his chest playfully as you both slightly laughed.

As the seconds ticked down to midnight for the second time of the night, Lance stared into your eyes with the most love you have ever felt from a person.

“10!”

“Where did you even go anyways?”

“9!”

“Our spot.”

“8!”

I’m gonna take you on the best date there ever was. Just you wait.”

“7!”

“I’ll be counting on that Tucker. A promise is a promise.”

“6!”

“I’m really good at keeping promises.”

“5!”

“Oh really? Just like that time you promised to give me a castle made out of gold?”

“4!”

“You’re still getting that y’know.”

“3!”

“What other promises have you kept huh?”

“2!”

“I promised to love you forever. And I always will.”

“1!”

“I love you too, Lance.”

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

He kissed you with a ferocity you didn’t know existed. He took your bottom lip into his mouth and held it there for what seemed like forever. Forever was okay though, as long as you were with him.

Lance finally broke the kiss, pulling away softly and cupping your face in his left hand. He whispered.

“Check your cardigan pocket.”

You looked confused. He knew you would be. You felt a tiny box in you right hand pocket. It was covered in felt. You slowly pulled it out to see that it was a ring box. You opened it and it had a ring pop inside.

“Ha-ha. Very funny Tuc-”

You looked down to see Lance on one knee. Holding the most beautiful ring you had ever seen in your life.

“I’m going to love you forever, Y/N. Will you marry me?”

You were stunned.

“...Yes.... oh my god, YES!”

He smiled, standing up and wrapping his arms around you as fast as he could.

“I’ll love you forever too, Lance.”

#lance tucker #sebastian stan characters #lance tucker x reader #lance tucker x you

[writingsteph]

USWNT one shot

So I just have been writing this on my way to and from work...it’s been stuck in my head and I had to get it out haha...please withhold your harsher judgements!!

“You are not going out, Mal. You worked really hard during training today love and what you need is rest, not a night out.”

Mallory rolled her eyes at her maternal figure. Long gone were the days when Christen was a friend, in fact she wondered if there were ever a time when that was the case. Since that moment at 17 when she found her crying at training camp, Christen always cared for her... and hovered over her like a fucking vulture. Jesus Fucking Christ.

“Besides -” Christen continued, cutting the younger forward’s thoughts short, “You are 18, I’m not exactly sure what you’ll be able to do going out with the older girls anyways.”

Mallory felt her eyes water. She knew she was the youngest and she hated it when she was reminded it of it like this.

“Lindsay said they were going to the movies first before they go to a bar. I can go to the movies with them Chris.”

Christen looked at the beggar eyes the tiny girl was giving her. All the women on the team seemed to have accepted that Mallory needed a lot of guidance and that because of the bond her and Christen developed, it would be the older forward to do so. Christen was in all intents and purposes Mallory Pugh’s guardian during the season.

“What time is the movie?”

Mallory’s eyes immediately moved to the floor. Should she lie? Last time she lied to Press about where she was she got 5 swift spanks to her bottom, which really hurt! Thank God the only person that saw it was Tobin. She’d be devastated if her friends knew that Press occasionally spanked her bum.

Although, most of the veteran women on the team already knew.

“Bug.” Christen crossed her arms across her chest. “What time?” She had a feeling it would be something she wouldn’t agree to.

“Ten.” Mallory mumbled whilst looking down at the floor.

The woman sighed, knowing how Mallory would react, but being the girls guardian meant so much more than making her happy, “I think you know my answer Mal. You’re going to be coming back way too late and you know tomorrow is a travel and media day. I’m sorry honey but you’re staying in tonight. I want you to get out of your training clothes, shower, and you and I can watch a movie if you’d like.”

Christen was well aware of how obstinate and cranky Mal was when running on little sleep, and they did not need that on a day like tomorrow.

The teenager balled her hands into fists, “You’re so unfair!! What if I go out anyway? You can’t stop me!”

Christen took a step forward that made Mallory gulp in fear. “Oh little girl you have another thing coming if-“

Her tirade stopped when someone stepped into the room.

“Hey you twooooo—-ohhhh what did I walk into?”

Tobin saw a clear standoff between the girl and woman. Christen looked at her best friend for a quick second before going back to glowering at Mallory.

“She won’t let me go watch a dumb movie because it starts at 10. It’s so stupid and she can’t make me!” Mallory stomped her foot to make her point. But she knew that Christen could absolutely make her do this, which is why she was so upset about it in the first place.

Mallory looked towards Christen, “I wanna go out with Lindsay and Emily! I don’t wanna stay here and watch a movie with you, mom!”

Tobin looked at her best friend who looked like she was ready to put little Mal Pal in her place.

Tobin put a hand on Mallory’s shoulder, “Mal you know that what mom says goes. Your parents, the coaches, every player here have agreed to that, and so did you. Right?”

Mallory huffed, refusing to look at any of the two women.

“Yes or no Mally?”

Mallory swallowed hard, unable to handle the two women glaring down at her. Plus, having all of her emotions coming close to the surface was not helping. She felt ready to just be alone so she finally nodded with a small sniffle.

“You’re staying bub.” Tobin spoke gently, “and that is that.”

Both women saw all the fight leaving her. Christen could see the frustrated tears well up in her little bug’s eyes. She frowned. God, sometimes this was just so hard. And lately, Mallory would agree. The past week the teen had been fighting Christen, it seemed like, at every turn. The girl didn’t want to admit it but the stress of her performing at everyone’s expectations was really getting to her. Everywhere she turned someone was asking her about her performance as the youngest player. But what would happen the day she didn’t perform? The day she royally fucked up? Would everyone still love her? Would mama still love her? What about her aunty Tobs?

“I-I’m gonna go shower.” The teenager said through more sniffles. She didn’t want Christen to see her cry because the woman would want to comfort her and Mallory would not be able to say no because she loved snuggles with her soccer mom. Even when Christen was upset at Mallory she could never not hold their tiniest player when she cried.

But that’s exactly what she was trying to avoid at the moment. She feared she wouldn’t be able to hold on her deepest fears. She feared she’d slip.

When Christen heard the bathroom door completely close she flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling fan, “I think she’s gonna be the death of me Tobs.”

Tobin laughed and laid next to her friend, “Well if she kills you, I’ll have to kill her.”

“And if you kill her I’ll come back from the dead and kill you for hurting my baby girl.”

“There’s mama Press.” Tobin chuckled, rubbing Christen’s arm soothingly.

“She’s gonna be so grumpy the rest of the night.” Christen commiserated in a whisper.

“I can take her.” Tobin offered, “Her and I can finish binging the Office, you know Mallie loves it.”

“She’s so damn stubborn sometimes.”

“Come on Press, she’s kinda like you in that way.”

Press looked right at her friend and couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah. I guess so.”

“So will you let me take her?”

Press sighed. She wished that Mallory would stay with her that night and they could have some mother daughter time. Christen could tell how much the teen needed it.

Mallory needed to destress, else it get the better of her either personally or on the pitch. And the mother knew that a certain 18 year old was fighting hard against her coping mechanism. Christen remembered the first time she had realized the way Mal needed to relax and forget the world. She remembered how she held her and let the teenager be young. Let her relax without inhibition.

But the more experienced forward also knew that Mallory was mad at her currently and she would not force it, “Of course, if she’s okay with it.”

And so Mallory held on to her anger throughout the rest of the night. She stayed with Tobin and only mumbled out a thanks when Press brought her stuffed giraffe and blankie around ten o clock. Though secretly she was so relieved because she didn’t want to ask if her aunt Tobin could get them for her at the risk of sounding far too juvenile. Her mother coming to drop her beloved items off was a much better option.

The teenager restrained an eye roll when she heard Christen mention to Tobin to not have her stay up past eleven.

Christen walked back around to Mallory and pressed a kiss on her forehead, “Goodnight baby. If you want to come back to our room and lay with me, you can. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Mallory conceded.

But despite that love the young girl still ignored her mother at breakfast and chose to sit with her friends. The teen had strategically taken all her things to Tobin’s room so she didn’t have to worry about facing the woman in the morning. She eyed her mother’s table, where Tobin and Alex were also sitting.

“Why does Press keep looking over here?” Rose asked.

Mallory shrugged, “I dunno.”

“She’s you’re mama, Mal Pal. She probably wants you.”

Mallory rolled her eyes, “Yeah, well, whatever.”

“Morning girls.” Came Christen’s voice a few moments later.

Well so much for avoiding her.

“Can you give me a moment with Mallie?”

“Yeah, yeah”

“Umm sure.”

Came the simultaneous answers from the table.

Mallory frowned as her mother took a seat by her. “You’re still mad at me, bubba?”

Mallory shrugged. Christen shook her head at her young charge’s antics. She slipped a bowl of yogurt, granola, and cut up fruit towards her.

“You need to eat more than just that sugary cereal Tobin told me you ate just now. We’re having a late lunch and I don’t want you complaining about being hungry.”

Mallory finally met her mother’s eyes and nodded, taking the yogurt and lazily putting a fork into the bowl. Her eyes lasering onto her food.

“Mal, hon?”

The sweetness in her mother’s voice forced her to look back up. The older striker could see that Mal hadn’t slept very well that night either. She tried to hide her worry.

Christen grabbed her daughter’s hands in hers, “I know we haven’t been seeing eye to eye lately. And I think we should talk about it tonight.”

Mallory groaned, “Mmmaaammmmaaa.” She whined, then immediately blushed realizing she’d fallen back to old patterns. She was trying to be tough damn it!

Christen bit back her smile. There was a part of the little girl she missed hearing.

“Yes, Mallory Diane. We’re talking. You’ve been out of sorts and it’s affecting you in more ways than one. Now finish eating that up. We’re loading the bus in fifteen minutes. Do you want me to bring down blankie or Steve? The ride is long.”

Mallory always fell asleep on long bus rides and her cuddle buddies kept her cozy and comfortable. Anyone on that bus could tell you that it was as if Mallory transformed from their star forward to their sweet baby girl in seconds when her blanket or stuffed animals

came into the picture.

Mallory’s eyes dashed around. Could Press be any louder?! Nobody needed to know what she called them!! ….everybody knew.

She nodded almost imperceptibly, “J-just blankie.”

Christen leaned in and smoothed the girls hair down, “okay, bug. I’ll see you on the bus.”

Christen looked at her phone’s time impatiently. Where was her child? They were about to head out and she didn’t want for Mallory to be the reason they were waiting.

“Where’s the kiddo?” Alex leaned over from behind Christen’s chair.

“Somewhere with Rose, making us late probably.” Christen murmured.

“Time to hold her hand again?” Alex half joked.

There was a one week time period when Mal was 17 where she was made to hold either Christen or Tobin’s hand wherever they went as a team.

The girl had previously lost track of time and lost the team members she was out with while they were in Europe and Jill was not happy about it. They had come to the decision to be mire intentional about watching Mal between the coaching staff and Christen. Needless to say Mal had learned her lesson. Or so they thought.

Christen chuckled, “Hey, Rose is with her too it’s not just my kiddo.”

Alex agreed, “Maybe I should hold hers too.”

Both women laughed at the prospect. Rose would buck and kick at that with all her strength. Mallory, although not always a fan at being treated the way she was, the youngest still thrived off the love and care that the women gave her. She needed it. She really did.

Rose and Mal came running towards the bus 5 minutes later.

“Sorry! Sorry!” They both said coming onto the bus and jumping into their usual seats next to each other a few rows behind Christen and Tobin.

Both had purposely avoided looking at the older women’s eyes, especially Christen’s.

“You know she keeps looking over here.” Tobin mentioned once they were on the road.

“Oh, I know. I might have Rose switch with me when we hit our first rest stop, by then she’ll be lulled by the ride enough to warrant a nap anyways.”

Tobin laughed, “you’re right.”

An hour later the bus hit a gas station and the chatter of the bus had died down to murmurs. Some of the women got out to use the restroom. Christen stood up and went over to Mallory who hadn't moved from her seat.

Christen looked down at her child. God, she looked so terribly young and so terribly tired.The woman was afraid the teenager might break down right there.

“You don’t have to potty, bug?”

Mallory shook her head trying to hide how her eyes widened at the phrase. She knew what her mom was trying to do. She didn’t want to slip!! Not now! Sometimes she did on the bus rides because nobody could really tell since she would just cuddle into Christen and fall asleep, but no, no, no!

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, geez.”

Christen bit her tongue not wanting to bait the girl into an argument, and saddened that her clearly exhausted child wasn’t allowing herself to be comforted.

She took in a deep breath and turned a bit more serious, “That’s the third time you end up late to the bus.”

The 18 years olds eyes made their way quickly to her mother’s. She frowned, “I know. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to have to go back to holding your hand sweetheart, but if that’s what I have to do-“

“Mom no! I don’t wanna!” Mal whispered, losing her nerve at her mother’s soft but stern tone and letting her instinct to talk childishly with Christen take over.

She wanted to be snuggled so bad by her mom right now, it almost hurt.

Press raised an eyebrow before schooling her features and leaning over to kiss her pouting child’s forehead, “Okay, okay. Shhhh. I’m warning you, that’s all. Just be mindful of time, alright?”

Mallory nodded, not wanting to speak. She’d probably burst out crying if she did.

“Do you want to sit next to me the rest of the way?”

Mallory’s eyes pleaded yes, but her response was a weak shake of the head. A shake that her mother read right through.

The woman would not push it though. Mallory needed to come to her. She turned behind her and grabbed the girl’s soft light yellow blanket. “Here bubba, take them just in case you want a nap and if you want to sit with me just come over and we can kick Aunty Tobs out her seat.”

The mother beamed when she was successful at making her kiddo giggle.

“You wanna sit with Mal?” Came Rose’s voice from next to Chrsiten.

“No, I was just talking to her. Go for it Rosie.” She gave Mallory a peck on the cheek and a gentle smile before moving back to her seat.

Mallory watched her mother go and sighed. Why hadn’t she said yes?

God, this was going to be a long day.

#uswnt fic #mama press #mallory pugh #tobin heath #baby mal #uswnt imagines #christen press

[hows-it-holed-up]

Perfunctory Photo Recap: The O.C. 2x14

Up until now I’ve only been doing these recaps for pilots, but getting stuck watching only pilots – which are usually the absolute worst episodes – of series I love sounds pretty grim. So as of now, any iconic episodes of any show are fair game. ERGO, despite the fact that The O.C. has what I’m fairly sure is a phenomenal pilot, I’m skipping ahead to the February sweeps episode of the show’s second season: “The Rainy Day Women.” If I remember correctly, it’s extremely emotionally satisfying and I will probably spend the last 15 minutes just pressing my hand to my own sternum and sighing. 

My Disclaimer: None of these posts will be in any way comprehensive, because I’m lazy. All of them are probably going to have spoilers of some sort for the entire series…or at least what I remember of it from when I last watched it an eon ago. Exactly what you want in a recap!

California, Here We Come: Kirsten and Sandy (aka Mom and Dad) have been fighting because the former love of his life needed some PRETTY INTENSE legal help, and he jumped at the chance. Kirsten understandably doesn’t love this! Meanwhile, Summer is about to jet off to Italy for her BF Zach’s sister’s wedding, because somehow we’re still pretending like this is a thing. Plus some other stuff is going on with some other characters blah blah who cares. Welcome to The O.C., bitch!

I read somewhere that Josh Schwartz always hated this title sequence – that he could never find something he was super satisfied with and just kind of acquiesced to this. Meanwhile the rest of us are screaming the words to “California” while we head bang and strum our air guitars, every episode.

In the first big scene, we catch up with Mom and Dad, who have been struggling for a few episodes because an old flame came back into his life asking for help, and he dove in head first. 

Kirsten is not pleased. This Rebecca situation was so heartbreaking. Sandy Cohen’s whole thing is that he always does what’s right. This was one of the only times in the series it felt like he had other viable options and he was obviously misstepping. I’m with Kiki here. 

Oh hello Olivia Wilde! I forgot you were in this show! She’s insanely beautiful, obviously, but those mid-aughts pencil-thin eyebrows didn’t do anyone any favors. Not that I would know anything about this personally, of course.   

And not doing the show itself any favors 15 years out: this “Marissa is a lesbian but it’s definitely just a phase” storyline. I remember thinking it was a little gratuitous and questionable even back in ‘05. 

Speaking of questionable plots: We’ve been strung along for half a season watching Seth trying to win Summer back and her rebuffing him. And Summer’s right – it WAS pretty annoying! Seth’s still at it, heading over to her place as she’s packing for Zach’s sister’s wedding in Italy, but...not really having anything to say! (i.e. still not there to advance the plot.) 

We get a brief interlude to watch Julie Cooper think about how she could snip the tip off her husband’s penis. 

And then we’re back to the real story. Although I’d honestly rather stick with Julie because:

SANDY. NO. THIS IS NOT APPROPRIATE! You cannot spend the night in a hotel room with your ex. You also cannot drink wine on the floor of said hotel room with said ex! Stop it! 

Seriously. You know what could happen. 

Anyway, Seth thinks he’s figured out how he might actually be able to move the needle with Summer. He’s bought his boat back and is going to take her...sailing in the pool? Sure! Foolproof!

I had a literature professor in college who would bring this show up in class every week, linking it to whatever we were reading at the time. He didn’t do this because he thought he was bridging some kind of gap between us and the material – only about 1/4 of the class even watched this show. He just did it because it made him happy. This “objective correlative” reference really made me think about him and chuckle.  

At the airport on her way to Italy, Summer sees a little boy playing with a horse on top of some comic books. I guess she’s like, “Even though I’m only supposed to be 17 my biological clock is already ticking,” and she ditches Zach and heads to Seth’s. 

Checking in with our other couple, Sandy has finally (sort of) come to his senses and headed home – after Rebecca straight up ran away from him because she was about to get caught by the cops. Helps when the universe just makes decisions for you, I guess!

Ehhhhh I mean it started a little! 

Anyway, they kiss, and it’s very sweet. And we’re all breathing a sigh of relief.  And we won’t sic Julie on him just yet.

Meanwhile, their son is on the roof attempting to adjust the satellite. He’s put on a Spiderman mask because it’s all he’s got to protect his head from the rain, somehow, and he’s decided the only safety precaution he needs is A ROPE TIED AROUND HIS MIDSECTION. Things, predictably, go awry. 

HOW did Seth not get literally sliced in half by this? He must have slid like 30-40 feet from the top of the roof to where he’s dangling. I have no interest in doing the calculations to verify this statement, but I’m pretty sure we’re at least looking at some internal bleeding here.  

Anyway, Summer arrives, finds Seth dangling in the back, and:

The emotional payoff for this arc, now that it’s FINALLY concluded, is excellent. And what a delightful way to anchor it for this character. 

It’s hard not to love this scene – it’s heartwarming. But with the benefit of 15 years and a rewatch, it also seems like this must have been VERY uncomfortable to film. Like apart from having to hang upside down for who knows how long, how was there not water dripping down Adam Brody’s (or more likely, this stunt person’s) nose the entire time?? Somebody call OSHA!

Musings from the Poolhouse:

- This show is disguised as a teen soap, but it’s so much more than that. Between its overarching commentary on privilege and the status quo and its own self-awareness (exemplified by winks at the audience like show-within-a-show-cum-commentary-on-itself-AND-reality-television, The Valley), The O.C. is one of the cleverest series ever to grace network television. Despite a few things not aging particularly well, it’s still a really fun experience to watch it. Except for season 3. Skip season 3. 

- Julie. Cooper. JUST. YES. YES YES YES.  

- Marissa’s face when Alex is talking to her about having to do things like take out garbage and pay rent made me LOL. 

- I may have been projecting a little bit about the kid with the horse at the airport. He was very cute. And I think my own ovaries have kicked into high gear.   

- There was an entire (C? D? E?) plot in this episode about Lindsay’s paternity and moving to Chicago and some other stuff I can’t bring myself to care about. Ben McKenzie and Shannon Lucio had like negative chemistry, so despite the show’s best efforts to make us invested in that relationship, it just wasn’t landing. I remember caring way more about her storyline with her mom, Caleb, Kirsten, even Seth. So, shrug, she’s moving to Chicago I guess! 

- Josh Schwartz is so good at music! Apart from Phantom Planet (obviously), I clocked Blind Melon, Louis XIV, Boyz II Men, Bell X1 and Matt Pond PA (covering Oasis) in this episode. A real auditory journey down memory lane. Did I miss any?

#tv recap #spoilers #the oc #2x14 #the rainy day women

[queseraone]

Home: Chapter Three

First of all, thank you for the feedback on the first two chapters of this (and for not running for the hills at my wicked ways)! Please let me know your thoughts on this as well!! We’re s l o w l y getting there...

Catch up on the first two chapters here. (And just a reminder that this follows the events in I’m Fine and Don’t Look Back.)

When you’re on your own  When you’re at a fork in the road  You don’t know which way to go 

—All I Can Do (Chantal Kreviazuk)

Erin’s plane landed at O’Hare in the early afternoon. She pulled her carry-on bag from the overhead bin and disembarked, quickly heading down to baggage claim. As she wove her way through the crowded airport, she checked her cell for messages. Even though she had been cleared to take some time off work, Erin didn’t want to miss any important developments on her ongoing cases.

Sure enough, there was an email from Herrera, and Erin had to chuckle as she read it. Her partner knew her too well; instead of updating her about work, Herrera’s message simply read:

Lindsay. You’re on vacation. Do vacation things. Stop checking your damn emails.

Several text notifications had also appeared on her screen, immediately catching Erin’s eye. One was from Hank—curt and to the point as always—letting her know that he would be at the district late, and that she would be on her own at that evening. Kim had sent a few as well; her texts were filled with emojis to convey her excitement at having her friend back in town, as well as demands that Erin call her right away so they could hang out.

And of course, there were some from Nick—checking in, asking if she was okay, telling her how much he missed her.

Erin couldn’t bring herself to respond; instead snatching her suitcase up from the baggage carousel and rushing outside to hail a cab. As the car sped toward Hank’s house, Erin watched through the windows as the city whirred past. It was equally exciting and terrifying to be back in Chicago.

When the cab parked in front of the Voight house, Erin was immediately pulled back in time to that fateful day when she was fifteen years old and found herself walking up the sidewalk to the only home she had every really known. And somehow all these years later, she felt just as lost as she had that day. As she slipped her key into the lock and let herself inside, Erin felt like she was getting a comforting hug from her past; she hadn’t realized how much she had actually missed it until that moment.

She walked up the creaky staircase to her old bedroom; it looked exactly as she remembered. The queen-sized bed adorned with a cozy handmade quilt, a few band posters still tacked up on the walls, and that old window that still shook almost violently in the wind. It was comforting; somehow, even when it felt like everything had changed, it seemed that some things would always remain the same. 

Erin stretched out on the bed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

It was nearly dusk when she woke, the sound of Hank’s gravelly voice echoing through the old house had jostling her from her deep slumber. She was just climbing off the bed when she heard a gentle knock at the door; Erin quickly told him to come in.

“Hey kid.” Hank extended his arms in greeting, pulling the woman he raised into his arms to give her a hug. The embrace said everything that neither of them could put into words—how much they missed each other, how much they loved each other, how happy they were to be in the same place once again. Phone calls and holiday visits just weren’t enough. 

Erin and Hank were quiet for several minutes, just relishing the presence of the only real family either of them had left. Hank finally broke the silence: “So kid, you feel like a steak? I can fire up the grill.”

“Actually,” Erin sighed, running a hand through her hair, suddenly feeling guilty. “I sort of made plans with Kim. I thought you were going to be way later. But I can canc—”

“Say no more. She’s been hanging out in my office all day like a damn puppy waiting to see you. Have fun.” Hank leaned to kiss the top of Erin’s head before leaving the room.

Erin grabbed her toiletry bag and walked into the adjacent bathroom to freshen up. She washed her face and put on some light makeup—just enough to hide the fact that she’d spent several hours on an airplane that day—then moved back into her bedroom to pull another outfit from her suitcase. She was meeting Kim at a cocktail bar downtown, so Erin changed into something more appropriate for the venue; a pair of dark jeans and a shimmery top would do the trick. She grabbed her clutch, phone and keys and slipped on a pair of heels, calling a quick goodbye to Hank as she dashed out the front door and into the waiting cab.

To say Kim was excited to see Erin would be the understatement of the century; the hostess actually had to ask her to keep it down, apparently some of the other patrons had complained about her shrieks of joy. Once Kim had calmed down, they ordered drinks and a few appetizers. They made idle chitchat until their waiter brought their cocktails over.  

As Kim sipped her martini, she shifted the conversation, asking about the one thing Erin had been dreading: “Okay, now tell me about Nick.”

***

Jay had taken a rare day off; he’d always been devoted to work, but the last four years had practically found him married to the job. But Allie had some vacation time to use before the end of the quarter, so they had decided to spend the day together. They slept late, made breakfast together, and took a leisurely trip to the grocery store—a low-key day that no one would ever classify as interesting. And it wasn’t, really.

Interesting and exciting would never be words used to describe the relationship between Jay Halstead and Allie Corson. Sure, they had their moments of unbridled passion, but for the most part things were mellow—mundane even. But Jay was okay with that; he had always liked routine, knowing exactly what to expect, not having to worry about the rug being pulled out from under him at any given moment. Things were just easy with Allie.

The afternoon was spent ducking in and out of little shops downtown; Allie wanted to buy a new dress, and Jay was focused on finding the perfect birthday gift for Will and Natalie’s youngest little boy. Jay absolutely doted on his nephews, living for every moment he could spent with Owen and Lucas. Once both Jay and Allie had completed their purchases, they ducked home to clean up and get changed before Jay drove them across the city to his brother’s house.

As Jay drove, Allie reached out her hand, covering his with her own in a simple act of affection. Jay pulled his gaze away from the road to meet hers, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. There was no conversation on the drive to Will and Natalie’s; Allie was singing softly to the pop songs playing over the radio, and Jay was too busy trying to organize the thoughts flooding through his mind.

His conversation with Will the other day was supposed to be reassuring. Will was supposed to tell Jay how excited he was for him, how happy he was at the prospect of officially welcoming Allie into their family. Will wasn’t supposed to try to talk him out of the only thing that made sense anymore.

Jay pulled up across the street from Will and Natalie’s house, shifting the vehicle into park and shaking himself from his inner turmoil. As he unbuckled his seatbelt, he looked back at Allie with a smile. “You ready for this madness?” Allie just laughed; while she certainly wasn’t new to the chaos of the Halstead family, this would be her first visit with everyone all together.

They walked hand-in-hand from the car to Will and Natalie’s front door. Moments after Jay knocked, they were greeted by six-year-old Owen. “Uncle Jay!” The little boy leapt into his arms.

“Hey buddy!” Jay laughed at the child’s enthusiasm.

“Owen? What have we told you about answering the—oh!” Natalie had followed her oldest son; she interrupted her reprimand when she saw Jay and Allie standing in the foyer. “Hi guys, sorry, I’m having a hard time keeping up these days!” She moved her hand to rest along her belly; she was just days away from her due date.

Jay shifted Owen onto his left hip, kissing his sister-in-law’s cheek as he stretched his right arm to pull her into a hug. “Hey Nat, you’re looking great!”

“You don’t have to lie to me Jay; I know I’m a whale.” Natalie pulled out of the hug and reached out to say hello to Allie. Though the two women had met a few times, they didn’t really know each other all that well. “Well, come on in, the birthday boy is getting restless already.” As Natalie waddled out of the entryway, Jay set Owen down on the floor. He took Allie’s jacket and hung it in the closet with his own before they let Owen drag them along to the living room.

“Jay, Allie, hey!” Will rose from his seat on the floor to greet his younger brother and the woman that would apparently be his sister-in-law one day.

“And there’s the man of the hour!” Jay crouched down to lift his youngest nephew up off of the floor. “Hey Lucas, how are you already two little dude?” The toddler giggled wildly as his uncle tickled him, hiding his face in Jay’s shoulder.

The next few hours were spent celebrating the youngest Halstead. Will and Natalie’s living room was crowded with family; along with Jay and Allie, Natalie’s parents had flown in from Seattle for the occasion. Everyone’s focus was on little Lucas, which was a welcome reprieve for Jay—he had absolutely no interest in talking to Will.

In fact, if it wasn’t for his nephew’s birthday party, Jay wouldn’t even be in the same room with his brother. He was pissed. Leave it to Will to try to act all righteous and tell him what to do. What did he know anyway? Of course Allie was the right one for him, Jay was sure of it.

There was no way Will was right. He couldn’t be.

#writing: home #chicago pd #linstead reunion #jay halstead #erin lindsay #cpd fanfiction #linstead fanfiction #linstead ff #mine

[vagrantblvrd]

Stars Like Forever (1/1)

Summmary: This whole mess is not Geoff's fault no matter what anyone says. One hundred percent not on him because he makes one dumb comment - one - when Lindsay and Trevor come to him to complain about what Ryan's cost them in ammunition and heavy ordnance since he joined the crew full-time.

AO3

They're lazing on the roof having pool party like the ones he and Jack used to have back before all this. Before they got big enough to afford the penthouse with an actual pool.

A really awesome pool, sure, but is a billion times better right now. Ankle deep water in a  cheap plastic kiddie pool and cold beet in a cooler next to the shitty foldout lounge chairs. Feels more real than that fucking infinity pool.

Lindsay and Trevor come up to talk to them about budgeting and how Ryan keeps fucking up all their hard work when Geoff's a few beer in, a good buzz going on and feeling pretty damn satisfied with life at the moment.

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” Geoff asks, like they think he can control the crazy motherfucker. “Put it on his annual evaluation as something to improve on? Write him a letter and put it in his locker after class?”

Geoff pitches his voice to a warbling falsetto and says, 'Dear Ryan, I would appreciate it so if you would be more careful about killing the assholes trying to kill us.  You're using so much ammunition! Keeping us from dying horribly is going over budget, please stop doing that. Love and kisses, Geoff. P.S. I love your creepy skull mask, it's so dreamy!'”

Gavin cracks up at that, laughing so hard it'd be a crime not to kick him off the rickety thing he's sprawled out on, really it would.

Geoff smirks at his startled squawk, laughs at the way Gavin sits up stupid sunglasses askew on his face as he screeches about Geoff spilling his beer.

Totally worth it.

Michael's shaking his head at the two of them, like he wasn't two seconds away from doing the same thing himself.

“Seriously though,” Geoff says, eyeing Linsdsay and Trevor over the top of his sunglasses. “If you two want to sit the goddamned Vagabond down and let him know he's going over the budget you've come up with, be my guest.”

Because y'know. Who the hell wants to get between Ryan and his weapons, really.

Lindsay rolls her eyes, conceding the point, but Trevor. Trevor's eyebrow goes up, expression unreadable and Geoff’s amusement fades.

It'd be Trevor. If anyone was stupid enough, crazy enough, to get between Ryan and his beloved weapons, it'd be Trevor.

Just as crazy as the rest of them, but the difference between them is that Trevor can hide his crazy. Make people think he's just a nice boy who dresses well and knows how to use his manners.

“No,” Geoff says, pointing at him. “Don't do the thing. For fuck's sake, do not do the thing.”

And because this is Trevor, he looks like he's considering doing the thing anyway. Tilts his head to the side and hmms>, eyes on Geoff as the corner of his mouth ticks up just so.

“Michael!” Geoff yells, so goddamned annoyed at his idiots. At least Michael listens to him. Sometimes. “Michael, tell Trevor not to do the thing!”

Michael, the brazen little bastard, grins in a way that means trouble.

“Trevor, no,” Michael says, in the flattest tone of voice Geoff's ever heard. “Don't do the thing.”

Geoff makes an aggravated sound and slouches down in his lounge chair, waving a hand at all of them, grinning and smirking and bullying the shit out of him.

“I fucking hate all of you.”

========

A few days later Gavin ambushes him when he's on the hunt for coffee, tired and feeling every one of his years.

And then he gets Gavin shoving a camera in his face while Michael grinning like a demented gremlin.

“Gavin, Christ, get that thing out of my face,” Geoff says, trying to shove it out of his face as he blinks away the aftereffects of having blinding light stabbing him in the eyeballs.

Gavin huffs, backing off a step and grumbling about Geoff being mincey, as if that's a real word, they've talked about this before at great length.

“What are you idiots doing?” Geoff asks, wondering just how long ago he lost control of his crew and why he didn't realize sooner.

Gavin explains, which means he spews out a jumbled mess of words interspersed with squawks and other unintelligible noises.

“Okay,” Geoff says slowly, and turns to Michael because he usually seems to know what Gavin's talking about on the rare occasions Geoff can't. “What, now?”

When Michael explains, amusement plain in his voice, it still doesn't make sense. Or rather, it does, but Geoff wishes it didn't.

“You want to make Ryan a video as a gift to celebrate the anniversary of him joining the crew,” Geoff says, even slower. Hoping like hell they'll laugh and tell him no, they're just kidding, really, Geoff. Good one, right?, but they don't.

  They don't.

Gavin keeps looking at him with a hopeful look on his face, and Michael looks like he's about to lose it, just break down and cry with laughter at Geoff's expense.

“Well,” Gavin says, head tipped to the side. “At first it was going to be a slideshow, yeah? Like the ones you learn how to do in school, but - “

“But Gavin wanted to use shitty pictures of Ryan,” Michael says, the scowl he's aiming at Gavin doing nothing to hide how stupidly fond he is of him. “Except Gavin here couldn't take shitty pictures if his life depended on it.”

Well that's blatantly untrue.

Gavin's taken so many shitty pictures of Geoff and the rest of the crew over the years. The kind that change hands easily as money with the crew, end up being used for blackmail purposes among their merry little band.

“Show him, Gav,” Michael says, taking the camera from Gavin when Gavin takes his phone out and brings up the pictures in question.

Geoff rolls his eyes as he leans in to look, and stares.

Gavin's got a great eye when it comes to shit like this, composition and all that. Things Geoff's picked up after hearing him prattle on about it over the years. Things that stick in his head without him consciously aware of it. That have him noticing things he would have missed completely before Gavin all but fell into his life.

And this.

It's Ryan, head turned to look to something just off-frame. He's not wearing the mask, face paint slightly smeared, and he's grinning.

Not that creepy serial killer grin of his that he claims is an act, just good old Ryan playing up his reputation, but.

The real, genuine one he gets around the crew, around people he likes. Trusts.

Wide and open and joyful - but that may have more to do with the orange cast to the picture, and when he notices that, Geoff realizes he knows when this was taken.

It happened right after Michael shot a police chopper down with his rocket launcher to cover Geoff and Jack during a heist, Ryan and Gavin waiting to be picked up. He remembers Ryan's stupid, dorky and being startled at hearing it for the first time, sharing a wide-eyed look with Jack.

There are other pictures, most of them along the same vein.  Ryan delighting in chaos and wanton destruction, and while it's this certain kind of disturbing, it's not like Geoff can go around pointing fingers here.

Not when it would make him a hypocrite if he did, because he remembers whooping loudly when Michael nailed that chopper.

The rush of adrenaline and exhilaration and fierce pride when Jack landed a jet pretty as you please on a busy street in the city and got them all out of there, cops hot on their tail. When Ray took a tank out for a joyride and made headlines for weeks afterwards.

There's more, too, though. Not just pictures of Ryan proving what a lunatic he is, but ones with Michael and Jack. Ray flashing a peace sign with a grin, the other assholes Geoff's made the mistake of bringing into the crew.

“Yeah,” Geoff says, handing Gavin's phone back, something rough in his voice. Fucking sleep, right? Always making you sound like shit in the morning. “Not exactly the kind of pictures you want to use in a  shitty slideshow with Comic Sans captions.”

Michael gives Geoff a knowing look, which. Horseshit, Michael's just as bad as he is, having feelings for these assholes. Getting warm, happy feelings knowing they're not completely miserable.

“That's why Michael said we should make a video instead,” Gavin chirps, bouncing a little on his feet as he takes the camera back from Michael and aims it at Geoff's face, little red light blinking.

“Geoff, what was it like for you when Ryan joined the crew?” Gavin asks, apparently making one of those terrible videos people film at weddings for the happy couple on their special day.

Geoff shoots Michael a look because the fucker could have warned him. Michael turns his head away so Geoff won't see him laugh at him. (He can still hear it just fine, though. Thanks, jackass.)

Gavin's giving Geoff a hopeful look from behind the camera, and Geoff sighs.

“Ryan joining the crew was one of the worst moments in my goddamn life,” Geoff answers, staring into the camera and imagining he's looking right into Ryan's eyes. “I mean it, Ryan. Fucking horrible. Nothing but regret on my part. Stop being a creepy motherfucker, you fucker.”

That done, he flicks his eyes to Gavin. “That good, Gavin?”

Gavin gets out a, “Geoff, no!” but he's laughing as he does, so it's probably not all that heartfelt.

========

Geoff's not lying when he says Ryan joining the crew was one of the worst moments of his life.

That might have more to do about finding out about the Snapchat Saga as Michael and Ray end up calling it, and realizing Gavin was flirting – badly, weirdly - with the goddamned Vagabond on Snapchat.

Ray running into the planning room where Geoff and Jack were discussing plans for their next heist, waving his phone and them and laughing so hard they couldn't understand him hadn't been fun. Less fun was Michael rushing in to ask them if they'd heard what Gavin had gotten himself into this time, and Lindsay calling him to demand to know what kind of third-rate circus he was running.

It wasn't so much Gavin pulling ridiculous shit in between heists, that had been bad. Lord knew he had a habit of coaxing Michael and Ray into some scheme or other. It was the fact that he was joyriding down Chiliad with the goddamned Vagabond driving, choppers circling overhead and a stream of police cars in pursuit.

He hadn't known what to expect when Gavin strolled into the penthouse the next day with Ryan trailing after him like it was any other day, nothing out of the ordinary here, no sir.

Things had only gotten worse from there when they all realized that Ryan's reputation was a bit. Not inflated, no, not when he was just as good, competent, as advertised, but.

The rumors left out the part where Ryan is a colossal dork, a nerd of the highest caliber who makes crappy jokes about coding languages and coos over a new weapon. Who is not above stupid, petty arguments and is frequently dragged down to Gavin's level while everyone else watches and wonders how they ever thought Ryan was a cool kid.

Fucker won't even let Geoff have the pleasure of telling other...associates that he  him over with his superior everything. That Ryan realized he'd be a fool not to throw in with Geoff Ramsey and the Fakes,  how fortunate he was they'd saved him from a life in obscurity.

No.

He'll just stand there being his usual creepy self and laugh at Geoff under his mask where no one can see, Gavin being a cheeky little shit and gushing about how great Geoff is.

How lucky they all are Geoff decided to give them a chance, laying it on thick as he brings out his Earnest Face because he's serious.

Geoff is the absolute best.

If the others are around, they'll close in like sharks scenting blood in the water, and  take joy from Geoff's suffering at the hands of two of his biggest mistakes. (Two out of many, most of whom allegedly work for him.)

========

Geoff walks into the penthouse one day and stops in his tracks because Sarah McLachlan is blaring – well, not blaring because Sarah McLachlan.

“What is happening right now.”

Someone's playing the newest shooter, a lot of people dying messily on the television screen. An explosion every so often that's probably the work of grenades.

Gavin pokes his head up over the back of the couch, frown on his face. A moment later, a mop of curls pokes into view before Michael's head appears.

“Gavin's working on another video for Ryan,” he answers, an implied duh in there. “I'm killing whiny little bitches.”

“Okay,” Geoff says, not sure if this is where it's revealed his lost his damn mind years ago and only now realizes it. “Riddle me this, assholes. Why does it sound like an emotionally manipulative ad for the ASPCA in here?”

Michael snorts, dropping back down.

“You know how Ryan messes with the newbies?” he asks, taking someone's head off in the video game with a bat he's picked up somewhere. “Gav's making a video of it. Like a work training video when Ryan's not around to fuck with 'em himself.”

That's.

Ryan does this thing with people new to the crew.

Well.

The ones who keep sliding furtive looks at the big bad Vagabond, wondering to themselves what his story is. Who hurt him, that he hides his face behind that mask of his, the even creepier face paint underneath like weird, fucked up Russian nesting doll. The ones who keep orbiting around him, until Ryan arranges to go on a job with them.

Something small with a lot of tedium in it. Staking out a rival crew or learning security patrol routes before a heist. Things that leave them with a lot of time to sit around on their asses.

And then Ryan starts dropping hints, little clues. Lets little things slip that the poor bastard teamed up with him roll around in their head for a while, coming to all the wrong conclusions. Thinking Ryan's past is a misery, nothing but suffering and hardship in it. That the only one able to help heal, to pull him out of the darkness of his past, the torment, was Geoff.

Most of them buy it hook, line, and sinker because in between all the suffering he was doing back then, Ryan somehow found time to do a bit of theater.

“Why, though,” Geoff finds himself saying, plaintive.

Michael cackles, and Gavin starts singing along to the song, and Geoff decides then and there to just give the fuck up already.

========

Ryan goes quiet when Gavin gives him the first video, the one infested with feelings and shit. Goes quiet and looks up at him, something vulnerable in his face because Gavin took those pictures, filmed those videos.

Always right there with Ryan getting up to mischief, egging him on and laughing stupidly when he gave in and indulged Gavin, that soft spot for him that started up who the hell knows long ago. Got worse the more involved with the idiot he became, until he pulled a big damn hero moment and saved him from the cops.

It's pretty awkward for Geoff and the rest of the crew witnessing it, heading right into unbelievably disgusting when Ryan pulls Gavin into a kiss like he forgot they aren't alone. That the rest of the crew threw together a crappy little surprise party complete with cheap party favors and cake.

But, nah.

Ryan's taking a page from sappy romance novels. The kind of bullshit that's all about (badly written) purple prose containing orbs the color of gemstones.

“Jesus Christ,” Geoff sighs, so incredibly, unbelievable done with these morons. “Save it for later, when we don't have to fucking see it, you fucks.”

========

And of course Ryan just loves the second video.

Watches it over and over again while they're all trapped there, horrified at what they've allowed to happen. Their own worst enemy, until Michael shoots the television to make it stop, and Geoff isn't even mad about it because he knows he'll be having nightmares about that song for months afterward.

(Geoff, in fact,  may or may not give Michael a bigger cut of the take on their next heist as a show of gratitude, but no one can prove it if he did.)

#FAHC #fahc au #fahc fic #freewood #vagrant fic #a life less ordinary #i dunno

[purpleparrot]

so i paid for a year's subscription to paramount+ and i need to get my money's worth while i wait more for challenge content so i've been watching ned's declassified school survival guide and i must say it holds up quite well

#also like i was literally 8 when it aired so i wasnt super into the romance bits #but adult me is like ned + moze from day one babey! #also i recently found out that the actors dated in real life and thats the cutest thing i ever heard in my entire life #and lindsay sounded so happy talking about when they first kissed and still remembered exactly how it happened #like 15 years later which is sooooo cute #also paramout+ has like all my favorite old nick shows #i just bought it for the challenge but its like a 90s/early 2000s kids dream

[beyondforks]

Playing Catch Up! Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Playing Catch Up has really been helping me through my ever growing TBR list. I'd like to welcome all other blogs to participate too! If you do, be sure to post your links in the comments section. I'd love to see your Playing Catch U

p Reviews, and I'm sure others would too!! *wink*

Want to know more about Playing Catch Up? I'll tell you all about it here!

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver   Genre: Young Adult (Contemporary/Romance) Date Published: October 25, 2010 Publisher: HarperCollins

With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, but days later, I'm still thinking about it so that has to mean something, right? I've been meaning to read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver for a very long time, and it finally took seeing the movie trailer to light a fire under my butt and get it done. It looked like a movie I'd want to see, soooo naturally, I HAD to read the book first. This book was oddly good. I say "oddly" because the characters, especially the main character, aren't people I liked at all. They were selfish, superficial, and self absorbed. I spent so much time annoyed or mad at Sam.. it was crazy. Sam is pretty dense, and it takes her a long time to learn lessons. It's like she has no idea how to be a good person anymore. Her friends are the same, so they were unlikable in every way. With that all being said, if Sam and her friends were good people, we wouldn't have a story. So, if characters like these bother you as much as they do me, just hold on. There is a point to it all or rather a few points, but I'm not going to tell you what they are. Pretty much the only redeeming character was Kent, and I absolutely hate the turn of events that happen for him, and that whole situation taints the entire book for me. In fact, I'm still on the line between love and hate for this book because of him. There's a pattern to each day Sam relives, and like a puzzle, they start to piece together more and more until you get to the ending. I loved it, and I hated it. It was beautiful, and it was ugly. The words "oddly good" come into play again, because that's just the best two words I can think of to describe this book as a whole. There was an epilogue, but it was more of a continuation of the actual ending. I really wish the epilogue would have given us a look at the future of the characters instead, and it wouldn't even have to be far in the future. A week later, a day, even an hour or so... just to see what the characters took away from everything that took place. Was it all worth it? Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, that would have been very a nice(and I feel necessary) thing to know. And just a little personal side note. In what world is riding horses considered uncool? Does one even exist? I'm glad that's not my world. That's all I have to say about that. Anyway, back to my review. I have so many conflicting feelings about this book. I really don't know what else so say. So, I'll just end here by saying... it was oddly good.

They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me. To be honest, I'd always thought the whole final-moment, mental life-scan-thing sounded pretty awful. Some things are better left buried and forgotten, as my mom would say. I'd be happy to forget all of fifth grade, for example (the glasses-and-pink-braces period), and does anybody want to relive the first day of middle school? Add in all of the boring family vacations, pointless algebra classes, period cramps and bad kisses I barely lived through the first time around... The truth is, though, I wouldn't have minded reliving my greatest hits: when Rob Cokran and I first hooked up in the middle of the dance floor at homecoming, so everyone saw and knew we were together; when Lindsay, Elody, Ally and I got drunk and tried to make snow angels in May, leaving person-sized imprints in Ally's lawn; my sweet sixteenth party, when we set out a hundred tea lights and we all danced on the table in the backyard; the time Lindsay and I pranked Clara Seuse on Halloween, got chased down by the cops, and laughed so hard we almost threw up. The things I wanted to remember; the things I wanted to be remembered for. But before I died I didn't think of Rob, or any other guy. I didn't think of all the outrageous things I'd done with my friends. I didn't even think of my family, or the way the morning light turns the walls in my bedroom the color of cream, or the way the azaleas outside of my window smell in July, a mixture of honey and cinnamon. Instead, I thought of Vicky Hallinan. Specifically, I thought of the time in 4th grade when Lindsay announced in front of the whole gym class that she wouldn't have Vicky on her dodgeball team. "She's too fat," Lindsay blurted out. "You could hit her with your eyes closed." I wasn't friends with Lindsay yet, but even then she had this way of saying things that made them hilarious, and I laughed along with everyone else while Vicky's face turned as purple as the wrinkled underside of a storm cloud. That's what I remembered in that before-death instant, when I was supposed to be having some big revelation about my past: the smell of varnish and the squeak of our sneakers on the polished floor; the tightness of my polyester shorts; the laughter echoing around the big empty space like there were way more than twenty-five people in the gym. And Vicky's face. The weird thing is that I hadn't thought about that in forever. It was one of those memories I didn't even know I remembered, if you know what I mean. It's not like Vicky was traumatized or anything. That's just the kind of thing that kids do to each other. It's no big deal. There's always going to be a person laughing and somebody getting laughed at. It happens every day, in every school, in every town in America--probably the world, for all I know. The whole point of growing up is learning to stay on the laughing side. Vicky wasn't very fat to begin with--just some baby weight on her face and stomach--and before high school she'd lost that and grown three inches. She even became friends with Lindsay. They played field hockey together and said hi in the halls. One time Vicky brought it up at a party our freshman year--we were all pretty tipsy--and we laughed and laughed, Vicky most of all, until her face turned almost as purple as it had all those years ago in the gym. That was weird thing number one. Even weirder than that was the fact that we'd all just been talking about it--how it would be just before you died, I mean. I don't remember exactly how it came up except that Elody was complaining that I always get shotgun and refusing to wear her seatbelt and kept leaning forward into the front seat to scroll through Lindsay's iPod, even though I was supposed to have deejay privileges. I was trying to explain my "greatest hits" theory of death and we were all picking out what those would be. Lindsay picked finding out that she got into Princeton, obviously, and Ally--who was complaining of the cold, as usual, and threatening to drop dead right there of pneumonia--participated long enough to say she wished she could relive her first hook-up with Matt Wilde forever, which surprised no one. Lindsay and Elody were smoking, and freezing rain was coming in through the cracked windows. The road was narrow and winding, and on either side of us the dark stripped branches of trees lashed back and forth, like the wind had set them dancing. Elody put on "With or Without You" to piss Ally off, maybe because she was sick of her whining. It was Ally's song with Matt, who had dumped her in September. Ally called her a bitch and unbuckled her seatbelt, leaning forward and trying to grab the iPod. Lindsay complained that someone was elbowing her in the neck. The cigarette dropped from her mouth and landed between her thighs. She started cursing and trying to brush the embers out from the seat cushion and Elody and Ally were still fighting and I was trying to talk over them, reminding them all of the time we'd made snow angels in May. The tires skidded a little on the wet road and the car was full of cigarette smoke, little wisps rising like phantoms in the air.Then all of a sudden there was a flash of white in front of the car. Lindsay yelled something--words I couldn't make out, something like Sit, or Shit, or Sight--and suddenly the car was flipping off of the road and into the black mouth of the woods. I heard a horrible, screeching sound--metal on metal, glass shattering, a car folding in two--and smelled fire. I had time to wonder whether Lindsay had put her cigarette out. Then Vicky Hallinan's face came rising out of the past. I heard laughter echoing and rolling all around me, swelling into a scream. Then nothing.

  Be sure to check out more books by Lauren Oliver!

Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader.

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel.

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.

To learn more about Lauren Oliver and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.

#Before I Fall #Lauren Oliver #contemporary #romance #young adult #Teaser #excerpt #playing catch up #original teaser

[rejectedusername-trashfics]

Causing Chaos: Chapter 10- Kiss of Gold

Summary: Fakehaus screws up the Fake AH Crew’s heist plan; Gavin and Ryan are separated from the rest of the crew in their escape. Gavin takes Ryan back to he and Meg’s apartment. When they get there, Meg gets to tell Ryan that she’s gonna work on helping him to get his man. He says she really doesn’t have to, but she suggests that maybe he and Gavin should cause trouble in the city for their crew. Ryan likes the sound of that idea.

Chapter: 10/12

Word Count: 1,512

Parings: Ryan/Gavin, Gavin/Meg, Ryan/Meg, Ryan/Gavin/Meg, Michael/Lindsay 

First / Previous / Next / AO3

Ryan was feeling a mix of surprise, relief, and admiration. It was honestly an insane relief that he never thought he’d get to feel. It was kinda hard to believe that someone wasn’t a cultist nor wasn’t considered crazy could ever have romantic feelings for the God of Death, but it was mad how existence worked like that sometimes. Ryan began happily swinging his legs, he was feeling very joyous.

Gavin shook with the rhythm of the chair as a result of Ryan’s leg swinging. “Ryan, you’re shaking the chair,” he pointed out to get Ryan’s attention.

Ryan heard what Gavin had said and immediately snapped out of it and stopped kicking. “Sorry… I just… I feel like this may be the happiest I’ve ever felt in my existence.”

“No, no, you’re allowed to feel happy about our declarations of love and all that.”

Ryan blushed on his side of the chair they were tied to. “Reciprocated love is honestly a bit of a foreign feeling.”

Well, I did admit I have been having feelings for you.”

“And those feelings are romantic?” he asked for confirmation just in case he was misreading into things.

“Yes, you bloody dope. You seem to truly care about me. And it doesn’t hurt that you’re a very handsome god,”

“God of Death…”

“Doesn’t matter what you’re the god of. The point is that you’re honestly wonderful in so many ways. I don’t see what’s not to have feelings for you about,” Gavin officially confirmed.

Ryan smiled, he could finally have his man. “Now, I think I understand what my niece’s job is,” he replied awkwardly.

“You’re cute when you get all awkward and junk.”

Ryan’s blush deepened further. “… Thank you.”

“I’m assuming that you’re all blushy. I mean I have to assume because we’re kinda facing back to back with the way they tied us up and together in the chairs,” Gavin noted.

Ryan blinked as he remembered the other parts of their situation. They were tied up and captured by Fakehaus. “I completely forgot about the whole, we’re prisoners of Fakehaus thing. The whole confessions thing mentally took me out of that.”

“Right. speaking of which. Didn’t you say that you had a way to get both of us out of these constraints since weren’t reaper proof or something,” Gavin reminded him.

Ryan remembered that he could get the two of them out of there. Then his eyebrows furrowed. “Hey, you didn’t just confess your feelings to me just so I could get you out of here, did you?” he asked, skeptically.

Gavin laughed. “I never took you for a fool, Rye. Why don’t you get us out of here and find out,” he challenged.

Ryan nodded, Gavin may have said he wasn’t a fool, but Ryan knew he would always be a fool for Gavin. “Alright, I’m gonna need you to touch me,” he instructed

Gavin playfully gasped. “Ryan, we haven’t even kissed yet.”

Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes. “We both know that isn’t true,” he retorted.

“Then what exactly do you mean?”

“I need you to maneuver yourself so we can make skin contact”

Gavin nodded and began to twist his wrist. While the ties on his wrists made it difficult, after a minute he was able to make it so his hand was brushing up against Ryan’s “Now, what?” he asked.

Ryan sighed and twisted his face into a determined one. “I have to do something that I know you don’t like.”

“And that would be?”

To answer the question, Ryan turned into his cloud of reaper smoke. The contact with Ryan caused Gavin to turn along with him. Ryan controlled to smoke and directed to two of them to float out of the ropes and away from the chairs. Once they were away, Ryan made the two of them re-materialize.

Gavin started gagging. “I forgot about that death god smoke. I think I’m going to be sick.”

“I’m sorry. I knew you didn’t like that stuff. But it was the only way I could think of getting both of us out of those ropes at once,” Ryan argued in defense.

Gavin swallowed and shook his head. “Now that I know that you love me, I would have known you’d quickly get me out after you got yourself out.”

Ryan flushed and sighed. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s alright, love. You’ve done a lot of thinking tonight, so I understand.”

Ryan smiled wide. “Yeah but that thinking actually turned out to be worth it.”

“Right,” then Gavin paused, “so, I know you said Meg would be okay with this, but how do you think she’ll initially react?”

“Honestly, I think she’ll consider it a victory.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she wanted us to use our separation from the crew as a way to get you to ‘realize your feelings.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow, “What? I think I have a cloudy memory of possibly telling her about my feelings for you when I was drunk,” he admitted.

Ryan blinked. Meg had said Gavin had feelings for him and even implied that they weren’t only platonic, she had known the whole time. “She knew? That only confirms that she’ll consider this a big win.”

“How did she win, exactly?”

“She still was in love with you, but she wanted to make sure I finally got my true happiness in my love life.”

“She would have given me up for you?” Gavin asked, sadly.

“I uh, I don’t really want to think that.”

“She would have given her happiness up for you? I don’t want her to give up her happiness.”

Ryan shook his head and grabbed Gavin by the shoulders. “But you see, she doesn’t have to. Polyamory really will be the best option for the three of us.”

“If that’s what you really think,” Gavin replied. Then, he began to glance around the room again. “What should we do now? Should we get out of here so we can go tell her?”

“We should do that, now. But I’m not gonna try to get us out of here by transforming into reaper smoke, again.”

“Thank you,” he sighed in relief.

“I think it’s time for Vagabond and Golden Boy to make their glorious reappearances,” Ryan announced. He materialized Gavin’s golden sunglasses and handed them to him. Gavin fiddled with the glasses for a moment, then stuck them in the pocket of his dress shirt. Ryan materialized his skull mask next.

Ryan went to put his skull mask back on, but Gavin put his hand on top of the mask to stop him. “No, not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because with all the love confessions and stuff. And now that we’re both free and facing each other, we can finally do this, properly.”

Ryan opened his mouth to ask what Gavin was talking about, but was cut off by Gavin smashing his mouth onto his. Ryan blinked in surprise for a second, then accepted that this kiss made a lot of sense. As Gavin’s tongue entered his mouth, his entered Gavin’s. This was a moment of pure bliss. Both Ryan and Gavin raised one of their legs as the girl would to in a movie kiss. Gavin leaned into Ryan to get deeper, and it caused Ryan to wobble. Ryan lost his balance, causing the two of them to fall over.

They were both now laying on the floor. Gavin started laughing and Ryan sighed in dismay. “I really fucked that one up.”

“Nonsense. That kiss was heavenly. Or underworldly, or whatever.”

“I lost my balance. It was probably because I lifted my leg like in the movies.”

“Ryan, I lifted my leg. You weren’t supposed to lift yours.”

“I thought I was always the person on the receiving end of the kiss that was supposed to lift the leg.”

Gavin sighed and smiled. “No matter, we’ll do it better next time. And maybe next time, there won’t be any face paint.” And Ryan just smiled.

Suddenly the door slammed open and two familiar men strode in, one being Sonntag from when they got captured and the other being Wilhelm, or Willems as his real name was. “Remember Wilhelm? It’s pretty close to Willems. And, guess who’s here?” Willems asked.

Sonntag looked around the room to see that their captives were no longer in their chairs. “Willems, they must have escaped.” Then he glanced at the floor and saw Ryan and Gavin laying there. “What the fuck!? How did you escape.”

“I guess it’s show time,” Ryan whispered to Gavin. He slid his mask back on and sat up. Gavin sat up as well and leaned on Ryan. “Boys, thank you for taking us to your crew’s base. Though, your welcoming skills leave a lot to be desired,” he taunted. He was in a good mood now, so he was going to have some fun with this. And Gavin was also going to enjoy this show. It was time the two of them reminded everyone why the Fake AH Crew was on top.

#ragehappy #freewood #fake ah crew #rt fanfic #fanfic #GTA AU #causing chaos #Gods of LS