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a-blue-secret · 3 years

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CHAPTER XIV

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Chapter XIII | Chapter XIV | Chapter XV

GENRES: royal au; fantasy au; magic au; friends-to-enemies-to-lovers; king!beomgyu, vizier!taehyun

PAIRING: taegyu

WARNINGS: swearing

WORD COUNT: 4.7k+

AN: So CoL has a taglist now! There's an 'Interact to be Added' post going around somewhere, so interact there if you'd like to be added :)

SUMMARY: Best friends turned enemies, Kang Taehyun has managed to trick Choi Beomgyu into his service, and to rule for a year and a day, until his youngest brother would be old enough to take the throne. Choi Beomgyu has no intention of being obedient however, and tries to thwart Taehyun’s orders at every turn. With a growing amount of distrust and lies within the court, will Taehyun manage to keep the kingdom of Gojongja from falling apart?

Throughout that whole time, Taehyun didn’t say a word once. Beomgyu, confused by the vizier’s silence, looked up, and all the colour drained out of his face. “Oh my god, Taehyun!”

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

In the mere minutes Beomgyu had been talking, Taehyun’s face had become a pale, sickly colour. There was a hint of blue around his lips and around his eyes, and said eyes had a distinct glassiness to them. All of this shocked and scared Beomgyu, but what terrified him the most was when Taehyun swayed suddenly, and keeled over. He would have fallen onto the floor if it weren’t for Beomgyu suddenly leaping out of his chair to catch him.

“Taehyun? Oh my god, wake up!” Beomgyu shook Taehyun frantically, but the vizier’s eyes closed and his head fell limply against Beomgyu’s shoulder. Beomgyu cursed. “What am I supposed to do?” He lifted Taehyun up and carried him out of the room, where he met Chan.

“What do I do? He fainted! Do I take him to the nurse? The doctor? Back to his room? Chan help me!”

The guard looked a little lost as to what to do himself. This sort of thing rarely ever happened. “Uh, give him to me, we’ll take him to the physician.”

Beomgyu anxiously followed behind as Chan carried Taehyun down the corridors. Taehyun’s skin was distinctly sickly pale, and his fingertips had even begun to turn blue. “What the fuck…” Beomgyu whispered to himself.

While on their way, they ran into Yeonjun. The Aruyeonan’s eyes widened as he saw Taehyun unconscious. “Is– is Taehyun okay?”

“Can’t talk, Yeonjun!” Beomgyu said hurriedly. “Taehyun fainted. I don’t know what happened.”

“Wait, stop! Can I see him?” Yeonjun asked. Chan stopped and brought Taehyun back. Yeonjun quickly scanned the vizier’s limp frame, and let out a small gasp. “Give him to me. Now.”

“Sir, it would be best to take him to the Royal Physician-” Chan started.

“No. Give me Taehyun. They can’t help him.”

Beomgyu frowned. “Come on, Yeonjun, how can they not help him? They’re literally professional exp-”

“Listen, I know they can’t help him! Just, give! I need to take him to my room!” Yeonjun said, frustrated. “He’s getting worse by the second.” He held out his arms towards Chan. “Please believe me.”

Chan looked to Beomgyu helplessly. Beomgyu didn’t say anything, conflicted. “Fine,” he conceded. “Chan.”

The unconscious Taehyun was transferred into Yeonjun’s arms. Staggering at the sudden weight, Yeonjun adjusted Taehyun and began to hurry down the hall. Beomgyu attempted to follow after, but Yeonjun stopped him. “No, don’t come. It… it won’t be a pretty sight.”

Beomgyu hesitated. “I’m trusting you with a life, Yeonjun,” he said finally. “Don’t do anything… wrong to Taehyun.”

“I won’t,” Yeonjun promised, and practically sprinted back to his room. He received many scandalised and suspicious glances from the people he passed, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Taehyun into his room… to Hueningkai.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

“Hueningkai, help me!” was the first thing Yeonjun said when he burst into his chambers. Hueningkai stood up in alarm, and gasped when he saw Taehyun lying limp in Yeonjun’s arms.

“Yeonjun! Did you kill him?”

“What? No! Look at his fingers! This is a type of poisoning, right?” Yeonjun lifted Taehyun’s fingers to show Hueningkai the purple-blue stains around his fingertips. Hueningkai paled.

“Get him to the bed, quick. We’ve caught him in time. His fingers haven’t turned black yet, which is good.” Hueningkai immediately rushed to his giant marble ball, pulling out a mortar and pestle, a vial and a vial stand, and a bottle full of clear liquid. “I’m so glad there are so many minerals within this castle.”

“Huh?” Yeonjun looked at Hueningkai, confused, as the younger began to retreat into the hole behind the tapestry. “What?”

“The minerals, in the walls. I can extract them to help make the healing ailment. I’ll be right back!” With those words, Hueningkai disappeared, leaving Yeonjun with Taehyun. Yeonjun looked down at the pale vizier.

“Wait, where are you going? Don’t leave me here alone! I don’t know what I’m doing!”

Hueningkai popped his head up again. “I need to extract the minerals from inside the alcove I made in the palace. I’ll be back in a bit!” Then, Hueningkai disappeared again, leaving Yeonjun stuttering helplessly. The elder sighed, looking down at the unconscious vizier. Reaching for his hand, he hissed when he felt how cold Taehyun’s hands were.

“What…?” he whispered to himself. “Why is he freezing?”

“I’m back, I’m back!” Hueningkai announced. “How is he?”

“I- I don’t know. He’s really cold.”

Hueningkai walked over. “What do you mean?” He placed a hand over Taehyun’s forehead before retracting it quickly, hissing. “What the hell?”

“I don’t know. Suddenly, he started becoming really cold.”

“This is not normal…” Hueningkai whispered. “What is this?” He strode over to the desk beside the bed and began taking out more things from his glass ball. “Okay, change of plans. I thought this was a poison, but it looks like it’s something else.”

“What is it?” Yeonjun asked worriedly.

Hueningkai looked at him with panicked eyes. “I have no idea. Which is the most terrifying part.”

Yeonjun cursed.

“I’m going to have to improvise,” Hueningkai said, spreading his things out on the table. “Just keep Taehyun as warm as possible while I work.”

While Yeonjun busied himself piling blanket upon blanket over Taehyun, Hueningkai worked quickly, extracting oils from herbs and grinding and melting different minerals. Occasionally, he would walk over to Taehyun to look at his fingers or feel his temperature and once, even extract some of his blood.

“Is everything okay?” Yeonjun asked, rubbing Taehyun’s hand between his own.

Hueningkai only hummed in response, quickly mixing two liquids together. “Please, until I say, don’t utter a word. Since this is something I’ve never seen before, I’m improvising an ailment. If even the slightest thing goes wrong, I can potentially end up poisoning him further.” Hueningkai looked up, staring Yeonjun in the eye. “So please, no talking.”

Yeonjun noted the complete seriousness in Hueningkai’s tone, and nodded mutely. Hueningkai gave a nod in acknowledgement, and turned back to his work. The minutes ticked by, and Yeonjun held Taehyun’s freezing hand in his own, not uttering a single word.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

“Okay, I think- I think this should work.”

After a tense half an hour, Hueningkai finally spoke, holding up a steaming vial of clear liquid. “It’s a rejuvenator. That’s all I could think of right now.” He stirred it with a glass rod, watching it carefully. “I put in more herbs than normal, so it’s like a super strong rejuvenator. With any luck, if this works, he’ll heal to be even stronger than he was before.”

Hueningkai came and sat down carefully on the bed beside Taehyun’s head. But just as he was going to give it to Taehyun, he hesitated, looking up at Yeonjun. The elder smiled encouragingly.

“Trust in yourself, Kai. I’m sure it works."

Hueningkai smiled back, taking a deep breath. “Yeonjun, lift his head up. Make sure he swallows.” Carefully, Hueningkai poured the potion down Taehyun’s throat, making sure he drank all of the liquid. Setting the empty vial onto the drawers next to the bed, Hueningkai gnawed at his fingernails worriedly. The change was almost instant. The yellowness faded from Taehyun’s complexion, quickly being replaced with a healthy rosy colour. Hueningkai gave a sigh of relief. “Oh good, the colour’s returning to his face.” He lifted his fingers. “Hm… the blue might take a while to fade, but it probably will with time.”

Yeonjun felt Taehyun’s forehead. “He’s no longer freezing, either.” He smiled at the younger. “Good job, Hueningkai.”

Hueningkai gave a small smile. He placed a hand over his heart. “You have no idea how hard my heart was racing. I was so terrified that I’d accidentally made it worse.”

Yeonjun patted Hueningkai’s shoulder. “But you didn’t, which is all that matters. That was really quick thinking.”

“Thanks,” Hueningkai said. He felt Taehyun’s wrist for his pulse, watching with a relieved face as the colour steadily came back to the vizier’s cheeks. “But what could that have been? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“What was the poison you mistook it for?”

“Aconitum,” Hueningkai responded. “But Aconitum makes your temperature go up, not down. No poison makes your temperature go down.”

Yeonjun rubbed his chin worriedly. “But at least we’ve found something that cures it, right? As long as we have a cure, it doesn’t matter.”

“I suppose…”

“How long will it take him to recover?”

“Hm, maybe about four or five days. A week, tops.”

Yeonjun nodded. “Okay. I’ll go tell Beomgyu that.”

“Beomgyu?”

“He’s the one who witnessed Taehyun fainting. He’s really worried about Taehyun’s condition.”

“Ah, right. Okay, you go do that. I’ll take care of Taehyun.”

With a nod of his head, Yeonjun opened the door, and slipped down the hallway.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

“A few days?!” Beomgyu repeated. “What??”

“It’s lucky we– I mean, it’s lucky he was able to heal at all,” Yeonjun replied. “If I’d seen him just a few minutes later, he might have died.”

Beomgyu ran a hand through his hair. “What- what was it? Do you know?”

Yeonjun hesitated. “I’ve… I’ve seen something similar to it before,” he said slowly. “He’s definitely healing. But it’ll take a while for him to be able to move properly again.”

“Alright. Is… is there any chance that I can see him?”

“No,” Yeonjun said hurriedly. “I mean, he’s sleeping right now, but I’ll let you know when he’s awake.”

Beomgyu nodded. “Okay, thank you. I better get going and do some… Kingly stuff.” Beomgyu began to walk away, muttering to himself. “What the hell do I do? I don’t know how to run a Kingdom. Fuck, Taehyun please get better quick; I don’t want Gojongja to die in my hands.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

Pain. An all-body, mind-numbing pain. That was all Taehyun could feel in that moment. But then, as his consciousness slowly returned to him, he forced open his heavy eyes, trying to take in his surroundings.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a voice said. “You certainly woke fast.”

At the unfamiliar voice, Taehyun suddenly shot upright, causing his head to spin.

“No no, lie down, lie down,” the voice said hurriedly, gently pushing Taehyun back down. Taehyun registered the softness of the surface he was lying on, and determined that he was in a bed. As his vision cleared, he blinked blearily up at the face that he saw.

“Who- who are you?”

“It’s me, Hueningkai,” the person explained patiently. “I am Yeonjun’s adoptive brother.”

Taehyun widened his eyes. “You- you’re the spies!” He tried to get up again, but was firmly held down by Hueningkai. He squirmed under the Aruyeonan’s grip. “Hey! Get off me!”

“Taehyun, please stay still. Lie down. Your body is still recovering from the massive shock it has received. You need to rest.”

“What shock?” Taehyun demanded. “What did you do to me?”

“I healed you.”

Taehyun was about to say that he was completely fine and didn’t need healing, when he registered the ache that was still settled within his bones, and the unexplainable tiredness he felt throughout his body. At that moment, he remembered what happened, and his eyes widened. “You… One minute I was with Beomgyu, the next I was knocked unconscious and woke here. You said– you said you healed me?”

“You missed out quite a few details, but yeah. That’s basically it.” Hueningkai leaned forward, feeling Taehyun’s forehead. He frowned. “You’re not cold anymore, but your temperature is now rising. Don’t go anywhere, wait here.” As Hueningkai rushed away from the bed to retrieve something, Taehyun couldn’t refrain from rolling his eyes. He wouldn’t be able to go anywhere, considering the vast amount of blankets cocooning him. The young Aruyeonan came back with a damp cloth, and placed it on Taehyun’s forehead.

“What’s your ability again?” he asked Hueningkai.

“I… my true one is alchemy. I healed you with a potion drink thing.”

Taehyun nodded. “Ah, that’s right. You’re a Westerner, right?”

Hueningkai flinched slightly, but nodded his head. Taehyun picked up on the tiny action, and mentally scolded himself. He’d forgotten that Yeonjun had said Hueningkai had been picked on for being Western.

“I– I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“It’s fine,” Hueningkai assured him, giving a small smile. “Really. Ever since we became spies, I haven’t had any nasty encounters. I don’t know why I still flinch. But I’m okay now, truly.”

Taehyun looked up at him, and noticed how youthful Hueningkai was. Really noticed. He was still young- maybe Taehyun’s age, maybe even younger. And yet, while his face was youthful, his eyes told a different story. His eyes told tales on how he’d had to grow up so fast, to be able to survive in a court where there were few people to look out for him. His eyes spoke volumes about how he’d had to do things that were scary, and unheard of for someone his age. His eyes painted pictures of the innocent, naive boy who had morphed into the mature adult in front of him. But with a single blink, the stories had gone, and instead were replaced with a sparkling brightness which rivalled even that of Beomgyu’s.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”

“Twenty four, just like you,” Hueningkai said with smiling eyes.

“Wow. You look… so much younger.”

Hueningkai smiled. “That’s what Yeonjun always says. He says I still look like a baby.” He tilted his head in a child-like way. “I don’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult…”

Taehyun laughed, but a sharpness pierced his head and he had to stop. Hueningkai looked down at him worriedly.

“You seem to have suffered a lot. Tell me, is there any unusual pain? Are you suffering from memory loss? Any blank spots in your memory?”

Taehyun furrowed his brows. “Uh… My whole body hurts, if that counts? And… I don’t think I’m suffering from memory loss?”

“What happened just before you fainted?”

“I was talking with Beomgyu. Well, he was talking. He was talking, but then suddenly everything just faded away.”

Hueningkai frowned. “Hm… that’s odd. Beomgyu is a wind manipulator, isn’t he? He has no connections to potions…?”

“No, he doesn’t,” Taehyun replied, watching Hueningkai. “Why?”

“It’s just… even though I managed to heal you, I have no idea what it was.”

“What what was?”

“What was the thing that made you into this state.”

“Oh.”

Hueningkai suddenly widened his eyes, and got up to bow on the floor. Taehyun, startled by the sudden action, leaned over to see what the Aruyeonan was doing, almost falling out of the bed.

“Wh– what are you doing?”

“Please forgive us for initially being spies against you,” Hueningkai said, still on the floor. “We don’t want to oppose you anymore. We just want to be on the same side as you. Will you believe in us, and trust us enough to do that?”

Taehyun blinked. He’d completely forgotten about that. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure. At first, he’d been shocked. And betrayed. His first instinct had been to imprison them. But now… Hueningkai had just saved his life. And before that, by accompanying him in the gymnasium late at night, Yeonjun had also saved his sanity.

Now he thought about it, he had a lot to thank the Aruyeonans for. They may be spies, but they were good-hearted. He knew that now. He could trust them, just like how they had trusted him.

Plus, both Yeonjun and Hueningkai had such clear, pure eyes. Who could have such sparkling eyes and be a murderous backstabber at the same time, anyway? It just wasn’t possible.

Taehyun took a deep breath. “I– yeah, I guess. Yeah, I trust you.”

He ruffled Hueningkai’s hair, and lifted the Aruyeonan’s head to look at him in the eyes, giving the younger a smile. “I trust you.”

The uncertainty on Hueningkai’s face was replaced with a large grin as he processed Taehyun’s words. “Wow. That’s really great. Um… wow. If you weren’t in such a weak state, I’d totally hug you right now. I mean– that’s really…” Hueningkai stopped his rambling, grinning widely. “Thank you for trusting us.”

Taehyun smiled, and held his arms up. “Come on, I may be bedridden right now but I still want that hug.” The vizier let out a small ‘oof’ at the weight of the twenty four year old who, in his eagerness, had just thrown himself onto Taehyun. He chuckled, patting the Aruyeonan’s back.

“I’m so glad! I really want to be friends with you–”

The door was thrown open, and Hueningkai suddenly ducked under the bed.

“I talked to Beomgyu. He’ll want to see Taehyun at some point, so you’ll probably have to disappear for a few hours at some point, Hueningkai. Wait– Hueningkai? Where are you?”

Hueningkai popped his head up from under the bed, glaring at Yeonjun. “Seriously? You had to go slamming open the door?”

“Ah, whoops,” Yeonjun said sheepishly, closing the door with his foot. “Anyway Taehyun! How are you doing?”

“Not very well. My head hurts.”

“Hueningkai! Have you been rambling to him?” Yeonjun tsked disapprovingly. “Talking his ear off won’t help him recover, you know.”

Hueningkai rolled his eyes. “I only ramble when I’m alone. It gets lonely being the behind-the-scenes spy.”

At the mention of the word ‘spy’, Yeonjun jumped, and looked cautiously over at Taehyun. “Speaking of spies… are you– are you okay with us being, you know… spies?”

“He said he is!” Hueningkai beamed. “He said he trusts us!”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened, and he looked at Taehyun. “Really?”

Taehyun gave a small smile. “Yeah.”

Yeonjun stood there for a moment, when an overjoyed grin lit up his face. He bounded across the room, and bent down to give Taehyun a tight hug. “Thank you for believing in us.”

“Thank you for waiting for me to believe you,” Taehyun said. He spotted Hueningkai standing to the side, and beckoned for the younger Aruyeonan to come over. Hueningkai’s face lit up and he immediately joined the hug.

“Let’s all be friends, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Taehyun said, smiling. “Friends.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

And so, Taehyun became friends with two spies. Sure, it was a little weird to say aloud, but their friendship was anything but awkward.

“Stop, Yeonjun,” Taehyun huffed. “I feel fine. No– no more! I’m not a sick child!”

“You still need to regain your strength,” Yeonjun berated. He held up a spoon. “Come on. Open up.”

“I can feed myself! I’m a grown– mmmffph!” Taehyun glared at Yeonjun, cheeks full of rice. Yeonjun laughed, picking some rice grains off the corners of the vizier’s mouth. Taehyun slapped his hand away, swiping away the rice himself. “You didn’t have to shove the whole thing in my mouth,” he said through a mouthful of rice. He held up his hands in a strangling motion. “I’m gonna kill you!”

“Try,” Yeonjun said, putting down the empty bowl. “You can’t even get out of bed. I’d like to see you try.”

Taehyun grumbled, sinking back into the cushions. He knew Yeonjun was right.

It had been two days since the whole incident. Taehyun’s strength was returning, little by little.

“When you get fully better, you’ll be even healthier than what you were before!” Hueningkai had chirped. “The ailment I gave you is like a super duper strong rejuvenator!”

What bothered Taehyun, though, was that it would apparently take a while for him to recover. And he didn’t have a lot of time. Who knows what had happened to Gojongja while he’d been ill? For all he knew, the people could be running rampant and the Lords could have already taken over. He needed to get back to his work as soon as possible.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

“Don’t you even try,” Yeonjun said. “If you fall to the floor like you did last time, I’m not gonna pick you up. You’re going to be left there.”

Taehyun gaped. He thought Yeonjun was sleeping! Yeonjun removed the cowboy hat from his face, looking at Taehyun.

“I’m a spy, Taehyun. Do you really think I’d fall asleep while I’m meant to be chaperoning you?”

“I don’t need chaperoning,” Taehyun huffed, blankets half-removed.

“In that state, you do,” Yeonjun responded. He rose from the chair he’d been sitting in, and crossed the room to tuck Taehyun more firmly into the bed. “Stay.”

Taehyun scowled in annoyance, but stayed where he was.

“Good afternoon Taehyun, Yeonjun,” a voice said brightly, and Hueningkai emerged from behind the tapestry.

“Afternoon, Hueningkai. Everything going okay?” Yeonjun asked.

“Yup! I was running out of glass marbles, but I’ve restocked them all now!”

“That’s good. What are you gonna put in them?”

“Hm, I don’t know yet.” Hueningkai walked over to the desk in the corner of the room, which was full of vials of liquid and little dishes of chemicals. “Maybe more of the flash grenades, I don’t have a lot of them.”

“M’kay.” Yeonjun sat back down in the armchair, putting the hat over his face again. Hueningkai sat down at the desk and began to quietly make the explosives.

Taehyun stared at the ceiling, bored. He had an annoying itch on the sole of his foot, but unfortunately, since he was swathed in blankets, he wasn’t able to reach it. He turned his head and watched as Hueningkai went about his work while Yeonjun napped rested. It was almost… peaceful. Calm. The two spies were so familiar with each other, so used to their routine, that they almost unconsciously settled into this tranquil atmosphere. It was rather soothing to watch. Eventually, feeling the itch go away, Taehyun settled more comfortably into the bed, for now content with watching the peaceful scene before him.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

“Yeonjun? Hueningkai?”

Yeonjun raised his head, and Hueningkai turned around from the desk.

“You okay, Taehyun?” Hueningkai asked.

“The two of you have been really honest with me, by telling me you’re spies, so I thought I’d be honest with you.”

Hueningkai tilted his head. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. It’s fine.”

Taehyun shook his head. “No, no. I want to. To tell the truth, I’m still a bit reluctant about saying this, but… you’ve done so much to prove I can trust you, so there’s really no excuse for me to hide these sorts of things.” Taehyun took a deep breath, and looked at Yeonjun. “Yeonjun… ages ago, the first time you had dinner with me and Beomgyu – well, just me since Beomgyu wasn’t there – the thing you said about the Crown Handing? About it looking planned? The reason it looked like that was because… it was. It was all planned.”

Hueningkai set the wooden spoon down on the table, turning in his chair to look at Taehyun fully. Yeonjun pushed his hat further up from his face to see Taehyun better.

“The truth is, I knew Father would give the crown to Junghoon. Jiwon was too reckless, my sisters too ‘weak’... there’s no way he’d choose them. Junghoon would be too young, too naive to rule, but he'd be the only one he could choose. I knew that. The downside of this decision was that Lords and generals would immediately scheme to become his regent, and rule in his place. I couldn’t let that happen. And so, I turned to Beomgyu.”

“Woah woah woah, hold up,” Yeonjun interrupted. “Why not you?”

Taehyun bit his lip. “I’m not a Kang. I was adopted from the Jeo clan. I can’t rule.”

Hueningkai and Yeonjun exchanged sympathetic glances, and looked at Taehyun consolingly. “Oh, that must suck for you,” Hueningkai said.

“No, no. I’m actually pretty cool about it,” Taehyun said. He shrugged casually. “These past few months, I’ve seen what ruling is like, and I’m not sure I would have wanted to do it alone. If I’d been a Kang, I’m pretty sure I would have been the next King, and that would have been too stressful. Kang or not, it doesn’t really matter to me anymore.”

Yeonjun tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Wow. I’d have never guessed that. You behave like a true Jinju Kang. What’s your true ability then?”

“Foreign exchange,” Taehyun said. “I have no idea what the hell it means, but yeah.”

“Have you figured out how to use it yet?”

“I have no idea what it means, let alone how to use it,” Taehyun pointed out.

Yeonjun nodded. “Touché. Kinda sucks that it means you can’t rule, though.”

Hueningkai scoffed, crossing his arms. “The one good thing about Aruyeo is we don’t have a crown determining whose blood is ‘royal’ enough to rule. If the previous monarch deems them fit, then the predecessor can rule, regardless of status or royal blood.”

Taehyun gave a small smile. “I suppose…”

“But anyway, on with your story.”

“Right. So, Beomgyu. I decided he’d be my best bet if I wanted to protect the throne for Junghoon. He has faintly royal blood; he’d be able to handle the crown. The only thing is, he didn’t know he was becoming King. I… I tricked him. Because he hated me, and hated the court, there was no way he’d do it willingly, so I tricked him.”

“He hates you?” Yeonjun repeated.

Taehyun nodded miserably. “Yeah, he does. It’s understandable, too. I’ve hurt him a lot…” He lifted his head. “But anyway... I guess that’s it. He thought all he had to do was crown Junghoon. If he crowned Junghoon, then no Lord or general could technically become his regent, since with Junghoon officially crowned they couldn’t become King in his place. Though, they could become regent by force, but yeah. He thought that was what he’d do, and even signed a magical contract which bound him to me for a year and a day. Only, he became King instead.”

Taehyun cringed as he remembered Beomgyu’s furious eyes. “He was so mad. So, so mad. And so, in retaliation, he made me his vizier. The short and long of it was that I’d actually be the one to rule and take care of the goings-on while he acted as the image of a King. It was kind of his revenge. Though, I understand that too. I broke his trust in me.”

Yeonjun stared at him, open mouthed. “I… wow. I never would have guessed that. I assumed there was a little tension between you two, but never hate. When he talks about you… sure, he’s a little closed off about it, but he always starts with a bright smile on his face.”

Taehyun winced, filled with guilt. “He and I used to be best friends. Until something happened and… and we became enemies.”

Yeonjun didn’t say anything, too shocked by the sudden revealing from Taehyun. Hueningkai smiled at the vizier. “Thank you for telling us, Taehyun,” he said. “It means a lot to know you trust us enough to say this. Thank you.” He walked over, and patted Taehyun’s hand. “You know? I could help you figure out how to tap into your true ability, if you’d like?”

“I would. Thank you, Hueningkai.”

“Of course.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　

A knock came on the door, and the three of them all looked at each other, confused. Suddenly, Yeonjun jumped out of his seat.

“Shit! Beomgyu said he was coming today to see Taehyun! Come on, Hueningkai, we need to go!”

Hueningkai stared at Yeonjun with wide eyes, then with a sudden sweep of his arms he swept everything off the desk into his big marble ball. Taehyun winced, expecting the big shattering of glass, but none sounded.

“Stay there!” Hueningkai said to Taehyun. “If Beomgyu asks, we’re not here. We’ll be going into my room for a few hours. Knock on the wall three times and we’ll come back, okay?”

With a confused nod of his head, Taehyun watched Hueningkai hustle Yeonjun through a hole in the wall.

“Bye!” Yeonjun’s head disappeared, leaving the tapestry to flutter down and cover the wall.

The knock came again.

“Come in!” Taehyun called.

#court of lies #taegyu #txt taegyu #txt #txt beomgyu #beomgyu #txt taehyun #taehyun #txt fanfic #txt fluff #txt angst #txt imagine #txt imagines #tomorrow by together #tomorrow x together

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goodnessmarygrace · 4 years

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Hi, my name is Mary Grace and I’m new to Tumblr. I made this blog because nobody I know has Tumblr, so it feels like I can be more open about my struggles without drawing attention to myself. Anyways, here goes nothing. This is my story thus far. It’s a long one, so buckle up!

I was diagnosed with POTS last month after two increasingly difficult and perplexing years. You could think of me as being sorta athletic and very ambitious normally if you like. I’m a perfectionist and I have anxiety. I began really feeling and noticing the POTS symptoms about two years ago. For a year, I just always assumed I was out of shape or everybody felt the same way and I was just being a wimp. I was super tired all the time and would get very dizzy with standing up and running. I would get spotty vision and feel the familiar “hot ice” feeling you get when you might faint. These symptoms were not incredibly severe or anything, so I just always hid them so that people wouldn’t label me as “dramatic” or “lazy.” I played basketball, softball, ran track, did marching band, football cheer-leading, scholar bowl, FCA, and FCCLA at the time of the onset of symptoms. I always assumed that I was just stressed out or had a really bad cold and it was nothing to give a second thought about. If anything, hiding my symptoms made me feel like I was in control or tough.

Another thing you must know about me to understand my story is I am a Christian and Jesus plays a big part in my life each and every day. Come summer 2019, I was a helper/counselor at the 5th and 6th grade week at the local Church Camp. That’s when some things really clicked for me spiritually. I realized that my life had been fairly easy. I have a loving family, live in an awesome community, have been blessed with friends and talents all my life, and for the most part, I’d been healthy and hadn’t had to deal with many terrible things. Most of all, I’m free to live for and worship my LORD and Savior.

It’s a life that many crave and would give anything to have. But that week at Church Camp initiated a thought process in me. I realized I had never really depended on GOD because everything in my life had seemed so... easy I guess. I was incredibly thankful for my life, but there came a time when I realized that I didn’t really live by faith or trust or hope. I didn’t completely even understand what they mean! How can you live for GOD without knowing what it is like to completely trust Him with every aspect of your life? My life story was (yes, comfortable and safe) but also a bit empty. It was shallow where it could be deep. And after lots of prayer and some soul searching, I realized my story was shallow because I had hardly ever struggled. So then I began praying dangerously. I asked (or begged) GOD to break me if He had to.

And oh my, He sure answered that one. The symptoms got worse, but I didn’t think much of them considering I had quit (or retired (; ) from softball. (There’s a whole separate story to why I quit softball that I just can’t possibly fit in this post. It was a big developmental step in my life and something that I still am learning from.) I assumed I was just getting out of shape and I should exercise and live healthier. More water, more sleep, better food, etc. Running was getting harder and harder. I was always exhausted, which I blamed on stress and lack of good sleep. Basketball season is what really did it in for me. The first real “attack” or “episode” happened during conditioning week. I almost fainted. I got a migraine and was so dizzy that I couldn’t walk straight. My vision was seriously messed up and that “hot ice” feeling you get before passing out kept washing over me. (I had passed out/ almost passed out before this but always blamed it on being squeamish or something else unconcerning.) I eventually sucked up my pride and told my coach, “I gotta lie down!” It was humiliating. I used to be able to run like nobody’s business. I mean, some people were jealous of my exercising capabilities. It seemed like my fault since I had quit softball and seemingly was so out of shape that I almost passed out. I felt like a quitter. There was so much shame and guilt. I must have forgotten it was actually an answer to my prayers.

The season progressed and I repeatedly had to lie down when it came to conditioning and running. It didn’t help that I got mono for the second time in my life that winter (no, not from kissing) and was so stubborn that I refused to stay home or go to the doctor. I had mono, pharyngitis, and a double ear infection for months, but I didn’t want to rest because I thought people would think I was lazy. We began trying to figure out why I would get the POTS symptoms as well, because my mom started to think that something really was going on. In the end, we decided to blame it on blood sugar. I told people I was hypoglycemia. I brought juice to basketball practice, and when I would drink it, I would trick myself into thinking that I felt better because I was sick of having no idea what was going on.

Finally, when basketball season was wrapping up and track season was beginning, I began believing that maybe I wasn’t “just out of shape.” I had been running and exercising for months, but I still had my POTS symptoms. I was praying and trying really really hard to get past the shame and be grateful for my struggles. The thing is, I LOVE track (and was pretty good at it too.) Running and racing has always been, dare I say, fun for me. I was really looking forward to the first practice of the season. My dreams were crushed to say the least. After running the first 400 meters of a mile, I nearly fainted again. I finished the mile, but was not doing so hot. I remember all my teammates and coaches staring at me with worry and surprise. I was so embarrassed. The headache from it didn’t go away until I went to bed that night. What made things worse, was I still didn’t know what was wrong with me. Doctors said “blood sugar?”, “asthma?”, “hormones?”, “anxiety?”, “arrhythmia?”, “stress?”. When people asked, I didn’t have a definite answer, so just I listed all of my symptoms and the possible diagnoses. I got tired of that real quick.

Now that my track season was in jeopardy, I decided that we really needed to figure out what was happening to me. My mom said to take it easy at practice, but I didn’t want to look “lazy.” (You can tell that my mind runs in a useless circle around the concepts of weak and lazy.) I told my coaches that I needed to take it easy, but then just continued to go hard as I could. I mentally could not get past the mindset I had adopted. I didn’t want anyone to think I wasn’t trying and I was making things up, so without really noticing it, I told myself that it was in fact all in my head and I was weak. Then came the pandemic.

This is becoming way too long, so I’m going to continue it in a part 2. It sounds crazy, but I’m actually pretty thankful for the mess I’ve been through. More explanation later, but I know there is some growth happening in me that never would have begun if I hadn’t gotten these struggles. GOD has shown me so much through these experiences and He’s made room in my busy schedule for the things that actually matter in life. I don’t chase people’s opinions or expectations so much anymore and have learned to be kinder to myself. Again, this blog is kind of going to be like a way to figure some things out and hopefully become part of the community of people who’ve gone or are going through similar experiences. Maybe then I’ll even be able to help someone else in return.

-Mary Grace

June 4, 2020

#potsie #postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #my story #jesus is the answer #christianity #a written testimony #break me #savedbygrace #POTS

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pokemagines · 5 years

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hríd & takumi + their s/o getting hurt protecting them

@willowmum asked: “Aa hi mom could I get Hríd and Takumi (separately) with a S/O who gets seriously injured protecting them? I love angst oop (also I’m sorry if this is too vague? I don’t wanna like,, put a bunch of details into what I want just in case it makes u feel obligated or smth? Sorry I’m weird but I love y’all)”

a/n: i’m a sucker...... for these kinds of fics thank u sm my child!!

ALSO: FOR ALL THOSE WHO CAN’T SUMMON HRID HOPEFULLY THIS BRINGS U LUCK!!! --mod touko

tw: light description of injury... nothing too serious tho

hríd:

it was all a blur. one minute you were across the battlefield, safe and where you were supposed to be, the next you were at his side, shielding him from a magic spell he was too slow to retaliate against. he panics, heart racing as he goes into overdrive taking out any enemy who dared near him at the moment. his mind is clouded with one thought -- get you to safety.

he dismount quickly, racing to your side and calling for your name desperately. your thin robes provided little protection against the harsh magic of the blue mage.

‘it is all your fault’, come his thoughts as pleads for a healer to come help. the rest of the battlefield is muted, an afterthought pushed to the back of his mind as he focuses on keeping you awake.

“please... please talk to me,” he begs, clutching the fabric of the cloak you always wore, where it once was white it was now stained by the char of electricity that had hit you. “[name]... you’re going to be okay, just stay with me!” despite your mind clouded by pain, you can feel his hands trembling as he tries to hold onto you, like if he let go you would slip through his fingers. you try to speak but it comes out so weak you don’t know if he can hear it. hríd’s icy blue eyes are wide with fear, as he pleads for you to stay with him.

you try so hard to stay with him, to focus on those eyes that you love so much, but instead you fall back into unconsciousness, your last thought being the hope that you get to see them again.

he doesn’t sleep for however long you’re in the medical ward. he doesn’t know how long it’s been and he doesn’t care to know. the only thoughts that consume him are the promises he made to you to protect you, and how he failed in that duty. hríd doesn’t grieve, no, he hardly even looks alive, as he paces in front of the door, eyes cast to the floor as he prays for your safety.

gunnthrá, fjorm, and ylgr often come visit him to make sure he’s eating but he always refuses their requests. gunnthrá knows that he’s punishing himself for his failures, just as he did when he failed to protect his family in his world. all she can do is bring him food and try to calm his racing thoughts. fjorm sits and watches her brother, silently keeping him company and reassuring him that he shouldn’t blame himself. ylgr tries to be chipper, but she often sniffles as she prays aloud for your safety.

mist eventually comes out, telling hríd that you’re fine, you just need rest. hríd almost breaks right there, and gunnthrá pulls him into a hug. ylgr cries tears of happiness and latches onto fjorm, who is hardly keeping herself together too. mist insists that hríd can visit, but only for a few minutes. hríd thanks her for all her work, before rushing to your side.

you look a little worse for wear, but hríd thinks you’ve never been as beautiful -- eyes sleepily narrowed but full of life. he drops down to his knees by your cot, trying so hard to be strong, you needed him to be strong, but once you smile weakly up at him, he loses it. tears flow freely, as he kisses your hand over and over, reassuring himself that you were here and alive.

“i’m so sorry, love, it’s my fault...” he starts, and you use the hand he’s pressed up against his face to wipe his tears. “i should have protected you like i swore i would. i have failed not only my family but you as well”.

“no you didn’t,” you say, quiet as you were still weak from your injury. “hríd, it was my choice to protect you... you mean a lot to me, you know.” hríd is silent, gazing lovingly down at you, tears now dry, but guilt still heavy on his heart. he knew you would assure him it wasn’t his fault, as you always did, but there would always be a part of him that drove him to be stronger to protect his family. something that now included you. he couldn’t lose you again, he would die a thousand deaths to make sure you were happy and healthy.

“and you mean... gods, you mean more to me than anything.” he places a kiss on each one of your knuckles. you look up and see his eyes, still beautiful, still bright, just tired. he must’ve worn himself out worrying. “just... we can talk more about this in the morning. let me stay here with you tonight? just to make sure... you’re here.” there’s a vulnerability in his voice that you know comes from losing those closest to him. you nod weakly, scooting over, and he joins you on your small bed. he’s careful not to move you, as to not strain your injuries, and he lays beside you, feeling the warmth of your body and smiling softly.

never again would he fail you.

takumi:

he’s desperate, nocking another arrow with unsteady hands as he sees the enemies start to near him, and more importantly you. forcing every thought but keeping you safe aside, he shoots down enemies like a man possessed. he’s so focused on those in front of him, he doesn’t realize there’s a sword knight sneaking up on him. before he can even react to it, the blade comes down and he braces himself for the hit. but it never comes.

and then he hears your cry, a horrifyingly shrill noise that cuts through his heart like no blade could. he doesn’t see you go down, instead, he reacts as he always does, shooting down whatever is causing him grief. the red enemy ends up with an arrow through his skull, collapsing beside you on the ground. takumi then rushes to your side, eyes scanning your limp body as he tries to think of something, anything to do. thankfully, veronica and maribelle are nearby, and they come to your aid. takumi, however, refuses to leave your side, and has to be taken away kicking and screaming by ares and minerva, so that the healers can escort you back to askr. + he chokes back a sob, gods, there was so much blood. all because he wasn’t there to protect you.

in the days that follow, he doesn’t eat or sleep, his guilt consuming him from the inside out. he becomes more snippy, yelling at anyone who tries to comfort him because in his mind, he doesn’t deserve to be coddled. he should be the one half-dead in the medical tent because at least then you would be okay. ryoma and hinoka let him be, silently waiting with him in support of their brother. sakura makes him food and tries to get him to rest, but he, stubborn as he is, refuses.

takumi’s heart thunders in his chest when he sees veronica exit the medical ward, a look of relief on her usually stoic face. she glances to all the heroes that wait in the hallway for news of your condition: takumi, of course, along with his siblings and the askr trio.

“they’re okay.” she says, and then glances to takumi, “i know they’ll want to see you so... i’ll allow it for a few minutes, but no longer than that.” he has to push back the urge to deny her request, as he didn’t think he deserved to even look at you, but his feet carry him inside the infirmary anyways. he sees you, weakly propped up on a few pillows on a cot in the corner, and he shatters. with each step, tears flow down his face. he kneels down beside you, and you smile weakly up at him.

‘he doesn’t deserve your smile. you should be yelling at him because he couldn’t protect you.’

“i’m sorry... i should’ve done my job and protected you.” you use your one hand that’s not in a sling to gently pet his hair. he takes your hand in his own and sobs into it, shoulders moving up and down as he lets out that he had been bottling up for the few days you had been in the medical ward. “forgive me, i don’t deserve you... your kindness.”

“oh takumi... don’t you see i was just protecting you.” you pet his cheeks, wiping away all the tears you can. his eyes are puffy from crying, and you wish you were strong enough to reach up and kiss him better. “just as you always do for me. gods know how many times you’ve ended up in here because of me.” you chuckle weakly, and he kisses the palm of your hand.

“ryoma could’ve protected you... so could’ve hinoka...” his voice is small as he voices his insecurities. you don’t know why he constantly compared himself to his older siblings, but that was apart of him that had been ingrained in him since he was younger.

“but i don’t want them, takumi... i want you.” you assure him, voice cracking from disuse. “i’d do anything to protect you because i love you. you deserve to be happy and healthy. and if that means me taking blows for you from time to time... well, so be it.” overwhelmed with emotions, he gently slings his arms around your neck, careful not to disturb your wounds, and sobs into your neck, occasionally whispering how much he doesn’t deserve you.

you two stay like that for some time, despite veronica occasionally coming in to give you a hurry it up look.

#hrid #hrid (fire emblem)#hrid x summoner #hrid x reader #takumi #takumi (fire emblem)#takumi x reader #fe:h #fire emblem heroes #fe14 #fire emblem fates #fire emblem #headcanons #imagine #fe friday #ficlet #mod touko #angst #fluff

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babemazzello · 5 years

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The Beach House - Part 2

Notes: Part 2 of a choose your own adventure fic where you’ll have to choose between one of three guys. Part 1 is here if you want to get caught up.

Warnings: Swearing, talk about kinks, references to sex (nothing bad yet)

Words: 6.1k

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There was a limo waiting to pick you up when you walked out of the airport. A well-dressed man was holding a sign with your last name on it. When you walked up to the man, you smiled.

"Ms. Y/L/N?" He asked.

"Yup, that's me." You assured him. He drove you to your beach house, past the big gate entrance into the neighborhood. It didn't look like much from the road, but once you got inside, you remembered how big it was. Everything was white and modern looking. All of the latest appliances and art, just what your family deserved in your parent's eyes. Every room was huge. The kitchen, the TV room, the living room, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the gym. Everything was bigger than it needed to be. It was all an open floor plan as well which just made it seem that much bigger.

You walked through the hallway with all the bedrooms and entered the one you used to take all the time. In everyone's eyes, it was your bedroom. You plopped your bags down on the bed. It was completely white, except for some gray sheets and blankets on the bed. It was a king, of course, and one entire wall was a glass sliding door. If you opened it, it led out to a pool and deck area. You always thought it was a bit much to have a pool when the beach was a few yards away.

There were three more bedrooms just like yours. They all opened out to the pool with the sliding glass doors. There were six bedrooms in all in this house. The perfect amount for you and your friends. You began to unpack, letting the ocean air fill your room from the opened glass door. You loved the smell of it. The saltiness in the air mixing with the soothing sounds of the waves crashing against the shore. It was very calming to you.

You spent the day making sure the house was in good condition. Cleaning up any dirt or dust, making sure everything worked properly and that all of the bedrooms were ready for guests. You went shopping and stocked the fridge with a nice mixture of healthy and awful foods and a good amount of alcohol. You even walked down to the beach and stood on the shore for a couple of minutes. Taking in the beautiful sunset as it dipped below the shoreline. The orange glow bouncing off the waves in such a beautiful shimmering way. You fell asleep with the sliding door open. The wind blowing your curtains into your room. You had wanted to feel the ocean air for as long as possible. It just happened that you fell asleep before closing the door. You weren't worried though. You knew this neighborhood had amazing security and no one would try to come in through the open door.

The next morning, you woke up in a haze. You had thrown your covers off in the night due to the sun streaming into your room and making it super hot. You groggily got up and closed the glass door, hoping your room would cool off quickly. You grabbed your phone and looked at the time. 8:50 am. Everyone was supposed to get to the front gate by 9:15. You started to scramble. Quickly throwing on a bikini as underwear, knowing you guys would probably go swimming as soon as they got settled, a flowy shirt and some short-shorts. The perfect beach attire. You also threw on some makeup. Just a little eyeliner and mascara to lighten up your face.

You ran into the kitchen and filled a cup with ice water. You screwed on the plastic lid with a plastic straw in it before running out the door. The way you got around the neighborhood was with a golf cart. It was big enough to fit 11 people, so you hoped it would have enough room for everyone and their luggage. You looked at your phone again. 9:10. Even moving as fast as you did, you weren't sure if you were going to make it to the gate in time.

You started up the golf cart, placing your cold drink in the cup holder, and started to race toward the gate. As you went, you heard your phone buzz. You pulled over and checked it, worrying that something might have happened. It was Lucy.

Running a little late. Be there in about 10 minutes

You took a deep breath as you started to drive again. This time, much slower. When you arrived at the gate, you began conversing with the security guard. The gated community wasn't very tight-knit. No one knew who their neighbor was, but everyone knew the security guard. They had to. He has to see everyone who came in and out.

Not before long, a car pulled up and all six of them bounced out. You guess the driver had told them he wasn't allowed in the community. You screamed when you saw them. Jumping out of the cart and running to hug them as soon as the gate opened. Lucy ran to you first.

"Ah! Oh my god Y/N. I can't believe we're here! Everything's so fancy," She commented through your hug. You answered her once you pulled away.

"This is nothing yet, Luce," you said. You turned and pointed to the golf cart. "You can put your stuff on that. I'll drive us to the house." Lucy agreed and moved over to the cart. You moved over to greet Gwil next.

"Hi," he said, wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug.

"How was your flight?" you asked.

"Long," he answered. You both chuckled at his joke. "I slept pretty much the whole time."

"Well, good cause there's a lot of stuff to do. Need you well-rested." You were nervous for some reason and your voice reflected it. Gwil just smiled down at you.

"Should I follow Lucy's lead?" he asked. Pointing to her as she hoisted her bags up onto the cart. You looked back at her.

"Yeah, go ahead." You answered, gesturing my arm towards her. You went to Ben and Joe next. They were getting their bags out of the trunk. "Hey guys," You said. They stopped what they were doing and looked at you.

"Oh, hey Y/N," Ben replied.

"Hey," Joe said. "I feel like we're not allowed in. I don't feel fancy enough." He commented. You laughed.

"You're fancy enough. I promise." You replied with another laugh.

"Why didn't you tell us about this? About you being like...this?" Ben gestured around to the gate and the guard as he talked.

"Cause this isn't me." You replied. "I don't really belong here. I feel better when I'm back home in my small apartment. This isn't what my life is." You paused for a second. "But, it does feel nice to be able to use some of this stuff sometimes." You and Ben chuckled at your joke. You walked over and greeted Rami with a hug as well before telling everyone to get their stuff on the golf cart. "Everybody ready?" You asked, getting a series of nods and affirmations from the group. You waved goodbye to the security guard as you drove them back to the beach house. When you came up on the house, you could tell that it wasn't impressing them much because it looked small from the outside. There were trees covering the sides which meant you couldn't see how far back the house goes. You parked the golf cart and walked over to the door. You unlocked it and waited for everyone to get behind you. "Ready?" you asked again, excitement filling your voice. They all nodded and you pulled the door open, revealing the house behind it.

There were gasps and awes from the group. They all ran in quickly, trying to get a lay of the land. You closed the door behind them and walked in slowly, allowing them time to take everything in.

"Holy shit," Joe commented.

"This place is huge," Rami said.

"It's like a castle," Gwilym said. Lucy walked up to me.

"This is your place?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," you answered. "Well, I mean, it's really my parents' place but it's mine right now." Her mouth dropped open.

"I'm so sorry I thought you were joking about taking a trip out here," Lucy said. You laughed. You walked into the living room where everyone was naturally gathering and got everyone's attention.

"I can show you guys to your rooms now. That way you can put your stuff down and we can figure out what we're gonna do for the rest of the day." You said with a big smile on your face. "Come on," you ushered toward the hallway and everyone started following you.

You put Joe, Ben, and Gwilym on the other three bedrooms with sliding glass doors out to the pool. You wanted to be close to them, and those were the closest rooms. You then put Rami in another bedroom and guided Lucy to the last one.

"This one's yours." You said, opening the door to Lucy's bedroom. She grabbed your arm and pulled you into the room with her. Closing the door behind you two. "What's going on?" You asked.

"How thin are these walls? Can Rami hear us talking?" She asked. Knowing that Rami was just in the next room and might hear you two.

"No, they're pretty solid. Can't hear much from room to room. It's a nice feature." You answered.

"Cheeky," Lucy said with a smirk. You hit her arm playfully. "But seriously, have you thought this through? You put the three guys who are practically fighting over you next to your room. Do you even have a plan?"

"No," you laughed. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I honestly didn't think I was going to get this far. What should I do?" You were hoping to get some insight from her.

"I have no clue. Never been in that situation before." She replied. "But, I know that you're going to have to pick one. You can't keep leading them all on forever. You need to decide which one you like. Stop all this nonsense before it gets too out of control." You nodded. You couldn't decide though. They were each so amazing to you and you loved each of them equally. You needed more time. And you guessed that maybe that's what this trip was. An insight into which of them you actually liked.

You all decided that you were going to be doing your own things while you were here. Pretty much you all would be staying around the house. Hanging out inside or down by the beach. You didn't mind. You figured it was the best way to let everyone enjoy the house. You liked doing your own thing anyway. Knowing that whatever you did, there would probably be someone there doing it with you.

You wanted to start your day off on the beach. You hadn't been in the water yet and you were itching to go in. You grabbed a beach towel from your room and walked down the steps to the private beach that you had access to. It was as if you had a beach in your backyard. It made you feel very rich, even though you didn't like that most of the time.

You set up an umbrella on the sand. There were some closed ones already on the beach, you just needed to set them up. You laid out your towel and started to take off your clothes. You ran your finger through your hair after you took your shirt off, making sure you still looked as good as possible. Even though you knew that it would get messed up the second you dunked your head under. You ran out to the water. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore filled your ears. It was like great music and it almost sent chills down your spine.

The water was cold and left goosebumps on your skin. You walked in until the water was up to your thighs. You waited there for a minute, trying to get used to the water. Just staring out into the blue vastness of the ocean.

"Mind if I join you?" you heard from behind you. You saw Ben coming up to the shoreline. You smiled at him.

"Sure. You can put your stuff under the umbrella." You pointed back to the large blue umbrella. He nodded and began walking back to it. You couldn't help yourself looking back at him as he took his shirt off. Knowing that once he was in the water, you couldn't get a good look at his body. You tried to be as sly as possible as his perfect abs came into view. You felt your face flush with pink as you looked. His eyes flashed up to yours as he threw the shirt down. You panicked and snapped your head back to the water. Eyes widening and cheeks filling up with blood once again with embarrassment.

You took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm the pinkness in your cheeks. You heard some not normal splashing from behind you. Telling you he was getting in the water. All of a sudden, he was next to you.

"Were you watching me?" He asked. One eyebrow cocked up in interrogation.

"Nope," you shook your head. "Wasn't me. Must have been someone else." He looked around the beach. There wasn't a person in sight. He looked back at you.

"I don't see anyone else," he smirked. "Must have been you."

"You can't prove anything," you mocked. You felt like being playful with him.

"Really?" He replied. His hand moved to his stomach. Lightly laying his hand on his abs. Your eyes glanced down to them and then shot back up to his face. You could feel your face getting hot again. He just smirked. "I think I just did." He teased. You pushed his arm and started to walk further into the water. You had a smile on your face, but internally, you were screaming. You started to skip into the ocean, trying to run over the waves. Ben followed closely behind, trying to catch up to you. You started laughing at what he was trying to do.

You decided the only way to win at this game was to completely submerge yourself under the water. You looked back at him before falling into the water. It was still really cold and sent a shockwave through your body, but it was worth it. When you popped out of the water, you pushed your hair out of your face and looked at him, waiting for a response.

"You want me to do that?" he asked. You shrugged. "Alright." He bobbed down under the water, taking in a big breath of air beforehand. He was under for a couple of seconds before popping back up. His mouth opened and his muscles tensed up. "Holy shit, that's cold," he said, softly shivering before the sun warmed him up. You just laughed at his reaction. You laid back and started to float in the water. Letting your arms softly move back and forth, paddling and creating waves in the water next to you.

You and Ben waded in the water for about an hour. Just talking and having a good time soaking in the sun and the ocean. Ben looked good. The sun made him glow even more than before. You caught yourself staring at him more times than you would ever admit. He looked like he belonged here. Like he was the beautiful rich one and you were the girl who didn't belong. He just looked...pretty. The prettiest you had ever seen a guy look. But, you weren't going to admit that to him. Even if he asked you directly what you were thinking.

You eventually got hungry and wanted to go inside for some lunch. Ben decided to stay on the beach a little longer. You grabbed some frozen pizza from the fridge and put it in the oven to cook. You figured while you were waiting for your lunch to cook, you would go outside and read a little.

You went into your bedroom and grabbed a book. Catch-22 to be exact. You loved that book and thought it would be a nice read for a vacation. The book was extremely hectic, but it was funny which made it soothing to you. You pulled back the curtain on your sliding glass door to see Gwil in the pool. Swimming around and enjoying the sun, just like you and Ben were just a short while ago.

You put your hair up into a messy bun, still slightly wet from the ocean water. You put some clothes on now and hung up your bikini to dry. You slid open the glass door and walked out to the deck. Gwil didn't notice you walking out there. He was under the water and didn't hear the door open. You picked a cushioned deck chair in the shade and sat down. Making yourself extremely comfortable for the time being. You started reading your book when you heard the water splash around.

"Oh, hey Y/N, when did you get out here?" Gwil asked from the edge of the pool. You lowered your book and looked at him. His arms were crossed on the edge of the pool. He looked almost godlike in the sun. It radiated off his skin. You smiled at him.

"Only a couple minutes ago. I think you couldn't hear me 'cause you were under the water." He nodded at you. You pulled your book up and kept reading.

"Catch-22?" he asked. You flopped your book back down on your legs. Only slightly annoyed that he kept interrupting your reading time. But also flattered that he wanted to talk to you. "What's that about?"

"It's about these army pilots and all their adventures in the air corp. Sometimes it's funny but it's mostly dark and a bit depressing." You added. It might have been dark, but you loved it. You weren't entirely sure why.

"Doesn't seem like the type of book you would read." He added.

"And what type of book would that be?" You asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a romance novel." He suggested.

"A romance novel? Am I that much of a female cliché to you?" you asked in a playful manner.

"No, not at all," he said in defense. "You just...seem like the romantic type is all." You tried to hide the smile that crept across your lips, but you couldn't. Instead, you decided to flip your book back up and hide your face from him. About 15 minutes later, your alarm went off and you went back inside to get your pizza out of the oven. You brought it back outside to your chair and ate it while you were reading.

Gwil left you alone while you were eating. He kept taking laps of the pool. You wondered why he wasn't in the ocean. When he took a break and was floating around a little, you sat up and looked at him. Letting your book rest in the space between your thighs.

"Why aren't you swimming in the ocean?" you asked him. "I mean, it's right there. You can't get the ocean in London."

"You're right," he started. "But you can't swim laps in the ocean."

"Why would you want to swim laps?" I realized the answer after the question had left my lips.

"For exercise." He replied, a little incredulous.

"We're on vacation. No need to exercise." You stated proudly.

"Still want to stay in shape, love," he said before dipping under the water to take some more laps. You smiled at his pet name for you. You finished up your food and kept reading. About an hour later, you heard loud splashing and peered over the top of your book to see Gwil coming out of the water. The water dripping off his body made him look delicious. As he walked over to his towel, your eyes glanced down to his swim trunks. They were laying low on his hips, giving you the treat of seeing the V-shape that his pelvis made leading down to his crotch.

You were admiring his body just like Ben's. But, Gwil's body was different. He was taller and didn't have defined muscles. But he was still broad and built. While Ben's chest was smooth, Gwil's was hairy. The coarse hair matching his beard. You watched as he tussled the towel on his head to dry off his hair before beginning to walk away. You watched him up until he turned to close his sliding glass door behind him. He gave you a knowing smirk as the door slowly closed behind him.

You stayed out reading your book for another hour. Then you went inside and watched TV for a couple of hours. Just wanting to relax for a while, already exhausted from the day. You didn't know where everyone was, but it made you happy to know that they were enjoying themselves. Rami came into the living room a while later.

"I was thinking," he started. You turned in your seat to face him. He sat down on a stool in the kitchen. "We should party tonight. Have some drinks, bad food. You know, the works. If that's fine with you of course." You smiled at him.

"Yeah, that sounds great. A perfect end to today, I think," you relied. He nodded at you.

"Where's the booze?" he asked. You pointed to a cabinet in the kitchen. He opened it revealing all of the alcohol you had bought for the trip. "A-ha!" he said. You chuckled softly at his comment. While he was picking out different bottles of booze, you realized that the sun was starting to set.

"Hey, I'll be back in a little bit. Just set up whatever you want." You explained, getting up from the couch. Rami nodded without looking at you and humming in acknowledgment. You rolled your eyes and smiled. Finding it funny how focused he was on this impromptu party.

You moved to the back door, grabbing a small radio from a side table and going outside. You saw everyone hanging around on the deck of the pool. Just chatting about things. You smiled and waved at them before walking down the steps toward the beach for the second time today.

You had left your towel and umbrella set up on the beach and you were hoping no one moved it. Thankfully, when you got down to the shoreline, you realized it was all still there. You placed the radio down and sat down on the towel. You searched through the channels trying to find something you liked. You eventually settled on a classic rock station. The talking wasn't in English, but the music was, so it would work for now.

You laid back on your hands as you watched the sun disappear below the shoreline. It was peaceful with the dulcet tones of the music making a nice background noise in your mind.

"Can I join you?" you heard from next to you. Joe was standing slightly behind the umbrella, just peeking his head in to ask his question.

"Sure," you replied, moving over on your towel to make room for him. He sat down next to you, also leaning back on his hands and looking out over the water. You both sat there, just listening to the music and reveling in the moment. It felt...intimate. Like it was natural to be this close to each other. The silence wasn't awkward, instead, it was understanding. It was a moment that you were going to remember for a while.

At one point, Joe shifted in his seat and his hand brushed up against yours. Landing next to it and softly brushing up against it. You felt your heart beat faster. Did he mean to put his hand there? Does he know that he's touching me? Your mind was racing, but you didn't know how to react. Of course you liked Joe, but you weren't sure if he was the one you were going to pick yet and you didn't want to give him the wrong idea.

So, you shifted your hand away. Joe noticed your action and looked down at your hand, a bit ashamed in his actions. He looked back at the water, but you saw the shame flash on his face. Just as the sun was about to disappear over the horizon, Joe spoke.

"You have the chance to see that sunset every night of your life, and you don't take it?" he said. He was still staring at the water.

"No," you replied. "You get used to everything in life. I would get used to this. And I would never want to take this for granted. It's too beautiful."

"But, you could have a better, fancier life. One without any struggles or problems. You wouldn't have to worry about anything. Why wouldn't you want that?" he asked. His voice was soft and inquisitive. He was genuinely interested.

"It feels like I'm cheating," you admitted to him. He was pulling the truth from you and you couldn't stop it. "Everyone on this Earth is trying to gain fortune and fame. But, when you're born into it, there's nowhere to go from there. What do you do then? What goals do you have? Nothing. You become spoiled and self-centered. I saw it in my friends who I grew up with and they became those awful people, even in their early teens. I didn't want to be like that. So, I got away. Started again. Knowing that I had this safety net to fall back on if I failed. But, I pursued something I loved and was passionate about instead of just doing something to make money. I'm happier this way." You said. Joe watched you as you explained yourself. The orange glow from the sun bouncing off his skin. The harsh shadows on his face only made him look more handsome.

"Well, at least you know what you have. A lot of rich people don't seem to get it." Joe replied, looking away from you again. The sun disappeared. An orange glow was now cascading across the sky and meeting up with the dark purples and blues of the night. You turned to look up at the house. The lights were on and you saw everyone walking around, getting ready for the party. You nodded back towards the house.

"Rami wants to throw a party tonight," you mentioned. Joe looked back at the house as well.

"Yeah, he was telling me that a little earlier. Said we were gonna play a game," he replied. You cocked an eyebrow at him.

"A game? What are we, 12?" You asked. Joe chuckled and shrugged.

"I guess he thinks we are," Joe stood up and reached his hand out for you to grab. You gladly took it as he helped you to your feet. You brushed the excess sand off you and picked up the umbrella. Closing it and leaning it up against the stairs for use tomorrow. You walked behind Joe back up the stairs to the house. As you got closer, you realized that Rami had figured out how to use the sound system and was playing some upbeat music to get everyone ready to party. Joe opened the door for you and you stepped inside, getting attention from Rami almost immediately.

"Ah, there she is. Just in time." He said, holding his hands up. They were filled with alcohol bottles and he began pouring more drinks. He made a line of shots and called everyone over. You each picked one up. Rami held his drink up to you. "To our host, for getting us all together in paradise." He held it up a bit more and everyone followed. You all tapped the bottom of the glasses on the counter before downing them.

For another hour there was dancing, drinking, and overall partying. Everyone was having a good time. You weren't drunk, but you could feel a little buzz coming on. You decided not to drink too much, knowing that it might make you unable to move in the morning or forget tonight. And you wanted to remember as much of this trip as possible. Everyone was laughing and having a good time when Rami got all of our attention.

"Ok everyone, gather around. We're going to play a game now." He walked over to the living room and sat on the arm of the couch. Joe sat on a chair next to Rami, Ben and Gwil took the empty space on the couch, and Lucy and you grabbed some chairs from the kitchen and brought them over so you could sit in a circle. As you were bringing a chair over, you realized you had no clue what was happening.

"What game is this?" you asked. "And why should we play?" Rami squinted his eyes at you.

"I promise, you'll like this game. Just sit down and I'll explain the rules." He responded. At this point, you were up for anything. You shrugged and sat down on your chair. "Alright, this game is sort of like truth or dare, but it's just truths. Every time you don't want to answer the question you're asked, you have to take a shot. Does everyone got that?" He asked. Everyone nodded. "Ok good. I'll start. Joe," Joe looked up at Rami, even adjusting in his seat to face him a bit more. "When you first met me on the Pacific, did you like me?" Rami waited patiently for his answer.

"Well, I didn't not like you," Joe answered with a small chuckle. "I didn't really have any opinion of you. You seemed nice, but I didn't really know you yet." Rami smiled.

"How do we know he's not lying?" you asked.

"Honor system. If we can't trust each other, who can we trust?" Rami added.

"Alright, I guess that's fair." You responded.

"Alright, Ben. Your turn." The first round focused on everyone's friendship accidentally. You asked Lucy a similar question to Rami's toward Joe. She answered a similar way as well. The boys were asking about certain aspects of their relationships with each other. The second round got a little more risqué. Asking about people's first kiss and first girlfriends/boyfriends. Then, Lucy turned on you.

"Y/N, what was your first time like?" Your eyes widened at her. You had told her in confidence, but she had betrayed you in bringing it up right now.

"Uh," you stammered, genuinely thinking about taking a drink. But, everyone had answered every question so far and you didn't want to be the weak one. So, you caved. "Well, it was with a guy I didn't know very well and I just kinda wanted to get it out of the way. It all happened really fast. I was at a college party and this guy and I started talking,-" You got cut off.

"What was his name?" Gwil asked.

"It was Patrick, I remember that much about him. Everything else is pretty much a blur. Even what he looked like. I was really buzzed at the time, but so was he." You took a deep breath. "We started dancing together and grinding up against each other, and then he started kissing my neck. And it felt really good and everything else just flew out the window. Every restriction on who I was going to have my first time with left my mind. When he pressed up against me and pulled me as close to him as possible, I knew I was done for." You looked around the room to gauge everyone's reactions. They were all hanging on every word. "Eventually, he grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs to an empty bedroom. Like I said, it went really fast. It hurt a lot too and it was sloppy. He didn't really care about me, he just wanted to get off. Thankfully, he wore a condom, but it wasn't that satisfying." You were ready to end the story there.

"Did you cum?" Ben asked. Your cheeks flushed red at the sound of that word. You didn't hear it said aloud often, but to hear it from Ben's lips was even rarer. You shook your head.

"No. He finished and then left. I didn't see him ever again." You shrugged. "I've had better since." You commented. You hadn't had that many sexual partners, but you had definitely had better than that night. You circled your finger in the air. "Next question." They moved on to the next round of questions, but then, Rami added a new set of rules.

"Ok, this round is going to be the most...revealing of them all." You rolled your eyes at his words. Annoyed and intrigued that the rules were changing. "I'll write down a number and whoever gets closest to that number, we'll have some fun with them." Rami took out his phone and wrote a number in it.

"Why don't you get a chance to be the lucky winner?" you asked.

"Because I'm the one who thought of this game." He answered matter-of-factly. You shrugged again and thought of a number. "Now, it can be any number from 1-25. Y/N, you can pick first."

"4" you guessed. It was your lucky number. They all went around picking numbers. Lucy – 15, Joe – 19, Ben – 23, and Gwil - 17. You realized how low your number was, but you hoped that wouldn't matter as you waited for Rami to reveal his number.

"It's 21. That means Y/N is our lucky winner." Rami raised his hands up in glee while you gritted your teeth, wondering what you had gotten yourself into.

"Alright, what now?" you asked, crossing your arms and slouching back in your seat.

"Now, everyone in the circle, except me, asks you about a kink, and you have to say if you're into it or not." Everyone just stared at Rami. Wide-eyed and confused at the turn the game was taking.

"What?" Lucy asked. Rami just nodded. "Are you okay with that?" Lucy asked you. You thought about it for a second.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. But, why everyone except you? What are you going to do?" you wanted everything to be clear before this all started.

"Oh, I have a special question, just wait." You didn't like the sound of that, but it couldn't be much worse than what you were about to go through. "I'll make it easier on you, I'll let Lucy start." You turned toward Lucy.

"Uh, okay." Lucy stammered. She shifted in her seat to look at you better. "Do you like being dominated?" she asked. You realized what was happening. Rami knew what he was doing. He was trying to get you to talk about sex in front of the other guys. He had figured out how much time they were spending around you. How much they all seemed to like you. Now was your chance to play with them as well. All of a sudden, you got more confident.

"Oh yeah, I love that." You answered truthfully. You saw Joe shift a little in his seat at your answer. The whisper of a smirk ghosted across your lips. Not only was this a game for you, but you got to see their reactions to your answers. You turned toward Joe next, raising your eyebrows, waiting for his question.

"What about...a daddy kink?" You could tell he was trying to find something you wouldn't like, but that didn't work.

"I like that one too. Not ashamed of it either." You turned toward Ben next, but his partner on the couch, Gwil, had suddenly crossed his legs. You licked your lips subconsciously as you waited for Ben to ask his question.

"Biting?" he asked. You thought about it for a second.

"Never experienced that one, but I'd be willing to try anything honestly." No one shifted at that comment. It was Gwilym's turn now.

"How about spanking?" he asked. Keeping his folded hands on his kneecap, making his crossed legs look natural. You nodded.

"Yeah, love that too." You saw Ben push his lips together and suspiciously place his hands over his lap. You couldn't help the smile that crept across your face as you looked up at Rami, stunned that you had answered the questions with such confidence. "What's your question then?" you teased. There was a small pause.

"Pick a boy," he said.

"What?" you laughed.

"Pick a guy. Out of these three," he gestured to Gwil, Ben, and Joe. "Which one would you fuck right now?" You were taken aback by the question. You thought you would have more time to decide but now was the time. The time for you to choose which one you really liked.

----------

Time to Choose:

Joe’s Ending

Ben’s Ending

Gwilym’s Ending

#ben hardy #joe mazzello #gwilym lee #ben hardy x reader #joe mazzello x reader #gwilym lee x reader #bohemian rhapsody #borhap #borhap boys #rami malek #lucy boynton #masterlist #the beach house fic

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surveys-at-your-service · 5 years

Text

Survey #217

“roses are red, and my heart is black. we creep about the floor to indulge like rats.”

Do you know anyone who works in a laboratory? No. What was the very first social media site you signed up for? MySpace. Can you see yourself marrying your current partner? (if you have a partner) Easily. If you were in a coma, who would be making healthcare decisions for you? My mom. Are you the type of person who knows exactly what they want in life? Not entirely, but mostly. Do you have commitment issues? Not at all. What was the last thing you had an allergic reaction to? Silver. Have you gone out to dinner in the past week? No. What’s something you’ve done that sounds too crazy to be true? The only thing I think someone would actually find "crazy" would be I've been in a psychiatric hospital five or six times (I seriously can't remember). Are there any flowers planted outside your house? No. Well, not by us. There's a camellia tree by our back door that we didn't plant. What’s the weirdest decoration you’ve seen in someone else’s home? I'unno. I generally don't find decorations strange. Spice up your house with what you like. Did you have your own bathroom when you were growing up? No. Do you know anyone who never disciplines their children? I know of people. What’s the longest you’ve gone without leaving the house? Weeks. Are you more of a practical thinker, or more of an imaginative thinker? I think I can be on either end depending on the situation. Does anyone in your family smoke? My dad does. How well do you know your neighbors? I've never interacted with the ones to the right of us, but Mom knows the woman to the left, and she's apparently very nice. Mom was talking about her just the other day about how she always brings our trash can back to the fence, actually. How far are you into the book you’re currently reading? N/A Have you ever had a pet escape and run away? I don't believe so, at least not permanently. Do any of your exes know each other? Jason and Juan did. Girt and Jason know each other because of me; we all hung out a few times. It's both funny and sad now to know how friendzoned Girt was... ha ha. Sorry man. What’s an opinion you find impossible to take seriously? "Dinosaurs didn't exist." What the fuck are fossils then, bitch. What was the very first election you voted in? I haven't voted in any yet. Do you know how to make omelettes? No. I could probably figure it out, but I don't know for sure. What is your favorite summer month? Fuck summer. What do you want to be for Halloween this year? One of the witches from Hocus Pocus would be super cool, but yeah, I don't have the money to even try to make a costume. Do you have a desk in your room? If so, do you use it as a desk that you sit and work at? No. Do you wear band tees? if yes, which one is your favorite? Yes. I love my Metallica one. It's got a really cool design. Would you ever want to live in a home with all-white walls and furniture? "Not white furniture, no. That seems like it’d be a pain to keep clean." <<< Definitely. Do you have pajama days often? I'm literally always in pjs unless I have to leave the house and get out of the car. There's no point in changing otherwise; I'd just be creating more laundry. What is one thing you’re behind on? Instead of the usual "life in general" answer, I'll make it more interesting. RP. Jesus fucking holy Christ, I am over a year behind in SO MUCH because I just haven't had motivation, all the while plots have grown like mad. Thank god my partners are really damn patient, lol. And/or have other business, too. Do you ever re-arrange your room? No. I HATE moving/changing shit. Do you share a room with anyone? No. Who was your first roommate? Jason, Jacob, and Amanda. What season do you want to get married in? AUTUMN!!!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Frosting: chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate. Ice cream: chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla. Milkshake: chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate, more often. Do you drink protein shakes? EW that shit mad gross. What was the last type of candy you ate? Uhhhh what was it. I don't have candy a lot now, so uh... I think Airheads? What was the last craft project you completed? It was VERY weakly a "craft," but Sara's first Valentine's Day present. Which is better: starting things or finishing them? Finishing. I start things all the damn time and never finish them. What is the highest name-brand thing you own? Good question. What color GameBoy did you have as a kid? Red. What was your favorite GameBoy game? Hm. I liked a lot. We had a whole case of different ones. I suppose maybe the Spyro one I could never get far into. But I liked it anyway because yeah. Spyro. What was your favorite Backstreet Boys song? "The Call" probably tops the list, but also you're full of shit if you thought "Larger Than Life" wasn't a fuckin BANGER. Damn, "The Shape of My Heart" was great, too. BSB were/are just great, man. Did you ever wonder what it felt like to get slimed? Ha ha you mean like on Nickelodeon? Yup. Did you ever name a pet after an imaginary friend? I never had one. Do you believe in angels and demons? I don't know. I believe in spirits, but I don't know about actual angels and demons. Do you have a PayPal account? No. What race do you consider yourself? ... You can "consider" yourself a race? You don't get to pick that. Whatever, I'm Caucasian. Should unwanted animals in shelters be killed to make room? Fuck that shit. Should cows be killed for human food? See, this is why I want to return to vegetarianism. TECHNICALLY, no. It's murder upon a conscious, feeling, living being. But at the same time, humans are designed as omnivores, and surviving off of a plant-based diet is, sadly, extremely difficult. It's difficult to obtain the proper nutrients and their advised amounts to be healthy. Therefore, I can't confidently answer this question. I wish they didn't have to be, but human civilization would have an incredibly more difficult time continuing with all meat products removed for consumption. Does the technique used to kill an animal matter to you? I mean if I KNEW, yes, but at least from the research I've done, there's no real "humane" method used to kill livestock. Most live in awful conditions/are already unhealthy, too, and that should matter . Should farmers be allowed to cause suffering in animals to save money? Fuck off. Should production of medicines be justification to cause animals to suffer? No. We neeeeeeed to find other ways. Use pedophiles or some shit. Should violence against animals; such as rodeos/ bullfights be legal? Fuck to the hell no. I get some kind of dark pleasure out of hearing about shitheads being gored and stuff for it, honestly. Should homosexuals be allowed to work with children? This shit pisses me the fuck off. Of course they should be. Like I'm sorry, but your children aren't going to be hidden from them forever. Do you believe homosexuality is caused by genetics? Well yeah. You don't get to choose your sexuality; something has to be responsible. Are Americans are truly free, or suffering from controlled freedom? CONTROLLED FREEDOM JFC TRY TO DENY IT. Are there other countries that offer more personal freedoms? Not that I KNOW of. Like yeah, my above answer clearly states I think America could be better, but I don't know I place where it's actually better. Do you trust your government? Fuck no. They hide a lot of shit. Should religious beliefs outweigh science in the making of laws? Lolololololol no, hunny. Separation of church and state. What is one moment that you missed out on that you wished you didn’t? Hm. OH, that solar eclipse that happened I think last year? We saw nothing here. :< Do you or have you ever had braces? For a long time. Got them on, then didn't have the money to take them off for a while. Can you text? Yeah, but not quickly. I am - usually - very thankful for autocorrect. Have you ever had a nervous breakdown? OH BOY HAVE I!!!!!!!!!!!! What are you scared to death of? My mom dying, for one. I DO NOT know what would happen to me. Are you good at art? I'm told so at least; I'm aware I'm at least decent. It also depends on the art form. Are you afraid of needles? Nah. What TV show is the stupidest to you? I honestly had a really big problem (and have, if it's still even on) with the Teen Mom series. Yes, I do in fact believe it made looking like one cooler and more normal than it is. Do you hate being ignored? Yes; I start to think I'm not cared about, badly. Especially if it's family or "friends." Like no, I don't at all expect attention constantly, or even a lot of it, but I think it's only natural people who claim they love you should not pretend they don't know you, particularly when you actually reach out. THEN it hurts. Where do you currently live? North Carolina, please get me out. Do you like marijuana? I wouldn't know. Do you donate to charity? I can't. I seriously don't have money. Where is your favorite place to go out to eat? Olive Garden. What is your favorite TV station? Discovery. Do you think you’re clever? No. Did you wear socks today? No. I avoid wearing socks as much as I can. Know any magic tricks? I don't remember the ones I learned as a kid. Do you sleep well most nights? No. When’s the last time you baked a cake? Never. What’s your preferred frozen snack? Ice cream, yum. Do you work better in a clean or messy environment? CLEAN. It inspires me to do well and with an organized strategy. Do you know any vegans? I don't believe so. Earphones or headphones? I personally prefer earphones since they go into the ear and are just more comfortable than a weight on your head that can move easier. Do you like bananas? Yeah, but the timespan in which I enjoy them is short. They have to be "perfect." What’s a film you’ve seen that confused you? I know there are some, but none are coming to me curr- WAIT NO okay so I saw Warcraft when it came out into theaters, and I barely understood a single thing because the orcs' voices were way too deep. I need to rewatch it with subtitles. Do you ever wear black lipstick? I pretty much always do if I wear lipstick. What would you change about yourself appearance-wise? HEY can I Please fix my fucking weight??? Because I do like everything I can do already & nothing works??? :') How long do you normally spend in the shower? Just short of ten minutes, I think. If you were to get a tattoo, what would it say or what would the graphic be? *opens novel of ideas* Don't make me pick just one. When trick-or-treating as a kid, was there any kind of candy that you didn’t like to get? Tootsie rolls, ew. What is your favorite memory of Christmases past? The time my mom, sisters, and I went to a Christmas light show one night, and we got back to the car only to realize Mom left the keys in there. Sooo while we waited for my drunk dad and brother to come help us, we all chilled on the car's hood with chocolate covered peanuts and THE best hot chocolate. That place is no longer around, and I'll forever be mad tilted about it. What is the most outrageous thing you’ve done for God? Lmfao remember the days I denied evolution and gay rights? Them were the wild times. When you were in grade school, what did you want to be when you grew up? Why? First, paleontologist because I adored (and still adore) dinosaurs, then a vet as I wanted to help animals. In high school, it changed from movie director to game designer. Name the most famous person you’ve had a face to face encounter with. No one. If you could spend 15 minutes with any living person, who would it be and why? Um like have y'all ever heard of this guy named Mark Edward Fischbach because I have time to enlighten you of all the reasons- What article of clothing most closely describes your personality? Pj pants, lmao. Who was your hero when you were a child, and what did you do to be like them? Steve Irwin. I adore animals in general, push very firmly for conservation, and madly support proper education of wildlife, especially your local kinds. How did you learn to ride a bicycle? I had a bike with training wheels at first, then my dad took them off and would jog alongside me, holding the bars and then releasing them after a few moments for me to go on my own. Repeated 'til I got it! Based on something you’ve already done, how might you make it into the Guinness Book of World Records? This is going to be VERY embarrassing to share, but fuck it. I have so little reason to leave my bed that my legs have actually experienced muscle atrophy. My knees especially are extremely prone to awful pain when standing or walking. I don't really have a way to exercise in this tiny house, my road is too sketchy to walk along, and at least this time of year, I physically can't handle the heat if I was to walk in the back yard. I'm dying to go somewhere where I can swim to fix this shit. I could ramble on forever about how painful it is to be on my feet. I'd be happy enough with even just a treadmill. When was the last time you did something for the first time? What was it? Hm. I guess foreplay with a girl. I don't exactly experience new things much. What is your concept of a fruitful day? Actually doing productive shit. If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be? Violence. What is your best personal characteristic? I am like, incredibly passionate. If I believe in something, you'll know. If I love something, it's to an insane degree. If you had to enter a competition for the “Most Uselessly Unique Talent,” what would your talent be? Being able to hide my thumb under my palm to where it looks like it's entirely non-existent lmao. What is your worst personality characteristic? I am VERY sensitive. I also have a hard time taking criticism without beating my ass up because I feel like I did something "bad." I don't get defensive, I just get hurt. Man, I could go on. There's a lot I don't like about myself. If you had to be a teacher of something, what would you teach? I'd be most interested in teaching science. How would you like to be remembered? I loved ferociously and spoke strong of peace. What is one thing that you constantly think about (other than material things)? The future. Does your country have free healthcare? *points at top five list of things America needs to fucking fix* Does your job allow visible tattoos? N/A How is your road rage? I drive so timidly and rarely that I don't think I really even have a clue. Who are your closest friends and how did you meet them? I'll exclude Sara as she's more than "a close friend." I don't have many close friends otherwise tho, so really... I think only Girt applies. We met in high school band. Well, then there's Alex, but considering she now acts like I don't exist as well, I don't know how close we really are. But anyway, we met in WoW because we were both camping the time-lost protodrake and talking w/ others in the general chat... but she and I really clicked. That was an awesome day. Started some damn adventures with her lmao. Are you still cool with any of your exes? The only two who may still have a problem with me are Jason and Tyler, but I have no bad feelings towards them. What Hogwarts House are you in? I took quizzes once for a survey because I was curious, but I couldn't answer most of the ones I found bc they had HP references I didn't get. But anyway, I think Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were pretty much tied. What’s the next special event in your life? Returning to school. :') Whose birthday is coming up soon? My nephew's. :''''') Do you delete people from Facebook if their views are vastly different than yours? It depends on the views and their severity. Usually I can handle averse opinions if you're actually a friendly person and composed and mature about what you believe and how you express that. What’s your favorite thing to put on bagels? Cream cheese. What’s the most important key on your key ring? I only have one, and that's to my house. What was the last argument you got in about and who was it with? AHAHAHAAHAHA okay so. There was a video on FB of a pet meerkat having its belly rubbed, and it was chirping happily. It was very cute, but especially because this video was on a big page, I commented how awful and unhealthy of an idea it is to have a pet meerkat for both it and yourself. It's illegal in a lot of places for good reason. I got a lot of agreement, but of course there was one imbecile who disagreed enough to tell me to shut the fuck up. Now I am normally very, very terrified of confrontation or even the HINT of it, but for once in my life I couldn't have been more unfazed. At what age did you start picking out your own outfits? I don't know. I've come to find via surveys that I can't really remember events by ages. How spicy do you like your food? Pretty spicy. Spicier than most like, but I don't enjoy it when it's just pure pain. What was the last really intense pain you felt? You know that awwwfuuuulll pinch of pain you sometimes get in your ribs when your lungs expand to a certain, small amount? That. I couldn't take deep breaths for anything. What is the best thing that’s ever happened to you? Recovery from the breakup. What are three things you have been a victim of? Uhhhh. Idk, nothing major. What is your passion? Wildlife conservation, probably more than anything. When was the last time you truly felt alive? Ha, good question. How many siblings do you have? Technically six, but I don't know one at all. Are you married? No. Are you dating someone? Yeah. If not, do you wish you were dating someone? N/A Do you want an indoor or outdoor wedding? I'm not sure. What states (or countries) have you lived in? Just one. Does your first crush know you liked them? No. Do you wish on stars? Nope. Are you happier now than you were 10 years ago? I don't know. I can't really remember exactly what I was like at 13. I think I'm maybe happier now? Are you happier now than you were 5 years ago? Yes. ^If not, why not? N/A ^If yes, why? My depression is under control. Do you live in your dream house? Definitely not. What was your first job? Sales clerk at GameStop. ^Did you like it? No, thanks to feral social anxiety. Have you been bullied? No, very thankfully. What do you wish people knew about you? I sincerely care about my loved ones, a lot, even though I have trouble being the one to reach out first. What health issues do you have? A lot. Don't even feel like putting them all together. Do you still cross paths with your first crush ever? No. What is your favorite Bible verse, and why? None. Do you have a secret nobody knows? Yes. It's nothing major, just little things I don't want to share. Who are some of the most selfish people you have ever met? I don't know. Is there anyone you want back in your life? Yes. What color was the house you grew up in? True shit, I somehow don't remember for sure. I think it was brick? What was the name of the first pet that you loved? Charcoal, a cat, was the first pet I had a serious, deep bond with. Do you receive more insults or compliments? Compliments, I guess. Do you meditate? No. Do you pray? No. Have you ever seen a spirit/ghost/shadowy figure, etc.? I've sure as hell seen something. What would you ask a genie for, if you had three wishes? World peace, end of disease, and the end of poverty. When someone messages you and you know it’s going to be rude, do you ignore it and not read it, or do you read it and reply? Honestly, most of the time, I ignore it. I am so, SO sensitive, so my feelings are super easily hurt by what others have to say. Do you find online drama stressful? Yes. Even more than irl drama because you have to wait painstakingly for them to reply, and you can't hear their tone of voice. How stressful is your life? I'm pretty damn stressed for someone who's trapped inside their house lmao. Was any of your home decor inspired by Pinterest? No. Do you do yoga? No. What is something you have tried and hated? Oral is NOT my jazz. Do you have regrets? Yeah. Are you mad at someone? No. What is this month’s calendar picture? I don't have a calendar. What is your last ex-boyfriend’s or ex-girlfriend’s name? Technically Donald. Do you have an ex-friend that you miss? Yep. What color do you want your wedding dress to be? Most likely black. Would you rather go out for pancakes or steak? Pancakes. I like them more in general, and I'm also suuuper picky with steak. What’s your favorite Ramen noodle flavor? The only kind I've ever liked is the Yakisoba brand of spicy chicken. How do you feel when you read the Bible, if you read it? Encouraged? Angry? I don’t read it. Have you ever suffered from anxiety? I had some anxieties as a little kid, and I was officially diagnosed with it in the 6th grade. Have you ever suffered from depression? Since the 7th grade. What is something a lot of people like but you don’t? Pie is what came to mind first. What’s an uplifting song you like to listen to? "High Hopes" by P!ATD. Think about the person you fell hardest for. Why do you think your feelings for this person were so strong? How is he/she different compared to everyone else you’ve had feelings for? Well, he was my first real love. They're always special. I was fucking crazy for him, and it grew to an unhealthy degree. Trust me, you can love too much. He made me happy when so few could back then, and we had a connection unprecedented in my whole life. He himself felt like my home. I could write you a goddamn novel on why I felt so strongly. Have you ever caught your friend cheating on their boyfriend/girlfriend? If you have, what did you do about it? If you haven’t, what do you think you would do? No. Quite honestly, I'd tell them. I could NOT keep that a secret. Whether they believe me or not, I'm not withholding that from them. When your last relationship ended, how long was it before you felt ready to think about being with someone else? I know this technically sounds bad, but Sara and I started dating the day after I broke up with him. One of the reasons we split is because I realized I liked her. It was so quick because I never had to "move on;" I never came to be truly interested in him romantically. Who was the last person you talked to before you went to sleep last night? Do you remember what you talked about? Sara and I were texting, but I don't remember about what. When are you at your happiest? When I'm with Sara. How many people have you kissed? Three or four. I don't really remember if I ever kissed Girt. How many of those people are you still friends with? Two. Where did you go, the last time you left your house? Mom and I went to multiple places. She had errands to run. Do you like your singing voice? Rarely. I think it fits only a few songs. Are most silences awkward for you? UH-HUH UH-HUH. Name someone you wish you had never met. Why? Jabari. He was scary and almost assaulted someone in my family. Who has the nicest singing voice, that you know personally? Probably Sara. Say something nice about someone you really don’t care for: He loves his kids to death. Ever won school awards? Yes. Do you drink more soda than anything else? Not anymore, thankfully. Do you curse a lot? I curse possibly more than anyone you know. Have you ever been in a courtroom? Yes. Do you eat a lot around Thanksgiving? No. I actually don't like 99% of Thanksgiving food. Were you a chubby child? No. Are you afraid to sing in front of people? Yes. Do you enjoy your family? Yeah. When did you last dance with someone? I forced Sara to last June lmao. Do you feel awkward watching sex scenes? VERY. Did you ever have senior photos done? No. Are your parents protective of you? Mom is for sure. I don't see my father much, and he's changed a LOT since the divorce, so I can't really answer for him. I know he is to some degree, I just don't know how much. Have you ever been bullied? I've had some mean shit said to me, but I don't believe I've ever really been consistently "bullied." Do you ever help decorate during the holidays? No. I just don't have the motivation and don't really care enough to put things up that're only coming down in two months. Do you have carpeted floors? Only my room and my sis's old one. Can you count to ten in another language? German, yeah. Have you ever been arrested? No. Do you always lock your door at night? Yeah. Do you get allowance? No, never did. Do you have a Facebook? Yes. Do you enjoy the presence of children? In most cases, no.

#survey #quiz #questions #random #bored

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atqh16 · 5 years

Text

I’d Rather Be With You

Matt and Foggy get trapped under a collapsed building after an earthquake and there's nothing they can do but keep each other company as they wait for the Emergency Crew to arrive. But Foggy might not have much time left to wait.

AO3

The building was falling apart. Dust and debris were raining the air in a thick hazardous cloud and Foggy has to duck his head to inhale a clean rush of air into his lungs. The earth beneath them continued to violently shake the structure above them apart. The wood and steel panels of the warehouse creak and groan and seconds later he can hear the glass windows shatter at the pressure of the walls start to give in.

He could her other people screaming and crying in horror from other parts of the building and even people from the higher floors. He felt his stomach drop at having to accept that he was in no condition to help any of them except for his partner who was currently passed out in front of him after pushing Foggy away from a large chunk of falling wood that would've thrown him to the floor and had instead hit Matt on the head hard enough to knock him out.

"Matt. Matt come on wake up. Come on Matt I can't do this alone. You gotta give me some help here bud", Foggy shakes his best friend as vigorously as he can while leaning his broken arm as close to his chest as possible. "Come on Matty. Come on wake up please. I can't save you alone. I need you. Come on Matt I need you"

But his partner doesn't stir. There was a small puddle of blood slowly trickling down his temple from his head wound, his hair matted in wet clumps with it.

A large chunk of the roof caves in and Foggy screams. He jumps to his feet, terror for both his and Matt's life helping him ignore how his broken arm swayed painfully at his side and grabs Matt collar by the other.

"Come on. Come on Nelson"

It's slow and tedious but slowly Foggy manages to inch Matt away from the falling chunks of steel and wood to the underground basement a few feet away.

Foggy's panting and whimpering in pain by the time to they reach the open hatch door but the sound chunks of metal and wood keep falling around them and the roaring sound they make as they whistle pass and slam against the ground - like creatures waiting to devour them both - keep him moving despite how much the pain wanted to make him cry out.

Tugging Matt down the wooden stairs was a lot easier but still slow because Foggy was trying to make sure neither of them would slipped and fall. The sound of the building falling around them was muffled underneath the roof of the basement.

Foggy is racing back up the stairs to close the hatch door when a loud thunderous moan of straining wood rattles above him. Foggy doesn't make it upstairs far enough to reach the latch and pull the hatch close. A large metal beam falls merely inches away from him and breaks the hatch door right of its hinges while another large chunk of the roofing falls through the entryway onto the basement stairs and collapses it right beneath him.

Foggy screams as he falls and the last thing he sees before his head hits the cement floor is the sight of the entire roof caving in above him before everything goes black.

Foggy wakes up slowly to the pain of something rough and heavy shifting on his stomach. Feeling thankful for once for the flab covering his abdominal muscles that help push back the weight slightly as to not cave in his abdomen entirely.

"Come on. Move. Move! Argh. Fuck. "

He blinks a few times before his eyes and ears manage to decipher the voice and form of his best friend beside him who was trying to push away the heaviness that was weighing Foggy down.

He moans when the rough edges of the debris dig deeper into his skin.

"Ok this hurts a lot more than that time when I got punched by Brett for destroying his bike."

Matt stops and reaches out to touch his face. "Foggy? Hey try to stay still ok buddy. I'll get this stuff off of you."

The small slabs of rock and metal continue to move as Matt tries his hardest to gingerly haul the heaviest of them off of him.

Foggy tries to regain his faculties enough to take note of his surroundings.

The wreckage and remains of the warehouse were scattered around them in a hazardous mess but the roof of their small place of refuge was still intact and from what Foggy can tell, Matt seemed to be uninjured enough to move with little pain. Though the unfocused look in his eyes told him that Matt was probably hiding some injuries and holding back a severe headache from a major concussion. Blood was still running down his face in narrow rivulets that continuously dripped off his chin. Foggy couldn't help but remember that head wounds tended to bleed a lot and he wondered worriedly how much blood Matt had lost during the time that lapses between his unconscious state and his current one.

And judging from how 'six pack, I can beat 10 people at once' Murdock was finding it difficult to muster enough strength to move the rubble above him, it was definitely affecting him more than he would probably like to admit.

The one time his suit and helmet would've been useful in protecting his best friend and they get trapped in a situation while they were both just civilians. Of all the random things in the world it was an earthquake that caught them both off guard.

He raises his uninjured arm - thank god it wasn't buried as well - to tug at Matt's sleeve.

"Matt. Matt, I think you need to take a breather. You're losing a lot of blood. If you keep at it, you're gonna pass out"

Matt was panting heavily but he didn't stop his efforts of digging Foggy out. "I can keep going. I just need to move a little more of this and get you free first"

Knowing that his best friend was going to continue to ignore anything he had to say on the matter, he let his hand drop but glued his eyes to his friends face to make sure he wasn't going to overexert and pull himself back to unconsciousness.

A pretty large bit of debris moves on top of him and suddenly the cement held up by what little was left of the wire rods above them both shift with a groan that sent large chunks of rubble raining down on them, threatening to crush them both.

Foggy immediately held his hand up to cover his face but Matt instead curled himself protectively around Foggy and took the brunt of the damage.

The sound of falling cement tapered off after a while and Matt shook off the dust and rocks that had fallen onto his back.

The both shared a look of horrified understanding that was only broken when Foggy gave what he hoped was a nonchalant shrug.

"Looks like I'm gonna be stuck here for a while"

Hours passed - Matt keeping track of the time using his watch that had miraculously survived with nothing but some scratches - and they both got worried that no one was coming for them at all until Matt's head jerked up at something that only he can hear.

"The emergency crew is getting closer. I can hear them digging through the wreckage nearer than before. But it's sounding like it's getting harder to dig out the bigger slabs of debris. They're trying to be careful to make sure they don't shift anything that might fall on any survivors and hurt or kill them. There's some talk about bringing in some heavy machinery soon."

Foggy wiggle's a bit where's he's lying on the hard floor, trying to get comfortable. Well as comfortable as you can be when you're buried under a literal building.

He leans his back on the palm of his working arm that's he's managed to move up to cushion the back of his head. "Sounds fantastic. Took them long enough"

Matt's head turns towards him in the way it does when he's about to talk to him. Knees pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around them. "You doing ok?"

Foggy tries not to think about how his lower limbs are starting to feel numb, though Matt can probably tell that his breathing was starting to get more laboured. "Peachy. A little hungry though"

Matt can't help but smile. "I could go for some Thai later on the way home. I haven't had anything all day except half of that bagel you stole from me"

"In my defence it was a really good bagel. It's not fair. You always know where to find the best food. Oh my god! Matt, you're a foodie! You're one of those hipster 'influencers' that go around looking for picture perfect foods even if it's on the other side of town cause you have no sense of just making your life easier. Do you have an Instagram Matty? Is it full of pictures of your workout routine and disgustingly healthy green smoothies?"

"Nah, just some pictures of my abs, the occasional bragging and showing off my model hot dates. Not that I actually know what they look like of course."

"I can't believe I'm best friends with a handsome little duckling hipster. You've probably got all your followers swooning every time you post a selfie."

"You literally dressed like a hobo in college Foggy. Forgive me if I don't take your perspective on self-grooming seriously. But sure, I get a few dozen swooning followers every now and then"

"Must be such a pain to have to turn them all down"

"Excruciating" Matt says with an upturn of his lips.

Foggy's about to tease him about it a little more when suddenly Matt stiffens. Fingers curling into a loose fist that rub against each other in an agitated manner and his shoulders hunch up like he's trying hard not to cup his palm over his ears.

"Hey," Foggy calls out soothingly, "are they getting louder?"

Matt shakes his head. A part of him wants to keep himself from talking about it entirely. Half because he just wants to ignore it and half because he wants to spare Foggy the gruesome details.

But he knows that ignoring what he's hearing is a futile endeavour and it would actually be more helpful to just talk about it rather than hide it. Not to mention Foggy's always urging him to be more honest in opening up to him. Appreciating how Matt's is learning to curl back the habit of hiding himself behind his walls.

"It's getting quieter" he says.

"How many of them are left?"

Matt cocks his head to the side, focusing on his surroundings. "30 I think. The heartbeat of 5 of them from before have sort of become muted. I don't know if they've passed out or the aid crew managed to dig them out.", Matt's not sure if he wants to know which is it.

"Can you still tell which of them are still sticking around?"

Matt goes silent again for a moment, "The lady on the fifth floor stopped crying a while ago, I think the kids on our right are sleeping but their dad is still awake, the two teenagers in our left are talking about sports - I think they're trying to distract themselves- and the rest that are close by are talking in hushed tones and I can't really tell what they're saying. About 8 of them are too far for me to hear what they're doing but I can still hear their heart beats"

Foggy nods appreciatively, "That's good. They're all trying to keep each other company. That's probably gonna help them stay strong for the next few hours till the paramedics can get to them"

Foggy shimmy's a little bit more, trying to ease the weight that's crushing down on his pelvic bone. But winces when the movement jostles his broken arm.

Matt instantly inches himself closer, hand flitting forward to grip Foggy's shoulder, "Hey, how you're doing?"

"Not great but still kicking. You?"

"I'm fine." Matt assures him but Foggy gives him a sceptical look.

Matt is swaying a bit from the dizziness, blood still running down the side of his face though it's slowed to a trickle. They'd pressed Matt's jacket over it at first but when their surroundings got darker and the air around them got colder Matt had put it back on and scuttled even closer to Foggy. Not that it really helped either of them stay warm since it's hard to share body heat when the other person has half his body buried away. Matt's wincing with every breath he takes from his bruised ribs and he was leaning most of body on his right side to leave his left broken ankle from being weighted down. Foggy can tell that he would prefer stretching it out completely if there was actually any room for it.

"You know I have eyes, right?" Foggy retorts.

Matt raises an eyebrow, "I think that's ableism. Reminding a blind man of what he doesn't have", he makes a tutting sound of faux disapproval, "I expected more from a cum laud graduate of Columbia"

"It's not ableism if said disabled is a masochistic asshole who parkours over rooftops for fun"

"Touché"

"How many are them are left?"

"23"

"The kids?"

".... I can't hear them"

Foggy's peripheral vision is starting to darken. He finds it hard to hear much unless he's concentrating and his attempts at banter with his best friend is getting slower.

"Hey Foggy, stay awake ok. They're getting really close and it's not gonna take much longer now"

Foggy wheezes out a breath, "It's ok, I'm just daydreaming about the pizza I'm gonna order when we're back home. Large all meat pizza with extra onions and cheese"

"Tell me more about it"

"About the pizza?"

"Sure. I'm going to order that fresh basil mozzarella and pepperoni from El-Salvador's"

"There you go again with that hipster food. That pizza cost almost twice the price of the take away near my place."

"They use 100% percent fresh ingredients and it's completely worth the price. Besides, when we get out of here it's totally an occasion worthy of fancy pizza. I'll treat you"

"Deal. You get the pizza and I'll pay for the Thai"

"We're still getting the Thai?"

"We are still definitely getting the Thai"

"Sometimes I don't know whether to be amazed by your appetite or horrified"

"You complain enough about the Cheetos I buy to snack on at the office"

"Those things are drenched in chemicals and preservatives and I will continue throwing them away when I find your stash"

"The game isn't fair when you can smell it with your super powers"

It's too dark to tell but Foggy thinks he can make out Matt's silhouette tapping the bridge of his nose, "The nose knows"

That's startles a chuckle out of Foggy but the rumble of his chest aggravates the rubble above them and send dust into the air. Triggering a coughing fit that racks horribly in his chest.

Matt's grip on his shoulder tightens.

"Just a bit more Fog. We're going to get out of here soon"

Foggy nods because really that's the only thing he can do.

"Hey Matty?"

"Yeah Foggy?"

"I could sure use a toilet right now"

Matt chuckles, " me too"

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm getting... really sleepy"

"Come on buddy, you gotta keep me company."

"Ok"

"Hey Matt?

"Hmmm..."

"I'm just gonna.... gonna close my eyes for a bit ok"

Foggy can hear Matt scramble forward and wincing when it pushes his injured ankle against the ground. "Hey stay with me Fog. Keep your eyes open ok", he sounds lethargic. Foggy feels bad for thinking about letting himself rest when Matt is busy worrying about him.

But he's so tired and it's getting really hard to breath.

"Just for a little while Matty. Just a short nap"

He can hear Matt calling his name but his eyes are already closed and the sound of his voice slowly tapers off before going completely silent as Foggy lets himself go to sleep.

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musicalmukebox · 6 years

Text

Let’s Get (Back) Together | l.h. (15)

Ctto of the gifs used!!

AU: Parent Trap Dad!Luke

Summary: A strong love which led to a strong marriage and twin daughters. Yet in the end, it didn’t turn out so well. You strongly refuse to encounter him ever again. But what happens when both of you coincidentally send your twin daughters to the same summer camp in Florida after 10 years?

Word Count: 11k

Warnings: angst, swearing, sweet sweet revenge, verbal and almost physical fighting, mental breakdowns, s e x u a l tension

A/N: Gahhh it’s around 1:40 am here! I enjoyed writing this chapter like wooo! I hope you guys won’t find it too cheesy or underwhelming! First, I wanna thank my parents for giving me the medical terms mentioned here, though I still struggle with capturing some concepts of it haha! And by the way, I found out the Parent Trap film just celebrated its 20th year anniversary since its release a few months ago. Pretty coincidental to say the least! Anyways, enjoy!

I don’t own Parent Trap and its ideas. It’s only used as inspiration.

1 / 2A / 2B / 2C / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

Feedback/Questions/Others? Here.

2022, Los Angeles

These past weeks, you’ve created a new daily routine. Or rather, your body did.

Wake up suddenly. Race to the bathroom. Vomit your guts out. Go back to sleep. Wake up to get ready for work. Prepare breakfast. Race back to the bathroom. Vomit again. Fully lose your appetite. Take a shower. Get dressed. Drive to the studios or film settings.

It pretty much varies, but this was a close one to each passing day. You ached the rush of your guts boiling up to your throat because it was physically draining and hindering you from current filming projects. Also to your disdain, Luke was on a mini tour at the moment, so you were on your own for this, though it was bound to end soon so a speedy recovery must be in order. But he knew what you were going through due to your nightly (or morning) video calls you do almost every day whenever both of you can.

“Are you sure you’re really okay, (Y/N)? I can ask Eleanor to come over and help.”

“No need! I’m fine, Luke. Just need more rest, that’s all.”

Even though the directors of latter were lenient and kind enough to give you some rest days since they knew how much of a busy woman you’ve become, you still felt bad because it looked as if you haven’t taken care of yourself too well with your condition.

Was it something you ate? Did you exert too much effort to the point your body couldn’t handle it? Are you overworking on these projects? Seriously, did you or Luke cook something that actually expired?

Actually before the nausea, fatigue has hit you faster before you begin working on-set. Thus, sitting out became a norm that quick. Going home after is just exhausting, and crashing on the bed is a lot easier than usual. Not really a bad thing, but you still had to work on your lines and respond to emails. Alongside that, you’ve suddenly gained weight despite the nausea. Your jeans don’t fit like they used to and mostly, you prefer wearing crop tops and sweaters instead of anything tight.

The last straw was today, when you no longer tolerated that insane wave of nausea that hit almost every thirty minutes in the late morning which clashed with the fatigue. Only now were you growing concerned on your health since you figured it firstly to be a stomach virus, but it could possibly more than that. Hence, you needed to get a clear idea of what is happening to you. So today, you excused yourself again to the director of one of the filming shootings for the day due to health reasons, and urgently went to the hospital. Fortunately, he freely allowed you to do so because you had one of the lead roles, and really wanted make sure that everyone was healthy.

By chance, no paparazzi was present in the area, which made it easier to check inside. Seeking guidance from any expert in the lobby as soon as you walked in, a young looking woman in her green scrubs raced to your aid, probably an intern in her twenties who was starstruck by your appearance by the way she beamed when she greeted you.

“Omg hi, Miss (Y/L/N)! How may I help you?”

Although flattered, you bluntly gave her the synopsis of your physical well-being. “Well, something’s odd with my health, like I’ve been easily tired these past weeks, and vomiting hardcore too which makes me lose a lot of sleep. Today took a toll me while at work, so I just want a clear idea of what’s happening because I’m pretty nervous and hoping it’s not serious that it could affect my work ethic.”

Upon talking, she was taking down of everything and it didn’t take too long for her to think of a procedure or solution to assist you. “Oh no! It’s a good thing you’ve come today. I suggest you take a blood test, which you can get the results of next week if that would be okay. Though for nausea, avoid oily foods and eat something bland like pretzels.”

As impatient as you were feeling now due to the tension of what’s happening within you, you trusted her opinion and pushed through with it. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good! Now, may I lead you to the institute of pathology? That’s where the laboratory is for blood extraction.”

“Surely, lead the way.”

“And we’re done!” The phlebotomist, or someone who extracts blood from you aka. the patient for testing, exclaims as she ejected the needle from your forearm and untied the tourniquet right above. Internally, you celebrated for facing your long fear of needles for the sake of your health.

“Thanks so much, love. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“I doubt that it is. You’re practically glowing and fit since you’ve acted and done your own stunts in your films too. Also c’mon, your body is goals!”

Gushing, “Aww, thanks again.” You attempted to stand up from the seat, but it only made you dizzy so you sat back down. You weren’t even in a rush, self. Chill. “Wow, I’m getting dizzy and tired so fast nowadays honestly. This sucks.”

“What else have you been feeling then? – By the way, I’m Claire.” She introduced whilst asking, tucking away your blood sample in a cabinet.

“Nice to meet you, Claire. Hmm well,” You leaned back in the chair to suit your comfort. “I get the most absurd food cravings at weird times yet there is non-stop vomiting late in the morning especially. I gained weight too, where I can’t fit some of my jeans and shorts and wearing tight tops and bras are suffocating. Also whenever I try to go to gym, the fatigue kicks in. Actually, the fatigue is always there, but they get worse like the vomiting.”

“Oh, I see.” Claire, who just sat across from you, listened and put her mind into use of what may have caused this, although the answer was so predictable to her and still wanted to inquire. “Have you been … sexually active recently? I mean, you are married and all to Luke Hemmings!”

You gushed again since you weren’t much to talk about your sex life with him, covering your burning cheeks. But if it’s meant to help you, then by all means go. “Last time we’ve gone at it was around 2-3 months ago, right before he went on a mini tour in the country.”

“Interesting. - When was the last time you’ve got your period?”

Frankly, you weren’t much to check on your menstruation patterns nowadays since you’re too time consumed with your career. Besides, if it’s arrives, you have pads prepared back at home. “I don’t remember. I’ve been so distracted to keep track. Why is that so important?”

“Oh my god, is it that hard to unravel? – Morning sickness, weight gain, weird cravings, over fatigue, late period?” She asked back, cracking an enthusiastic smile. But you shook your head, still not understanding where she’s getting at.

“Though I’m glad you took this blood test to be sure, my motherly instincts are telling me that you, Mrs. (Y/N) Hemmings, are pregnant.”

A week later, and she was right.

You received from the mail the results, which confirmed your suspicions. Since that extraction, you couldn’t stop thinking about it despite everything making much more sense now. All the symptoms were exactly what Eleanor felt when she was still pregnant with Nick, how naïve of you to have not realized sooner!

The need to tell Luke in person as soon as possible is making you impatient, and you were in utter luck that he was coming home tonight already after months.

You were still in contact with Claire, who was ecstatic for you when you told her and hastily recommended you to the best OB-GYN doctor in the hospital named Dr. Katherine Han. Booking an appointment today was challenging at first, but luckily, you got it. Waiting outside her clinic, her secretary kindly invited you in. “Dr. Han is ready to see you, Mrs. Hemmings.”

Dr. Han, or Kate as she fully claimed, scanned through your results happily, recommended the necessary vitamins and insisted you afterwards to make an ultrasound to inspect on your unborn child. “This is pretty exciting, must I say?”

Unquestionably, yes. Maybe, at first, you freaked out because that would mean a lot of adjustments. You and Luke have talked about before about wanting kids later in your marriage, when you’ve toned down from your busy lifestyles. But now, who cares? Your mindset changed drastically, and the idea of carrying a little life inside you was mind-blowing. It was actually happening.

With that idea having you feel thrilled for the next months to come. But the moment you lied down on the examination bed and put up your blouse, there was already a bump, which is unlikely since it’s early in the pregnancy. Regardless, you then felt the wand move below your abdomen with the cold gel, you were breathless of what your eyes witnessed on the screen.

“You see that flickering light? That’s the heartbeat. Let me raise the volume of it.”

Doing as she said, the thumping increased and you felt goosebumps grow in your entire body. There was the little bean in its glory, your little bean.

“Oh wait a minute.” She paused briefly, raising the wand higher to show another flickering light and an echo of sounds. “Looks like you have two healthy heartbeats. – Congrats, Mrs. Hemmings. You’re expecting twins. Would you like a copy of the sonogram?”

Just as you though things couldn’t get any better, you’ll get two little bundles of you. Okay, maybe one mini-you and one mini-Luke. Though if they are both mini-Luke’s, it’s alright too. It’ll be a quite a mess since Luke is practically a man-child. But, who cares?

“Mrs. Hemmings?” Too absorbed in your thoughts, you haven’t answered the doctor’s question.

“Yes please.”

As great and fantastic these news were, you were bound to surprise Luke this when he gets home. It’s been quite a while. Also, you really wanted him to be the first to know before telling anyone else. Since your careers are already over the top, you planned to just keep it simple. Besides, the both of you weren’t much into giving lavish luxury items, well except on special occasions.

But on a normal basis? Nah, you’d like to save some money for the future. Most likely for education. It’s always nice to think ahead.

There were balloons on the walls and some tied down the legs of the side tables, where you were sat by the couch with a small bag of goodies were inside with a mutual meaning. Time is ticking on your watch, and Luke could be home any minute now. He’ll be exhausted since he’ll be coming back from New York. You’ve missed him so much, where neither video not phone calls were not as sufficient as physical contact. Especially the rated R ones!

Well, before you got “sick”.

Your calm body was sprawled on the couch, trying new positions that’ll suit best for your little beans and scrolling up and down possible room decorations to purchase. Oh yes, baby fever is real with you, starting with the nickname of little beans. While at your enjoyable daze, you can hear the fumbling of the door knob from the outside, unlocking it. Struggling to roll down his huge luggages and his dufflebag as his hand carry, he dropped them immediately.

“I’m home!”

For him, all he knew was that his home is wherever you are.

There he was in his glory. His hair was a lot messier as compared to usual, his facial expressions of tiredness from the long trip but still gave a loud greeting that could get a noise complaint from the neighbors.

Again.

“Luke!” You shot up from your seat, catching his attention. Upon hearing, he knew in a snap you were in the living room. He hoped you cooked dinner or something because as much as he did like eating everywhere from hotel rooms and famous restaurants, nothing beats yours. But then again, you’ve been sick so probably not. As long as he gets to see you, he’ll be happy.

Advancing there, he lightened up at the sight of you, as if you were glowing like the sickness never bothered at all. The blue dress you had on with your beaming smile had him fall over heels all over again. Absolutely smitten. Alongside that, another thing that caught his eyes were the few balloons that bordered where you stood. Coming home from tour or a trip has never been new to since your jobs require to, yet little additions like them was blissful. He couldn’t waste anymore time, running to you and lifting you up in a tight hug by the waist.

Gasping at such suddenness, you enveloped your arms around his neck whilst internally praying he doesn’t crush the little beans, even by a bit. He then puts you down not so long after, giving you a lingering kiss on yours. He could care less if he would get sick. Tour is over anyways, and he has a break before going back to business.

God, feeling them just never gets old nor unsatisfying, like they were custom made just for you. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, love. These past months felt way too long.” Dragging the “too”, his interest returned on the balloons. As a symbol of celebration and surprises, something is up. Maybe he was just overreacting, considering this homecoming was a celebration in itself.

As he felt your arms linger away his neck, you brought out the small bag of goodies from the floor, preparing yourself for the reveal. “I came across some items you might like when I was the way home.”

He grew skeptical, but he went along with it. Taking a seat right beside you, he rummaged through them and brought it all out, laying them on the coffee table right in front.

“Hmm,” He begins his close observation. “An orange-flavored Caprisun, animal crackers and Starburst. Well, maybe for you, they were some of your favorite childhood snacks. I only liked the Starburst. – I’m still pretty lost with this.”

Not bad, he got a keyword: childhood.

This next step is the climax, which involved a sealed envelope from your jacket right beside you. It was quite nervewracking at first, but you came this far and nonetheless of his reaction, it wouldn’t affect how you feel towards the beans. “Here. Maybe this can make much more sense.”

He was so confused, but you didn’t blame him. “You’re scaring me, love.”

“Just open it.” You laughed, anticipating for too long and wanting already to see his reaction. Unsealing it felt like a lifetime, also ripping it a bit in the middle. There he saw two folded pieces of paper and took them out. The first was a short note, which he read aloud.

“Hello there! So as of now, we can’t eat and drink those treats so you can have them! Maybe give us around 6-7 months and we’ll steal them from you! We can’t wait to meet you, dad! Love, Little Bean 1 and Little Bean 2.”

Dad.

It took him seconds to sink in the premise of the surprise. Unfolding the last paper, it was the ultrasound from early afternoon, his mouth hanging down from the surprise and racing happiness that he was gaining. There was still a short sentence written on the back side.

“Turns out it wasn’t the flu or a virus. It’s just us adjusting, sorry for hurting mom though.”

From his contagiously, cute smile, he was the exact opposite of what you were overthinking previously. He was at a loss of words as he repeatedly looked back in forth at the goodies and the letters before facing you, having a matching smile and blushing. To add, he got up on his feet to really sink the information further because he was too happy.

“I’m pregnant, Luke.” You blurted, no more holding back.

Luke swore he was breathless for a moment, before lifting you up again and back into his arms you were. “Oh my God, wow. Fuck. – This is the best thing I’ve heard all day!” You were laughing too hard from his reaction, and as he put you down, he was literally filled with so much adoration for you.

“It’s actually happening! Like you’re going to be a mom, I’m going to be a dad, we’ll be parents! And twins?!”

“It’s going to be double trouble but double fun, right?” You reassured, only leading him to pull you closer for a kiss on your forehead.

“Fuck yeah. I hope they have your nose though.” He booped your nose, knowing that it annoys you often. But you let it pass.

“I hope they have your blue eyes, they are gorgeous.” You complimented, grazing a finger on his scruffy face. You were equally appreciating every facial feature of each other, giving more “I hope’s” back and forth and then confidently, you tiptoed to place your lips against him, sharing a much more passionate kiss that can are as equal to the kisses from your consummation.

He was the first to pull back, desiring to place his available hand on your lower abdomen with a grin so pure it can spread world peace. “There’s a little us there, and I’ll make sure to take care of the three of you.” Your hormones were about to get the best of you, but you didn’t let it control you for now.

“God, can we just stay in this moment forever? It’s too amazing.” He pleaded, looking directly in your eyes.

“I really do as well, but if it helps,” You pointed your finger at the fireplace, where a tiny camera was situated. “I recorded the whole thing for us to look past on.”

He couldn’t get any more blessed and grateful for you, scattering your entire face with pecks. “Fuck, I love you so much. I can never picture anyone else having my children except you.”

Your heart was fleeting crazily, but his cursing was all over the place which is now considered unacceptable in this household. “I love you so much too, Luke. – But one, stop swearing around me, or at least minimize it. They can hear you, you know?” He frowned in guilt, but when you laughed out the seriousness, you declared once more.

“Second, you’re the only person I would ever want to have a domestic life with.”

2034, Sydney

It was 4 am, and most of the adults were passed out drunk in their separate bedrooms in the second floor. The house they were lodging currently had 4 stories with a basement. In the third floor, there were designated rooms for the young boys and girls. Stella and Rebecca currently shared a bed and a room with Scarlett and Beatrix. Yet, it was Rebecca to get up first due to the soft alarm she set on her phone. Good thing no one else heard it or else Scarlett would be complaining so much about how precious sleep is.

Shaking her sister gently to wake up, it didn’t take too long before she groggily did, having some of her blonde strands covering her visage and lips. When she blew them off, her eyes crinkled open more from the flashlight Rebecca switched on since Stella was arrogant to move at first. But because now she couldn’t fall back into sleep, she urged her body to get upright and focus on her awoken twin.

“God, this bed was too comfortable like you said.” She stretched her arms, unwrapping her tiny body from the duvet and put on her slippers.

“I told you so! Anyways, we need to grab some things at the kitchen and pantry first.” Rebecca tells, adjusting her sweater and jumps out the bed with her phone. Slowly sneaking out the door without disturbing anyone else, the twins tiptoed their way to the stairs and hurried to the pantry where a huge chunk of their needed materials lied.

Rebecca switched on the light, a mischievous smirk forming in her face as she stepped on the mini ladder so she could reach items that were up in the shelves. Stella watched her, making sure she doesn’t trip or anything, but she also took some items on the lower shelves they knew they would need. When they finished, they gathered their things and laid them down on the kitchen island, arranging and checking them orderly.

“Hair dye?” Stella asked.

“Got it. Honey?” Rebecca picks the item up for showing.

“Check. Balloons?”

“Done.”

As they completed in reviewing their materials, “You ready for this, brat?”

“Fuck yeah. Sierra deserves only the worse.”

“Truly. So Camp War 2.0? Let’s get to work.”

Phase 1.

Luke dazedly woke up to do his morning run around 6 in the morning in hopes to watch the sunset by the cliff that he loves to do alone. He was blessed to not have gotten wasted like Ashton. Tying the shoelaces of his shoes and inserting his airbuds, he was on his way out the house. Sierra was in a peaceful slumber for quite some time – That was until the first alarm from her phone hit piercingly. Groaning, one eyelid was open to stop it. She didn’t recall putting any alarms before getting to bed, but nonetheless, she wanted to claim back her beauty sleep.

But the second alarm then came around not even 10 minutes later, and there she was annoyed. Muttering profanities under her breath, she turned it off and tossed back to her initial sleeping position. Unfortunately, the deafening sound of the alarm messed with her mind, which made her lose the drowsiness. No longer forcing it, she rose from her side of the bed with bad bed head. Disoriented by her “dysfunctional” phone, the first thing she was looking for was her glasses, which is usually by her bed side so she can properly operate. However, it wasn’t there as she rummaged it. Odd again, but she ignored it again since just a few hours, she was drunk off her butt and probably left it someplace else.

With blurry vision, she stumbled her way to the bathroom, discarding her pajamas to take a warm shower. Here, another scheme is set. Putting on shampoo is a normal thing when cleaning yourself, only that when Sierra applies it on her hair, it gradually left her a raging red shade.

It didn’t process to her what was happening until she saw the shower floor filled with red water. At first, she figured that she got her period, but she just got it 2 weeks ago and it’s long ended. Pulling the handle open of the shower, she went nearer to the mirror to see what has took place.

“Fucking shit!” How did this happen? Did she take the wrong shampoo? The smell was right though. Maybe there was a chemical malfunction, and she has to get this fixed as soon she can because God knows how much more damage it can bring. Also, email the company about this.

Rinsing it off with a towel, she changed into cleaner clothes and pretty set for the day, knowing she has a few things on her agenda already. She likes to be productive after all. But first, breakfast. She just needed her phone to do some contacting. When she got ahold of it on her bedside, she received a message.

[6:40 AM] Future Husband: just went out for a run! but i have a surprise for you downstairs in the basement, come check it out x

She loved surprises, where she gets to be spoiled rotten by absolutely anything she wants. And since recently he’s been so distant due to the whole surprise family reunion, she assumed that he felt bad and is making up for it.

[6:50 AM] Sierraaaaa: just showered babe, i’m gonna check it out! love you, hubba!

Meanwhile from the work room, where security cameras were placed in the major rooms like the basement, living room, the small lobby, and patio, Rebecca and Stella were imitating vomiting sounds due to the pet names Sierra gave. “So this is dating works, huh? Just bleh!”

“I suppose so. Good thing I’m too young for that! - Shit, she’s by the staircase already!”

They watched carefully her movements, hoping she doesn’t take any unnecessary detours and giggling at the new hair color on the side. When Sierra reaches the end of the corridor of the first floor, which leads to a another staircase going to the basement, the girls were on the edge of their seats, giddy. There were two open tabs on the desktop computer they were using, one showing Sierra and the other on the basement. The latter was a total and messy obstacle, which was about to be unleashed in less than a minute.

“Fuck, let’s get the actual party started!” Stella exclaimed.

Phase 2.

“Hope you like it, babe. Love, Luke.” Sierra reads the sign on the door, pumped up what lies behind the wooden door. With the suspense it expressed, Sierra couldn’t wait any longer and unlocked the door in front of her.

It was quite dark since the curtains were spread open at the large open doors on her left, so through her eyes, she searched for any light buttons to switch on. Luckily, there was one on her left, but it was pretty far from where she stood, so she moved her body to do so minimally. However, as she did, she actually overpassed a light string that was connected to the light switches. Instead, she slipped on the floor instantly and caught the tacky view of the basement.

First feature: A mixture of honey and maple syrup spread throughout the floor like peanut butter on bread.

She slid so fast throughout the entire interior of the room like an indoor slip-and-slide, hitting the corners and sides of the walls with almost every part of her body. Her mind was spinning, and every time she tried to get back on her feet, the syrup would always make her tumble repeatedly. Unfortunately enough, she had no protective gear on her figure to keep her safe from the friction and bumping the hardness, most especially her head. Yet there was another detail that got her much more drenched.

Second feature: There were numerous balloons surrounded in the entire room that were either filled with air or water.

Whilst sliding, different balloons were popping around her as she hit different spots of the room. When did, she’d pop a few balloons in the process that would either trigger her sensitive ears or wet any parts of her body. This went on many times because she really tried her best to stand up and evacuate this mess. Here, her body was reconnecting also with the discomforting syrup then faced one last detail.

Third Feature: One of the light switches from a while ago was connected to the electric fan above her, which would rain the room with feathers.

Various sizes of feathers would glue to her soaking clothing. She sneezed at every encounter she got with them, meaning that she was continuously sneezing during the entire experience. No part of her body was spared, resulting to looking like a hairy chicken, especially with the red hair!

“Bok bok, bitch.” Rebecca referenced Rachel Cho, satisfied by the ugliness of the maze which got Sierra the deserved treatment. But that so-called maze wasn’t the end just yet.

Phase 3, aka. the total knockout.

Drenched and still slipping numerously, her rage and annoyance levels skyrocketed into inflation. Thus, it resulted into passionate and thunderous screams, almost like someone was being murdered. She wanted to get out of this horrendous room, and back to the bathroom to rinse off. But on top of that, she wanted to fight whoever was in charge of this, and she knew exactly who they were. Who else?

“Absolute brats!”

Since it was impossible to go back to the main door unless she wanted to slip and fall again, she resolved into opening the big, wide doors facing the beach. Carefully taking her time making steps, she pushed them out, relieved that her stay at that maze was over.

Or was it?

Right above where she was drenching and groaning from discomfort, another line of string hung by her eyes with a tiny note with another message. “You think it was over? – P.S. flip over this note.”

She pulled it out strongly, unfolding it effortlessly because she wanted to know more about the minds of the sinister sisters. Little did she know that a bucket of chocolate syrup was stationed right above her, where a friendly creature was swimming in it, or possibly drowning.

“You mess with our parents, you mess with us. Also, look up. – R & S”

Right on cue, she tilted her head upwards and low and behold, the sticky substance splattered all over her entire body, coating the water and honey from earlier. It was almost Carrie 2.0, except there was no huge audience except the twins, who were busy rejoicing for their success. It came upon them of how smart they work together than against each other like in camp, gladly knowing that they have a valid reason to act so. Besides, they are young and bright, they have to hone their growing potentials.

Sierra remained still and quiet, trying to regain her composure because she will not let the brats win over. It took her years to get to where she is, and she will strike back because losing to them is basically like losing to you. However, that idea was scratched off as soon she felt something crawl above her dyed hair. She was disturbed at the foreign sensation, reaching over it to get a touch of what it is. When she did, it continued to brisk off and by the rough skin and long tail, it was a lizard. And she screamed bloody murder when the lizard slid down to her face, even went to her mouth! Spitting it out along other saliva that was contaminated, she attained her breaking point, finally fed up and throwing numerous tantrums like the spoiled woman she is.

“Wait, where again did you find the creepy crawly, Stella?” Rebecca asks, watching Sierra and enjoying herself at her rage.

“When I was placing the bucket by the ledge of the patio. He was crawling everywhere, but I figured he’d be important.”

Just in time with her screams, Luke just arrived back at the house from his morning jog. Removing his airbuds, he could easily determine the voice and raced to where it was occurring. But when he got to the living room so he could get to the patio and see the commotion, he was beaten to it when a soaked Sierra stormed inside with a frustrated look on her face. She pushed away any object within her vicinity and kicked some chairs too, beyond pissed. It wasn’t too long when the other boys and their families were disrupted from their rest and came running down the stairs, seeking answers towards the unexpected fuss. Just like Luke, they thought that she looked like an absolute, hot mess, psyched and intrigued by who could’ve pulled off such an accident.

“Wha-What the fuck happened, babe?” It was all he can come up with at the spur of the moment, his focus more on her newly dyed hair that just didn’t suit her with the chocolate syrup dripping on the wooden floor.

All this pent frustration and the newly added one began to overtake her mind and mouth. She was officially done. When she took a few steps closer to him, “Here's what's going on, buddy, your twins happened! The day we say “I do" is the day I ship those brats off to Switzerland or maybe give them fully to (Y/N). Get the picture? It's me or them. Take your pick.”

Right after she spits her fire, muffled voices blasted from the speakers in that room. Those speakers can be activated a few ways, commonly through Bluetooth or the aux cord from the work room. Rapidly, the device boosted in volume, giving a clearer hearing of what was being voiced out.

It was none other than last night’s convo between Sierra and Arzaylea.

The two and everyone else paused themselves momentarily to take a listen, and in the end were they stopped dead on their tracks by the intensity and ruthlessness of the situation. Though humiliation additionally crashed on Sierra because she was the main involving party.

Oh, poor Luke. The big secret behind his psychotic fiancée was uncovered and served like a slap on the face. Somehow, everything these past years made much more sense. That honestly pep talk she gave yesterday was pure bull. Everything about her was an ongoing façade.

Once the audio reached its end, the twins publicly made their entrance from the work room, giving off their petty and naughty smirks to their main target. So far, so very good.

“Woah, good morning everyone.” Rebecca greeted innocently.

“What’s for breakfast?” Stella continued on casually.

But Luke wasn’t having it, too frazzled by the situation within the room and couldn’t even look at Sierra when she tried to capture his attention numerously during that audio play. “Alright girls, quit playing. What is going on?”

No more sweet talk, just get down to the business.

“Wasn’t the audio enough, dad? Aunt Sierra over here is a lie.” Stella claimed strongly, pointing at the messy woman.

“Dad, please don’t be associated with her anymore. She’s been manipulative before we were even born!” Rebecca defended further, which finally gave Sierra the balls to speak up for herself.

“That audio you gave could’ve been self-made! What other allegations can you give?” She tested, trying to redefine her name. Aish, wrong move. Rebecca was actually bundling up pieces of paper in her arms, and once she opened them up, “Do screenshots of conversations between you, TMZ, Perez Hilton, US weekly and many more tabloid platforms count? Also saw money and private information were involved too.”

“By the way, aunt Sierra, be careful for your surroundings before running your mouth and opening your devices. This house isn’t as big as you think it is.”

First passing it to Luke for his viewing before giving them to Michael, and just by the tired look he had post-work out he begun with, he grew mentally disheartened by the accuracy of his twins’ accusations about his fiancée. Though mischievous, they weren’t wrong at all.

“Ooh, got an extra audio file that can count as evidence if you don’t mind.” Stella added, excusing herself to return to the work room and play the file of Sierra’ conversation at the Forum. The strong persona of Sierra turned weak again when the papers were handed to different people and that extra audio blasted. Her exposure was forceful, and she had nothing else to say or do to deny them especially since the twins were stating facts.

Luke just listened to Sierra’s hurtful words, in disbelief that she was capable to do this all behind his back for the past decade. He was frozen at his standing position, wanting this to all be from the crazy part of his imagination. But once he was fixated with Sierra’s when he almost spaced out, he looked away quickly at disappointment. Sierra saw that short glimpse, still immersed on his facial features that drooped down. “L-Luke, please let me ex-”

Luke cut her off, putting his hand near her face so she would stop blabbering. “So this whole time, you wrecked our marriage?”

“Wait, ple-”

Luke kept going with his questioning. “You’ve planned this whole thing out vividly so that you and I would be the endgame?”

“Luke, st-”

“This meant having to ruin the lives of (Y/N), Becks and Stella?!”

Silenced and interrupted repetitively, Sierra couldn’t contain the concoction of the variety of emotions boiling up in her system. All these years she’s bottled them up has made her insane, insane to do absolutely anything for this particular man that has once helped her genuinely in the past. But in the end, she doomed herself to unsuccessfulness and obsession. All eyes were on her now, and she really is trying to compose and defend herself in her own words despite either way, she was going to lose. But those smirks of the twins which exactly resemble yours ticked her off completely.

“All of the actions I’ve done were out of 18 years of loving you, Luke! I was always there for you, way before (Y/N) came in the picture. Your breakup with Arzaylea? I was there. When people criticized the band’s hiatus and music post-Sounds Good, Feels Good and you needed moral support? I was also there. Every drinking session you wanted and invited me to out of celebration or sadness in your old home? I was fucking there! How did you not see that? We had something going on, but it was so effortlessly destroyed when she kissed you in that Valentine music video! Since then, I never liked her because I just knew she lured you in and used you so she could be famous. I just couldn’t allow that to happen, so I had to do what was best for you. Besides, if she trusted you, she could’ve told you the real behind the scenes of our relationship and we would’ve not been friends anymore. Gosh, secrecy! But I knew how to use my words so she wouldn’t bother to tell you anything. So yeah, the bitch does not deserve you, Luke. And those brats you call daughters are just as sneaky as she is!”

There it is.

The unsaid has finally dropped, which may have brought embarrassment because Sierra didn’t hold back nor had any filter to fix her words if she was to be misread. The rawness of it was a bombshell since no one ever expected it, even you if you were present. Luke felt as if he was stabbed in the gut mercilessly, not wanting to acknowledge her. Her so-called assumptions on what she thought was good for him was beyond ill-advised. Now one thing is guaranteed: she was the biggest factor to the destruction of your marriage.

“And you think you’re deserving?! Since when were you knowledgeable to know what was good for me?! I understand that you were trying to look out for me behind the scenes, but to hurt people in the process is different!!” His voice was on full blast, startling everyone and putting them on the edge as the rising drama climaxed. Sierra buried her face in her hands, put on the spot to reply back, but either way, it was a lose-lose situation. Luke’s fists balled up and hit the first thing he saw, which was a box of Lucky Charms.

“All the controversies you’ve had, I’ve looked past them because you’re a genuine and talented girl. Turns out you’ve fooled us all. Honesty is the best policy you also said yesterday, bullshit!” No one expected him to swear, making the boys and their wives cover some of their kids’ ears.

Sierra grabbed him by the arm to make him look at her. “I still am that girl, Luke. Let’s sort this out, please.”

“You never were.” Luke swat her hand away, but still turned around with a face as red as a tomato. A mix of post-workout exhaustion and frustration. “You know, (Y/N) had her own hustle, having to balance university while looking for job opportunities. Meeting her was a coincidence gone right. I thought I could fix you and your controversies, help make you become greater than that. Yet, it but turns out that you can only fix yourself, and you failed badly.”

Sierra needed to speak, she had to. Regardless of the risks. “Wow, now you’re defending your ex-wife? Last time I checked, you no longer wanted to be associated with her because she broke it off and hurt you so bad!”

Although truth was spilled, Luke began to pick up on her words and tried to piece them together with past events. Then, he realizes how some connect to each other. “She broke it off because the rumors you’ve paid to get done was a bad environment for our family then and we began to lose trust in each other. But you know what the worst thing was that occurred in that kind of setting?”

“What?” She had the nerve to cross her arms in a cocky manner.

Luke’s walls were near to breaking, but he didn’t want to leave the fight losing. “Because of the divorce, it led to half custody, meaning my twins, or “brats” as you said were robbed of a happy and full family. All thanks to you.”

To top off the cherry on top, Luke stepped a little closer to Sierra and ordered, “Leave.”

“Excuse me?” She sneered, putting a hand on her chest.

“L-E-A-V-E, Sierra. Get the picture?” Luke hissed. “You are a love-blinded psycho. By the way you said my twins are sneaky is saying that I am too because they are half of me! With this leave you’ll take is a leave from my life for good. I don’t know about the rest of everyone here, but I have lost all interest to be involved with you. So do leave the ring too, then bring all your stuff and never ever show yourself to me. You have done enough.”

His rage reached its peak, still not moving one bit. As much as they were aware that they’ve succeeded, the twins did not apprehend that their father would be severely affected in the process. All they wanted to do was prove a point and hence, they did get their justice. But for him to become sadder too wasn’t in their truest intention. They were too blinded and motivated in getting the both of you together by doing their war that they didn’t think through of the consequences.

“Luke, I-”

“Did I fucking stutter, Sierra? Leave!”

Sierra threw a hissy fit at the treatment she finally deserved, and angrily walks out of the living room. Luke remained unmoved, but warm tears swelled down his cheeks. He didn’t bother to rub them off, and as vulnerable as he is already, he tried to stay strong and hold it in.

“Luke,” Calum bravely took initiative to comfort his friend, only for Luke to finally move backwards away from his friend from this anxiety that overfilled his entire being.

“Don’t touch me, just stay away from me. Please!” He skipped to the workroom and locked himself inside, where he was left with himself to completely crash down and bawl out his pushed back emotions.

That reluctance to recognize them? Gone.

Emotional walls? Vanished.

He whimpered loudly, punching the different pillows in the couch along with knick-knacks on the desks. Pain was prevalent everywhere. Though his fists were bruised, his heart was deeply affected because he relied on his mind to give the practical solutions. Not entirely wrong, but with complete disregard of his heart meant disregarding his feelings, bottling them up for too long.

It was too difficult to make things seem normal in the household now.

Calum and Michael really did their best to change the atmosphere of the entire room by preparing breakfast, cracking eggs and bringing out the pancake mixes. Crystal needed to walk out to the patio to get fresh air away from the stuffiness. Ashton and Bryana were trying to think of easy ways on how to answer the questions from their children about Sierra since it wasn’t something they’ve ever seen before. Eleanor wasn’t too behind to follow Sierra’s steps, but not too near for the latter to see her. Arriving at her door and leaning against, she watches the ex-fiancée angrily throw different items in her dufflebag, observing how much she wanted to leave this situation.

“I’ve always had strong feelings you were still as controversial back in the day.”

She sensed a sneaky smirk from the brunette, who zipped up her packed bag and put the strap on her shoulder. Back on her feet, she came closer to Eleanor with that exact cocky expression. “You should’ve stopped me then, but you didn’t.”

As she tried to get on her way, Eleanor blocked her way, not letting her get off the hook that easily. “That was because I believed you could’ve grown better, but you chose to be a lot worse. Trashy even.”

“Ugh, harsh. But you may have forgotten that I am a girl who is passionate, who’ll do whatever it takes to get what and who I want in life. Luke isn’t something I could swipe left, babe.”

“Have you no pity or a heart?! You destroyed the well-beings of two of the most kind-hearted people, even got their children involved! - I’m so glad you were exposed. The bitch as you’ve described my best friend? Her intellect and determination were traits passed on the twins. With you, all you could ever give is your body and manipulation.”

Sierra’s jaw clicked, her free hand preparing to slap Eleanor, but she beat her it. Gripping her wrist tight that it could leave a mark, “Smart and nice way to accept loss, babe. Also by the way, I see something that doesn’t belong to you anymore.”

Referring to the diamond engagement ring, Eleanor removed her grip to the hand and watches with keen sight on Sierra sliding off the metal band. Once it was off, she effortlessly handed it to her new enemy, leading to Eleanor unblocking her. She didn’t wear her smirk anymore and scrambled down the stairs and to the garage, where a vacant, extra car awaits.

She was finally defeated.

Meanwhile, the twins managed to discreetly vacate from the living room and back to the basement, only this time, they’ve brought garbage bags and every cleaning material they could find in the pantry. Stella harshly scrubbed first the sticky floor from one row to another, whilst Rebecca disposed every popped balloon remains in the bag, shaking off any syrup stuck in it. Their progress was quite slow because some of the sticky area hardened, making them exert double energy which is more than what their bodies are capable of. Taking breaks in between increased, thinking how impossible it will be to accomplish this the entire day.

Not even halfway, a loud knock was made on the main door, the one from inside the house. “Come in!” Rebecca called out. The knob turned to its right and clicked open, which revealed the older kids, carrying spare cleaning materials and wearing similar frowns.

Stella stopped her actions. “What are you guys doing here?”

Beatrix put down her bucket and mop, entering inside the dirty room followed by the others. “I’m assuming you guys need some help after all that craziness you pulled off with Aunt Sierra.”

“But haven’t we been a burden enough to you all? This trip so far has been horrendous, at least we need to fix our mess down here.” Rebecca fired back, embarrassed to even look at them. Unexpectedly, Oliver advanced to her with his apron getup and declared, “To be honest, Rebecca, if any of us discovered the hidden intentions of a vicious woman like aunt Sierra on our parents, we would do absolutely everything to make sure that the bitch doesn’t walk free.”

“Also your strategy was crazy good, it serves her right!” Nick justified proudly. As much as it gave a short dose of hope and enlightenment to the twins, knowing their friends got their backs, they couldn’t help still feel guilty on bringing upon more emotional instability to their father.

“Thanks for the support, guys. Still though, we made our dad a lot more broken, and we can’t forgive ourselves for that.” Stella opens up, having trouble to maintain eye contact on anybody because of the shame. She may have blinked back tears because she isn’t one to show her vulnerability, another evident trait she got from her father. Less to her knowledge, Alex came to her aid with tissue paper on standby.

She was baffled, putting it away. “Thanks but no thanks, Alex. I’m fine.”

“You aren’t, Stella.”

He was right, and at the same time, one tear from Stella streamed down and he was the one to wipe them off with his thumb. Caressing her cheek, “It’s okay to be vulnerable, Stella.” He gave a hopeful grin, which was easily reciprocated with a tight hug. “T-Thank you, Alex.”

While they had their moment, the other kids were also silently cleaning those spots that the twins haven’t reached and faced the same struggles with the syrup. But now they was a lot more of them, the job was more time and energy-efficient. With that, the whole basement became spotless in another hour. Sharing jokes and another round of funny stories in between made the experience a lot less tense.

Now on their way to return to the ground room with their sweaty figures and full garbage bags, which they first leave by the front door, they were taken aback by all their parents, Luke included with red eyes from all the crying, explicitly arguing post-Sierra excluding Eleanor, who was sat in the couch really trying to get stressed due to the baby. This hindered them to go inside and stay behind the wall near the open entrance. Crystal was right behind Michael, who sided with Ashton. “Luke, you need to tell (Y/N) this.”

“I agree. What happened to no more secrecy?”

Calum joined in, giving a piece of his mind. “Mate, if you want things to work out between you two, you have to be honest. You lost her once, don’t do it again.”

Bryana had the last say. “And if you do so, she’ll give in and likely to share her perspective on why she didn’t tell you about her real relationship with Sierra.”

The anxiety within Luke couldn’t stop raising, not being able to think straight of what the right action is. He thought it was just Sierra keeping secrets, but you did too. Though knowing you all these years, whatever you choose to do and achieve in life always has a good reason behind it. It was thoughtful, yet a secret is a secret, which jeopardizes the trust of the relationship.

“I cannot lose her again, guys. When I tell her that I know, she’ll run away! That means Stella will go along too.”

“But Luke, isn’t the lack of trust the main reason you’ve ended it?” Eleanor caved in from the couch, offended at his defense because it led to her losing all contact with you, her best friend. Running away from Luke meant running away from everyone else.

Lifting herself up, her hands putting more pressure on her lower back to support her growing belly, she approached towards the lanky man. No pregnancy hormones caused her growing rage. “I have had it up to here with you. Not only did that factor caused you to lose the love of your life, but it caused everyone here to lose a friend and our kids to lose a great aunt. Fuck, (Y/N) was my best friend, whom I haven’t heard in over a decade! But mostly, your kids lost half of their parents. If that doesn’t disturb you enough, I have no idea what else will.”

As they eavesdropped, the kids couldn’t help feel the goosebumps up their arms by the hurt and may have gasped a little too vocally. The adults overheard it, sensing that their children kept an ear out for their mature conversation and becoming tenser since it’s like their happy, cheerful innocence was gone in a snap.

“Kids,” Ashton croaked, put his palm on his forehead to relieve the headache he’s bound to receive not so far from now. “We know you’re there. – Please do enter.”

As much as they didn’t want to, disobeying their rules would be a lot worse. One by one they’ve joined inside the crowd with their heads down because they were scared shitless, especially the twins who brought this to everyone. The sense of shame still stayed, aware that they could’ve approached it much more maturely.

“How much have you guys heard?” Bryana questioned, her heart weakens mostly at her kids with their doe eyes overfilled with fright.

“Enough to know that uncle Luke won’t tell anything that happened awhile ago to aunt (Y/N).” Scarlett replies on behalf, being the eldest after all.

Luke knew how energetic his niece was, but the softness of her voice made him feeble because he’s unintentionally brought back the decade old damage and it was just unacceptable for him to bring her and the other children down with him. He needs to get and give space, praying to the heavens that those kids would not have this piece of information get stuck in their heads for too long. It was just too soon for them to face this sort of reality. However, it was the twins’ reality, and it beats him up everyday. He should’ve done better.

Bringing back the need of space, he needs it starting right now.

“Rebecca Audrey Hemmings, Stella Charlotte (Y/L/N).” He directed his entire focus on the girls, who instantly elevated up their faces to his voice. “Pack your things, now.”

His tone was very serious, and very unlike him. But with all this pressure, it has took a toll on him. Not wanting any more trouble, they scurried their way out and to the stairs, trying not to slip from Sierra’s mess and make anymore delays.

Ashton, on the other hand, did not enjoy the way he instructed his kids despite his personal pressure. He negotiates, “Luke, don’t bring them into this. They are already as afraid as you are.”

“Are you their father, Ash? I just need s-space. So excuse us, but we’ll be on our way.” He bumped against the older man on the way out of the living room that became ironic because it now suffocates him in all aspects.

“Let me repeat what I said. – No one will speak of this morning to (Y/N).”

“Oh my, back so soon?”

Luke roughly dropped off his dufflebag, rethinking of the words he’s planning to say. The trip back home was intense and filled with deadly silence. The twins were too startled to make a sound since hwas already developed much more sensitivity with his environment. Fragile almost, so they resorted to talking through texts.

“Oh, we got an emergency meeting tomorrow, so we had to cancel. We’ll move it to next weekend, maybe you can join us this time?”

Fuck, you really wanted to go this time. But life as an actress isn’t always filled with vacations even if you go abroad a lot. By next week, you’ll be back in Los Angeles working. Just last night before heading to sleep, you received a long distance call from one of the producers of an action film where they’ve accepted you to play the main antagonist. This meant that the first meeting will be in a few days time, cutting off your stay.

“I would love to, but it’s just that,” Your hands clasped together.

“That?” Luke picked up. Your twins beside him were listening attentively, curious.

Heavily sighing, “I got a meeting with a producer this weekend, meaning I need to head back in a few days.” Your view then switched to Stella. “This also means you have to come back with me.”

As expected, she was quick to retort. “No! I don’t want to leave dad and Becks, not again.”

Rebecca was on the same plane with her. “I agree! Dad, do something please!”

Undoubtedly, he wanted to beg you to stay longer after everything, but work is work. A mantra you and he have followed ever since, and especially now as parents, it must be strictly applied if you want things between you to succeed. His mind has again overpowered his heart.

“Girls, I respect your mother’s priority of work, so since she has important work she needs to attend to, what she says goes.”

Half that statement he didn’t agree to, which was that if you left, there’s more deprivation of bonding time with Stella. He needed to catch up on everything she’s done, and Rebecca still needs to know her more.

Another thing with you leaving you again is that he can’t mend things as properly as he desired to. He’s afraid to lose you again.

But it isn’t like you weren’t feeling the same way. You’ve missed Rebecca, wherein there was never missed a day to think about her. You could’ve reached out, but you never did.

Then for Luke. Oh, Luke.

Although work is an important aspect, it was another factor that deteriorated your marriage. With fame comes time consuming plans and activities that would limit your family time, especially since you both reside on opposite sides of the world. You can’t stay away from them for too long again.

Then again, work is work. The girls grew cranky over it, like all their hard work was for nothing.

“I though you were on our side, dad.”

“I lost Stella and mom once, dad. Who knows when we’ll see each other again?”

On that note, they spontaneously left the scene of the discussion, going up the stairs with frowns and heavy hearts. You felt your heart drop too by their disappointment, investing your sight now on Luke, whom by the crooked grin he gave off, reciprocated the feeling.

“Fuck,” You groaned, returning to sit down at the couch and burying your face in your hands. “I’ve already failed this family.”

Luke took upon himself to comfort you at your saddened state, putting aside him personal misery and sat right next to you, rubbing your back up and down. “They’ll come around eventually, they are 11 years old. And come on, hasn’t work always been a huge priority for us, love?”

Love. He’s said it a few times throughout this trip, but now, it felt much stranger. You might’ve felt electrified it, but regardless. It’s just a title, right?

“It was when we were still married.”

“But it’s more important now because we have the twins.” He affirmed. He had a point, and from where you stand when everything is crumbling down, you would accept any useful advice to help you.

“You know what, you’re right. They must already understand how hard it can be to balance work and family. They are still equally important, but this job, I cannot simply turn it down because I’m meeting with other great actors. I can’t be disrespectful.”

“Well, there you go!” Luke praised, gladly patting your shoulder with your realization. “Why are you still so glum, love?”

There he goes again, and somehow you could feel much more comfortable around him to express more. His eyes were gleaming with concern, anticipating to listen.

He’s always been a really good listener. He didn’t brush his hair that much either, but it still looks good on him. Curly hair has always suited him. Distinctly, he bit his lip whenever he is sad to see others feeling down because he always wanted everyone to be okay, and here he did. Though another reason he would bite his lip is he was turned on.

Luke hated seeing you like this, quietly mourning over being a failure so early in the restarting process of familyhood. It still haunts him that the both of you took one twin away, and now that they found each other, it forced you to talk and straighten things out in a flash. But you’re both still pained by the past, and it isn’t easy to simply open up to each other, especially now when you have different significant others. Well, Luke had. Though he knows Timmy has a high dislike for him, he’s there for the sake of his daughters.

But with you, there is one thing he cannot stop thinking about: your happiness. If Timmy can make you happy in better ways, then so be it. After all, it’s all parental right. But he wouldn’t be lying if he didn’t find you beautiful during the premiere or gorgeous by the way your spectacles drooped to your nose when you were reading awhile ago. Not only that, he found it cute to find you focused on the book, the way your brows knitted when a certain chapter irritated you.

Wait, what was he thinking?

But hey, what were you thinking too?

Snap out of it!

“(Y/N), you okay? You haven’t answered my question.” He shook his hand in front of your face while you were spacing out, and staring at him too.

“I preferred love more than my name.”

“Oh sorry there. - I’m pretty bummed because I don’t want to mess things up again. I can’t lose Becks and you again for good.” You worried, not realizing how you were leaning closer to him. He took you by the wrists, clasping them together between his large hands.

“You won’t, (Y/N). As much as I fear the same, there is no fucking way I’ll let it happen. We can work this out.” He promises, hoping for the best in the future. With wisdom comes intimacy, which is followed by the close proximity of your faces.

Specifically both your lips.

You could’ve sworn he brought himself closer first, but habitually, you returned the gesture. Maybe some old habits don’t die too easily.

His blue orbs were as beautiful as you’ve looked into them deeper, diving into his spell that you can’t resist like previously. He barely had any wrinkles on his face, though his eyebags got darker and his scruff is bushier. You could think of other things to describe his gorgeous physique.

The way you licked your lips, which is a sign of you being nervous or contemplating different choices in your head, got him wrapped around your finger. The short-lived grin you gave to show him that you accept his help was too precious, almost like he was falling for you all over again.

There was strong tension building up, but your self control was working stronger. Gaining personal respect towards each other these past weeks has led to respect towards your life decisions. There was no way either of you could blow this up. Nonetheless, you freely picture yourself wrapping your arm around his neck to pull nearer to get a taste of him. Just once and that’s it.

Your mind is always the dominating party, why don’t you let your heart take charge for once? Besides, did you really mean by what you say, that it’s all parental? The white shirt that grew transparent from his sweat showcases his fit abdomen and his long neck was clean. Too clean.

You accidentally caught a glimpse of his tightened crotch on his chino shorts, the length of his member visibly seen on the side. If only you could give it a - okay self, what the actual.

Luke was too tempted to swoop under your waist and on to his lap where he let you straddle his waist with your legs. He can imagine you tugging on his locks and peppering his neck with short kisses, maybe sucking on his weak spot more deeply and roughly.

Shit, you were only wearing sleeping shorts, flowy and only up to your butt. If he just slide in his digits up inside your - fuck, stop right there! He jerked back first, trying to calm his dirty thoughts because he is no longer obliged to think that way anymore. You in the other hand moved away as well, rethinking on how stupid you were to do that.

“Stop, self. Let him go. He has Sierra as his bride now.”

“No, Luke. You blew your chance, and she’s already happy with Timothée.”

Left with your withering realizations, a ding sound echoed the area, alleviating the massive awkwardness that developed. Instantly checking who it belongs to, it was yours.

[12:35 PM] Timmy Tim: Can we please talk?

Scoffing lightly, he still had the nerve to reach out to a wound that is still so fresh and stinging.

[12:38 PM] (Y/N) angel: Why? “I drunkenly cheated” isn’t big enough?

“Who is it, (Y/N)?” Luke shouted from behind, hearing the clashing of a few pans accidentally which made you giggle because he’s always been clumsy. At the same time, your phone dinged again.

[12:40 PM] Timmy Tim: Please (Y/N). I’m so sorry.

“Oh, just the same producer. - And oi, be careful! We don’t wanna to nearly burn the house down like before!”

“I’ll try!”

Rolling your eyes because the short banter brought you back to the old days, he actually bought the half lie. As terrible as at is, you didn’t want to bring him to your personal relationship issues. The less people, the better. You try to distract yourself by rereading some of the chapter you were stuck at to get a better understanding of the plot, yet your mind kept on reflecting on Timmy. By his texts, you can vibe his sincerity although it was you who was the victim.

Ignorance from you is improbable since you preferred facing your dilemmas head on, and you couldn’t become a lie of your own words. Though there is pain, ignoring it prolongs it. It’s closure or nothing. Snatching your phone from the coffee table, you typed out your frustration. Only mildly, you call the time to express when you see him next.

[12:55 PM] (Y/N) angel: Fine. Noon, the Café Sweetener near your hotel. Oh, and I’m sorry too, that I was too dense to not have realized sooner.

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tarja-turunens-cheekbones · 6 years

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TC Imagine #3 (female) Part 1/2

Request 1: an imagine of a meeting with a female TC for the student's dissertation work in her office that has a lot of tense and tender moments.

requested by @theregoesyourlifeagain :)

This ended up being super long so I thought I would post it in two parts (second part will be posted tomorrow probably)

You run your fingers through your hair for what feels like the millionth time and finally sigh and grab your backpack off the bathroom counter, deciding that it’s as good as it’s going to get. After all, the last thing you want is to be late to this meeting.

You take one last glance at yourself in the mirror as you shoulder your backpack, making sure your lipstick looks okay, before turning to walk out the door and through the courtyard. You’ve applied deodorant two extra times today, but you’re still sweating through your shirt with how hot and humid it is outside. Your heart starts racing even more than it already was when you reach the building. The building. You haven’t been back here since that last day of class last semester. You thought you would never be back again, but here you are. You look up briefly and swallow hard, and then focus your gaze ahead of you again and square your shoulders before walking inside.

The icy coolness of air conditioning washes over you immediately, and you sigh in relief. You punch the button for the elevator and wait, folding your arms across your chest. Your stomach is in knots, and the cold air drying your sweat is making you feel sick. You glance back to the door and contemplate just leaving. Not seriously, of course. You need to be at this meeting, no matter what sort of a toll it’s going to take on your emotional well-being.

At the end of last semester, when her class was over, you didn’t even make it out of the courtyard before you started crying. You thought you were never going to see her again, and it killed you, but now you’re wondering if maybe that would have been for the best, painful as it was.

Yes, life was boring without her over the summer, but it was also peaceful. You started to get used to it and thought that maybe, just maybe, you could move on. But now she’s your dissertation mentor, so that’s not going to be possible. You know there was really no way around this--you’re extremely lucky to be working with her. You saw last semester how passionate she was about what she was teaching and were amazed by her intelligence.

The elevator opens, and you step inside and press the “6″ button, clutching your folder close to your chest as the doors close. So much adrenaline is coursing through your body that you feel like you can’t breathe when you step off the elevator onto the sixth floor. You glance at the time on your phone to see that you’re ten minutes early. Taking deep breaths in a somewhat futile attempt to calm your heart rate, you walk down the hall to her office.

Her voice drifts toward you, and you can’t help the smile that tugs at your lips. You could distinguish that voice from the other side of a crowded room. God, you’ve missed her. You step closer to the door, and you see her and the back of the student she’s meeting with sitting across the desk from her. You catch her eye, and your heart jumps when she smiles.

I’m almost done, she mouths.

You nod and sit on the bench on the other side of the hall, setting your backpack next to you. Your leg bumps up and down against your will--there’s way too much nervous energy rushing through you that needs an outlet. You slip your laptop out of your backpack and go through your work, doing your best to focus, but your mind keeps slipping back to her.

“(Y/N)? You can come in now.”

You look up to see the other student leaving, and you tuck your laptop under your arm and shoulder your backpack before stepping inside.

You’ve only been in her office once before, when you needed help formulating your ideas for the final paper. Most students, you’d imagine, would try to seek out their teacher or professor as much as possible if they had a crush on them. They would pretend like they needed help, even if they didn’t, just to spend more time with them and maybe even try to flirt. But it just wasn’t like that. Not for you. There wasn’t any point. The framed photographs on the walls and on her desk are just another painful reminder of that.

You sit down across from her, and your eyes land on a photo of her with her family in Hawaii. She looks absolutely radiant, as if she’s actually glowing; her hair hangs loose down her back, and she’s wearing a bikini top and wrap skirt with blue Hawaiian flowers printed on it. Her husband’s arm is around her shoulder, and her arms are around her kids, who are standing in front of them. They’re all grinning, illuminated by a cotton candy glow from the sun setting over the ocean behind them.

She looks so happy. She is happy. You know that she’s happy without you, and you’re happy that she’s happy, but you just wish you could be happy without her too.

She taps a stack of papers on her desk to straighten them before setting them aside and giving you her trademark smile, which you can’t help but return. You know a real smile from a forced one, you know, the kind people put on for pictures. Hers is always real; you can tell from the way it makes her eyebrows raise slightly and her eyes shine.

“It’s so good to see you!” she says. “How was your summer?”

“It was good! I just worked, mostly. Did a few fun things with friends, but nothing too crazy. What about you?”

“I still worked a lot--wrote articles and traveled to a few research conferences. You know, the usual. But I spent a lot of time with my family, which was nice. We went to Maui for a week.”

Your eyes tick back to the picture. “That sounds amazing.”

She smiles. “Yeah, it was. Well, should we take a look at what you have so far?”

You nod and pull out your laptop, hoping she can’t see how badly your hands are shaking. This was always the part you hated the most about her being your professor. You could think about her all you wanted and be inspired by her and try to be like her when you weren’t around her, but the bottom line was that she was still grading you--judging you, really, and it made you feel like nothing.

You wish you could have met in another life, one where you were equals, or closer to it anyway.

You hand her your laptop and twist and untwist your hands in your lap while she reads your writing. You study your shoelaces and the wood paneling of the floor, and then glance up at her. You can’t tell anything from her expression; she just looks deeply focused. Her left hand is wrapped around the outer edge of your laptop, and the diamond of her wedding ring glints from the overhead light, as if it’s taunting you.

“This is a great start, (Y/N),” she says, and you look back up at her to see her smiling her ever-encouraging smile.

Relief floods your veins. “Thanks,” you say, slipping your hands underneath your jean-clad thighs and rocking back and forth slightly.

She goes through your writing with you, pointing out the parts that are working as well as the parts where your argument is weak or you’re not using your research effectively enough. Every time she looks at the computer screen, you look at her, allowing yourself to drown in her eyes and study the shape of her perfect lips, imagining what they would feel like on yours. And every time she looks at you, you look away, either at the screen or down at the notes you’re taking, pretending to be deep in concentration.

“Are you alright?” she asks once you’ve gotten to the end of what you had written of your paper. “I know this is a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you say without looking at her, hooking your pen onto the spiral of your notebook and tucking it under your arm. “Thank you so much for your feedback.”

“Of course! See you in two weeks?”

“Yeah.”

You close your laptop and slide it off the table.

“Bye,” you say, glancing up at her briefly before quickly turning away again.

“Bye.”

You already have one foot out the door, eager to get home where you can relax and maybe get your heart rate down to somewhat of a healthy level again when her voice stops you.

“(Y/N)?”

#tc #teacher crush #female tc #female teacher crush #tcc #teacher crush community #tc imagine #teacher crush imagine #female tc imagine #female teacher crush imagine #teacher x student

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sage-the-mage · 6 years

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Okay so I've recently gotten into Heathers

My friend has the movie and we watched it about a week ago, and holy hell I love it. "Fuck me gently with a chainsaw" is like, new favorite phrase. And it had a really meaningful story, which I really wasn't expecting given it was a black comedy.

Veronica and JD, while certainly not a healthy relationship, have very obvious chemistry. I like imagining alternate lives for them, where they never killed anyone and he didn't become manipulative and possessive. And as it is canonically, it's a realistic relationship that happens all the time, though not necessarily with the murder and dramatic "I'm blowing myself up cause you didn't let me blow up the school" "lol bye" moment.

And Heather Chandler OH GOD I want her confidence. Like, confidence goals right there. Seriously. She's a total bitch but also I love this mythic bitch. Heather Duke seemed all sweet and soft spoken at first, but then after Heather C dies she takes the head bitch role, so I've got mixed feelings about her. Not bad though. And Heather McNamara, while far from perfect, felt like the most redeemable of the Heathers, and I really hope she and Veronica and Martha and Betty all became friends after.

And then I find out there's a musical! While the exact story and play out aren't exactly the same, and they amalgamed Betty and Martha into one role, it's still really good. They showed Ronnie's rise into the Heathers, their colors are even more obvious, and those songs are fuckin' bangers. Candy Store and Dead Girl Walking, just yes. I love it.

And then I find out they are (were?) making a Heathers tv show (dubbed "Peathers" since it's Heathers made by Paramount.) Now, my first thought is fuck yes, a modern Heathers and a tv show instead of a movie, sign me the fuck up. I'll take more of these color coded bitches. NO THE FUCK I WON'T. GET IT AWAYYYY. They were trying to make it diverse and inclusive and just. Not the fucking Heathers of all people. They're supposed to be stereotypically pretty popular types, not look like the ones Westborough would bully. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with how they look as characters but. For who they're supposed to be, it's all wrong. Heather C is supposed to be a skinny blonde bitch that lords over everyone. If you want diversity among the Heathers themselves, she's the last place to put it. Plus, an entire plot point is Heather D is bulimic, trying to live up to Heather C's levels of perfection (and in the movie at least gives it up after she dies) so seeing any of the Heathers, or Veronica seeing as she's let into the clique, as overweight feels wrong.

Now, if we're wanting diversity and inclusiveness within the Heathers, Heather Duke could be made a different race, which she has in the musical version, without impacting the story or making it entirely off feeling. And Heather McNamara could be a lesbian (for real, not faking it like in the show *bleh*) or bi or pan, but closeted to keep from being ridiculed, and after Heather C's death and Heather D takes charge, Heather M could be outed and made fun of by Heather D, thus leading to her attempted suicide. And that's just a quick throw together idea.

Now for Veronica, she's sure as shit not blonde. She's never been a blonde, don't try and give me fucking blonde Veronica. Give me brunette Veronica as she should be. Appearance wise, that's about my only condition. And honestly I'd be all for lesbian Ronnie with a female JD, or a bi or pan Ronnie with a trans boy JD. Side note, that would be a great opening for Ronnie and Heather M (nicest of the Heathers tbh, and seems to have the potential to be closest to Ronnie. I like the idea of them together) to wind up beginning a relationship in the end, or at least obvious crushes on one another and implied future relationship.

And then with Martha and Betty you can have so many different options. Like, they could be adorable little diverse munchkins, but no, one's nixed completely (because we can't have overweight Heather C making fun of a "plainer" overweight person) and the other is made the Heather C replacement bitch?? What???

Just. No. They could've done so great, and instead we're given complete crap. I'm sorry I've just got so much feels for this. Go back to your regularly scheduled blogging now lol

#heathers #peathers

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yangkao · 6 years

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“...my therapist practically broke up with me on our first session.”

Back in September, I mustard up what courage I had left to drive myself to a medical clinic. Which is the one that my family and I go to regularly. I don’t remember much of that day. But It was all a blur to me. To be honest, I had just woke up 20 minutes before my appointment. Actually, I have been sleeping for days on out. So, on this particular day you can just imagine how hot of a mess I was. My hair tangled with frizzes. I was wearing a heavy forest green winter jacket, checkered pajama pants, boots, unmatched socks and I remember underneath my coat was just a camouflage shirt. Also, I haven’t had brush my teeth in days. I mean can you just imagine, the look on my doctor’s face when she came in to her examination room and saw me sitting in the corner chair. Let me just say, her face said it all. She was seriously concerned for my lack of hygiene.

Her and I both.

What I remember most was that there was a lot of crying. I mean, tears and boogers. I wasn’t going to hold back. I thought I was going crazy. Something seriously was wrong with me. I had convinced myself that this had to be true. I had explained to her how miserable I was, though I didn’t know why. I’m sure she couldn’t comprehend half of what I was saying, because I couldn’t. I’m one of those criers that slur words together, excessively hyperventilating, all while trying to talk at the same time. Not my best moments that’s for sure.

After calming myself down, we continued to talking and concluded that I was in fact diagnosed to have Anxiety/depression. Oddly, after hearing that I found myself with so much peace. I was calmer then I have ever been in weeks. Maybe it’s because deep down in my soul, I always knew that I have had depression. I just never had courage to get myself to meet a professional that will give me the proper diagnoses.

For a long time, I just kept telling myself, “it’s no biggie. It will eventually go away on it’s own.” Five years later and three kids along the way, it still hasn’t pass. Instead, It grew and festered creating a pitch dark hole in the center of my soul. There was no ounce of me that cared to live another day. I wanted to end my life so badly. Sadly, I’d convinced myself that my family was better off with out me. I was no good for them, I was a stumbling block to my husband’s ministry. I saw no value in myself, and when hearing my diagnosis that day, something that I needed to hear badly ended up giving me hope.

Why did it give me hope? Because, I wasn’t going crazy. I wasn’t madly insane. This was just not all in my head. I wasn’t just thinking I was overly dramatic. I was battling through ANXIETY and DEPRESSION. This is Something that can be fixed and Something that can be treated. I can now learn to set aside my insecurities of how I think of myself and focus on the heart issue. YIKES, that means I have to talk about my past, this is One thing that I don’t do often. But hey I was willing to go through it only by the guidance of a therapist. And so I made an appointment and got myself a therapist. (Yay, me!) Met with her and 2 minutes into our session, I dreaded it. It was the worst mistake of my life. Why oh, why did I listen to myself? I came home pouting, mad, and I went on a full on rant about it with my husband. For a WHOLE week I didn’t realize then but I was consuming all of my focus on that one mistake of getting a therapist. Oh, but don’t get me wrong. I believe my therapist and I had a mutual understanding that we weren’t good for each other. Because, after our first session she told me, “I’m going to refer you to a much better therapist. One that you and I will agree will better suit your needs.” Yeah, my therapist practically broke up with me on our first session. ANNND, I was ok with that.

I’m sure that at this point you’re wondering, “ what in the world happened in that first session?” Oh, don’t you want to know? Well, sadly that’s for another blog post. Yes, it is worth having its own blog post. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it either.

Furthermore, in the weeks that followed I found myself still angry, raging with uncontrollable spiraling emotions that I can’t find a better word for, but oddly still at peace. My anxiety gave me courage. Something that I don’t have much of. I was finding myself more impatient, more insensitive to my surrounding but yet more sensitive to my way of thinking and feeling. I might not be making sense here but hey your still reading this aren’t ya?” Any how, this new profound me had gone rouge. I mean, I was doing things that I haven’t done in years.They were things that I made a name for myself back in my days. The first time in a long time, when my hand touched all that goodness, I knew nothing was going to stop me now. My mind was racing with thousands of ideas. I mean, I was seriously having munchies if you know what I mean? I was burning through it like back in the days when I used to stay up all night typing away. I was writing again. Though I was never good at it, I was doing something I loved. Blogging. And when I blog, I always have to have a snack and a drink near by. Just incase I needed to refuel. I used to upload my thoughts online here at, kaozong.blogspot.com. If you ever came upon my page and had read the only two posts I had ever wrote on there then you know...I write ( insert smirk and rising of the eye brows).

Completely, went rouge right?

Things were moving along, I was facing my anxiety and depression head on. My husband and I talked about how to go about it. The steps and precautions that we will have to make for the next season to come. Now, not all days were so optimistic. That would just be wishful thinking. I had many days that I was drenched in sweat from waking up panicking due to stress about the “season to come.” I was stressing about our big move in July. I was stressing over about how our life is going to change dramatically when we leave to Southern California. I still have plenty of those bad hygiene days, where I would lock myself up for days just because I was feeling alone or when things from my past starts creeping back into my head once more. To all those sinful thoughts that I lost myself in. You see, I have had many bad days, that put me out like a cigarette being put out. And during those days I feel like what remains of the smoldering tobacco which is nothing but ashes being swept by the wind.

On the 28th of November, this past Tuesday to be exact. I had a standing appointment to go to. That day I was going there to receive consultation about what medication I would need to maintain a good healthy balance of my own emotions. My husband and I along with my doctor have talked long prior to this standing appt. We wanted to be open minded to all the possibilities of improving my state of mind. And this was one of them. Waking up that morning a 7:30am on the dot was not easy. I felt like a prune, shriveled and dried out. My husband and the kids came out to the clinic, waited in the waiting room to support me while I was in the examination room. I remember feeling miserable, mostly emotionally exhausted. And I looked the part too. Trust me on that. I was already having such a hard couple of days. When my doctor came in I can see the look of concern on her face the same concerning look she had for my hygiene. She sat down and slowly explained my condition to me and it seemed like a life time. Slowly, the word, “BIPOLAR” came out of her mouth and I immediately felt my heart dropped. It was so painful to hear. There was no hope in the word. Everything she had said following after that word was soundless to me. I saw her mouth moving but no sound was coming out. She then brought a psychiatrist into the room along with my new likable therapist to consult with me about my new diagnosis. I’m sure that they were explaining to me what bipolar means and how to go about living my life with bipolar. I guess we will never really know. I had already tuned them out.

These last couple of days, has been rough as you may have already predicted. The good thing is that the pills prescribed to me helps subtle my maniacal episodes. The biggest side effect that I’ve notice after taking the pill is that I get exceedingly tired. But, hey enough on that. The days that followed up after my discovery of this new diagnosed has been filled with more support than I can ever imagine. Yes, the first two days were tense for me. I was still apprehensive towards the idea of being bipolar. Still, one thing was for sure to be true is my God wanted me here in the present. I needed to know that he was in me, and not just with me. He showed himself through many of you folks that are reading this. He showed himself through family members and friends with their mighty prayers, heart felt words that made me feel wholeness once more. Lastly, my God blessed me with my wonderful, selfless, thoughtful husband who since day one has been beside me through this season that I am facing. It is a bit of everything everyone says that keeps me breathing. A word that surface in my heart over and over through all of this is the word, “embrace.” And that is exactly what I am going to “try” to do.

[Mania] : excitement manifested by mental and physical hyperactivity, disorganization of behavior, and elevation of mood; specifically: the manic phase of bipolar disorder

I have trembled and trampled through the the last couple of months being frightened, lost, withdrawn, and I was taken over by the lies that I have created in my head. The mind can become such a scary place if you let it, and I did. It starts with letting the flesh to take over. Instead of saying no, I started to say, “ Just this one time.” If you don’t play your cards right then in a flash, it’s game. You lose. Soon enough, my mind plays game with my heart. My heart tries to fight back but ends up confuse.

I don’t know how it came to this point, but I knew I wasn’t going to let it consume me no more. I was going to acknowledge my new mental illness instead by “EMBRACED” all of it. Just like when Jesus embraced the cross by accepting the cup.

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew: 26:39

Adam Clarke put it in this way,

“The word cup is frequently used in the Sacred Writings to point out sorrow. anguish, terror, death. It seems to be an allusion to a very ancient method of punishing criminals. A cup of poison was put into their hands, an they were obliged to drink it. Socrates was killed thus, being obliged by the magistrates of Athens to drink a cup of juice of hemlock. To death, by the poisoned cup, there seems an allusion in Hebrews 2:9, Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man. The whole world are here represented as standing guilty and condemned before the tribunal of God.; into every man’s hand the deadly cup is put, and he is required to drink off the poison-Jesus enters, takes every man’s cup out of his hands, and drinks off the poison, and thus tastes or suffers the death with every man otherwise must undergone.”

I think sometimes in our trouble days, we tend to want to take the short cut. The easy way out. I know I do. I Find myself in those places more often then I think. This world gives us so much access to the things that we believe can benefit us. My medication is one thing that I have to be very careful of. I don’t want to be completely dependent on a substance that only gives me temporary fixing. It’s not going to fix me, but simply it’s more of a bandaid. It covers my cut, so that no bacteria can do more damage to it. what I need is the rubbing alcohol. yeah, it stings. Only for a little bit, though. Instead, it kills off all the bacteria that is already there, and fights off any germs germs that will try to weaken your immune system. We wouldn’t want your immune system shutting down your body. In fact, rubbing alcohol allows a cut to heal properly. Jesus can more often come off like that rubbing alcohol. We just have to believe that the works of the rubbing alcohol is for our own good, our own protection from bacterium that wants to do more harm than good. Jesus, does all things for our good. Believe that.

I trembled once more after reading the quote above. Not because I was frighten or lost. No, instead I trembled in the victorious display He put upon this world. Let’s be honest, “satan you have no days here!”

“…the spirit indeed is willing(vs.39)…”

The Son of God set his mind, readied his heart and displayed courage when he bore all trials. He took upon himself to carry all sins of men and wash us all with his blood. My Jesus, EMBRACED it all. Even through distress, grief- the weight of carrying all our sins he still manages to stretch out his entire body on that cross and died. AND in that death there is VICTORY. His love lavished on us and called us children of God. I can cry out, “ABBA, I belong to you.” Because, though I am scared to my bones of this diagnosis I know you are my all, you are inside of me. And yes, my flesh may fail you a thousand times, I will doubt my faith in trouble days to come before me, but my heart is set on you. My weakness will not make it’s name in my heart, not this time. The lies that speaks in my mind can play tricks to my soul, But, your desire for human companionship speaks louder, the fullness of your human nature, is no less in value than your divine nature. The willingness to walk through the shadows of the valley to get to you, is a thousand “HALLELUJAH’S” in my heart.

Tonight, as I am finishing this up. I am in awe of how powerful our God truly is. In this short time coming, He has and still is working through me in this season. I’m far from being completely healed, but in the process of learning how to be healed. I have to remind myself that even if we all have the same problem, everyone handles it differently from one another. If I need more time to get better then I will have to learn to be still. Yes, it’s going to be hard. I’m sure of it. I pray that this may ring TRUTH in your ears, as well. Through any trials that you may be facing in this season or these couple of seasons. You are heard. Your voice is being lifted to the Most High, and He is threading all his goodness to weave in you the BEST you. Be still and listen. Embrace and get ready to embark the path that he has ingrained before you, my dearest friends.

Thank you, Jesus. that you extended that Grace to me. That you took my place so that I may be set free from the bondage that tries to hold me down.

#embrace #bipolar #setfreefrommybondage

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