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#auggie is venting again
jungle-angel · 7 months
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This Cozy House (Bob Floyd x Reader)
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Summary: You and Bob spend a chilly fall evening goofing around with the babies
It was absolutely freezing out, more so than it had been since last year despite it being only early October. It was already dark out in early evening, the sun having set around five-thirty in the evening while dinner was left to slow cook in the crockpot, but the house was as brightly lit and cozy as ever.
Auggie and Patrick's squealing giggles soon reached your ears as Bob tickled them, the three laughing up a storm in the living room. You laughed just as they did, your hands trailing to your bump as your baby girl kept rolling over.
A sudden noise made you jump a little along with Bob's stern warning to your son. "August Robert," he chided. "If you're gonna rough-house, take your glasses off."
"Ok Daddy," he chirped, quickly removing his glasses and setting them down on the endtable.
You pulled the grainy loaf of bread out of the oven and put it on the back of the stove, cutting it with great ease and putting it on the plate. The rain battering the roof was growing louder and louder, rattling the pipes that held up the stove vents whole a menacing roll of thunder was heard outside.
"Storm's rollin in (y/n)?" Bob asked as Patrick rolled onto one of the couch cushions on the floor.
"They said it was gonna get bad in a few hours," you told him, bringing the bread to the table. "Not sure how these two are gonna sleep tonight."
Bob nodded in agreement. Storms in California had been nothing compared to those in Montana where you were currently living. All summer long, you and Bob had not only worried about tornadoes but the wildfires which tended to spark up close to towns and cities. Luckily for you, Bob and his family had worked with a local hotshot team to create a burn line so that the ranch would survive.
"C'mon Patrick, roll to Daddy," Bob encouraged.
Patrick squealed and giggled as he somersaulted off the couch and into his father's arms. It always ended the same with Bob putting him back on the couch and having him roll right off, over and over again until finally the timer on the crockpot went off.
"Auggie, grab your glasses, then come eat."
"Ok."
You and Bob were soon seated at the table with Auggie and Patrick, the four of you just having said grace before dinner was passed around, hot pieces of bone-in fried chicken, white-cheddar mac n cheese with toasted breadcrumbs, green beans and the grainy crust of bread that had smelled so good warming in the oven.
Everyone ate their fill and talked about their day and all that had come about. "Oh," Bob said suddenly. "Sweet cheeks, before I forget, I've got next week off so I can go and get the boys from school."
"Does Luanne know?"
"She knows," Bob assured you. "Dad helped her and Magnus fix their windows last week since he had his rotator-cuff surgery. He told her I was gonna pick the boys up as soon as they were done on their nature walks."
Excellent....you thought. One less thing to worry about......
As soon as the boys had finished, you and Bob took care of the dishes and the leftovers, putting the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and putting the leftover food into clean plastic containers to store in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch.
"You want me to take care of baths tonight?" you asked Bob.
"Absolutely not," Bob insisted. "You're eight months pregnant and I don't want you having to hurt yourself."
"Bob, c'mon, we've been through this twice already," you chuckled.
"Which is exactly why I don't want you to hurt yourself," Bob informed you.
"I'm just teasing," you told him.
You leaned into his embrace, happy and content as ever in his arms as he lovingly kissed you, his hand resting on your bump when he felt the tiny little feet of your daughter against his palm.
"You get some sleep my sweet little pea," he mumbled as he stooped to one knee to kiss your belly. "I have a feeling you're gonna be trouble like your brothers."
You laughed a little bit before Bob told you to go and settle in and to get the Friday night movie ready. It was an odd choice of Auggie and Patrick's, but they were beginning to really love Disney's "Fantasia", one that Bob had grown up watching. Even if neither of them understood it, they loved the images that matched up with the music.
Bob quickly gave them their baths and stuck them both in their warm little pjs just in case they fell asleep during the movie. Auggie had run to his room to go and grab his little Dumbo stuffie off his bed while Patrick waddled out with his little brownie bear in its soft knit sweater that you and Bob's mother had both worked on when Patrick had been born.
You and Bob pulled out the couch bed and piled it with blankets, pillows and anything else to keep warm, snuggling in with your boys between you, your family dog jumping up to warm your feet and the movie playing on the tv screen in the living room. You and Bob couldn't have been more content than at that very moment, with both your boys between you, all snuggled under the warm quilts and blankets as the storm passed you by outside. Yet here you remained, unaffected by the rain battering the windows and safe in each other's arms, just as you knew, you always would be
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heaven is a bedroom…
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basic info about me:
@lifetime-reonouncement-award -> @taking-whats-not-yours
names: Theory/Fizzaroli/Ace/Spade/Wirt/Victor/Wylan/Jesper/Spike/Ellis/August/Barr-el/Lock/Gore (Vic, Auggie, Theo, or Vicky are okay too :) )
nonbinary- he/they/blur (pronouns page)
sexuality: asexual | biromantic
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I do have a writing specialty (aka my guilty pleasure), which are sickfics and whump, most of the time for specific characters.
!!Please note that I am a minor!!! (so y’know don’t be weird)
the dni criteria is pretty basic (dni if you’re ableist, racist, homophobic, etc.)
cringe culture is not a thing, fuck that
sideblogs, because I get bored: @seths-still-talking-somehow (main sideblog) @aforgottennamesomelostrefrain (Jane Doe/Penny Lamb RP acc.), @sankta-inej-the-pirate-queen (Inej themed sideblog) @kazbrekkers-left-eyelash (Kaz-themed sideblog), @a-sacred-ash-tree (Matthias sideblog) @i-kinda-like-your-stupid-face (Jesper sideblog) @the-queen-of-mourning (Nina sideblog), @not-all-poisons-have-an-antidote (Wylan sideblog)
some of my awesome amazing oh-so-talented mutuals!!!- @https-envy , @creapysummer , @my-grand-plan, @scgrimbly
some of my interests:
Six of Crows
Bungou Stray Dogs
Hazbin Hotel (current hyperfixation)
(things I’m still interested in but less interested, also don’t take headcanons for as often)
ENA (once again, don’t headcanon for this one often, also I don’t really ship ENA with anyone sorry :/)
The Stanley Parable (don’t headcanon any ships for this one sorry :/)
Ride the Cyclone (will write for BlackRose (Ocean x Constance), Nischa (Noel x Mischa), Spacedolls (Ricky x Jane/Penny), Starrypoet (Noel x Ricky), and occasionally Perfectdolls (Ocean x Jane))
I also do icons, if anyone’s interested :))
asks are always open!!
Tags:
vic’s reblogging again: basically what it sounds like lol
vicky’s being emo again: vent/rant tag
vicky answers: answering asks!
victor’s dumb thoughts: stuff that I talk about
eye boy 🧿, connie candy 🍬, dark jade 🧷, stargazer ⚰️, summer book 🎶, finley 🕸: mutual tags
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lolaskmeanything · 11 months
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Did you know that I am a capricorn? They thrive on routine like children LOL. Coming back and doing this is the best thing I think I’ve ever done. It’s so much easier getting through my day when I have vented all my problems to a pretend audience that only exists in my head.
I met a new man, and I know I’ve said that 1000x but he seems like a cool dude. I told him in better for men terms I got some walls up and he was like you tell me what you want to tell me on your own time. That shit was mature and really cool. I usually don’t let a lot of people see the real me because I have a lot of baggage I hide away because a lot of people can’t handle it. I have my assault, my weird daddy issues, and tons of other trauma that is already written about. If you want to see you can find it somewhere on my page. ANYWAY, he seems cool and I’m pretty stoked to see what happens. LOL watch me say all this and then he turns out to be a douche, but again WE WILL SEE!
Awkward after saying how cool this new dude is, a guy from my past showed up. (which reminds me of something I will say in a bit). His name is Auggie. He went to college with e and worked in the bookstore. We wound up hooking up a few times and he was super cool. After college we didn’t talk really ever. Just here and there on social media posts. Recently, he posted something and I responded to it, let me know how it wound up him asking to hookup with me at a wedding of our mutual friend. I’m not sure if i’m going to or not, but love feeling hot. That made me feel hot. Like damn straight remember me.
Last thing and then I will desist. I used to be absolutely in love with a guy named Dane. To this day he is the one who got away, the one I still love, and the person that everyone has to compare to. The feelings I have for him I’ve never felt for anyone ever. I thought I saw him driving down my road the other day and so I texted him. I haven’t texted him since 4th of July of like 2017 or something. He replied and we both exchanged 2 messages. Is it weird and obsessive to say it was the best 2 texts I’ve ever sent? I really just want tp be with him again, I just want him to love me the way he did and I want to love him the way I did. I miss you Dane. wow that made me a little sad. Just so everyone knows, I would do ANYTHING to be with him again. I hope he’s thinking of me.
Okay, before I cry at my job, I’m going to go and read a bit before I take lunch. Bye lovers <3 
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ghostofbrock · 3 years
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venomous words
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on a rainy afternoon in new jersey, the kids didn't have an option to go outside or not since they knew how strict their mother was on days like this and how their father would react if he saw mud tracked into the house. they'd be toast with the chancla.
so ellie played with her barbie dolls on the carpet in the living room floor with a small smile on her face, giovanni sat on the couch and watched over his baby sister while trying to look for something to watch in netflix, specifically a movie. luke and auggie were upstairs in their room playing whatever the newer generation was into. the two boys were in sweats that had crumbs on them since the boys were munching on potato chips as they played their game. their mother had just arrived from long and stressful day at work, she sat in her car for a minute or two to collect herself before entering her home where her babies and husband would be waiting for arrival. well maybe just her babies... once again.
she covered herself with her purple umbrella since it was pouring rain as she got out her car, closed the door and locked it before walking to her front porch that wrapped around the house. she closed her umbrella as soon as she was covered by the porch's roof. she grabbed her house key out of her pocket and opened her door.
"mom's home!"
she hasn't stepped foot into her home and she was already called out by her kids. luke and auggie jumped out their beds and ran downstairs as soon as they heard their older brother yell. ellie dropped her doll and skipped over to her mommy as gio stood up from the couch and walked over to her.
as sara closed the door behind her and turned around, she was attacked by hugs all over her body. from her thighs to her shoulders, her children had her trapped in a loving hug.
after she kissed them each and asked about how their day went, they went back to what they were doing before she came home. later they were expecting a home cooked meal that she always provided for them since mattia rarely cooked for them nowadays and sara didn't like having her kids eating fast food all the time either for their health. at times it was acceptable but if they didn't need to eat it then they wouldn't.
sara was now sitting at the island that was in the kitchen, she opened the bottled water she grabbed from the fridge and took a sip.
"how was work?" her oldest son's voice came from behind her. he walked from behind her to next to her and leaned against the marble island. "stressful. overwhelming. busy. i don't know how i'm gonna do it..." she rubs her temples with a groan. "don't over work yourself, ma. you got this, you always do." gio rubs his moms shoulder softly and flashed her a smile. a smile that made her feel better and made her smile.
"i know it's just that i wanna do as much as i can for this project. i've worked my ass off for years for this to finally happen and i'm so close. only a few more months of ridiculous amount of stress then i'll have my own clothing line." a weak smile formed on her lips, gio's heart swells at the sight. he knows how much his mom has been wanting this but he also knows how much she can overwork herself.
"isn't dad helping you with any of it? he said he would, right?" gio asked with his mother with hope as she took another sip of her water. "uh yeah. he is but there's certain things he can't help with." she gave her son a tight smile laced with lies.
truth is mattia hadn't even talked to sara about her huge project that she has been working on for over a year now. he thinks his wife can do it herself because of how strong she is but little did he know how weak she was getting from handling everything by herself. she was never the one to ask for help but this time she did ask for help from her husband but his answer?
"you're being dramatic"
so she never asked again and instead asked her close friends who were of course open to help with anything she needed. she knew that the kids had brought up the project while they talked to mattia recently either at dinner or something similar. and being the good father mattia is he had to lie because he knew if his kids found out their parents weren't helping each other out then they'd question why and jump to conclusions which leads to arguments and picking "sides".
"oh yeah. i've been helping her with scheduling everything and keeping the tabloids updated. she's not as stress thanks to me."
sara would just simply nod and give a small nod to the kids and glare at mattia who just rolled his eyes at her.
"like what?" gio asked. "it's personal business stuff, g. don't worry about it, okay? i'll be fine. but did your dad take you guys out for breakfast like he said he would?" she changed the subject with a smile.
gio avoided eye contact with her which she automatically meant no.
"h-he just forgot. that's all." he stuttered a bit. sara tried to remain as calm as she could. she didn't want to lash out in front of her baby and took a mental note to talk to mattia tonight about not taking the kids out for breakfast.
"you don't have to lie to me, ya know? i won't get mad at him." she sighed and gave her son a reassuring look. "when i woke up this morning he wasn't here. he sent me a text as well saying that something came up and he had to go meet up with his manager for a gig." he simply explains. "so i made breakfast for us instead and lunch too. he sent us money for post mates but i was just mad-" he stopped himself from venting to his mother about his father.
"i didn't use the money. that's all." he shrugs as sara looks at him with sympathy.
"he promised me that he'd try hard for us. to try being more involved... why would he lie?" gio claps his hands together. "sometimes work gets in the way of things, honey. trust me if he could clear his schedule for a whole week just to be with us he would, okay?" the fact that sara was defending mattia wasn't something she wanted to do.
she had to because she didn't want her son to think bad about his own father, she was trying to protect at least both of them.
after their little conversation sara made dinner while the kids were being entertained by the activities they were doing before she got home. as sara looked over at the clock, she sighed.
it was seven o' clock and mattia still wasn't home. usually he'd send his wife a text saying that he was going to be home late but when sara checked her phone she had no new messages. the kids were now sitting at the table with their mother. she sneaked a quick text to mattia before eating with her babies.
sara: are you on your way yet?
she got no response after she sent it. she called twice and still nothing. she was beyond livid at this point. first, he didn't take the kids out for the day, then he doesn't respond to her text or calls her back? this was the third time this month that this occurred. she didn't show it but she was pissed off at dinner and while she tucked this kids into bed.
"is daddy gonna tuck me in too?" ellie asked as she held onto her stuffed giraffe. "yes, baby. of course. when he gets home i'll tell him to come and give you a kiss, okay?" sara's soft voice said as she placed a strand of hair behind her ear. ellie simply smiled at her mother.
"goodnight, angel. te amo." sara kisses ellie's nose. "buenas noches, mommy. te amo mas." the two giggled. once sara finishes tucking in her kids, she goes to her bathroom to take a shower. she then changed into some house shorts and one of mattia's shirts that fit her like a dress.
she went to the living room and ate ice cream as she watched good girls. without even knowing it, she fell asleep on the couch. she was woken up by someone whispering her name softly and rubbing her cheek gently with their palm.
she opened her eyes to see mattia with a smile. oh how much she wanted to wipe that stupid smile off his stupid face.
"did you make dinner?" he questions her. "yeah. we ate already so i put your plate in the fridge. now if you excuse me i'm going to bed." she was too tired to deal with him right now. she would have to be up bright and early tomorrow for meetings and such so she just didn't want to argue with her husband right now.
she got up from the couch and tried walking away but mattia reached out for her hand to stop her.
"you guys didn't wait for me? what happened to family dinners?" he asks with a pout as he held her hand. she quickly glanced at the clock on the wall for a time check.
2:34 a.m.
"i was not gonna wait till now to eat with you and neither were the kids, mattia. family dinners means that everyone has to be here at reasonable times." she sighs and glares at him. "where were you anyways, mattia? it's past midnight and you barely got home." she questions quickly and changed the subject.
"i was out. it's not a big deal, babe." he scoffs at her.
"not a big deal? if it's not a big deal then why can't you tell me where you were?" she remarked quickly and crossed her arms over her chest.
mattia gives her a look, as if she was crazy or something. all she wanted to know was where he was at, what was so hard about that?
he started walking to the kitchen, sara quickly followed him.
"sara, i've had a long day. please don't start with me right now..." he huffs as he opens the fridge and grabs his plate of cold food. "says the guy who comes home late smelling like alcohol and cigarettes." she looks at him from across the island.
"i didn't do shit! all i did was go to a bar with alejandro and alvaro after i finished my meetings. they drank but i didn't because i knew you'd react like this and treat me like some kid!" he was getting frustrated with her at this point, he showed it by banging his fist on the island. his breath reeked of alcohol so she was even more pissed off that he was lying to her about drinking.
"all i wanted to do was come home to my wife and kids. a nice home cooked meal and after the kids go to bed and we all settle down, maybe some good sex with my wife but i can't have that can't i? ever since you've gotten this attitude all you ever do is complain! you're on bitch mood twenty four seven, sara!" he was now raising his voice at her.
sara had no energy to argue with him right now. literally nothing left. she had a long day, she just wanted to sleep. she looked at him with tired eyes, she scanned his facial expression and saw the anger he always had all of a sudden now. right now she ignored it and walked away, but he didn't let her.
"where the fuck are you going?" he turned her around a little bit too rough. "to bed, mattia! i'm too tired to deal with your bullshit right now." she stated as she tried not to yell at him.
"whatever. go ahead, walk away. that's all you're good at since you can't do anything right. you definitely can't be a good wife." his words felt like knives. she felt like her heart was getting stabbed completely, over and over again.
she walked off, pretending that what he just said didn't phase her and went upstairs quietly so she wouldn't wake the kids.
little did she know, gio was hiding behind a pillar near the stairs where he heard everything.
she went to the room which she shared with her "husband" and jumped into bed. she laid in bed for a minute, thinking about what mattia said. his words repeating in her head like that one song that could never get out of your head.
"you definitely can't be a good wife."
those venomous words scared her pretty much. she couldn't believe he said that... why would he say that? was she really not a good wife? what was she doing that made her so horrible to him? was it the kisses? was it her cooking? was it her looks? was it the sex? the constant need of having him around? what was it?
whatever it was made her feel like she wasn't good enough which was not the case.
sara was always good enough.
she cried herself to sleep that night. and hours later she felt his presence next to her body, his arms wrapped around her keeping her warm but it didn't make her feel loved like it usually did. no, she had a different feeling. she felt like she was in bed with a stranger. why was she feeling this way? shouldn't she be happy that he was still willing to sleep in the same bed with her?
all the questions she thought of made her feel more insecure, not about herself but about her marriage with the man she loved so much. the last thing she wanted was to lose him, it would ruin her.
she hopes for an apology of some sort. perhaps a date to make it up, she'd be willing to forgive him. she knows he lied about not drinking, mattia could never say no to not have a beer or three with the boys. he wasn't thinking straight, she knows her husband too well.
he just didn't want to admit that he was drinking because he didn't want to feel more guilt than he was already feeling since he missed out on dinner.
so the next morning she was woken up by the smell of pancakes and bacon. she went downstairs and saw gio and mattia cooking at the stove, auggie and ellie coloring on the table while luke looked sleep deprived as he walked into the kitchen with his mom.
"morning, amor." mattia walks over to her holding a plate of stacked pancakes with all the works. he bends down a bit to kiss her oh so sweetly, they both smile into the kiss. "i handled everything you needed to do today so we can all spend quality family time and to start off the day i thought of making breakfast." he hands her the plate where she takes it and sits at the table. once everyone is served the all began to eat.
"you have to cook more, pop. these smack!" auggie speaks as he licks his lips. "maybe i will." mattia laughs as he looks over at his son. "how'd you sleep, ma?" gio asked simply. the way he asked her sounded like he knew something (which he did since he heard what his father told his mom last night) but no one thought too much of it.
"good, baby." she lied with a smile. gio could tell that she was lying but he wasn't going to confront her about eavesdropping on her and mattia.
they all ate breakfast in peace and with joy. gio couldn't stop looking at his mom and dad. especially, his mom since she seemed so happy. didn't mattia's drunk words hurt her? was she really pretending that nothing happened between her and her husband? he couldn't believe she was still protecting mattia after what he told her.
"what's up with you?" luke nudges his older brother's elbow slightly. "what?" was gio's response. "you keep on staring at mom. i get that she's beautiful but it's starting to look weird now. quit it." luke let out a dry chuckle after he spoke.
gio just rolled his eyes and finished his breakfast. once the family finished eating they were told to get ready for a day out. mattia said that he'd be taking them out to the carnival since it happened to be in town.
"hey, can we talk?" mattia closed the door behind him as he walked into his bedroom. sara was sitting at her vanity deciding what necklace to wear that she had in her jewelry box.
"yeah, what's up?" she nods and turns her body to face him. he sits in the edge of their bed as she sat across from him in her spinning stool.
"first off, i want to apologize for last night. i know i should've gave you a heads up about dinner and coming home late. yes, i did drink and i didn't mean any of what i said. i was drunk and stupid. i'm sorry, mamas." he gave a look filled with guilt and he really didn't mean those things that he told her last night.
"tia... i accept your apology, okay? you just had me worried because you weren't texting or calling me back. and i just had a stressful day overall yesterday." she sighed. "i know, baby. you shouldn't be overworking yourself either. i also took the liberty of organizing all of your meetings and handling the little things for your project. i know you've wanted this for the longest time and i hate to see you so worrisome about the little things, babe. i wanted to help you." he explains which made her heart feel a certain way. only he was able to give her that feeling as crazy as it sounds.
"i really do have the best husband in the world, huh?" she giggles. "and i have the best wife ever. being all sexy and shit." he winks at her which makes her blush.
"come give me a kiss." he adds and she obeys. she gets up from her chair and straddles mattia's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and plays with his hair. she dips her head down, he catches her lips with his own. the kiss was soft and sweet, all of their worries seemed to wash away. almost as if all their problems went away as well... boy were they in for it.
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ifeveristoday · 4 years
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you are the vessel and she’s the life
Okay. When I first read issue #3, I did not like it. The art continues to be amazing, the colors glorious and they add to the atmosphere of the Hellmouth world - but I felt at first read, this was a weaker installment for the non-movement of the plot. If Hellmouth was a longer arc, I would have less issues because Jordie & Jeremy are developing Buffy and Angel, and giving the space for the audience to learn more about them, just as other characters are being brought into the spotlight for the namesake comics. I want to learn more about Kendra, Jenny, Fred, Gunn, et al. But it’s also a valid criticism that Buffy was missing from her story, long before Hellmouth began.
To compare Buffy (the intellectual property) to another cultural juggernaut for a minute - Star Wars. The reboots, the prequels, the ever-expanding universe - it’s all Star Wars, no matter what fans may feel about certain portions of it. But I see a lot of the same argument leveled at the Boom!verse that I do about Star Wars - ‘it doesn’t feel like ________________’, or  ‘that’s not my Buffy.’ I’ve certainly done my fair share of completely ignoring/complaining about the Dark Horse ‘canonically approved’ verse, so I get it. And I think just by the nature of a reboot, there are so many expectations, especially when you use the same characters. And IMO, Jordie and co. have been doing an admirable job of balancing their version of Sunnydale vs. memories/nostalgia of the TV canon. 
The point is to remake something for a new audience while respecting the source for the ‘original’ (whatever that means) fans. And it’s such a rich world with many characters to play with, and lots of different ways to explore themes that the show didn’t, or botched/dismissed. It’s a daunting experience to adapt, I’m sure - and I’ve been enjoying reading what Jordie has been doing with character development and the emotional beats of a story. The characters do feel like they exist in 2019.
However, with this issue, I felt like there was retread/not enough of a building on the momentum that Issues 1 and 2 had, along with a last-minute feel of a brand new original character, and some in-jokes that didn’t really add anything. This was my first reaction. Then I read it again, and with the other Hellmouth issues.
Major spoilers underneath the cut.
Back to my earlier point about Buffy being missing from her story - we still don’t know very much about Buffy’s backstory but that was never the point of her character, she was always very much in the now. The earlier issues had her in full Slayer mode with little intervals of an awkward, uncertain teenager! Buffy, and the last time she gets to hang out and do teenager things, Xander gets turned. And we didn’t really see the fallout in terms of Buffy’s feelings about it - but we did get very much appreciated insight into Willow and Xander’s characters. 
Then Buffy flings herself into the Hellmouth, after feeling estranged from Willow and dealing with a lot of unspoken guilt/shame. Oh no, not like TV Canon Buffy at all. 
However, the break from the Scoobies and entering the Hellmouth brought out Buffy Summers in all her confused, messy, intense bravery. Here was the girl who quipped malapropisms, made up sassy nicknames and leaped into the fray, fists first. And here was the girl who’s self-aware that her impetuousness and desire to save people also hurts the people she loves because she pushes them away - both out of necessity and because it’s her job. It’s a common refrain throughout the run of the series, emphasized by Giles and repeated by Buffy - she has to do this, and often alone - she’s the first responder in the apocalypse.
Heroine complex, man.
And then she meets LA’s finest, the dark knight, Mr. Hunchy Shoulders Guy - Angel. I’ve said it before, Bryan Edward Hill’s decision to have Angel meet Buffy cold, with an already established backstory of his own and then Jordie carrying that over into the Hellmouth event really changes the Buffy and Angel dynamic in the Boom!verse. A welcome change, and then when the portents/prophecies kick in, Angel dismisses them completely. His no-nonsense, I’m just here to do a job and then I’m out mode is amusing to me, because obviously, this is going to end up in romantic comedy land, just with a higher body count and lots of blood.
Buffy and Angel in TV canon never really got that light-hearted, getting-to-know-you phase because there was always the pall of forbidden love/gothic angst/and willful misunderstandings on both parties, never mind the interference/concerns and complaints from the people who loved them.
In Hellmouth, not only do Buffy and Angel get developed as characters, so does their budding ‘work’ friends relationship. Their banter is just delightful to read, and they get to be vulnerable/honest (to a point) with each other, that they haven’t been able to do so with their respective friends. And as they’re fighting demons and tracking down Drusilla, it creates an understandably sudden bond that most likely wouldn’t have happened above ground. They’re the only ones who can stop the forces of evil and cover each other’s backs.
Except for the undead elephant in the room, that has been in the room since Angel first appeared in Sunnydale -
Angel is a vampire. Angel witnessed Drusilla attacking Xander -- and did nothing to stop it.
And he knew it was Drusilla and Spike.
That lie comes back to majorly haunt his ass in Issue #3. Drusilla gleefully tells Buffy that he saw the whole thing, and also he has this whole other name, Angelus, which Buffy completely mishears and then rounds on Angel, asking him pointedly if they need a moment, or can she do the job she’s here for.
The revelation that Angel didn’t stop Xander’s turning naturally pings Buffy’s anger defenses and she tells him actually, no, we’re not friends, you don’t know me (even though I vented my guts out to you and you know I’m a slayer and you give weird pep talks to try to make me feel better -- Issues 1 & 2) - and I think besides the fact that Angel stood by and did nothing, it’s also that he didn’t tell her. Angel not telling Buffy important things, lying by omission basically, breaks their fragile alliance. 
But it’s not until the second lie.
Something that has been driving me nuts since the first issue is that Angel hasn’t revealed his Vampire self to Buffy. There’s different levels to the relationships Angel has cultivated so far in the Boom!verse - with Fred and Gunn, he’s an ally (reluctant on Gunn’s part) and a friend (Fred) and he’s upfront with them that he’s a vampire. But with Buffy, who is going to be a major part of his life (if any of the previous portents and prophecies are to go by), he holds off/and hides his vampire self. And the question is why? Buffy already has a friend who has a Vampire side, but Xander’s a special case because he can still pass as human. 
And it’s humanity that pops up in this issue - I knew it was coming, due to Boom’s wildly spoilery summaries/previews, but the way it was delivered?
Auggie - I know he has a full demon name but I’m not typing it out - and I think his name is also derived from Augury which means an omen/sign of what will happen in the future, seemed out of place to me. I mean, okay having a hell hut in the middle of the Hellmouth is whimsical and not completely out of the realm of the Buffyverse tone, and demons just trying to demon with no ambition to destroy the world is always nice to see - I just felt the introduction of him was too McGuffiny. There already was a figure who could see into the future (two of them, if you count Fee Fee from Angel’s first issue, except she disappeared into the plot hole where women characters go in that issue) and the initial one who set Angel on this path: Lilith. 
Having Angel strike up a random conversation with an essentially magic demon eight ball when he could have been searching for Buffy or Drusilla felt like an unwelcome departure from the main story. Yes, the revelation that Angel could achieve humanity through some terrible ritual is important, but also - do you believe a demon who’s making a stew out of unidentifiable parts in the middle of the Hellmouth and just casually drops that information? 
Read the room, Angel. It’s probably a trap.
Back to the A-story, Buffy thinks the Cthulu shape-shifter demon is back when she sees the vision of the guys in her life attacking the women - Giles and Jenny, Eric and Joyce, and Xander and Willow.Just as the Demon Joyce taunted her about her absence causing more havoc than help, the Demon men call her out Greek Chorus style - Giles says, “Sunnydale burns, Sacrifice.” Xander tells her, “But we can stop all this. The mother awaits you.”Eric says, “Come. End this suffering.”
Buffy accuses Dru of orchestrating this, and she laughs and tells her, “This is the hellmouth. Adapt, won’t you? It’s adapted to you....these are your people. This your nightmare.”
Buffy denies it coming true, and Dru tells her that it may yet come true - and she’s left Sunnydale defenseless. A slayer without her friends. There are fouler things than beasts, above. There are men.
Who have become the puppets of the unseen Hellmother.
So Drusilla was a red herring, a pawn in the game of Evil Chess. And this bums me out because Dru as a tangible villain/opponent is more interesting to me than another shadowy doom voice from the ether. Hellmother? Really?
This is where the reboot kind of loses me - Buffy’s greatest villains have been the ones who were personal to her, not as in just wanting to kill her, but an active part of her life. Dru (and by extension, Spike) in the Boom!verse would qualify because of what she did to Xander and threatening her mother. Dru being the front of a disembodied voice (that probably will take form in the next two issues) is a letdown. It’s the First Evil again.
The side effect of the men being turned into malevolent goons - okay, that is scary, but are we talking the Pack/Billy scary? (aka not very good episodes of either show because they either pulled punches or handwaved consequences)
Buffy teams up with Drusilla, which was unexpected, but at this point in the game, Buffy doesn’t have that many options. Her friend is missing (and it’s telling that even though she was hurt by the knowledge Angel did nothing to prevent Xander’s turning, she still refers to him as a friend to Drusilla. It might not be true forgiveness, but she was willing to move on, just for the sake of finding him and working to stop this mess.) And she keeps on reminding herself, these demons are not her friends, and are not real.
Which brings us to the final act - in more ways than one. Angel gets ambushed by a bunch of orc looking vampires, and finally goes Not Today, Satan on them.
And of course Buffy spots him on a mound of corpses, in full vamp face.
As much as I’m disappointed with the way Angel’s vampirism is revealed, it had to happen, and I have to admit, those last pages and panels are incredibly vivid and affecting.
Angel’s outstretched human hands covered in blood?
Buffy’s disbelief and then hardened look of disgust and her, “Don’t touch me.”
Goddammit.
Jordie and Jeremy have specific repetitions that I find interesting in terms of character development and where I think the plot is going -
Friends - the potential loss of them, the making of them, who to trust and how personal actions always have a consequence in relation to friends - Buffy is down on herself because she pushes people away and tried to lone wolf and it always, always blows up in her face, so this new thing with Angel is Buffy trying something new - trusting the other person so she can trust herself (because even though Willow and Xander are helpful and her besties, Buffy still can’t fully trust them with the fighting of evil because of her Slayer nature and belief that it’s her sole responsibility. She’s never had friends like that before. Angel has an equivalent strength to hers and already knows the evil game.)
So this issue blowing up all those tentative friend bridges? 
Fucking painful. Because now it feels like Buffy was right - she can’t trust Angel, he’s not a friend, because why would he lie? Why didn’t he stop Drusilla? They clearly have a history. Has he been in on this from the beginning?
Buffy is alone, again.
And Angel? Who the fuck knows. Buffy has become important to him in a short amount of time, and it still needs to be addressed why he did nothing to save Xander. He was already on the saving gig, and was it because he knew Spike and Dru that he let it pass out of...familial bonds?  That still doesn’t jibe with what he’s atoning for now. 
As always, thanks to @jenny-calendar for being there for me to figure out all these fiddly parts. I still think this is the weakest issue of Hellmouth, and I’m not as confident as I was before in thinking it’ll be wrapped up neatly in the last two issues - but I hope this doesn’t signal the end of crossovers, and that the relationship wherever it goes, continues to develop over both of their lines. But I dislike it less on reread.
And Buffy better make an appearance in Ring of Fire, damn it.
AND WHERE IS CAMAZOTZ?
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bashs-mom-jessie · 4 years
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I adore my children. Absolutely they are the loves of my life.
But raising them in this climate is so incredible difficult and fraught with worry. Daily I’m reading Facebook posts by other trach parents about their vents being pulled from their homes because of the vent shortage. I’m reading posts about supply shortages. I’m trying to arrange virtual doctors visits because we can’t risk going to the hospital. I’m doing therapy appointments virtually because I can’t risk occupation and speech and physical therapy coming into our home and potentially bring ANY sort of sickness with them. For our family it’s not just about avoiding covid, it’s about avoiding ANYTHING that could land us in the hospital.
We usually have in home nursing to help keep everything under control. We don’t right now. It’s extremely difficult. I feel like I’m pushing past my limits and it’s like a runaway train. If I don’t get a handle on it soon I’m going to crash. I’m exhausted as it is. This situation is overwhelming.
On top of all of this, I’m having to navigate the insurance system. My husband is separating from his job and while cobra is an option there’s a lot of balls in the air that have to be juggled to sort out our insurance situation. Bash qualifies for Medicaid which he has, but it’s secondary to our private insurance through Scott’s job. All our pre authorizations for bash’s brain aneurism treatments are already set up through that insurance plan. All our doctors and therapists are set up. And our deductible will reset. We already paid it once this year. It’s 8000 dollars.
If we put Bash on Medicaid alone he can’t get his surgeries in New York and the doctor there is the very best. But if we keep him on our current insurance plan through cobra we could lose our respiratory equipment supplier. They own bash’s vent. I can’t imagine trying to switch companies in the middle of a vent and supply shortage. I don’t even know how to navigate this.
Our other option is to get a new private insurance plan for our family. It’s cheaper than cobra but again our deducatble will reset and to go this route I have to find out what insurance company 1) has a plan we can afford 2) is in network with children’s hospital and our other doctors 3) would allow us to travel for specialists 4) is in network with mount Sinai in NYC and 5) what their procedure is for getting the doctors in New York who are not in network with anyone, to be covered as in network so that we don’t end up with millions in medical debt.
To top it all off, my grandpa has covid and is dying. I can’t even risk going to see him. He’s been my rock since my dad passed. The grief is crushing.
Auggie seems to know something is upsetting me because he is having severe separation anxiety this week.
I feel like I’m carrying the weight of the world this week.
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bookfed · 5 years
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"can't believe those assholes would come into /your/ store and talk to you like that and not expect to get their asses beat," he grumbles, the angry look on his face all the more intimidating when accompanied by the blood dripping from his nose. he's sat up on the kitchen counter in Auggie's apartment, black-eyed and bloody-knuckled, venting while the other wets a towel to clean him up "I tried to be civil, I really did, but then his buddy had to go and start throwing punches, dumbass little..."
     August had a smirk on his face while he was wetting a towel for the other. “I thought you were a pacifistic?” He teased, wringing out the towel and heading over to clean the other up. “They’re just punks -- it happens, Shiro.” He rounds the corner to start cleaning up the bloody mess he was looking at. “But, thank you. I’m not too good at sticking up for myself.” He chuckles, slightly embarrassed. “I just tend to be pushed around.”
He takes Shiro’s nose in a pinch and instructs the other to lean his head forward -- not back. “If you lean it back then you’ll just swallow all the blood.” He says, holding his nose in a tight grip but just tight enough to get the blood to stop pouring. “My hero,” He teases. “I will bandage your knuckles too -- they might be sore though.”
August had just escaped with a bruised cheek bone that he got by trying to break up the fight -- other than that, he was in good shape. “I feel bad that I wasn’t much help but thank you again for doing that. Maybe they won’t come back.” He says, shaking his head. “Maybe, I should start sticking up for myself -- I don’t know.”
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seriestrash · 7 years
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You Me Her
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Chapter Five: A Midsummer Nightmare
Word Count: 5306
↠ ♥ ↞
Abigail Adam’s production of Grease showed for three nights in early February of Riley’s freshman year. Riley and Kai played the quirky but loveable Jan and Putzie and during the rehearsal period Riley felt comfortable playing a ‘minor roll’ as she commonly referred to it. Kai kept stressing to Riley that being a Pink Lady was not minor by any means and she shouldn’t minimise her importance to the production. His encouraging words sent Riley into a nervous tailspin and she began worrying about messing the routines up for everyone with her clumsy habits. Kai happily put in countless hours with Riley after scheduled rehearsals. So much so that by opening night Riley could perform the entire play with her eyes closed. Even the parts that she wasn’t in. 
After a month of rehearsals and Riley’s involvement in the drama club her friendship with Kai had completely solidified at this point. Kai would eat dinner with the Matthews at least three times a week, which was three times a week more than Maya had been lately. 
It was the first time that Kai joined them for dinner that Riley learnt what a huge History buff Kai was. He wasn’t in Cory’s class but the two geeked out over world events for an hour. Riley found it strangely adorable how happy they both looked going on and on about some event Riley had never heard of. 
Topanga enjoyed seeing Riley make new friends but part of her was quietly concerned over the lack of Maya and everyone else for that matter. At first she may have been oblivious to Riley’s smiley routine but once Kai entered Riley’s life Topanga began to question everything, Riley’s full work load with shifts at the bakery, her studying and now her part in the drama club. Over the months that pass after Grease, Topanga keeps a close watch on her daughter. 
The rest of Riley’s freshman year is more of the same. Come Summer time Riley and Kai are practically inseparable. 
For the first few weeks of Summer vacation both Lucas and Zay have a baseball camp thing that Riley was fuzzy with the details but that saw Maya wanting to spend all her time with Riley which was a little awkward at first but quickly the two girls slip into their old habits with sleepovers and movie nights. Smackle joins the ‘girl hangs’ frequently, which thankfully broke up some of the awkward tension between Riley and Maya. 
Kai wasn’t too keen on hanging around Riley’s other friends, not that he’d ever say it aloud but he recognises her need for a life separate to the one revolving around her past crush dating her best friend. So on the days Riley was occupied with Maya he’d steer clear but afterwards he’d often come over and act as a means for Riley to vent to should she need him. 
Things with Farkle had been a little strained since their kind of fight outside the bakery right after Lucas and Maya became a thing. Since then Farkle has been acting like a wounded puppy around Riley and part of her felt guilty for straining another strong friendship in her life but a stronger part of her was just emotionally numb to it because she wasn’t up to dealing with it. So the two didn’t see much of each other over Summer unless it was orchestrated by Maya and Smackle or out of sheer coincidence that they wound up in the same place. 
Zay was a weird thing for Riley. Before Lucas chose, Riley always thought she’d lose Zay if he picked Maya. Not that she foresaw herself pulling away from the group but she always had the sense that Zay favoured Maya in the triangle and with Lucas being his best friend then he’d automatically be on his side. Surely enough Zay remains very involved with Lucas and Maya which quickly led to Riley not being involved with Zay at all. 
With Lucas and Zay at camp, that took the pressure off Riley but once they returned, Riley pretty much immediately pulled away again. Of course Kai is there to take her mind off things and he successfully makes sure her summer is filled with fun. Riley even tags along with Kai’s family to Disney World. The ‘story’ was that the trip was for Kai’s three younger sisters but everyone knew both Riley and Kai were the most exited. The Olson’s even invited Auggie along on the trip as a thank you to the Matthews for being so hospitable to Kai this past year as he’s practically eaten them out of house and home by now.  
Truth be known, even with Kai being quite possibly the most personable person to ever exist, with friends in all sorts of cliques at school, he never really found his person. Not until a sad Riley burst through the courtyard doors. So in reality Kai needed Riley and benefited from their friendship just as much as she did. 
So after three weeks of baseball camp and a little over a week in Orlando with the Olson’s Riley hadn’t seen nor spoken to Lucas in over a month. It would be a boldfaced lie if Riley claimed she hadn’t thought about him. She thought about him more over this summer away from him than she had the past months at school. Riley thought about Lucas being at camp with Zay and she remembers the time he told her about how they’d go away to summer camps together when they were little and she spirals into her black hole of fond memories, heartache and guilt. 
The rest of Riley’s summer is spent between work and Kai. Towards the end of vacation Riley spends a week in Philadelphia with Auggie and her grandparents. Ultimately Riley sees Lucas six times throughout the duration of summer where they’re both present in the state. Six times too many in Riley’s eyes as each time hurts just as much as the last. All meetings she was urged into Maya. 
Three days into Riley’s sophomore year, the first drama club meeting takes place. After four of the members graduated the previous year the club is down to seven until new recruits can join. So there was a lot riding on the first play of the year to entice people to join. Ms. Mitchell calls the meeting into order, the first thing on the agenda was ideas for which play to showcase. 
A few ideas bounce around, Riley sits quietly and watches as Kai loudly voices his opinion on each suggestion. It’s Kat, a junior who suggests ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Ms. Mitchell instantly takes to the idea and the play choice was settled. 
As Kai and Riley leave the meeting that afternoon they talk over everything that happened. 
“So, Shakespeare...” There’s an awkwardness to Kai as he broaches the subject, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Interesting choice...” 
“You mean a play where love is unrequited and manipulated by those around them?” Riley pricks up a brow, “ Now why on Earth would that be interesting?” 
“There are also fairies,” Kai says with an adorable smirk and Riley breaks her quizzical look with a grin of her own.
“It’s a bit... Ironic, don't you think?” Riley lets out a deflated laugh. 
“Anyone can relate to this basic plot line,” Kai swats the air dramatically. “Geez, Ri, stop being so self absorbed all the time!” 
Riley opens her mouth and chuckles through his joke like she’s surprised but definitely not offended. 
“Look, Ri, if it’s a little too close to home for you I understand if you don’t want to audition.” Kai wears a sweet smile.
Riley mulls it over in her head for a moment. Kai watches and waits eagerly for a ‘fine I’ll do it!’ Riley notices this and just doesn’t respond. 
“So?” Kai asks after a moment of silence. 
“So what?” Riley crinkles her brows, pretending to be confused. 
“Are you going to audition or not?” Kai questions, falling for her bit. 
“Oh,” Riley says as she gently taps her forehead. She finds amusement in Kai’s eagerness.
“Come on you love drama club!” Kai is almost pleading with her. “Oh my.” Kai gasps and crinkles his face up. “You do enjoy drama club don’t you? I’m not one of those parents that project their dreams onto their children am I?”
Riley let’s out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry, dad, I do have fun doing the plays.” 
“Good.” Kai says with a small smile. Still with his previous thought on his mind Kai tries to assure Riley of one thing; his unconditional support. “I love doing the plays with you but if it’s not what you want then that’s fine. If you want to be a cheerleader then ‘Bring It On’. We will watch all the movies and practice till our arms fall off and your head cheerleader ready-” Kai abandons his ramble. “What I’m trying to say, Ri, is if you want to do something else - other than plays with me - I’m there for you, one hundred percent.”
Riley’s smile creeps wider. This is exactly why she’s so fond of Kai. This is why she loves him and why he’s so good for her. Riley has his support no matter what and he constantly reminds Riley of her value and worth. Kai has a spectacular knack for making the people in his life feel special, Riley included. Riley, especially. 
“The drama club may not be my passion in so many words but friendship is certainly my thing,” Riley says and although her smile doesn’t waver there is a slight pain in her chest remembering the estranged summer she’s had with her friends. “And you’re my friend and I love doing plays with you.”
“Yay.” Kai beams at her sweet statement. “So shall we work on the audition monologue?”
“Can we skip to the bakery?” Riley holds his stare. 
“It’s the safest way to travel!” Kai jokingly mocks Riley and they both giggle at the playfulness of it all and continue on to skip along to Topanga’s.
A week later the auditions are being held after school in the auditorium. There’s a nice turn out numbers wise and Riley takes a seat whilst she waits for Kai to arrive. Surprisingly it’s not her adorably cute but effervescent friend that sneaks up behind her but five other familiar faces. 
“Guys, what are you doing here?” Riley asks with surprise present in her tone.
“Well since you’re so busy lately we thought we could sign up for the play too and that way we’ll have more time with you.” Maya says in a really upbeat way. 
“You’re all auditioning?” Riley asks quickly, panic creeping into her.
“No, I thought I could paint sets or something.” Maya is taken back by Riley’s response. She thought about auditioning herself but didn’t want to ‘steal’ anything away from Riley that’s why she thought about working on sets so she could be there but also let Riley do her thing but from Riley’s reaction Maya wonders if it was all just a bad idea. 
“Farkle and I plan on offering our minds to the tech side of things.” Smackle grins. 
“Lights and stuff...” Farkle half smiles. There’s that wounded puppy in him coming out. 
“And since Zay and I aren’t good with painting or tech we thought we’d just audition.” Lucas smiles. “If that’s alright with you of course...” 
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Riley laughs it off. “The more the merrier right?” 
“First play I audition for and it doesn’t require my sweet moves,” Zay sighs. “Such a waste.”
Everyone chuckles at Zay, even Riley. For a moment, she thought that maybe this could work. Maybe the two separate worlds she’d been apart of the past year could come together as one. 
“Ri?” Kai calls from by the stage. Riley whips her head around and meets his quizzical gaze. Riley excuses herself for a moment and says she probably has to do something for the drama club and promises to return soon. 
Quickly Riley makes her way down towards Kai and he immediately bombards her with questions. 
“What are they doing here?” Kai asks. 
“Auditioning, or set painting- I don’t know,” Riley says in a huff, “They said they want to spend more time with me.” 
“Are you okay with this?” Kai studies face for answers. 
“I don’t know.” Riley says honestly. “It might be nice...” 
“Riley, Kai,” Ms. Mitchell projects her voice through the auditorium, “Students, will you all please take a seat.”
Kai sits up in the front row and tugs at Riley’s arm to join him. The brunette sends a small and apologetic smile back towards her old group of friends. Riley didn’t want to be rude so she made a note to move back towards them during an intermission but for now Ms. Mitchell was persistent on starting things. 
Due to everyone auditioning with the same set monologue it became repetitive quite quickly so Ms. Mitchell planned fifteen minute intervals. The first few students audition and Ms. Mitchell calls one more before the first break. Lucas. 
Riley catches herself holding her breath as she watches him climb the stairs at the side of the stage. Kai knew Riley would say she was fine about it all but still he gives her hand a tender squeeze before giving his attention to Lucas. Mostly out of curiosity. 
Lucas perfectly executes the monologue at no surprise to Riley but Kai’s left with his mouth slightly agape and he leans in towards his friend to whisper “Wow.”
Riley wears a weak smile. “Remember how I told you I played Juliet in middle school? Well, meet Romeo.”
The shocked expression on Kai’s face grows as this new piece of the puzzle comes to light. “You didn’t think that was something worth telling me?”
“The love story on and off screen ended in tragedy I didn’t want to relive it all over again.” Riley frowns. 
“But you told me a million other things about you and Lucas why didn’t you tell me about the play thing?” Kai whispers sternly. 
"I was hoping this play thing could be fun for me and I didn’t want to ruin the chances of that by hashing out the hurtful details of what didn’t happen between me and Lucas!” Riley whisper yells. Not loud enough for Lucas to hear specifics but it was enough for Ms. Mitchell to hush the pair. 
Riley and Kai sink into the seats and remain quiet for the rest of his audition. Once Lucas exits the stage, Ms. Mitchell calls the break and tells Riley she’ll be first one up when they reconvene.  
Riley stands knowing she’ll have to reconnect with her friends. The group, Lucas, Riley and Kai all meet off to the side. Everyone with the exception of Kai coo their praises at Lucas for his audition. Riley shifts her awkwardly on her feet.
“You’ll do great, Riley,” Lucas says with a smile, “You’ve got this. Shakespeare is like our thing.”
You could immediately feel the mood amongst the group shift into a tense awkwardness. Riley laughs nervously at his comment like it didn’t pain her to hear him refer to them as a pair. “At least no one dies in this play...” 
Ms. Mitchell starts to quieten down the students again and Kai whisks Riley away to the edge of the stage. Riley fidgets nervously with her hands and Kai holds them both steady. He forces her gaze. “Forget what Lucas just said. Shakespeare is your jam, Riley.” Kai says, “Don’t let them being here throw you off. You know this, you kill it with Shakespeare.” 
“Noah said a similar thing to me earlier today in English,” Riley wears a small smile. He said it in a softer way rather than ‘kill it’ but the notion was still there. His exact words were, “It’s a guaranteed touchdown, Sunshine.” Some football metaphor Riley gathered but she appreciated it all the same. The mention of Noah earns an eye roll from Kai but he pushes that aside to give Riley another quick rev up. 
Riley creeps onto stage and quickly gazes out at the students in the auditorium. She finds Kai first and then her other friends close by him, all wearing encouraging smiles. Riley takes a deep breath and delivers the lines, just as she and Kai had rehearsed them, better even. Riley makes it through her whole audition without a hitch. 
Two days later, the roles are posted on the bulletin board, Riley and Kai eagerly go to check them out.
"I can’t look,” Riley shakes her head and stands away from the board. “You do it.”
No further persisting was needed, Kai steps up to the notices and lets his eyes scan through the sheet absorbing all the names and corresponding rolls. Kai turns around with a slight grimace. 
“That’s your bad news smile...” Riley frowns and the internal panic begins.
“Well the good news is we both got quite good parts…” Kai tries to feed the negative with a positive first. 
“But?” Riley tries to brace herself. 
“No buts...” Kai shifts on his feet. 
“Give me my bad news first so we can celebrate your good news.” Riley lets out a deep breath. 
“Who said it’s bad for yo-” 
“Oh I can’t take it!” Riley groans and gives Kai a gentle shove out the way so she can look at the board herself. 
Kai stands back having anticipated the existential crisis this will bring upon Riley. He loves Riley’s dramatic flare, he indulges it but he doesn’t like her being dramatic when it’s used to cope with her pain. That, he doesn’t like to see.
"Helena?” Riley turns to Kia with wide eyes. “Helena?”
“That’s a lead role!” Kai says encouragingly.
“Yes, which so happens to be a desperate maiden that pines for the unrequited love of a boy who likes her friend.” Riley laughs at how unbelievable that was. “The only thing that could make things worse would be if Demetrius was...” Riley assesses Kai’s face as it scrunches up further with each word she speaks, “No!” Riley whines. The brunette turns back around to the list. She finds Demetrius and runs her finger along to, “Lucas.” 
“Ri-” 
Riley places her index finger to Kai’s lips to hush him. “I’ll sulk later. Did you get the part you wanted?” 
“Riley,” Kai coaxes his head. 
“Did you get the part?” Riley asks more firmly. 
“Yes.” Kai says quietly. 
“King of the fairies,” Riley says with a wide smile. “I’m really happy for you.” 
“This will be okay,” Kai gives her a sympathetic smile. Yes, he was happy to get his desired role but he didn’t like that Riley was reflecting on negative past times with her roll. “Just because Lucas and Zay are in the play and your other friends are helping doesn’t mean anything has to change. This can still be our thing. It can still be fun.” 
Riley wears a small smile and nods and for the first two weeks of rehearsal Riley believed his words to be true. Things were travelling well. Again Riley feels as though she might be able to balance her two worlds. Just as long as she doesn’t think about Lucas romantically. It had been almost a year now since the nature trip. The heartache wasnt constant like it had been for so many months after Lucas’ decision. It hurt to think about it, still to this day but as the time went on Riley found it easier to actually suppress those thoughts therefore she didnt have to deal with them. But now, she’s being forced to ‘act’ like she loves him. That definitely stirs things up. 
Riley thought that maybe the fact that Lucas plays a character thats quite nasty towards her would help a little but between scenes he’d go and be sweet and apologetic for pretend snapping at her. Each time making Riley’s heart flutter and it churns up the feelings she spent the summer really suppressing. As each day goes by Riley feels the doors pushing to open and tries her best to keep them closed. 
It’s two weeks into rehearsing that Riley comes to realise that as nice as it was to have Maya around, it was effecting her more negatively than positively as Riley feels her heart pick up pace when her and Lucas read lines together only a few feet away. The guilt constantly ate at Riley and there’s one moment in rehearsal that sees Riley realise just how wrong it was for her to be doing what she was. 
They were preparing to rehearse the scene of the play where Theseus and Hippolyta discover Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius sleeping outside the forrest. Each declaring their love for one another.
Lucas appeared to be anxious which, if he was anxious prior to today he was very good at hiding that from Riley. As they get into position Riley can’t help but wonder what’s wrong and even goes as far to whisper that to Lucas.
“Did you see the script change?” Lucas asks sheepishly and a wave of confusion takes hold of Riley. Ms. Mitchell is quick to quieten everyone down and ask Martin, the boy playing Theseus to start with his lines before Riley can clear anything up with Lucas.
Riley stands with Lucas, her arm wrapped around his back, her other hand brought up and resting against his chest while his arms pull her in closer by the waist. Riley was tense and awkward being in such close proximity to Lucas, her cheeks felt hot and she was making herself more nervous by worrying about looking flustered.
To make things worse Ms. Mitchell yells cut and calls Riley out for her stiffness and babbles on about how she - meaning Helena - is finally in the arms of the one she loves so she she should fall into place with him the same way they fell into love. Undeniably her words spoke a double meaning to Riley and it made things even more awkward for the teen. The tension wasn’t lost on Lucas either, this was odd for him too except he chooses not to hide it like Riley, instead he gives her an embarrassed and almost apologetic grin and they resume the scene.
“Now once Theseus waves the law and declares both couples will marry, Lysander and Demetrius will dip their respective lovers into a kiss where they will hold that position while the fairies return and ‘magically’ transform the set into the wedding scene.” Ms. Mitchell instructs. 
“What?” Riley squeaks. “A kiss?”
“Yes, did you not check the script changes?” Ms. Mitchell frowns. “I emailed them all through this morning.”
Riley finds Kai and gives him a look, he shrugs his shoulder and looks just as surprised as her.
“Do you think the kiss is a good idea?” Riley asks and Ms. Mitchell looks so offended that she’d even think to question her. “I just mean Demetrius doesn’t really love Helena, he is forced into it with a spell. If we seal it with a kiss isn’t that a bad message we are displaying for the audience?”
“Darling, that’s Shakespeare.” Ms Mitchell is clearly irritated, “Not to mention these changes make for easier set transitions and if you aren’t comfortable with a mere ten second peck on the lips then maybe you have no business playing one of the leads.”
Ms Mitchell’s words were harsh but Riley was more scared by the mention of a ten second kiss. That was at least nine seconds longer than her first and only kiss.
“Do we have a problem?” Ms. Mitchell asks sternly.
“Not with the roll, no..” Riley shakes her head. 
“Then what is it?” Ms. Mitchell questions. 
"It’s uh, it’s,” Riley takes a moment to stop her stammering, “It’s just that Lucas is Maya’s boyfriend I didn’t want to-”
“Riles, it’s cool.” Maya speaks up, she is off to the side painting a set and had stopped to listen. “It’s just pretend, right?”
“Yeah it’s not like it means anything.” Lucas says, he meant it to be encouraging or soothing at least but the moment the words left his mouth he regretted them.
“You’re right.” Riley says quietly. “Sorry, Ms. Mitchell shall we resume?”
“It’s getting late, why don’t we call it a day. Enjoy your weekend and we will reconvene Monday 3:30pm sharp.”
Everyone starts to wander off and Kai immediately pulls Riley behind the curtains and away from everyone. Before he could even ask if she was okay Riley’s eyes are heavy with tears threatening to spill and her bottom lip quivering. Kai engulfs Riley in a tight embrace. Once they separate, Riley wipes at the fallen tears. “Even if we remove the irony of the play completely, that’s still a mean thing to say to me isn’t it?”
“It’s not a nice thing to hear,” Kai shakes his head, “Even though I’m not sure he meant it to hurt you.” 
“I don’t want to kiss Lucas, I don’t want to be in the play.” Riley sheds more tears. “I want out, Kai, please.” 
“Maybe we can talk to Aleisha and See if she wants to play Helana and you can be my fairy queen?” Kai soothes his friend.
“I don’t want Lucas to think I’m switching because of him.” Riley blinks our more tears. 
“Ri, if you want out I’ll support you of course.” Kai rubs her back. “But you can’t let them ruin it for you. You were so excited about the play, it’s a lot of what we talked about this past summer.” 
“It’s not fun for me anymore.” Riley sniffles. 
“Lets take the weekend and work this out.” Kai says with a small smile. “We can tell Ms. Mitchell you thought about it and decided you can’t support the manipulation of love. We can see if someone wants to trade rolls for you...” 
“They’re still going to be here, I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Riley’s bottom lip still quivering. 
“What time do you finish work tonight?” Kai asks. 
“8:30,” Riley answers. 
“Well I’ll be there at 8 and we can walk back to yours and have a movie night.” Kai rubs Riley’s arm. “We can forget today and the whole play and work it out tomorrow. That sound good?” 
Riley nods and wipes away the rest of her tears. 
“You certainly put the drama in drama club,” Kai jokes and Riley chokes through the laughter. It’s very like Kai to make Riley laugh even in the most miserable of times. 
Kai hangs around for the last thirty minutes of Rileys shift at the bakery and sips on a chocolate milkshake. Once Riley finishes up they walk back to her apartment as planned. Kai parks himself on the sofa with Riley’s family while she retreats upstairs to shower off her day.
Riley exits the shower and strolls to her room in a towel. Riley lets out a shriek when she finds an unexpected guest sitting in her bay window. 
“I’m so sorry,” Lucas throws his hands out defensively and clenches his eyes shut. 
“What are you doing here?” Riley yells out of embarrassment as she reaches for her robe. 
“I’m sorry I should’ve texted first or used the door.” Lucas is still paniced with eyes closed tight. Truth is he spent ten minutes outside Riley’s building trying to decide if he should ring the bell or not. Ultimately he decided to use the window, he wasn’t prepared to admit that they weren't those kind of friends anymore. 
“I’m covered,” Riley says a little more softly but her heart is still beating fast, “Severely embarrassed but, covered.” 
“I’m sorry...” Lucas cautiously opens his eyes. 
Seconds later Riley’s entire family and Kai is at her bedroom door having heard the loud shriek.
“Lucas?” Cory is the first one to express his surprise. 
The Texan gives everyone a sheepish greeting. 
“I need to use the bathroom.” Topanga announces. 
“Uh, me too,” Cory chuckles nervously. 
“Me three.” Auggie holds out both hands and shakes his head before parting. 
Riley gives Kai a look. He’s still resting his weight against the frame of her door. A mild glare on his face pointed at Lucas. Riley’s silent look communicates quite clearly that she wants him to scram. Kai lets out a quiet groan. “Fine. Me four.” With that he parts. 
“I’m sorry for showing up unannounced,” Lucas apologises again. “I shouldn't have done that.” 
“It’s fine.” Riley shakes her head trying to get over the shock. “What are you doing here?” 
“I came to apologise for what I said during rehearsal,” Lucas holds Riley’s stare. 
“You have nothing to apologise for.” Riley drops her gaze to the floor and her anxiety towards the situation builds. 
“I know I upset you when I said that it didn’t mean anything.” Lucas states with a solemn expression. “I didn’t mean for it to sound dismissive of everything I just meant... If we’re just friends then why would it be weird?” 
Riley’s tries her best to keep a steady and unfazed tone. “Friends don’t kiss their friends boyfriends, even in plays it’s weird.” 
“Okay.” Lucas gives a single nod. “How about what you said to Kai after we wrapped up?” 
“What?” Riley’s heart picks up pace again. 
“I came to apologise to you for saying what I did and you were crying.” Lucas watches Riley’s face as he speaks. “Because of me...”
“Don’t sweat it,” Riley forces a laugh that sounds more awkward than anything else. “I have a full work load at the moment and it makes me tired which makes me overly emotional.” 
“You said the play isn’t fun for you anymore and that’s because we joined.” Lucas continues to prove he overheard her entire conversation with Kai. Thankfully he doesn’t suspect Riley’s emotions came out of feelings for him but he still hurts to think Riley’s finished with them as friends. 
“Lucas, you’re making a big deal over nothing.” Riley frowns. “I just didn’t want to kiss my friends boyfriend, you know how over the top I can be sometimes. It was just stressing me out and I snapped. Same old Riley!” 
“Don’t quit the play,” Lucas says softly, “If you don’t want to kiss me that’s fine, I understand. Just don’t give up something you like because I made things weird by injecting myself into them without thinking how that could affect us. I’ll ask to switch parts, just don’t worry about it, okay?” 
Riley can only manage a small nod. Lucas proceeds to climb out the window and hovers on the fire escape. 
“I’ll fix this, Riley,” He says by the open window. Once he notices the anguish on Riley’s face he pauses. “Is everything alright?” 
“Things are changing, Lucas,” Riley’s voice is weak. 
“But not between us, right?” Lucas wears a hopeful smile.
Riley’s smile fades. “I don't know anymore.” 
Lucas silently processes her words and expression before leaving without another word.
Come Monday Riley arrives at school early to see Ms. Mitchell. After some extra thought over the weekend Riley decided she didn’t want to face Lucas in rehearsal everyday so she wanted out. As Riley knocks on Ms. Mitchell’s office door she finds her drama teacher in a huffy state and asks what’s wrong. 
“I have to recast Demetrius for the play and we’re already halfway through rehearsals.” Ms. Mitchell sighs. 
“Lucas quit?” Riley knits her brows together. 
“He emailed me on Friday night saying he can’t juggle baseball and the play.” Ms. Mitchell is clearly irritated. “What is it you came to see me about, Riley?” 
“Nothing...” Riley shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore...” 
End Note: Sorry if this is poorly edited, my boss caught me not working so I’m posting quickly!!!! 
For anyone that hasn't read the one shot this is based off, nor caught on by the ‘subtle’ hints left in the story but Kai is gay. I just don’t think some people have worked that out yet hahah and there was no need for a big coming out scene because he’s already openly out. Anyways! Moving on!!!! Next Chapter. Thanksgiving. Everything changes. STAY TUNED! 
Comments, reviews, etc, always SO appreciated!! :) 
Pepole who want to be tagged (sorry I’ve been forgetting to do this part in the last few chapters!!!!): @pamela-barron​ @siennese​ @nicolecolin​ @brassqueen​ @renait-courageux  (Sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone! Please just let me know if I did /if you want me to stop tagging you!!)   :)
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Text
Not the End
Riley Matthews was tired. She was tired of always coming second place to everyone in her life. Especially to Maya. Yes, she was supposed to be her best friend, but lately she felt as though she was taking over her life. No, that just sounds stupid out loud. But that's the truth isn't it? Here she was sitting in her room on her birthday crying her eyes out. Let's review what happened so far. (This part is going to be first person in Riley's POV) I woke up this morning with a smile on my face. It was my birthday! I was so excited. I danced out the door still in my pajamas and to the kitchen. Usually on my birthday there is a big steaming tray of chocolate chip pancakes waiting for me. Along with my family singing me happy birthday. But when I got to the kitchen it was empty. All I saw was a bowl of cheerios with a note beside of it. 'Riley, had a big case this morning. Dad had to leave to go to a meeting for work this morning and took Auggie to drop him off at Dewey's. Make sure you get to school on time. Say hi to Maya for me! -Mom' and then at the very bottom she managed to squeeze in a happy birthday. I sighed and went to get the milk out from the fridge. Just another drop in a sea of disappointment. I got a text from Josh while eating my cereal. 'Hey Kiddie, sorry I can't make it to the party tonight. But I'll make it up to you I promise! Happy Birthday!!! 🎈🎊🎉 ' I smiled and continued to eat. After I finished my bowl of cereal, I went to my room to get dressed for school. I picked out a simple ringer shirt, with a black button up skirt and my gray converse. I curled my hair and shook out the curls to make them looser. I put on a little amount of make up as usual and grabbed my bag, and my phone. I checked the time and ran out the door. I slid through the doors of the subway just in time. I couldn't find any seats so I stood up. The train stated to move and I turned to see Maya who was sitting in someone's lap. I couldn't see his face, because some sweaty Statue of Liberty guy is in the way. Maya stayed on the guy's lap however and she was giggling. After the next stop the Statue of Liberty guy stole a seat. Once he moved I saw whose lap Maya was sitting on and I almost threw up. It was Lucas. She was sitting there giggling away. Neither of them saw me and I intended to keep it that way. I scooted over to the back of the train as far away from them as possible. I was able to sit down after a man got off. I sat down next to an older man. A tear fell down my cheek and I wiped it away. "Are you okay?" I looked up and saw a girl about my age with turquoise hair. She was wearing skinny jeans and a guns n' roses shirt. "My name's Cali. I just, saw you crying and thought I should see if you were okay." I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks. It's just, my birthday's not really going so great." The train lurched to a stop. "Oh, Happy Birthday. Well this is my stop." She smiled at me then exited the train. I sighed and stood up. It was my stop next. I wanted to get out before Maya and Lucas saw me. As soon as the doors opened I sprinted out and ran off into the bathroom. I wanted to make sure they were passed me. After about ten minutes (they were like turtles) I ran to the school. I was a few blocks from the school when it started to rain. More like pour. Anyways I was getting soaked and I didn't have an umbrella of course. By the time I got to the school I was dripping wet and ten minutes late. I got a pass from the office. The ladies handed me a towel to dry off with and I took it with me to class. I opened the door and all eyes went to me. I handed my dad the note and walked to my seat. "Riley, you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago." I turned to look at my dad. "I know, I had some technical difficulties." I said gesturing to my wet appearance. "Just have a seat and don't let it happen again." I turned and sat in my seat. I still had my towel wrapped around me and since I was sitting under the vent, it was even colder. And it wasn't like the towel was made of wool. I was shivering for a while. "Here Riles, you're freezing take my jacket." I turned around to Lucas who already had his jacket off and was handing it to me. I gave him a small smile, took it, and slid it on. "You know I'm pretty cold too Lucas." I sighed and just looked straight at the board. Of course Maya had to chime in. "Sorry Maya, I don't have another jacket..." "why'd you give it to her then?" "Because she is soaked and freezing Maya." He sounded a little impatient. She quietly huffed and turned back around in her seat. I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. After class I hurried to get out of there. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I scurried to my locker and got my books out fast. I stopped by the bathroom on the way. I picked up my books and was walking to class when I was pulled into the janitor's closet. I was about to scream, but a hand was clamped over my mouth. I relaxed once I saw who it was. "Jeez Lucas! You scared the living daylights out of me!" "Sorry, I just wanted to talk in private." "About?" "Well, I wanted to give you your birthday present." "Well, you could've just given it to me at the party." "No I actually can't, well, I am. But I have two presents." I raised my eyebrows. He handed me a long, thin, velvet box. "Here you go. Happy Birthday Princess." I opened the box and gasped. It was a beautiful charm bracelet. "How did you know I've always wanted a charm bracelet?" "I may have heard you talking about it a few times." I looked at each charm. It held a princess crown, a basketball, a book, a subway car, a planet that looked like Pluto, a sun, a cat, a thunder bolt, a cowboy boot, and finally the Eiffel Tower. It was full with charms. "Yeah I had picked a lot more out, but they wouldn't fit. Do you like it, you probably hate it. Oh god, you hate it don't you?" I pulled him in for a hug. "I love it, thank you!" "Your Welcome. Happy Birthday Riles." I smiled and so did he. We were in kind of a trance. We were slowly inching closer when he warming bell rang. We both jumped out of the daze. "Well I better get to class." "I gotta go." We said at the same time. I reached for the door handle and pulled it open. I hurried off to my next class. I slid into my seat right when the bell rang. Class was a blur and I was glad to go to lunch. I stopped by my locker to put my books away and get my money. I was about to put the box in the locker. Then I stopped and opened it. I stared at it and smile before taking it out and clipping it around my wrist. I shut my locker and went off to lunch. Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all. I started to think before I got into the lunch room and stopped in my tracks. Maya and Lucas were sitting at the table making out. And they weren't being shy about it. I got my lunch which consisted of Mac and cheese (with ketchup of course) an apple, chocolate milk, and a roll. I sat my tray down at the table next to Farkle and Zay. I smiled at them and started picking at my food and ignoring the tonsil war that was occurring on the other side of the table. Farkle pointed to my charm bracelet. "That's pretty, is it new?" Maya and Lucas had separated and I looked over to him. He shook his head slightly. "Um yeah, I got it from my parents for my birthday." "Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Riles." Everyone joined in with their happy birthday's. Maya however was too busy squinting at my charm bracelet. "Everything okay Maya?" She snapped out of her daze and looked at me. "Um yeah, you sure you got that from your parents?" "Well, it was next to my breakfast this morning with a note so yeah, I'd say it's a high probability." I chuckled a little. "It's just your mom didn't mention it-" "wait, you talked to my mom... when?" I said in disbelief. "She called me when she got out of her trial this morning. She wanted to check up to see if I got the letter about my art internship yet..." and just like that, the subject was all about Maya. As usual. After hearing all about how she struggled about what to write her essay about. I stood up. "Well I'm full." "You hardly touched your food." Farkle pointed out. I ignored his comment. "I'll see you guys next period." I grabbed my tray and rushed towards the door. I didn't see them next period. I decided just to ditch. I needed to cool off before the party tonight. I sat in the bay window for a while staring at my charm bracelet. At about five I started to get ready. I didn't want to dress up super fancy. I put on a white, sleeveless dress with a trimmed waistband. I curled my hair with a big barreled iron and put some of it up if a bun like style. Then I slipped on my nude pumps. The usually amount of make up with a slight cat eye and pink tint to my lips. I looked in the mirror. I shook my charm bracelet down to my wrist from when it got stuck on my forearm. "Well as always. This is as good as it's gonna get." (Hahaha Princess Diaries quote; I love that movie) the doorbell rang and I went to go answer it. I opened it and there stood Lucas, he had a present wrapped in his hand and was staring at me. "Wow, Riles you look beautiful." I blushed and muttered a thanks. He brushed past me. I was about to shut the door when Maya slammed her hand against it to stop it. "Happy. Birthday!" "Thanks!" I held my arms out for a hug, but she brushed past me and walked over to Lucas. "Hey babe." She kissed him. He muttered a hey and glanced at me. Farkle and Isadora came through at that moment and I was never more grateful. Next Zay came. I asked my friends to come a little earlier so I could open their presents separately. I opened Farkle's first, it was certificate. "YOU GOT ME MY OWN STAR! AAAAHHH!" They all chuckled. "Yeah, you know you get to name it." "Five bucks it's gonna be." "Pluto" Zay whispered to Smackle. Who finished his sentence. "Well obviously there's only one real choice! Farkle!" "Why me?" "Because you gave it to me. But also so I can tell people that there's a star named Farkle." They all laughed. I opened the rest of the gifts one by one. I got a kaleidoscope and a book on feminism from Smackle, a coupon book for free hugs from Zay. Who laughed when I asked if I could return the gift. Then he gave me my real present which was a gift card to a spa, I also got a gift card to Demolition and tickets to go see Wicked (my favorite broadway musical) from Maya. I opened Lucas' gift last. When I opened it I found a book. 'To Kill A Mockingbird' this was one of my favorite books. But Lucas knew I already had this. "This was the book I was reading on the subway when we first met. I thought you might like to have it." I smiled and thanked him and then thanked all of them. Only a few minutes later there was a knock and people came piling into our apartment. I was having some fun at the party, but mainly I was just doing damage control. Making sure nobody spiked the punch, or broke my mom's expensive Persian vase. About an hour into the party some girls from my class asked about my bracelet. I told them the same story I told my friends. They asked to look at the charms. I said sure, but then I spotted a few football players tossing around my dad's signed phillies ball. So I took it off and told them to just leave it there and I'd come back to get it. Maya kept standing by us eyeing the bracelet. I think she might be suspicious. Anyways about ten minutes later I came back and it was gone. I started to panic. I asked the girls who were looking at it and they said that they put it back when they were done. I thanked them and decided that maybe it got misplaced. I needed a moment to myself so I walked to my room. I was about to go in when i heard voices arguing inside. I recognized them immediately, they were Lucas and Maya. The door was open a crack so I peaked inside. I saw Maya dangling my charm bracelet in front of Lucas' face. "Look I don't get what the big deal is? So I gave her and bracelet and a book. So what?" That made Maya more mad. "So what?! You do realize that half of these charms represent romantic moments between you two?" He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "They were just moments, and the charms were just pretty. Can we go back to the party now?" She threw the charm bracelet on the bed. "Do you like her?" "Oh come on Maya!" "Just answer the question! Do you still like her?"!he hesitated for one second. "No Maya, I chose you. I like you." He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. However Maya didn't pick up on that. "Say it again." She demanded. "I don't like Riley, I like you." She kissed him, he kissed her back. "Come on, let's go back. We can do this later." I stood back as the door swung open. He door stopped in front of me so they couldn't see me as they exited the room hand in hand. As it swung back I brushed a few tears away I didn't know had escaped. I went in my room and locked the door. I leaned my back up against the door and slid down the back. Burying my head in my knees, I sobbed. After a minute I decided that I needed to get out of here. I couldn't stand the fact that they were here, in my room, kissing. I grabbed my phone, fifty bucks, and a jacket. I hesitated as I saw the bracelet on the bed. I slowly reached and picked it up. I touched all the charms and tossed it back on the bed. I got to the window and looked back at the room. Then I crawled out. I was wondering around aimlessly for about a half an hour. I didn't know where I wanted to go. I started to get cold, I wasn't that far from NYU, so I decided to go there. I got on the subway to go a few blocks because my feet were killing me. I went on twitter and saw pictures of my party. I was scrolling through random pictures when I stopped on one. It was a picture of Zay in a sombrero. But in the background Maya and Lucas were kissing. I locked my phone and set it down next to me before I pulled my knee to my chest and openly cried. There was only a few people on the subway anyways. It was about eleven o clock. I heard footstep approach I looked up to see the same girl from this morning. "Hey, you okay?" This time I looked at her and shook my head. "What's wrong?" I started to explain the entire story starting from this morning. "Wow, that's rough. So where you headed.now?" "I'm going to go to my uncle's place. He goes to NYU." The subway skidded to a stop and I stood up. "Thanks." "Don't mention it, here, if you ever need to talk again. Give me a call." She scribbled her number down on a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to me. I have her a small smile and hopped off the train. I walked one block from there to NYU. I got to Josh's dorm and I knocked. He didn't answer. I slid down the door and decided to wait. It wasn't like I had any place to be. A tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it off. Then another came, they kept on coming and I couldn't stop them. Then I was sobbing on the floor. Letting everything out that has happened in the past three months. I didn't hear the clutter of footsteps approaching.
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can you do a headcanon where riley stays with eric for like a summer?
absolutely
Okay so 9th grade is drawing to a close and Riley’s a bit of an emotional mess
She’s just officially dumped Lucas after a few months of him being a shitty boyfriend and leaving her confused
She’s been picking up hints that Farkle’s actually interested in her, and by now she knows how she feels about him, but the dummy is still dating Isadora and hasn’t outright said anything so she’s just upset and confused about that whole situation
Her self-esteem is at an all time low, she’s fighting with Topanga more and more, she doesn’t want to talk about most of that with Maya and that’s causing them to fight a little
Basically she’s just back in ‘tired’ mode you feel
So Cory picks up on this and knows she just needs a general break so he starts looking up like if there’s any sleep away camps for her but he’s not finding anything he thinks she’d be thrilled with
And he does this for a while and just mentions it in passing to Eric (bc Eric knew something was up with her and wanted details) and Eric’s just like “dude I’m gonna be in DC for most of the summer and they’re running this program where high school kids can intern for their state’s senators. I’m SURE I could pull some strings and get Riley in”
And Cory thinks that sounds perfect bc he knows Riley misses being close to Eric and it’d be a great way for her to just forget about everything back home for two months and learn some things about politics while she’s at it
Topanga is sold because she thinks it would look great for college and job resumes
So one day after a particularly horrid day at school, during which she overheard 10 different classmates wonder when lucaya would get together now that Riley’s not ‘holding him back’, Smackle announced it was her and Farkle’s one year anniversary, and she accidentally toppled a pyramid during cheer practice, this girl is fucking done. She just wants to sleep. But Eric appears from the shadows and drags her off to dinner at some fancy restaurant
Like she appreciates the gesture but she’s not feeling it Topanga dead ass had to get a dress and shove her into the bathroom lmao
But anyway they get there and have a nice dinner. It’s literally just mostly Riley venting about all her problems while Eric nod’s and “no” ‘s appropriately
But sometime during dessert he just out of the blue “hey you wanna live with me this summer?”
This man has no tact there was no build up Riley was caught so off guard omfg
But he explains the whole internship thing, and he’s like “You’re a model student and I already spoke to the head of the program, they have no problem giving you the spot. I’ve got this big place in DC and Jack’s only going to be able to come by sporadically because of the company so that leaves plenty of time for uncle/niche bonding when I’m not at work. You’d get to meet a bunch of new kids your age, and I’m sure all the Smivy League colleges you’re shooting for will think this is great. You won’t have to focus on any drama with your friends until August. So, I’ll give you a few days to think about it? You know you can call me whenev-”
But Riley’s already shouting “YES!!!!” at the top of her lungs and lowkey tearing up omfg she’s so happy about this
Eric was not expecting this enthusiastic of a response but Riley’s hugging him and seems genuinely happy and excited for the first time all night so he’s thrilled
Okay, so she had to leave to be in DC about a week before her school actually got out. (Technically two, if you count the three days for exams) Cory worked it out so she took all her exams early on the weekend before she left
And Riley was like “Now, I could be mature about this and tell all my friends about this…Or I could be me and just up and leave with absolutely no warning and not give them any solid explanations unless I’m feeling better in August.”
She decides to go with that and swears Cory and Topanga and Auggie to secrecy lmao
Like literally the gang walks into History class one day and they’re all “Wtf where the hell is Riley she’s never absent” and Cory’s just like “Oh she moved to Washington please turn to page 394.”
You can imagine the reactions that got lmaoooo
So anyway, Riley’s in awe of Eric’s place in DC cause it’s so big and fancy
She doesn’t have to do anything her first day there so he sets her up with someone to take her on a tour of all the important buildings and stuff and she meets a couple of other intern kids so she has fun
And then when she actually starts the intern job it’s literally basically just following him around to take notes at meetings and getting messages to other senators and making coffee. She doesn’t find it that much of a hassle and really gets to know some of the other kids pretty well
They all have relatively the same grades and college aspirations as her and she’s like!!! Finally!!! People who are as smart as me but not obnoxiously condescending about it as Farkle and Smackle!!!
OR Finally!!!! People who seem to like me and not find any parts of me too annoying like Lucas and Maya!!!
Or Finally!!! People who don’t make me feel like they’re only talking to me out of convenience like Zay!!!
Like obviously Riley still adores her friends, she always will, but this was like a big eye opener that not every single person in the world is going to view her in the same way her friends and family do.
 And that really helped with her self-esteem a bit. Did it also help that Maya wasn’t there so she could constantly feel overshadowed? Yes. Like, she knows Maya’s in her life for eternity, but having a couple months to learn to thrive without her was really helpful for Riley. Same with not having Topanga try to nit-pick everything she does, or Cory constantly worrying over her, or things like that.
Eric was a pretty chill guardian. He gave her space to grow and try to figure things out about herself, he had no problem with her hanging out with the other internship kids. He let her dye the ends of her hair purple (which she pulled into a bun during work hours to look more professional), she got another ear piercing, she started playing guitar again which she hadn’t really consistently done in years (Eric had somehow ended up with one of Alan’s old ones, but he never used it despite his talent for it lol. Riley found it in a space room when she was exploring around one day since Eric and Jack went for dinner)
And Riley loves spending all this time with Eric again. Since he was around daily in her early childhood, and she had never completely taken well to him moving out. While they stayed close through the years there was just something different about it, you know? So hanging out with him every day made her happy and feel a lot more carefree.
He took her out for lunch every day unless he had to work through it, they saw movies whenever they could, he let her drag him onto a couple horrid shopping trips (with all the pink he was starting to have war flashbacks to Desire lol), her Instagram was flooded with cute selfies of them, they ate way too much pizza because cooking will never be Eric’s strong spot, he took her to see a musical one night. They were having a lot of fun.
And Eric was just thrilled bc Riley was deadass thriving like she was so on top of everything for work and was always having fun with the other interns. She was back to huge, bright smiles never leaving her face, there was a bounce in her step at all times, she joked around a lot and everyone at the office adored her.
Riley, true to plan, barely spent any time worrying about any drama she had back home. She was living in the moment and being happy. She occasionally shot her friends short updates like “Having so much fun here! Can’t talk right now, too busy, but can’t wait to see you guys when I get back!” but that was basically all the thought she was giving them. This was a summer of having fun and focusing on herself and her own shit and that’s what she was committed to doing
There were a few instances where Eric and Jack had her go through everything that was upsetting her, just so she doesn’t go back and just immediately fall back into those situations.
Conclusions she came to:
1) She was absolute on her feelings for Farkle, and felt she had dropped enough hints alluding to them. The boy and Smackle had officially broken up sometime in late June, and after all the drama of Lucas being such a passive boyfriend, she demanded that Farkle would have to be smart enough to make the first move.
2) She needed to stop being so symbiotic with Maya, or else she will never escape feeling overshadowed by her. She was sorta getting there with cheerleading, but she shouldn’t let devotion to her friend stop her from joining other clubs she wanted to, like physics club or sci fi club or drama club or GSA or student council or film club or the basketball team or a book club. She just needed some space away from Maya in places she knew she’d enjoy and shine in.
3) She already knew she was completely over Lucas Friar’s ass, but she needed to stop listening to her obnoxious classmates gossip about them. They had no real idea of anything that went on between them, so whatever they have to say shouldn’t effect her
4) Her grades were just as good as Farkle and Smackle’s, and she was going to make damn sure they remembered that when school started back up. She was sick of being made to feel like an idiot just because she didn’t laude her grades over everyone (however unintentionally the duo were doing that). She knew Farkle was mostly better considering she had floored him when she turned out to tutor him in math earlier in the year, so her main focus was just beating Smackle at like every test she could lol. It might be slightly petty but what else do you want from a 15 year old?
5) She was going to sit down and have a LONG talk with Topanga about how she makes her feel.
6) She is going to remain in contact with all her new friends from across the country and make more in the clubs she’s planning on joining. Her little group is still who she feels closest to and she has no plans on ditching them, but she still wants to branch out and not feel dependent on people who don’t feel dependent on her. She doesn’t want to feel dependent on ANYBODY.
And various other ideas on just how to keep herself sane and happy. Eric is extremely proud of her for all this yes he cries a bit
She also has a brief fling with one of the other interns and they both know it’s not serious or going anywhere and tbh that kinda thrills her to just spend a few weeks kissing someone she knows she doesn’t have to feel destined to marry. Having something so non-serious like that helps her feel more like she’s growing into her own person and isn’t supposed to repeat the steps of her parents
Eric gave her a diary so she could keep a very detailed account of all she’s going through and figuring out
Did they spend a bunch of time reminiscing old memories??? Yes. Because Eric has way too many baby pictures of her lol
All in all they just really re-bonded and Riley really started blossoming during this summer. But she did eventually have to head back home.
There was a big ‘welcome back’ party planned at the bakery, and they were all expecting the Riley Matthews who left to walk through the doors right
But instead in walks Riley Matthews, who doesn’t have bags under her eyes and who seems like she’s almost glowing. Spring in her step, bright smile, purple hair, taller, not sleep deprived, looking genuinely happy to see everyone. She seems sure of herself and confident, everyone is fucking floored yo
She did throw glitter in the air for her own entrance though, so they did know their girl was in there lol
She maintains the summer spent with Eric was one of the best moves of her life Topanga and Cory are lowkey like is this an insult lol
So yeah season 4′s happening so we can get the developed and confident Riley we deserve what to you mean cancellation lmao you must have misheard
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childfc · 7 years
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OH MY GOSH I DIDN'T KNOW YOU LIKE GIRLS MEET WORLD. Tell me everything. All your opinions.
Honestly, Girl Meets World is one of my favorite TV shows, and I have so many thoughts on it and conspiracies and everything! I’m so sad to see it end. I have been seeing everywhere that fans are really trying to get Netflix to pick it up, and I think that’s a great idea, and I really hope something comes out of it. I’ll share a few of my thoughts and opinions about the show and what I ship and everything, but feel free to come talk off anon about it with me! 
SHIPS
I’m not in the Girl Meets World fandom, so I don’t know a lot of the proper ship names, but I definitely ship Riley and Farkle and well as Maya and Lucas and also Zay and Smackle. Zay and Smackle especially after Sweet Sixteen! I think they have a nice friendship. But I would also love to see Lucas and Smackle together because I thought that moment they had in Topanga’s was really cute, even if it was to prove to Farkle that Smackle has feelings for him. 
I also think that Riley is bisexual because there is undeniable chemistry between Maya and Riley even though I don’t ship them. And I don’t ship Riley and Lucas anymore. I did in the first season, but Lucas has matured a lot since the seventh grade, and I feel like it’s taking Riley a lot longer to grow into the person she’s supposed to be while it feels like Lucas is pretty set in stone. I just feel like Riley’s gotten more ditzy as the seasons have gone on while Lucas has only gotten stronger. I don’t see or feel any chemistry from them anymore, and I haven’t since Ski Lodge pt. 2. 
Honestly, everything about the Texas episodes was great. Especially with Maya. And I don’t care, but I know that Maya only gave away Lucas to Riley because Riley gave him away to her. I believe Maya might’ve gotten lost a little bit with her friendship with Riley, but I don’t think that Maya wanted to be Riley. I think she wanted what Riley had, but I don’t think she wanted to be Riley. I also think that Maya’s feelings for Lucas weren’t because she absorbed part of Riley.
And of course, my OTP is Cory and Topanga. They were my OTP before I even knew what an OTP was. And I love Maya’s mom with Shawn! I wish we could’ve seen them together more since I Do, but it’s whatevvvvs. I love Shawn Hunter with my whole heart. He’s my babe and always has been. I mean look at him. 
CONSPIRACIES
I think Farkle suffers from depression. It was in season two when he stopped wearing bright colors and being his crazy, cute little Farkle self. And I really noticed these changes in Zay’s first episode, The Secret Life, when Zay doesn’t understand Farkle the way the rest of the group does. I think part of his depression is triggered by the fact that Lucas, who is apparent to us to be his only male friend, is preoccupied by his friend from back home. From that episode, Farkle starts to loose his sparkle, looses his turtle necks, and begins to wear black. I think Farkle’s extremely jealous of Zay because of his friendship with Lucas, and I think it explains his reasoning behind the gift he gave to Zay during Secret Santa in season three. 
I think they knew all along that this was going to be the last season. Disney Channel shows have a trend of changing their intro during the last season. Like in Austin and Ally, Hannah Montana, and Wizards of Waverly Place, both shows have different intros during their last seasons! Liv and Maddie also has a different intro this season, I believe. 
Maya is the only person in the group who is an only child. It makes sense that she’s an only child. Her and her mother struggled a lot in her growing up, and there would be no reason for her to climb in Riley’s window if she had a friend at home. I think Zay has older sisters, Farkle has a younger brother or sister, Lucas definitely has brothers and sisters. I think his family is pretty big. And Smackle most definitely has an older brother. A brother who is MUCH older, though. Zay’s siblings also go to Abigail Adams High School. 
OTHER OPINIONS
I DON’T THINK CHARLIE GARDNER IS CREEPY. I don’t. I loved Charlie Gardner and I wished he was in Season Three at least once. I didn’t want him to just be a “love interest” for Riley. I would’ve liked to see him every now and again for other reasons. I also think Charlie Gardner was great with Auggie. I would like to see him as a human in the show. With thoughts and opinions. 
I think Riley is childish and in the real world, I don’t think she’d have a lot of friends and I also don’t blame Riley for creating Jexica in that episode. I think whatever happens in the next episode, if Girl Meets World is to be picked up by Netflix or later picked up somewhere else, will harden her. I don’t think one person can be so optimistic all the time, either, but I get that it’s a kids show, so I’m not too butthurt over it. 
I see everyone always calling Lucas and Peyton Meyer in general a piece of bread. And they always show everything great that the rest of the cast is doing and then just says that Peyton’s being like a normal kid, which is okay too. I think Lucas and Peyton get an unnecessary amount of hate for no reason. I know he’s said some controversial things, and though I’m not sure the entire story of it, I don’t think it’s fair to judge him or hate him for something. Especially because he’s still a child. I don’t think any child should be hated or judged for making mistakes. Making mistakes is a part of life, and I think mistakes are first and foremost a learning experience. Your brain isn’t done developing until your well into your adulthood. I don’t think it’s fair to Peyton or any other child in the spotlight to be hated for being human and making mistakes. 
IF IT GETS PICKED BACK UP...
If Girl Meets World is to ever get picked back up for whatever reason, these things are things that I want to happen:
Lucas Friar development. All I know about him is that he wears a lot of blue, he’s from Texas, he wants to be a veterinarian, he has a Pappy Joe, he held the record for riding a sheep, he’s a year older than everyone in his grade, and he got kicked out of his school for anger issues. WHICH DOESN’T JUST GO AWAY OVER NIGHT. THAT WOULD’VE BEEN PRESENT IN ALL THREE SEASONS AND WE ONLY SAW IT TWICE???? I don’t get it. I want to see more. I want more for him. 
Siblings. I want to meet the siblings of the gang besides just Auggie. The writer’s room on twitter confirmed that they aren’t all only children, and I’d really like to meet them. I talked about siblings up there ^^^. 
More Katy and Shawn. I love them. Even if they’re just sitting there. 
More Josh. I know people don’t like Uriah and don’t think Maya and Josh are a good thing, but I don’t mind them. I don’t think that they’re bad for each other at all. Especially because they aren’t in a relationship. I think Josh would be a good person for Maya to spend her time with and vent to when things with her friends get rough or when things at school are too hard. 
More fights between Maya and Riley. Best friends aren’t always friends. I would like to see more drama between the group just in general. The first couple of episodes of High School were great. Also, I would like to see more episodes about bullying too. 
More mother/daughter moments. I don’t have a mom, so I love seeing Riley and Topanga moments as well as Maya and Katy moments. I even die a little when Minkus and Jennifer have moments with Farkle.
I would love to see more of Mr. Feeny as well. 
I also want more episodes that aren’t in the school. Like a vacation episode or more dances! Or another party episode where they deal with the pressures of drugs and alcohol. Of course, that would be a stretch. 
So those are all of my opinions and thoughts I have for now! I honestly could talk about this show for days. It’s one of my favorites, and I’m super upset that it’s getting cancelled. We definitely deserve at least one more season. 
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jungle-angel · 1 year
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Just Relax (Bob Floyd x Reader)
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Summary: Bob’s an aching mess, but once he’s home it’s a completely different story
Bob pulled into the driveway and shut the truck off for the night, the weight of the day hanging heavy on every last part of his body. He placed his head on the steering wheel and let it all out, the tears flowing freely as shuddering sobs overtook his body. 
He wanted to scream from how much had built up during the day. First it had been the antics of a newbie, a kid barely fresh out of Top Gun who thought he was the cat’s ass and could show off, nearly risking the lives of the team. The second instance had been when Bob had received a stern talking to from Cyclone about how he needed to get a better handle on the new recruits. As if it had been his fault!
The las instance had been when  another arrogant prick had made some unseemly remarks about a photo in Bob’s locker, the photo of you and him snuggling tiny little Auggie while he was still in his little incubator. That had ended with him tackling the guy to the ground and nearly breaking his nose, another instance which had earned him another stern talking to. 
Bob heard the rapping of knuckles on the window and when he bolted upright, there you were, the look on your face being one of concern. “Baby?” you asked as soon as Bob rolled down the window. “Baby what’s wrong?” 
A little whimpering “Oh” escaped Bob’s hoarse throat before his chin began to wobble. You opened the truck door, his six foot frame staggering out onto the driveway before his big arms wrapped around you and pulled you against him. His tears ran hot and burning against your neck as his body shuddered with the sobs that escaped him. One look up at his soft, but pitiful face and you knew something was wrong. 
“Talk to me Bob,” you told him. “What’s wrong?” 
“Baby don’t leave me,” he sobbed. “Please don’t leave me, I’m so sorry.” 
“Bob, what are you talking about?” you asked him, bewildered that he would say such a thing.
Bob unloaded everything onto you, telling you about everything that had happened, his eyes red and stinging horribly from how much he had been crying. 
“Bob I’m so sorry baby,” you cooed, kissing his face. “C’mon in. You need to relax.” 
You were happy that Auggie and Patrick were out of the house with Bob’s mom and dad and that it would just be you and Bob for a few nights. “If it’ll make you feel any better,” you said, turning on the hot water in the bathtub of your shared bathroom. “I had a rough day myself.” 
“What happened?” Bob croaked. 
“Well,” you began. “Auggie almost got into your dad’s pot brownie stash in the fridge.” 
Bob’s eyes suddenly widened in horror. “Damn, I told him to keep those in his room,” Bob groaned. 
“Oh it gets better,” you told him, trying to reach in the medicine cabinet and all the while minding your growing belly. “Baby girl decided she was gonna practice her karate kicks and I ended up peeing my pants in front of my students.” 
Bob made a face. Definitely embarrassing if he ever heard it. “Did you get a new pair of pants?” 
“I did,” you told him. “And then Auggie tossed his cookies all over my shirt.” 
Bob buried his face in his hands. “Baby I’m so sorry,” he apologized. 
“Bob, listen,” you said, taking the jar of dried bath herbs you had made for Bob out of the medicine cabinet. “It happens, we all go through it. Don’t ever apologize for venting. Now get in that bath before I have to haul you in myself.” 
“Yes dear,” Bob answered. 
Bob stripped off every piece of clothing before you helped him in. He gave your belly a kiss as he lowered himself into the steaming hot water, the smells of cedar, eucalyptus, mint and citronella filling his nose before you squirted some Irish Spring on a hot washcloth. You scrubbed his back and shoulders, the obscene groans filling your ears as your baby girl began kicking again. 
“Baby thank you so much,” Bob purred. 
“Bob you know I’d do this for you any day of the week,” you said, kissing his hair. 
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seriestrash · 7 years
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London’s Calling
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1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 ||
Chapter Ten: Damage Control
Word Count: 1993
☏ ☏ ☏ ☏
Riley Matthews had never felt more fire burning beneath her skin then she did after her phone argument with Lucas. Riley is pacing around the room when her mother enters. Riley jumps in fright. 
“You’re up early,” Topanga says as she sets her briefcase down on the table, opens the fridge and takes out the juice. 
Riley mumbles an excuse and sits herself on the sofa not wanting to arouse suspicion. 
“Did Finn get off to soccer okay?” Topanga asks as she pours herself a glass of OJ. 
“Yep,” Riley says bluntly. 
“Is everything okay, honey?” Topanga gives her daughter a quizzical look. 
Riley contemplates venting to her mother but before she can fully think it through Riley’s muttering, “Boys stink.” 
Topanga creases her brows, “Did Finn do something to upset you?” 
“No, gosh no,” Riley says. 
“Then what’s wrong?” Topanga sets down her glass and sits by her daughter on the sofa. 
“Lucas and I had a fight,” Riley admits. 
“What about?” Topanga asks, resting a comforting hand on Riley’s knee. 
“Rain,” Riley answers. She decided to keep the Finn part of it to herself for now.
“Like the weather?” Topanga wears a puzzled expression. 
“No, like the gorgeous transfer student that Lucas is dating,” Riley sighs. 
“Lucas is dating someone new?” Topanga is shocked. 
“For about a month now,” Riley bops her head. 
“Honey, why didn’t you tell me?” Topanga asks. 
“Because I hoped it wasn’t a big deal, that it wouldn’t change Lucas and I,” Riley explains. 
“But things have changed between you two?” Topanga asks. 
“Lucas told me he doesn’t-” Riley stops when Topanga’s cell starts buzzing over on the dining table by her briefcase. 
Topanga looks over at it for a moment but back to her daughter, “He doesn’t what?” 
“It doesn’t matter,” Riley shrugs, “You should probably get that and get to work.” 
“No. It does matter,” Topanga stresses. 
“Really, it’s okay,” Riley forces a smile, “We’ll talk later.” Before Topanga could press any further Riley gets up and disappears down the hall and towards her room. 
As Riley enters she spots Auggie stretching in bed. 
“Is mommy still here?” Auggie yawns. 
“Yes, but she’s leaving soon so if you want to catch her you better scram,” Riley tries to usher her brother out of her room. The curly haired boy is none the wiser and scurries out in search of his mom. 
Riley makes her way to her bathroom ensuite - one of the few perks in Riley’s eye’s about moving - and closes the door but not before childishly poking her tongue out at a photograph of her and Lucas that hangs on the wall. 
Riley turns her shower on - just incase anyone was listening in on her - and calls Maya. Still, the brunette burns with rage, even after playing cool with her mom and younger brother. 
“Early,” Maya groans sleepily through the phone. Reminding Riley that it’s almost 1AM in New York. 
“Liar!” Riley says the moment Maya answers.
“What did I do?” Maya asks defensively as she sits up in her bed. Dazed and confused. 
“You told me that Lucas doesn’t like, like Rain, now Lucas doesnt even want to talk to me!”
“What?” Maya shakes her head trying to make sense of Riley’s amped up rage, “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve noticed Lucas has been avoiding my calls this past month, ever since he told me about Rain asking him on a date. I thought maybe he was trying to spare my feelings with his new relationship but then he accuses me of being a liar. Me? The liar?” Riley is pacing around the small bathroom, “He’s the liar! He’s been making excuses as to why he misses our calls but then I find out it’s because he’s with Rain. Which is totally fine that he wants to spend time with her. I’ve tried to be supportive of them but then he tells me he doesn’t think we should speak anymore and I don’t know what to think!” 
“He said that?” Maya asks, anger creeping into the petite blonde.
“Yeah,” Riley huffs. 
“Are you okay?” Maya asks concerned for her friends emotions. 
“Just really angry,” Riley states firmly. 
“And you’re pretending to be angry because if you’re not angry, you’re-” 
“Sad,” Riley finishes Maya’s sentence and lets herself feel what she really feels about the whole situation with Lucas. Tears forcing their way out and a lump that aches in her throat. The two best friends then talk it out. Maya forces Riley to tell her everything. The brunette opens up about how she’s been feeling isolated since beginning school, the whole lot. The blonde hates herself for not noticing her friends struggle but she’d let herself feel that self hatred later, right now all she has is anger towards Lucas because Maya knows that these tears her best friend sheds are solely because the cowboy is breaking her enormous heart.
“This is all Rain’s fault. I mean, this is Lucas we’re talking about…” Maya shakes her head, “He would never willingly cut you out of his life..”
“Maya, I don’t know, he seemed like this is what he wanted,” Riley sniffles. 
“I’m going to kill him and then Rain.. Or Rain and then him.. Either way they’re dead,” Maya says menacingly, “He’s so lucky I’m in Philadelphia for the weekend.” 
“You’re in Philadelphia?” Riley asks. 
“Yeah, Shawn took mom and I here for some article he’s working on.”
“Did you see Feeny?” Riley questions. 
“Yes but stop trying to distract me because come Monday morning at school I am going to murder your dumb ex boyfriend,” Maya says firmly. 
“Maya no,” Riley wipes away her tears. “Please don’t tell him I told you, please! Please promise me. I don’t want him to think I care. Please, Peaches, please.” Riley desprately begs.
“Okay, okay,” Maya tries to soothe Riley. “I promise…”
*Monday morning, the second Maya sees Lucas at school* 
“I’ve got a bone to pick with you Huckleberry,” Maya yanks Lucas away from his conversation with Farkle and Zay. She takes a tuff of his shirt and uses all her might to throw him against the nearby lockers.
“I take it you’ve spoken to Riley,” Lucas chuckles nervously and that only makes Maya more angry. 
“Where do you get off telling Riley you don’t want to speak to her anymore?” Maya snarls. 
“Look Maya, you don’t understand,” Lucas sighs, his gaze slightly wandering between students onlooking the scuffle. Two of which included Zay and Farkle. 
“You’re right, I don’t understand,” Maya scoffs, “How could you let some girl stop you from talking to Riley? RILEY.”
“Rain didn’t ask me to cut Riley off,” Lucas says defensively. 
“So it was a decision you came to on your own?” Maya asks. 
“Yes.” 
“And that’s supposed to calm me down?” Maya glares. 
Lucas engulfs Maya’s hand and pulls it away from his shirt. He’s obviously stronger than the small girl but out of courtesy he allowed her to overpower him but now he’d had enough. “Look I’m not the bad guy here.” 
“You’re not?” Maya asks, “So you spent and hour crying on the phone to your best friend too?” 
“She cried?” Lucas asks quietly, guilt ridden. 
“You have no idea what’s she’s been through lately,” Maya shakes her head. 
“What’s she been through?” Lucas worries. 
“Why did you cut her out?” Maya asks firmly. 
“Maya-” 
“Why?” Maya holds his stare. 
“It’s not fair on Rain if I talk to Riley..” 
“Why?” Maya shakes her head, genuinely not seeing a logical answer at all. “Riley was here first. She may have left nine months ago but she was here first. Riley believes we’re forever and not just me and her but us. All of us.” 
“You don’t think I know that?” Lucas groans. His amped up frustration takes Maya by surprise. “It doesn’t matter how many days we go without talking because I know Riley will always be there and that’s the problem. Riley sends me a text and I’m distracted for hours. I send her a text and I’m hanging off my phone waiting for a reply. Do you think that’s fair to Rain? That I’m consumed by an ex girlfriend that’s 3459 miles away? Don’t you think I deserve to move on and be happy?” 
“What I think is that you owe Riley more than ‘I can’t do this anymore’. Explain to Riley that one of her favourite people in this entire dumb universe isn’t dumping almost four years of an indescribable connection for the first pretty girl come along since she’s left,” Maya jabs her index finger into Lucas’ chest and holds his stare, “Because she deserves better than that.”
A couple hours after their very public confrontation in the hall Lucas tries to call Riley. He waited until his lunch period as he knew Riley would be out of school by then. One. Two. Three. Four. Twelve times he tries to call her during the hour. No answer. 
It’s after 5:00pm in London and Riley sits at her desk trying to do homework. She has to silence her phone after the fifth call. After the twelfth she sighs and picks up her phone. Not to answer Lucas but to text Maya. 
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Riley locks her phone again. It rings. One. Two. Three more times - all from Lucas - before she gets a text from her mother. 
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Curious as to what her mother has to share Riley is distracted from her Lucas predicament for just a moment. Although, the moment is only short lived as Lucas begins to try plea with Riley via text. 
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Riley stops responding. A minute later her phones rings again, she lets out a loud groan but is surprised to see Farkle’s caller I.D pop up this time. 
“Hello?” Riley answers dubious it’s actually him. 
“Please don’t hang up!” Lucas begs on the other end of the call. 
“Shouldn’t you be in class by now?” Riley questions clearly agitated at his annoying persistence. 
“I’m ditching, talking to you is more important,” Lucas says. 
Riley snorts, “That’s contradictory to what you told me only two days ago.” 
“I’m confused okay?” Lucas sighs, “I don’t think so well without you around.” 
“Yet you believe cutting me out of your life will be more helpful than keeping me in it?” Riley challenges him. Proud of herself for holding her own. 
“That was really stupid of me,” Lucas says quickly, “Riley, I’m so sorry and I want to talk about it and explain but right now the only thing I care about is you. Maya said you’ve been going through something. Are you okay?” 
“What did she tell you?” Riley panics. 
“Nothing, just that you’ve been going through something lately. Riley, what’s wrong?” Lucas desperately begs for answers. 
“You want to know what I’ve been going through lately?” Riley tosses her head back in frustration. Maybe it was the anger or the hurt that Lucas caused her but she definitely wasn’t thinking straight with what she said next. “I hate it here. I hate my stupid school, I hate my stupid teachers, most of the kids at my school are snobby rich kids who make fun of me and the only person who’s genuinely nice to me is Finn and now you’ve made me feel bad for seeking his friendship.” 
“Riley, I’m so sorry… I had no idea,” Lucas feels terrible. 
“You know what?” Riley grunts, getting more worked up by the second. “I don’t even care about any of that. Right now all I hate is you,” Riley blurts out but she sighs heavily and shakes her head, “Lucas, you know I don’t mean that.. But I do mean it when I ask that you don’t call me again.” 
“But Riley-“ 
“No.” Riley says firmly, “This is what you wanted okay? Now it’s what I want.”
“I’m sorry,” Lucas says quietly. 
“Goodbye, Lucas,” Riley matches his soft tone and hangs up. 
End Notes: 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎
48 hours / Thursday morning Australian time - Chapter Eleven. 
The story will be 13 Chapters total + an epilogue. The story is almost over. 
As always, reviews etc. are appreciated. I check tags ;) Thank you for reading and I can’t wait to post more :). 
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