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hslllot · 1 year

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insieme in paradiso

“together in paradise”

rated m | 2.7k words

better late than never, right? this is a short piece for my dear friend’s @harry-on-broadway fic challenge (the prompts used are in bold)! It is basically an extended version of this concept I wrote back in 2021... We’ve had such great latam content lately that I feel like I should have adjusted the setting of this, but I hope you enjoy anyways! As always, please let me know what you think. xx shan

———

Was this heaven?

You were certain that you’d never felt more relaxed as you bathed in the Tuscan sunlight. Lounging beside your love, you let your eyes close, the book you were reading abandoned in the sand next to your chair ages ago. Every worry, every stressor, every bit of tension in your muscles that you carried with you drifted away in the winds of the ocean breeze.

This was the private getaway with Harry you’d been longing for. It seemed like forever since the two of you were able to spend an extended amount of time alone together.

“Mum just posted this photo. Look. Thea’s getting so big.” Your boyfriend interrupted your daze when he reached out from beside you to shove his phone in your face.

You opened your eyes slowly and lowered your sunglasses so you could take a proper look. Using your hand to shield the glare of the Italian sun, you saw on his screen an Instagram story his mother had posted of his cousin’s baby.

“She’s adorable, H.” You responded, adjusting your sunglasses back to cover your eyes. “We should give Ella a call later, maybe we can FaceTime.” All you heard in response was a short grunt as he laid back in his chair, eyes still fixed on his screen.

He was grumpy and you could tell.

One thing about your boyfriend of three years, which you found incredibly endearing, was that he loved his family more than anything. Unfortunately, when his family was gathered and he couldn’t be there, he’d tend to get a bit pouty. You’d find him glued to the group chat or Instagram to get updates on what they were up to. Sometimes you would catch him ‘liking’ or ‘reacting’ to their posts and stories (on his private account of course) in an attempt to make himself feel more included.

Birthdays. Weddings. Babies. There was a long list of family events he often had to miss because of his job, and you knew it weighed heavily on his heart.

A small part of you was slightly annoyed that he wished he were somewhere else. But another part of you, perhaps the more compassionate part, understood that multiple truths could exist at once: 1) He was happy to be spending time with you, 2) he was grateful for his job that took him to beautiful countries and allowed him to live a lavish life, and 3) he missed his family dearly.

But sometimes you didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just go home and visit them whenever he felt like it. He certainly could afford it, and he had the power in all of his business relationships to take a vacation whenever he felt like it. Sometimes you wished he had more of a ‘diva’ type attitude when it came to certain things, like allowing himself to take breaks from work. However, another thing about your boyfriend was that he was a chronic overachiever and people pleaser with a tendency to overcommit to new projects. And you figured it wasn’t so bad to have a partner in life who was considerate of other peoples’ time and feelings.

Plus, you couldn’t complain much because his commitment to a new project was how you found yourself at the beautiful, private, Il Pellicano in Tuscany.

The two of you were finally spending some much needed quality time together. Coordinating your schedules had been an absolute nightmare and it was a miracle that you were able to take some time away from work to join him on this trip. He was technically here on business, preparing for the launch of his Gucci collection with Alessandro. But you had spent the majority of the trip together, watching him model his clothing, sitting side-by-side on the small private beach of your villa, and wrapped around one another in the bedroom.

At the moment though, Harry’s frustration, guilt, and longing to be with his family was threatening to penetrate the bubble of relaxation surrounding you. You could feel the restless energy emanating off of him. Without opening your eyes you heard the way he moved around in his chair and sighed under his breath as he scrolled through his phone and typed away messages in his family group chat. When you finally did open your eyes you found him on his stomach, his head at the other end of the chair near your feet, and his phone two inches from his face. And while this position afforded you a great view of his tanned back and taut muscles glistening in the Italian heat, clad only in a small pair of black swimming shorts, you could feel the tension radiating from him and you couldn’t ignore it any longer.

You reached across and placed your hand on the back of his calf, rubbing your thumb back and forth against his warm, sun-kissed skin, as if to soothe him.

“Hey baby?”

“Hmmm?” He responded mindlessly, not bothering to look up from his phone.

“Hey, look at me.” You urged, squeezing his calf to gain his attention.

“Sorry” he murmured, putting his phone down. He twisted in the lounge chair to face you, sitting up to give you his full attention. You reached for his hand and intertwined your fingers with his.

“I was thinking… I know we’re supposed to head back to London on Sunday, but what if we took a few days in Holmes Chapel?” He raised an eyebrow at you curiously, wordlessly asking where this had come from. You continued, “It’s been so long since we’ve seen Anne and I miss her… Plus, we’ve only seen Thea once since she’s been born. I think I can extend my vacation by a few days.”

He sat there for a moment silently, teasing at his bottom lip.

“I have a meeting with Lambert and Molly on Monday in London.” He winced, remembering his prior commitment.

“Surely you can do it over Zoom. Or just push it a couple days. You are the boss, aren’t you?”

Something flickered in his eyes and a slight smirk crept his lips at your mention of him being the boss.

His gears were turning and you knew him well enough to know the battle going on inside his brain. He probably didn’t love the idea of moving a meeting to go see his mum, but since it was technically your idea it was like a free pass. He could feel less guilty about it because he was doing it for you.

(Obviously you both knew this was entirely for him… But you needn’t say it)

You thought he might pass on the opportunity, and were startled when he removed his hand from yours and scrambled up from his lounge chair. He quickly moved onto your chair, straddling you with his entire body weight pinning you down. With his forearms rested on either side of your head, he placed quick kisses all over your face. Almost reflexively, you wrapped your hands around his biceps. His hot, sinewy arms flexed in your grip.

“Yeah,” is all he said before placing a long, slightly wet, kiss on your forehead. “I AM the boss. And I would like that very much. Thank you for suggesting it.” Unable to wipe the smile from his face, he placed one more tender kiss on your lips.

You reached for the sunglasses that sat atop his head and removed them, freeing space for you to run your fingers through his soft brown curls. “You’re welcome, H.” He lowered into your touch, eager for a cuddle. “But you have to get up. You’re squishing me.”

“Right, sorry.” He removed himself from on top of you and took a seat by your feet at the end of the chair. It was his turn to soothe you now, grazing his palm along your calf and up to your knee, which he gave a squeeze before dragging his hand back down.

“I think it’s time we get out of the sun, yeah?” The sly look on his face was all too familiar as his gaze trailed down your bikini-clad body. “You’re lookin’ a little sunburnt.”

“Am I?” You teased.

“I’ve got something I can rub on it back in our room.”

You rolled your eyes at him, feigning annoyance at his flirtation. Nonetheless, you knew where this was headed.

Gathering your belongings hastily, you were both eager to make your way back to the air conditioned room that held your luxurious king bed. You trailed behind Harry, climbing the stone steps up to the private entrance of your villa hand in hand.

Once inside your room, you dropped your tote bag and walked over to the balcony, sliding open the curtains and the door to let the sunshine and salt air filter through the room. Looking out at the scene below, you could see the private beach where you and Harry had spent your morning and admired the way the Tuscan sun illuminated the sapphire blue ocean ahead. You took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as you felt Harry come to stand closely behind you.

“Thank you for bringing me here.” You said quietly. Harry wrapped his arms around you from behind, allowing you to rest your chin on his forearms. He nuzzled his face into your neck where he left a delicate touch of his lips.

“Thank you for being here with me.” He responded.

Any annoyance you previously felt toward your boyfriend’s proclivity for FOMO melted away when you realized how grateful you were to be here with him. In the chaos of his busy life, while he missed his family deeply, he chose to be here with you, together in paradise.

You turned yourself in his arms, your body flush against his, to find his soft, yet intense, gaze on your lips.

Harry held lightly onto your hips. Leaning in, his lips parted, and you could feel his warm breath against yours. You placed your hands on his chest, his skin burning under your fingers. With every shallow intake of breath he edged closer, until finally catching your top lip between his.

His hands trailed up your sides as your kiss became deeper, fuller. You felt like you might melt against him, heat racing down to every part of your body that was touching his. He roamed your curves and the expanse of your back, pressing you even closer to him, before finding the strings that held together your bikini. With two gentle tugs, the piece of fabric fell to the ground.

He broke away from your kiss only briefly to study the sight of you, topless, in front of him. “Bellissima,” he whispered, his voice deep and slow. You saw the muscles in his jaw tick as his gaze burned holes through you. It was your turn, this time, to grab onto him and press him closer against you, feeling his hardness.

It wasn’t long before Harry’s mouth started to move down your body. Your neck, your collarbone, your chest. His tongue dragged over your nipple before sucking it into his mouth and an intoxicating heat rippled through you.

“Bed, please” was all you could muster under your breath. Harry reluctantly pulled himself off you and started walking you back, stopping when the back of your legs hit the bed. He gently lowered you onto the bed and resumed his work dragging his mouth down your body, finishing off with a chaste kiss to your hip bone.

He stood up straight at the edge of the bed, towering over you. Eager for him, you removed your bikini bottoms and tossed them to the floor.

“A bit impatient?” He chuckled, looking down hungrily at your naked body. You didn’t bother to respond, leaning back on your forearms, you kicked your leg out and toed at the tent in his black swimming shorts, encouraging him to take them off. “Tell me” he said sternly.

“I want them off.”

He pulled his shorts down and discarded them on the floor before climbing on to the bed. You admired the way he wrapped his hand around his cock and began slowly stroking himself, a small sense of relief evident on his face. He lowered himself over you and pressed his lips to yours. While your tongues met, the pads of his fingertips began to explore, trailing delicately down your stomach. Your body responded to his familiar touch, goosebumps racing over you and a fire simmering in your belly.

You were desperate for him, your body begging for him to touch you as his fingers made their way down to your heat. A heavy moan left your lips when he began running circles over your clit. At that moment, you were completely overwhelmed by him. The way his lips felt against yours, the taste of his tongue, the scent of his cologne, the soft pads of his fingers on your most sensitive spot.

“I want you,” you whined.

“You have me,” he answered teasingly, his mouth only a fraction of an inch away from yours. He dragged his finger down and dipped into your entrance. “Fuck - you’re so wet.”

“Please…”

At your begging he positioned himself between your legs, removed his fingers, and replaced them with a press of his hips against yours, the tip of his cock firm against your slit.

Your hands grappled to hold on to any part of him you could, eventually landing on his shoulders. Gripping tightly, your fingertips dug into his skin. You wrapped your ankles around his calves and felt the way his body fit perfectly against yours.

The first thrust inside you was slow. Every inch of your body pulled tight around him as he sank deeper. Your breath hitched as a wave of pleasure raced through you.

“Fuck,” Harry rasped as he rocked into you. The sound of his voice sent a tingle down your spine. “I love you so much,” he whispered into your skin, brushing a kiss across your jaw.

You said it back to him as the two of you moved against each other, getting lost in the feelings of love and undulating pleasure between you.

———

You and Harry spent the rest of the day immersed in one another in your private villa.

The last go around, you unraveled together with his face buried in your neck while you were clutched tight around him.

He pulled out and collapsed beside you, trying to catch his breath.

You turned on your side to look at him, flooded with warmth and giddiness as you acknowledged how handsome he was. You used the tip of your finger to trace the lines of his face. The sharp cut of his jaw, the slope of his nose, the full of his lips. As you were about to trace your thumb over his eyebrow he grabbed your hand, bringing it to his lips.

“Thank you again for suggesting we go to Holmes Chapel after this,” he said against your hand, still pressed to his lips.

“Of course,” You moved closer to him and he let go of your hand in order to wrap his arms around you. “You can go home whenever you want, you know.”

He placed a soft kiss on the top of your head. “I know. It’s easier to go when I know you’re coming with me.”

You hummed in understanding and pressed your lips against his chest.

“I should give Jeffrey a call and ask him to make the travel arrangements for us… And postpone my meetings.”

As if on cue, his phone’s ringtone chimed from his tote bag on the floor by the door. He was reluctant to let go of you, but you gave him a look of approval that had him scrambling out of the bed to retrieve it. You took the opportunity to admire his naked body, silently thanking the Italian sun and his morning cardio routine for the glorious sight of him.

You felt a warmth in your chest, though, at the smile that grew on his face when he looked down at his phone to see who was calling.

“Hey mum, yeah….guess what…I’m coming home.”

———

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think.

#harryonbroadwayficchallenge #my writing #harry concepts #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction

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yourfriendlyqueerpeer · 9 months

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Spider-Mark: Love Lost

Mark Lee x gn!reader

non-idol au, somewhat inspired by NCIT House

Description: Mark Lee, Y/N's best friend (and crush) and perfect student at NCIT.

Spider-Man, Ncity's most admired hero once strange creatures and mad scientists start making frequent appearances. Living two lives is hard for Mark, but it's about to become harder when things go downhill with Y/N after a creature attacks. Can he save them before it's too late?

wc: 1.6k

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***Here's a new update in honor of Mark's birthday, I'm sorry again for how long I was gone and honestly I was going to wait until after Kcon to post but I decided I might as well put a new chapter up now since it's his birthday.

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Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

As night time approached, it was about time for the party to start. The couples had all planned to meet up at the park and go to the party together. Y/N and Mark were the first to arrive, Mark appearing more tired than usual.

"Mark are you sure you're okay? You were acting off this morning and you look like you're about to pass out." Y/N asked.

"I'm fine, really. I just drank too much last night and that's why I look like this. I won't have anything at this party, but I know you want to go so I'm still going with you." Mark smiled at them.

"How cute, Mark being a caring boyfriend!" Johnny's voice suddenly cut in.

"Damn it Johnny! Why are you always coming in to ruin the mood?" Y/N retorted.

"You're the one who decided to be all cutesy in our meeting spot." Johnny responded defensively.

Y/N looked to the girl behind Johnny and said in a joking manner, "You could have done so much better, why him?"

"In that case, Mark could have too." Johnny interjected, defending his dates choice.

"Oh now you've done it!" Y/N raised their hand to slap Johnny when the tall male got the signal and began running away from them.

The two ran in circles around the park, Y/N swatting at Johnny and Johnny avoiding them like his life depended on it. Meanwhile Mark and Kylee watched, amused by the event playing out in front of them.

The vibe dropped though, when the last couple arrived. Jaehyun, while confused, still found the situation funny, but the girl to his side had a look of disgust on her face. Ella could care less for this behavior, she just wanted to hurry and get to that party so she could ditch Jaehyun and go after Ten.

Y/N suddenly realized the two were there, giving Ella an eye roll seeing her expression, and stopped chasing Johnny. "Oh look, everyone’s here! Shall we get going now?"

Johnny stopped running and breathed a sigh of relief before going back to his date, looking a bit flustered that she'd just witnessed that side of him. After that, the three set off.

Once they arrived at Ten's mansion, that honestly nobody knew how he could afford at his age, they waited to be let in by the guard who was hired to make sure only couples came in. The thing about these parties is that they were strictly designated for couples only because Ten was said to have skills that could give couples all the luck in dating they could possibly want if they were willing to pay his price. However many couples visited just in hopes the general aura of the party would help. Even the boy’s psychic friend who was currently overseas, Yuta, confirmed it.

Once everyone was inside, Ella looked around for a moment before spotting Ten and abandoned Jaehyun to make her way over to him. Y/N and Kylee exchanged glances and then Y/N grabbed Mark's hand and dragged him over to Ten.

"Heeeeyyy Ten." Ella said, rather annoyingly.

Ten looked up from a large and somewhat old looking book. "Hello." He smiled. "Have you finally gotten a partner and looking to strengthen your luck?"

"Actually, I'm looking to get lucky with yo-" Ella couldn't finish her sentence due to Y/N coming up and "accidentally" bumping into Ella.

"So you're the infamous Ten everyone talks about!" Y/N exclaimed in an overdramatic tone in attempt to take his attention away from the menace beside them.

Ten looked over and decided the couple with both parties present was more worth his time than the girl who'd abandoned her partner. "Yes I am! I'm guessing you two are a fairly new couple? I haven't seen you around here before."

"Yep. We just started dating about a week ago." Y/N replied.

"Well, normally I don't offer my services to brand new couples because I see a lot of people rush into something and then regret it." Ten started as he looked the two of them up and down. "But I can sense that you two were friends for a long time before finally confessing to each other, so I'll make an exception."

The boy looked back down at his book and flipped through some pages before finding the perfect one. "Here we go!" He turned around to the cabinet behind him and opened it up, rummaging through some stuff before finding what he needed. Once he closed the cabinet and turned back around, he placed two beautifully colored stones on a wood board on the counter. "These stones will protect your love for each other making it so that, no matter the circumstances, you two will never forget about each other. Whenever you see each other's faces, you'll always know that the other is there for you."

"How does it work though?" Mark asked, finally talking for the first time since arriving there.

"It simply emits an aura that combines with your own. The best way however, is to always wear it on you." Ten pulled out a stick of chalk and drew some symbols on the board around the two stones. He put his hands on either side of the board and concentrated for a moment in silence. After that, he pulled out two wires and wrapped them securely around the stones, adding a small ring at the top of the wire. "I'd suggest putting these on those necklaces you two have."

The couple took the stones and each put one on their necklaces. They were small enough that it didn't add much weight.

"So what do we owe you?" Y/N asked.

The annoyed Ella who'd been standing by watching gave Y/N a shove. "Some privacy for us now!"

Y/N glared at the girl and quickly signaled Kylee over to deal with her. Kylee came over and pulled Ella away. Ten noticed the situation and smiled at Y/N. "I'll waive the fee this time."

"Yo what? Really!?" Mark asked shocked.

"You're a friend of Kylee and Kylee's a friend of my love. If you are working together to help keep Ella away from me, and in turn, saving my love the stress of having to come public to keep people away from me, then I owe YOU." Ten responded graciously. Then mumbled under his breath, low enough that no one could hear. "Plus, you'll need it."

About an hour later, Y/N noticed the strange feeling in their body again. They felt it begin around their neck and spreading up towards their head. At this point, they decided it wasn't worth it to stay out anymore. "Mark I think I need to go to bed."

Things became somewhat of a blur for Y/N after that. Next thing they knew they were laying in their own bed and Mark had sent a good night text. Y/N's head started to feel weird and they decided to go outside for some fresh air.

Stumbling out to the small balcony outside of their room, Y/N's body started to feel even more strange. Freaking out, they accidentally bumped into the railing and fell over. Fear kicked in but then a strange sensation overcame them and suddenly Y/N was... flying?

Confused by the sudden change, Y/N somewhat crash landed and then got up to examine what just happened. Black feathers surrounded them and they found that large wings had somehow sprouted from their back.

Y/N tried to process what was happening, but realized too late that their body began moving on its own. Almost like someone else was controlling it. They could see and think, but whatever was in control of everything else wasn't letting go.

Their body took off in the sky and sought out a small restaurant to attack. Bursting through the window set all the guests in a frenzy. Y/N tried to regain control but couldn't. The bird-like body went snapping at various people while Y/N internally panicked.

Meanwhile, Mark awoke with a start. His senses were going wild and he knew something was wrong. He quickly suited up and went out to find what was happening. Once he arrived, he was shocked to see a new bird-human hybrid. He'd thought the last one he dealt with would be the only one.

Wasting no time, the masked man quickly worked to get everyone to safety before going to deal with the creature. The bird being ran out the door and tried to fly off but the hero shot out a web to catch it.

He walked over and once he was close enough, he recognized something, an all too familiar necklace around the neck. He pulled his own necklace out in hopes that the stones would sense each other and do something. Suddenly the body started moving in a strange manner before returning to a normal human form.

Y/N began freaking out once they regained control of their own body again, not knowing what just happened as things began to get blurry for a moment. Then they heard a voice.

"Hey, hey, calm down, you're alright." They looked up to see the masked hero who was kneeling next to them.

"Spider... Man?" Y/N asked weakly, wondering if this time was actually real.

"Yes. I don't know what's happening to you but I'm going to help you, okay?" he replied, helping Y/N up.

After being helped up and having an arm around the man's shoulder to help Y/N keep their balance, they noticed something. "Wait a second... That necklace." Y/N took ahold of the charms. "M.L. x (Y/N's initials)," they looked up at the masked man’s face, well, mask. "Mark?"

#nct #nct 127 #mark lee #spiderman au #mark lee x reader #mark lee x y/n

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kickmag · 1 year

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Throwback: Duke Ellington-Take The A Train

Billy Strayhorn wrote "Take The A Train" for Duke Ellington soon after he was hired by him in 1939. The song was inspired by travel directions Ellington gave Strayhorn on how to get to his home in New York City. Strayhorn's love of bandleader Fletcher Henderson's style influenced the genteel horn arrangement for the tune that had to replace "Sepia Panorama" because of expensive ASCAP fees. Lee Gaines of The Delta Rhythm Boys wrote the first lyrics for "Take The A Train" and vocalist Joya Sherrill wrote her own which she present to Ellington during her audition for the band in 1944.

The song became a jazz standard and was covered by many including Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Mingus and Sun Ra. Ellington and his band performed it in the 1943 musical film Reveille With Beverly with singer Betty Roche. "Take The A Train" became Ellington's signature song and it is considered one of the most important compositions of the 20th century. The Duke Ellington Center Big Band will perform a free concert on May 21st in New York City at the Duke Ellington statue to acknowledge the late bandleader's 124th birthday. Ellington's granddaughter Mercedes Ellington and Tony Waag who is the executive producer of the American Tap Dance Foundation will co-host the annual event.

youtube

#duke ellington #billy strayhorn #joya sherrill #lee gaines #reveille with beverly #Youtube

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martini-time · 1 year

Note

So someone tagged Cam at an art exhibit opening, and he appears to have gone to it without L, cause there’s a crowd picture he’s in and she’s no where to be seen. And I checked, this seems to have already happened last weekend, cause while the artist tagged Cam only today, I saw the gallery posted pictures of the same event a few days ago already, and the woman he had his picture taken with posted it in her story today, but with the caption ‚this past weekend‘. I think it could have very likely been at the same time that L was hanging out with Ella and Alex in Hollywood Hills… So it looks like they spend her birthday together, but just a day or two later, Cam went to an art opening of a friend, but the girl who likes to pretend she’s an artist chose not to accompany him to it… almost seems like lately, they only spend time whenever she benefits from it in some way, or he makes an effort for her…

Yep yep nothing new lol

#time to tea

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mrskodzuken · 3 years

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Sorry for the looooooong wait 😖😖😖😖🤧🤧🤧💕💕💕💕💕

Koutarou x Yaz - for @kousukii

I miss seeing you daily on my dash Yaz 🥺🥺🥺😘😘😘💕💕💕💕 ily mwah 😘

The Cat’s General Taglist (form link here): @tejxswini @roanniee @thesimphouse @cotton-curse @antisocia1-bean @chibishae34 @cemeiia @fernisasinner @baesnbakas @duhsies

Reblogs are nice, reposts and stuff are frowned upon 🥰

Birthday Event Masterlist | My Masterlist

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angrymongol01-archived · 3 years

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Legend: 👩‍❤️‍👨 (selfships), 🖍️ (art doodle)

Puppyboy!Bokuto (request: @/abuliawrites) 🖍️

Toge x Yochan (request: @/lumpiang-toge) 👩‍❤️‍👨

Chibi Chocolatier!Tendou (request: @/tangerinefluff) 🖍️

Twinsies!Semi x Suna (request: @/xxlightsaber / @/amalthea-000) 🖍️

Megane!Suna (request: @/antisocia1-butterfly) 🖍️

Young Alien Fan!Oikawa (request: @/yemilnisu) 🖍️

Sukuna x Mimi (request: @/love-amihan) 👩‍❤️‍👨

Nanami x Imo (request: @/imo-chan-imagines) 💑

UPDATED 06-14-2021 Monday

#birthday masterlist #happy 29 ♥️#ella's late birthday event #🐱saku.doodle #haikyuu #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #haikyuu art #jujutsu kaisen art #jjk art #hq fanart #hq art #made one specially for this event

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ao719 · 2 years

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Hopeless Hearts

Hopeless Hearts - Our Final Bow (Chapter 17)

Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Summary: Two people from two different worlds, both with a grudge against relationships, cross paths and discover an opportunity to get something they both want.

Title Inspiration: Stole the Show - Parson James

Warning: This series will contain NSFW material and crude language and conversations. If you read, you acknowledge you are 18+

A/N: Thank you to @burnsoslow for looking over this. Please excuse any errors.

Edit: I had so much to do yesterday and was in such a rush when I posted this that I completely forgot to add in my birthday shoutout to @sincerelyella. When I asked the birthday girl what she wanted for a story for her special day, she said she wanted Liam and Aria, and she chose for me to finish this chapter (yes, she knew what was going to happen. I told her she chose violence for her birthday). Ella - thank you for being you, for sending me funny TikTok’s, simping over a pixelated king with me, and for being so supportive. And thank you for loving this story and these two together as much as you do to choose this dumpster fire of a chapter for your birthday, lol! Love you!

Catch Up Here

Perma Tags (if you’d like to be added or removed for this story, please let me know): @zaffrenotes @cocomaxley @gardeningourmet @gibbles82 @annekebbphotography @sweetest-marbear @indiacater @liamxs-world @classylady1234 @texaskitten30 @the-soot-sprite @ladyangel70 @esmckenzie @emichelle @dcbbw @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @sirbeepsalot @debramcg1106 @gnatbrain @ofpixelsandscribbles @openheart12 @sincerelyella @superharriet @aestheticartsx @forthebrokenheartedthings @kingliam2019 @indiana-jr @bascmve01 @rainbowsinthestorm @darley1101 @charlotteg234 @alyssalauren @txemrn @neotericthemis @queenrileyrose @emkay512 @kat-tia801 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @gkittylove99 @choiceskatie @forallthatitsworth @queenjilian @walker7519 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @amandablink @mainstreetreader @mom2000aggie @foreverethereal123

It was late morning on the day of Liam’s coronation. While the rest of the palace was abuzz preparing for that evening’s big event, Liam and Aria remained nestled away in the privacy of the south wing. They had missed breakfast and now brunch.

They hadn’t even left the bed yet.

Aria rested back against the pillows with the sheet covering a majority of her body, save for her legs which were draped over Liam’s midsection. Her fingers absentmindedly combed through his hair as she stared off, lost in thought about what had happened between them the night before … and again earlier that morning. She knew going into last night that her feelings for him would more than likely intensify; now that they had, she was stuck wondering what she was supposed to do now, with tonight being the official end of their ruse.

Liam laid beside her at an angle; one hand was tucked behind his head while his other softly stroked Aria’s thigh with the remainder of the tangled sheet covering his lower half as he stared up at the ceiling. Tonight was considerably the biggest night of his entire life, and while a bit nervous about being crowned, all he could think about was how Aria would be leaving in three days. He didn’t want her to go. He continued to tell himself that this thing between them -- that his feelings -- was one-sided. Despite what happened between them and those feelings amplifying because of it, despite the look he saw in her eyes and regardless of what he knew deep down to be true, he wouldn’t allow himself to acknowledge it.

If Liam let himself think, even for a moment, that she might possibly return his affections, it would make everything so much more complicated. Dealing with his own feelings was convoluted enough; adding in potential feelings on Aria’s end would probably make it worse. He would be forced to recognize what she truly meant to him … how he really felt.

That four-letter word terrified him.

“How are you feeling about tonight?” Aria asked, breaking the silence between them.

Liam turned his head towards her, meeting her gaze, and softly shrugged his shoulders. “Ok, I guess. It’s not something I didn’t know was coming …”

“Yeah,” Aria chuckled, running her fingers through his hair again. “But it’s still a big night for you.”

“I’ll get through it,” Liam softly smiled at her. “If I ever decide to get out of this bed, that is.”

Aria laughed, biting her lip. “I suppose we should get up and start getting ready before someone comes looking for us.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. He held her gaze, neither one moving. Aria quietly laughed, moving her legs off him and giving his side a playful nudge. “Ok, ok,” he groaned. Liam stood, letting the sheet fall away from him as he did. Her eyes unabashedly roamed over his physique as he walked towards the bathroom; he shot her a look and a smirk over his shoulder before disappearing inside.

Aria heaved a sigh as she slumped onto the bed, trying to rid her mind of the jumbled thoughts consuming it, but she was unsuccessful. They hadn’t talked about what happened -- twice now -- but truthfully, Aria wasn’t expecting a conversation, nor was she going to be upset about not having one. What were they going to say? State the obvious of what happened, and then what? She wasn’t interested in potentially making things awkward.

As she thought back to the night before, Aria couldn’t remember ever having so much passion and chemistry with someone. And despite her earlier refusal to acknowledge that there may be something there on Liam’s end, she was now beginning to think differently. The way he was -- the way he looked at her, the way he kissed her, touched her -- made her believe that maybe Liam did feel something for her.

But what the hell was she supposed to do with that mere maybe?

She couldn’t tell him how she felt … could she? What if she was wrong? What if the way he was acting towards her had nothing to do with him having feelings and was because she was the first woman he’d been with in months, and it brought out that part of him? What if she was reading way too much into it all and overthinking everything because her own feelings were clouding her judgment and because she knew the ruse was coming to an end this evening, and she simply didn’t want it to?

Shut up, Aria berated herself as she sat up in the bed. This was Liam’s big night, and it would do her well to remember that and not ruin it for him while simultaneously humiliating herself in the process.

Aria stood from the bed and grabbed her robe, slipping it on as she walked towards the bathroom. She gently knocked on the door before pushing it open a crack, hearing the shower water running. “Hey, sorry … I just wanted to brush my teeth.”

“That’s fine,” Liam chuckled. When she stepped inside, he met her gaze in the mirror through the glass shower door. As she reached for her toothbrush, without hesitation, Liam opened the door and wrapped his arm around her waist.

Aria yelped as he pulled her into the stone shower. “Liam, my ro--” Her words were cut off when his lips captured hers; he removed the silk fabric from her body and tossed it over the top of the door to the floor outside before moving her beneath the spray. He drew back enough for each of them to catch the subtle smile on the other’s lips before he kissed her again.

****

Later that afternoon, while Aria was down in the boutique getting the final touches on her dress done, Liam headed to his father’s study; the King had summoned him down for a brief meeting after not seeing him at all that morning.

As he rounded the corridor, he spotted Maxwell, Drake, and Rashad. “There you are,” Maxwell grinned.

Liam furrowed his brows as the three began walking with him. “What do you mean?”

“We were looking for you, just to see how you were doing before your big night, but everyone said they haven’t seen you all day,” Rashad answered.

“I’ve been in my quarters.”

Drake chuckled. “Thought you might have run off.”

“No … just relaxing before tonight,” Liam answered, trying to remain as casual as possible. “I’m on my way to meet with my father.”

Drake eyed Liam curiously; there seemed to be something different about him. And then he smirked when a thought occurred to him; he gave a knowing look to Rashad, who appeared to have the very same thought he did. “You seem to have a little extra pep in your step today.”

“Just all of the anticipation for tonight, I imagine,” Liam replied.

“Uh-huh,” Rashad snorted. “Where’s Aria? No one has seen her at all today either.”

“She’s down in the boutique,” Liam answered matter of factly.

“Bet she’s got some extra pep in her step too,” Drake mumbled.

Liam glanced over at him. “What was that?”

“Oh, nothing,” Drake smiled.

As they neared the study door, Liam shook his head; he knew they knew. He knocked on his father’s door. “I’ll catch you guys later,” he said before opening the door when Constantine called for him to enter. Liam stepped inside his father’s study, closing the door behind him; Constantine looked up from his desk and smiled. “Hello, father.”

“Liam.” The King stood to greet him. “I didn’t see you at breakfast this morning … or brunch. So, I wanted to check-in and see how you were faring before this evening.”

“I’m fine,” Liam nodded assuringly. “I was just taking the morning for myself.”

“I understand,” Constantine smiled. “And Aria? How is she feeling?”

“I think she’s … feeling pretty good,” Liam replied, fighting back a grin.

“That’s good. This may be your night, but it’s a big one for her as well, as the one who will be standing by your side,” Constantine said. His words caused a sinking feeling in the pit of Liam’s stomach. “And with the Social Season officially coming to an end after tonight, you two will be busy with wedding plans in the coming months.”

Liam swallowed thickly. “Right, wedding plans … of course.”

Constantine let out a warm laugh at the tone in Liam’s voice. “Don’t get cold feet now, son,” he joked with a grin, and Liam forced a smile. It had nothing to do with cold feet … at least not in the sense he meant. “There hasn’t been a royal wedding since … well, since I married your mother. You know, Regina and I had a quieter ceremony. So the people are really looking forward to it, and Regina and I are looking forward to helping you plan,” he smiled. Taking in Liam’s inscrutable expression, Constantine laughed again, waving his hand dismissively. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to your downtime before tonight’s festivities.”

“Right,” Liam nodded. “I’ll see you later.”

Liam exited his father’s study and walked the corridors, slowly making his way back to the south wing. He thought of his father’s cold feet comment. He didn’t have cold feet about a nonexistent wedding; he had cold feet about admitting his feelings for Aria out loud. And hearing his father talk about how the Cordonian people were looking forward to the royal wedding -- that wouldn’t be taking place -- and that he and Regina were excited to help, he felt this pang of guilt. Aria was leaving in three days. His plan was to wait a couple of weeks after she left before announcing the sudden end of their engagement.

At that moment, he didn’t feel anything like someone who was about to be crowned a King. He was knowingly deceiving everyone … including himself.

****

That evening, Liam sat on the tufted bench in his room as he slipped on his black leather dress shoes. He stood and grabbed his suit jacket from the bed, slipping his arms into the sleeves before adjusting the lapels and then the red sash draped across his chest underneath. He fastened a pair of cufflinks in place and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he glanced up at his reflection in the mirror.

Liam was unable to explain what exactly he was feeling at that moment. Between his crowning and everything with Aria, he felt a mixture of emotions going into that evening. A part of him wanted this night to just be over already, but another part wanted to savor every moment as it was one of his last with her.

The sound of a door opening pulled Liam’s attention, and he turned, letting out a soft breath as his eyes fell on Aria when she emerged from the closet. She wore a cream-colored gown with a soft sweetheart neckline, accented with draped off-the-shoulder sleeves; the bodice was embellished in crystals that flowed into the skirt. Her hair was pulled back in a loose half-up style with soft curls cascading down. A dainty diadem was secured in place on her head, and she wore a pair of teardrop diamond earrings; he recognized both as the same ones she had worn the night of the masquerade … the first night of their ruse.

Liam looked over her admiringly before meeting her gaze. “You look -- Aria, you look beautiful,” he breathed.

“Thank you,” Aria smiled sheepishly. She scanned over his suit. “You’re looking official.”

“I call you beautiful, and all I get is official? Rude.” Liam teased.

“And handsome,” Aria chuckled. “You look handsome.”

Liam smiled before stepping away and walking to the bar cart; he poured two small glasses and turned back, handing her one. “I thought we could make a toast …”

Aria glanced past him and arched a brow when she saw the bottle he had just opened. “Breaking out the Glenmorangie Signet … don’t I feel special.”

“I figured it was well deserved tonight. Just don’t tell Drake,” Liam smirked. He held up his glass in salute to her. “Here’s to making it through the last three months to get to tonight …”

“Without killing one another in the process,” Aria added with jest.

“I think we did just the opposite of that,” Liam replied.

Aria softly smiled with a nod. “Yeah … we did.”

“And … I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For going along with this whole crazy idea from the beginning. For everything you had to endure to make it work. For helping me. For being there through some of the more difficult moments that arose during the season. For making me smile and laugh. For being a friend …” And more, he wanted to say … but he didn’t.

“It’s not as though you couldn’t have found someone else if I had said no,” Aria teased.

Liam smiled. “Perhaps, but truthfully … I couldn’t imagine having done this with anyone else by my side …”

Aria smiled up at him. “I should be thanking you, too.” Liam offered a questioning look, unsure what she could have to thank him for. “For proving me wrong about you …”

Liam stared at her for a moment, wondering if there was more behind that statement, but he shook it off. “Here’s to us …”

“To us …” Aria clinked her glass against his before they both tossed back their drinks. When they set the now empty glasses on the table, Aria turned and grabbed a small box off the vanity. “Here …”

Liam’s brows furrowed as he took it. “What’s this?”

“I overheard your father and Regina talking about the customary gifts the court gives you for your coronation … so I wanted to get you something.”

Liam looked at her, somewhat surprised. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. I wanted to. I saw them last week while we were down in the capitol. It’s nothing fancy, but …” Aria gestured for him to open it.

Liam pulled off the lid to the box, and nestled inside was a pair of gold anchor cufflinks. “Aria …”

“Even though you like to try and act like this is no big deal, I know you’ve been a little on edge about being crowned. Anchors are a sign of strength, security, and stability. Of hope. You have the strength and understanding to help people … like you did with me and boats,” she chuckled, and Liam smiled at her. “So, these are just a reminder that although the waters may get rough from time to time, you are the strength … the calm in the storm …”

Liam looked back down at the box in his hand, chewing the inside of his cheek as he nodded; he was taken aback by the thought behind the gift. He set the box down and removed the cufflinks he had on before replacing them with the ones she had just gifted to him. “Thank you,” he said as he looked at her. “That means a lot … coming from you.”

“You’re welcome,” Aria smiled. Liam held his hand up, and she laughed as they started through the routine of their handshake for what she knew could be the last time. When they reached the end and grabbed each other’s fingers, she stared up at him. There was so much she wanted to say at that moment, feeling as though her thoughts and feelings were screaming to be let out. But she remained silent, shaking them away. “Are you ready?”

“Uh, yeah,” Liam cleared his throat. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” He took a step back and offered his hand as he held her gaze; she took it, lacing their fingers together as they walked out of the room.

****

Liam and Aria walked the corridors as Liam explained the process of the crowning ceremony after Aria asked to break the silence. She glanced down at their intertwined hands, feeling Liam’s thumb casually brush across her knuckles, which only caused that question regarding his possible feelings to sit at the forefront of her mind. When they neared the top of the staircase, she shook the thought again.

Constantine and Regina glanced up from the foyer, smiling at the pair as they descended the stairs. When they reached the landing, Liam bowed, and Aria curtsied. “You two look wonderful,” Constantine grinned proudly at Liam.

Regina smiled approvingly at Aria as she looked over her appearance. “You look absolutely lovely.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Aria smiled in return.

“You look every bit of a future Queen,” Constantine added.

Aria swallowed thickly at his words, and she swore she felt Liam’s hand imperceptibly tighten its grip on hers. “Thank you, sir.”

Just then, Bastien approached to let them know the first of the guests had arrived; Constantine nodded before looking back at the others. “Let’s take our places.”

****

Alongside Constantine and Regina, Aria and Liam spoke with the guests who came through the receiving line, while others opted to wait to greet the royal family until they were inside. Drake, Rashad, and Maxwell made their way up to the pair; they shook Liam’s hand before greeting Aria. “Feeling good?” Drake asked.

“Yeah,” Liam nodded before looking at Aria and smiling.

“And how are you holding up?” Rashad asked Aria.

“I’m good.”

“You look great. There’s this glow about you,” Rashad grinned, earning a snort from Drake and a look from Liam.

“You guys should go in and get a drink, maybe grab some hors d'oeuvres to stuff in your mouth,” Liam said, and the tone of his voice told them it wasn’t just a suggestion.

“You got it, pal,” Drake laughed. “We’ll see you guys inside.”

****

Once they got through the guests in the receiving line, Liam and Aria waited in the foyer with Constantine and Regina while everyone got situated inside the ballroom. Constantine offered Liam a smile over his shoulder before he and Regina were announced by the herald; the King and Queen made their way inside.

As they waited for their names to be announced, Liam glanced down at Aria beside him. “Ready for our final show?” He forced a smile, ignoring the pang of disappointment at his own words.

Aria glanced up and parted her lips to respond, but she froze as she stared at him. No … she wasn’t ready. There was nothing about this -- about Liam, about them together -- that she was ready to say was final. And at that moment, she could have sworn she saw a flicker of discontent in Liam’s eyes when he spoke, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it meant as the thoughts regarding her feelings -- and the question of his, if any -- she’d been trying to push down resurfaced again.

Liam noticed her almost bemused expression. “Are you alright?” he asked quietly with concern in his voice.

Aria let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “Liam, I …” She trailed off, closing her eyes.

Liam’s brows furrowed as he turned towards her and took her hands in his. “Aria, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, I just …” Aria could feel her heart racing. “We both knew there was an end to this, but I … Liam, I-I need …” She let out a frustrated breath; she was frustrated with herself. The confession was right there on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t get it to come out. There was a piece of her that was terrified to say the words out loud. She closed her eyes and shook her head before looking back at him. Just say it. “I know this started off as a ruse … as a game of pretend. And I have no idea what this means … I don’t know what’s going to happen after tonight …” Aria stared up at him, searching his eyes. “You turned out to be everything I never expected. And we -- you and I -- we don't do this kind of thing because we’ve been through it and … and Jesus, we know better than this, but I-I can’t pretend that I haven’t -- that I … that I don’t feel something for you, that I haven’t … fallen for you, Liam … because I have. And I know this is horrible timing, but I wanted -- I needed to tell you. I needed you to know … how I feel about you …”

Liam stared at her in stunned silence once she finished her rambling, and his own heart started to race. She did feel the same. He didn’t allow himself to believe she could; deep down, he knew, but he convinced himself it wasn’t possible.

Before he could respond, they both glanced at the doors when they heard their names being announced into the ballroom. They looked back at one another, and Liam softly smiled as he offered Aria his hand; she laced their fingers together as they turned towards the doors. Aria looked straight ahead. Why did I just do that? He didn’t say anything -- granted, they were interrupted, but with no response other than a smile, now what? Aria forced herself not to look at him, afraid to see the expression on his face. She inwardly berated herself as her mind played back everything she had just said.

As they headed towards the doors, Liam’s mind played Aria’s confession on repeat. He had been avoiding acknowledging how she felt because he thought it would make things more complicated, that it would force him to embrace his feelings for her on another level that he simply wasn’t prepared to do. Instead, hearing her say that she felt the same filled him with relief. He felt a happiness that he hadn’t in a long time.

But it was fleeting.

When they entered the ballroom, they were met with cheers and applause, and as they walked further inside, Liam’s eyes landed on Jacqueline; she was standing near the front of the crowd, watching him intently. Suddenly, that elation that he felt over Aria’s profession quickly turned into crippling anxiety as every sound around him faded. He remembered every single reason why he had closed that part of himself off as he stared at the person who was the cause of it. He remembered the hurt and having to pick up the pieces of the wasted two years of his life. He remembered exactly why he made that promise to himself to never give that part of himself up again. And then his eyes shifted just beyond her, and into his line of vision came the second cause of it all.

Leo.

Liam felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him as he met his brother’s gaze near the back of the ballroom. It was the first time he’d seen him in a year, since he betrayed him. But suddenly, he was pulled from his daze as the chatter and applause in the room came back. Liam glanced around as he was bombarded by several members of the nobility who had yet to greet their soon-to-be King, separating him and Aria in the process.

Aria stood off to the side, closing her eyes as she continued to scold herself; she couldn’t have picked a more inopportune time to spew the confession of her feelings. She plucked a flute of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray and downed the glass. Oh god, oh god, oh god. What the hell did I do? She felt nauseous as she inched away from the crowd now gathered around Liam, wanting nothing more than to hide away at that moment. You shouldn’t have said anything. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, what -- if anything -- he would say. Maybe he would spare her the embarrassment and act as though it never happened.

“You ok?”

Aria turned at the sound of the familiar voice and saw Olivia. “Oh, hi … hello. Yes, I’m fine,” she forced a smile.

Olivia gave her a look. “That was very unconvincing, Aria.”

“I’m just … feeling a bit warm. Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”

“It’s just you,” Olivia replied, but she wasn’t convinced that that’s what was going on. “And you’re a terrible liar.”

Aria glanced at her. “I just … I think I might have done something that I really shouldn’t have.” When Olivia arched her brow in question, Aria decided it was better to just keep her mouth shut. “You know--” she waved her hand dismissively “--it’s nothing. Nevermind. It’s not important. I think I just need to get some fresh air. Excuse me.” Aria walked away, and Olivia watched her pluck another flute of champagne from another tray on her way out to the balcony.

Liam felt overwhelmed as he shook hands with guests, nodding and thanking them for their congratulatory remarks through a forced smile. There was too much happening all at once: his coronation, Aria’s confession, Jacqueline and Leo both there. The room was spinning. “Excuse me, I need to …” Liam trailed off as he abruptly turned and walked away from the group of nobles. He let out a breath as he glanced around the room, looking for Aria.

“Liam.”

He stiffened at the sound of the voice and slowly turned, coming face-to-face with Leo. All of the anger Liam never had a chance to really come to terms with rippled to the surface, and he narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Look, I know we have a lot we need to talk about, but--”

“We have nothing to talk about,” Liam growled before he turned and stepped away, not giving Leo a chance to respond.

****

Aria stepped inside from the balcony and took a breath as she glanced around the room, looking for Liam in the crowd. She spotted in a corner having what appeared to be a heated conversation with Constantine. Just then, the music swelled, signaling that it was time for the first dance; Aria watched as Liam looked away from his father, searching the crowd before finding her. She let out a breath as she held his gaze, and they began making their way towards one another. Her heart was pounding.

Knowing that Liam now knew how she felt about him, Aria felt exposed in every way possible as she walked towards him. What was he thinking? Was he going to say anything?

The guests gathered around the dance floor as Aria and Liam met in the center. She looked up at him when he offered his hand; she took it, and he wrapped an arm around her waist as the waltz began to play. As he guided her effortlessly through the steps, he glanced down at her. “I’m sorry I got pulled away,” he said quietly.

“It’s ok.” Aria dropped her eyes from his; she found it hard to keep looking at him, not knowing what was running through his head. “I saw you talking to your father. Is everything ok?”

“Not really,” Liam replied before he twirled her away from him. When Aria spun back into his arms, he saw the question and concern in her gaze. “Leo is here …”

Aria’s eyes widened. “What?”

Liam nodded, clearly angry and upset. “Apparently, he didn’t tell anyone he was coming. He just showed up. That’s what I was talking to my father about. He didn’t know he was here.”

Aria quickly surveyed the room to see if she could spot him as she and Liam continued to glide across the dance floor. Great, she thought. Things just got worse. She had already picked a horrible time to confess her feelings to Liam mere moments before walking through the doors and into their final act, but now his brother decided that tonight was the night he wanted to finally come home after being gone for a year.

Aria glanced back up at Liam to find him looking at her. “Are you alright?”

“I …” Liam trailed off, staring at her. Everything was hitting him all at once, all of it tangling together. “I don’t know …” As Liam spun her into the final twirl of the waltz, his anxiety doubled. He knew she had to be waiting for a response from him. He pulled her back into his arms as the music faded and the gathered crowd around the dance floor applauded the pair. “Aria … about what you said … I know we need to talk but--”

“But not here … not right now. I get it. I didn’t really think my timing of that through …” Before Liam could say another word, other guests surrounded them on the dance floor; Duchess Adelaide approached them, asking him for a dance. “We’ll … talk later,” Aria halfheartedly smiled before excusing herself.

****

Later that evening, now midway through the Coronation Ball, Aria found herself in a corner of the room, talking with Olivia, Rosalie, and Madeleine. She had been unable to get a moment with Liam, at least not alone. Each time they seemed to find each other in the crowded ballroom, that was when someone else decided they wanted to rub elbows with the man who was going to be crowned King that night. She understood; it was his duty. But despite knowing that the ball was no place for this conversation, her confession and Liam’s lack of response to it was eating away at her. She had no idea what to expect when they finally did get that moment.

Aria wasn’t sure if she regretted admitting her feelings or not. On the one hand, she knew she would probably be enjoying herself a little bit more had she just kept her mouth shut. On the other hand, if she didn’t admit her feelings when she did, she probably never would have.

Across the room, Liam was finally able to extract himself from a conversation with Hakim and Landon. He scanned the crowd and spotted Drake and Maxwell walking onto the balcony, more than likely to get some fresh air. He needed that right now more than anything. As he took a few steps to join them, he was stopped by Landon and Emmeline; he suppressed the urge to grit his teeth and forced a smile as they began talking to him.

“Does Liam seem oddly tense, or is it just me?” Maxwell asked as he and Drake walked halfway down the concrete steps before stopping and leaning against the balustrades across from one another.

“He does. But he seemed fine earlier. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk with him one-on-one tonight, but I’m sure it has something to do with Leo’s return.”

“Maybe,” Maxwell shrugged. “But even Aria was acting weird when we talked to them earlier.”

“She did seem off,” Drake nodded in agreement before taking a sip of his drink. “Maybe it’s about tonight being the end of the ruse,” he said quietly with a grin.

“I’ll be honest, I thought she would have left after the first few weeks,” Maxwell snorted.

Drake laughed. “Or at least strangled him.”

“I still can’t believe she agreed to fake an engagement with a stranger at the time, just to get him out of choosing someone at the end of the season …”

As Drake and Maxwell continued to talk, they were unaware of Jacqueline hiding in the shadows at the top of the stairs. They had walked right by her when they came outside without having noticed. Having heard enough, she smirked and turned towards the balcony doors, making her way inside.

“Do you think she’s really going to leave?” Maxwell questioned. “Without them actually admitting that this is all more than an elaborate act?”

“I don’t know,” Drake shrugged. “I hope not. She brought back the old Liam. She keeps him on his toes. Doesn’t put up with his shit,” Drake chuckled. “She’s been really good for him.”

Inside the ballroom, having been able to cut his conversation with the Duke and Duchess of Portavira surprisingly short, Liam started towards the balcony. “Liam.” He froze, closed his eyes, and tensed his jaw before he turned to face Leo. “Please … can we talk?”

“I already told you there is nothing for us to talk about.” Liam took a step towards his brother and scoffed. “You know, Jacqueline’s here tonight. Maybe you should go catch up with her.”

“Li, I only came tonight to show you support … and I thought that maybe you would hear me out … let me try to make things right.”

“You thought wrong,” Liam spat.

“Leo.” Both men looked over to see Constantine approaching. “Why don’t you let your brother have a moment to himself. We really don’t need a scene tonight.” Leo heaved a sigh but turned, walking away with Constantine.

Liam closed his eyes and took a breath, letting it out slowly before he walked to the bar; he needed a drink. He gestured to the bartender, who already knew what he wanted, and as he waited, he slipped off his suit jacket and his sash, draping them on the back of a nearby chair. When he turned back towards the bar, he abruptly froze, almost running into Jacqueline, who was standing directly in front of him.

“Hello, Liam,” she smiled.

Liam brushed by her without a word and stepped up to the bar; he grabbed his drink and thanked the bartender. When he turned, Jacqueline was right there. “Jesus Christ,” he grumbled. “Leo’s home. Go talk to him.”

“I’m not here to talk to Leo.”

“Well, I’m not here to talk to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my fiancée,” he said before stepping past her.

“You mean your fake fiancée.”

Jacqueline’s words caused Liam to freeze. He fixed his expression before he turned to face her. “What?”

“I know all about your little agreement with Aria … faking your engagement to get you out of having to do your Social Season.” Jacqueline wore a triumphant grin, and Liam’s jaw tensed as he stared at her. He threw back his drink and set the empty glass on a table before grabbing her arm and pulling her through the side entrance of the ballroom.

On the other side of the room, Aria excused herself away from Olivia, Rosalie, and Madeleine. She offered a few polite nods and smiles to other guests as she slowly walked through the crowd, looking for Liam; she wanted to see how he was holding up with the ceremony coming up shortly.

“Aria,” Constantine spoke quietly behind her; she turned to face the King. “I seem to be unable to find Liam. Do you know where he may be?”

“I was actually just looking for him myself.” Aria glanced towards the bar where she had last seen him, but he wasn’t there. “I’m not sure where he is, but I can go look for him.”

“That would be appreciated,” Constantine smiled. “The crowning ceremony is going to start soon, and, well, he kind of needs to be here for that,” he chuckled.

Aria smiled with a nod. “I’ll go see if I can find him.”

****

Upstairs, Liam stood with Jacqueline inside one of the empty staterooms. “The more I think about it, the more it all makes so much sense.” Jacqueline smiled as she stepped closer to him. “No one had any idea who she even was until you announced the sudden engagement. I wondered how someone like her managed to make an honest man out of you.”

“You know nothing about her,” Liam bit out.

“And it’s all because you suckered her into some ruse,” she chuckled with a shake of her head, ignoring his statement. “I’ll be honest, Li, I didn’t think you had that kind of duplicity in you. I’m actually quite impressed,” she smirked.

“I don’t care what you think you know, but you need to keep your damn mouth shut, Jacqueline. This is something that is none of your business. It doesn’t concern you!”

“Since my return, you’ve done nothing but throw that engagement and your fiancée in my face,” she spat. “And it turns out, none of it was even real!”

“Again, it’s none of your business, Jacqueline! Just stay the hell out of it!”

“You didn’t have to put on an act at all! If you had just listened to me when I came back, you could have dropped this act with her and--”

“And what?” Liam interrupted. “Been with you?” When she didn’t answer, Liam let out a sardonic laugh and shook his head. “The only reason you even came back is because Leo threw you away! I’m your second choice because the first one didn’t want you anymore!”

“That’s not true, Liam.” Jacqueline’s voice dropped, as did her expression; she took a few more steps towards him as Liam stepped back until his back hit the wall. She stared up at him, searching his eyes. “I realized what I had -- what we had -- together.” She lifted her hand, cupping his cheek; when Liam turned his head away from her touch, she cupped the other side, forcing him to look at her. “I still love you, Liam. I never stopped.”

Liam closed his eyes, shaking his head in irritation. Then, he stiffened in surprise when he felt Jacqueline’s lips press against his.

****

After checking the balcony and scanning the crowd one last time for Liam, Aria headed out of the ballroom and into the foyer. She checked to see if any of the bathrooms were occupied; they weren’t. She poked her head into a few opened doors, but Liam wasn’t in any of the rooms. She then asked a guard if he had seen him; he silently gestured towards the grand staircase. Aria thanked him and made her way up the stairs.

Once at the top of the staircase, she turned and made her way down the corridor, unsure of exactly where to look for Liam. That was until she heard voices coming from one of the staterooms; as she neared closer, she could make out Liam’s voice coming from behind a door. She gave a quick knock and turned the knob.

“Hey, Li--” Aria abruptly froze.

Liam stood slightly wide-eyed, pausing midway through attempting to tuck his now disheveled white dress shirt back into his pants when he met her gaze. Aria’s brows slightly furrowed, and then her eyes slid to the left of him; Jacqueline was lying on the sofa, awkwardly positioned, with the strap of her dress hanging off her shoulder. She missed the devious smile that began to curl on Jacqueline’s lips as her eyes moved away from her.

Aria wore an inscrutable expression as she and Liam met gazes again and stared at one another for a long moment. To an untrained eye, it would appear she was looking directly at him, but she wasn’t. She was looking through him, and Liam knew it. She wasn’t sure why she stood there so long or what exactly she was waiting for, perhaps for him to say something … anything. But he remained silent.

Aria cast her eyes down to the floor and swallowed over the growing lump in her throat. “Your father sent me. The ceremony is about to start,” she said. Without another word, she turned back into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Liam felt his heart sink, wanting nothing more than to run after her and explain what she had just walked in on, knowing what she had to have assumed, but he was rooted in place, unable to move. “Aren’t you going to run after her?” Jacqueline quipped. Liam didn’t answer; he continued to stare at the door as he quickly finished tucking his shirt back into his pants. Jacqueline huffed as she stood from the sofa and straightened her gown when the realization fell over her. “Don’t tell me you actually have feelings for her …” Again, Liam didn’t answer; he didn’t have to. “You need someone better than-”

Liam’s wry laugh cut her off as he looked at her. “Better? Like who? You?”

“You deserve someone who knows what to expect from this life, Liam.” Jacqueline shook her head and turned towards the mirror, smoothing her hair down. “And don’t you think she deserves a chance at a life she can handle? She’s been playing a damn game of pretend the whole time she’s been here. She has absolutely no idea what being with you really entails … what she would have to give up.”

“You knew!” Liam shouted. “You knew, and you fucking ran! With my brother!”

“I’ve already explained that to you, Liam. And I’m here now, aren’t I?” Jacqueline retorted. “And you can’t really say much to me considering you slept your way through Cordonia and then some after I left! It’s clear that despite any feelings you think you have for her, they’re not enough for you to change. So why hurt her and make her think she has a real shot at a future with you? If anything, she deserves a life away from you. And as harsh as that may sound, you and I both know it’s the truth.”

Liam straightened his tie as he walked to the door; he flung it open and stormed into the hallway, leaving Jacqueline alone.

****

Liam rushed into the ballroom and up to the chair where his sash and suit jacket were; he slipped them back on as he scanned the crowd, looking for Aria, but he couldn’t see her. He began to make his way through the room when he felt a hand on his arm. “There you are,” Constantine spoke. “The ceremony is about to begin. I need you and Aria to come join us on the dais.”

“Uh, Aria …” Liam trailed off, looking around for her. “I’m not sure--”

“There she is,” Regina said as she gestured towards the ballroom doors as Aria stepped inside. Liam breathed a sigh of relief as Regina stepped away to retrieve her, and his father guided him towards the front of the room.

When the King and Crown Prince made their way onto the dais, the crowd began to turn their attention towards them. Regina and Aria stepped up next to them a moment later. Liam glanced down at Aria beside him; she stared straight ahead with her hands clasped in front of her, her expression as unreadable as ever. “Aria--” He was interrupted by the sound of the trumpets sounding.

As the King quieted the guests and began his speech, Aria continued to stare off. She felt like such a fool, but she had no one to blame but herself for feeling the way she was. She was warned, and she did not heed that warning. “Liam is not easy to tame, and he does not like to be tied down.” Jacqueline tried to tell her the night of the bash, and she brushed her off because she foolishly thought that Liam wasn’t the person she initially made him out to be. She should have listened. She should have known better … she did know better. But she did it anyway.

When she heard Constantine address Liam, Aria glanced over at them. She watched as Constantine smiled proudly at his son as he handed over the royal signet ring and, with it, the reins to the kingdom. She turned her head back towards the crowd as the room erupted in applause.

The ruse was officially over.

Once the ceremony came to a conclusion, Liam was immediately swarmed by nobles who wanted to congratulate their new King. When he glanced to his side, Aria was gone. He needed to talk to her. He excused himself as he pushed his way through the small gathered group around him and glanced around the ballroom, not seeing her anywhere. He checked the balcony; she wasn’t there either. He then maneuvered his way through the crowd towards the bar where Drake stood.

“Have you seen Aria?”

“I just saw her heading upstairs as I was coming inside.” Drake took in the expression on Liam’s face as his gaze turned towards the ballroom doors; he knew something was wrong. “What’s going on?”

Liam shook his head. “Nothing,” he replied before heading for the doors.

Once out of the ballroom, Liam rushed up the grand staircase. He hurried down the corridor, and when he turned the first corner, he spotted Aria near the end of the hall.

“Aria!” he called out, but she didn’t stop. His quickened steps turned into a jog. “Aria, wait!”

“What?” she spat, whirling around to face him as he made it up to her.

Liam parted his lips to speak, but he didn’t know what to say; the hurt in her expression was evident, regardless of her trying to mask it. For someone who wanted so desperately to talk to her, he was now at a loss for words. “Where … where are you going?”

“Why do you care? Shouldn’t you be celebrating? I’m sure Jacqueline is looking for you, Your Majesty.” Liam imperceptibly winced at her words but continued to stare at her, waiting for an answer. “I’m going to pack my things.”

Liam closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at her. “Aria, I …” His own confession was right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t get the words out. And it wasn’t merely because he was afraid of opening that part of himself back up, but because Jacqueline’s words to him filled his head at that moment. “She deserves a life away from you.” As much as he hated to admit it, she was right.

Aria deserved so much better than him.

“You know … you could have saved me the humiliation earlier outside of the ballroom and just shut me down. But instead, you let me ramble on like a complete idiot while I confessed my feelings for you. But I really thought … I really thought that you felt something … that somewhere buried in this goddamn ruse, there was something real and genuine between us.” Aria stared at him for another moment before she shook her head and turned, walking away. Suddenly, she stopped, and Liam watched as she turned back to face him. “No, you know what? I do think you feel something for me; you’re just too damn afraid of opening yourself back up! But I’m afraid too! Putting yourself out there … knowing you could get hurt but being willing to do it anyway … it’s the scariest thing in the world! But at least I tried! Me, of all people! Miss I-Don’t-Do-Relationships put my heart on the line for you!” Aria shouted.

Liam stared at her, his expression impassive. He ignored the constriction in his chest at seeing the look of hurt in her eyes, but he kept his face stoic as he lightly cleared his throat. He had to. He had to protect both of them -- him from being hurt again, and more importantly, her from him -- and he only knew one way to do so. He briefly closed his eyes, unable to look at her as he uttered words he didn’t mean. “That was your mistake. It was merely an arrangement, Aria … and we knew it would end. We had some fun … but it’s over now.”

A breath escaped Aria as she stared at Liam for a long, hard moment; he could see the devastation in her eyes before they glazed over and went cold. Brick by brick, in time-lapse speed, those walls that he and he alone had managed to knock down hastened back into place. She slowly nodded before she turned and disappeared around the corner without another word.

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lilahgordonreid · 2 years

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( ella purnell, cis female, she/her, muse o ) oh snap! is that LILAH GORDON-REID? they work over at high volume where some of the other employees have labeled them as THE ROMANTIC. that’s probably because they can be a bit ( optimistic ) but also pretty ( dependent ) they’re 23 and they’ve been living in woodstock for TWO WEEKS. it must be their shift because i totally hear BRITNEY SPEARS blasting from the record store. ( aesthetics: crying into her pillow until it hurts, bubblegum flavored lipgloss, a new crush every week, every ‘i’ dotted with a heart) [ THEO, 25, PST, THEY/THEM)

@volumeupdates

Lilah was meant to be born on valentines day, but she was a week late - it’s always been a source of disappointment for her, because valentines day was always her favorite holiday, and the idea of having that as a birthday just seems so romantic. Growing up, she felt like she lived a sort of charmed life - her parents were happily married, she adored her sister, everything was practically perfect.

Her father was probably her favorite person. He was always there for her, at ballet recitals, at school events, anything - he would be there. When she found out he was cheating on her mom, which prompted them to move to Woodstock, she was heartbroken, truly heartbroken for the first time in her life. Part of her had wanted to stay, but she couldn’t do it, feeling like she would hurt her mom too much if she chose her father over her.

Working at High Volume wasn’t like, a dream job or anything, mostly, she’s hear because if she wasn’t she’d feel left out. It’s almost like when she was a little kid, and she’d tag along behind her sister, but now they’re grownups, and everything is different - she’s hoping it won’t be that way for long. And also, that she’ll be decent at her job - she never was too much of a music buff, or anything, mostly going for whatever happened to be popular and playing on the radio

interview questions here, if you’re interested!

#volumeintro #lilah : about #// i do plan to add more onto this eventually! <3

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sincerelyella · 3 years

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Darlin’ (Ethan x f!MC)

Book: Open Heart (AU)

Pairings: Ethan x MC (Ella)

Song Inspiration: Darlin’ by The Beach Boys

Characters belong to Pixelberry; MC Ella Dela Cruz belongs to me

A/N: It’s my darling @aestheticartsx‘s birthday, and I know you didn’t want a big fuss or anything, but you’re an amazing person and friend. You support everyone and you have the biggest heart. I wanted to write this little fluff piece just for you ❤️ love you tons!

Warnings: Just pure fluff

The moodboard of Ethan and Ella was made by the birthday girl and I want to thank her for all her beautiful aesthetics

PSA -> today is not her birthday, I am just moving over all my writing from my old blog.

Words: 1592

Ethan Ramsey had an earworm. He found himself going about his day, seeing his patients and humming a melody that had popped into his head since he opened his eyes this morning. As he approached the nurses at the nurse’s station singing under his breath, Danny reached out to take the charts in Ethan’s arms.

“Hey, Doc,” he furrowed his brows as he stared up at him. “Are you … singing?”

Distracted, Ethan shook his head. “No, I don’t sing.”

Danny chuckled as he turned back to stare at the computer screen. “Sounds like you are,” he mumbled.

Don’t know if words can say, But darlin’ I’ll find a way

To let you know what you meant to me, Guess it was meant to be

Ethan stared up at the assignment board, skimming all the names until his eyes stopped on Ella’s. “Danny,” he called out as he made a mental note as to which room’s Ella was rounding on that day. “Can you page Dr. Dela Cruz for me, please? I’ll be in my office.”

“Doing it now.”

Ella was in a bad mood this morning, and he could only assume it was because of that time of the month. However, he knew better than to bring that up in conversation, so he just left her alone and let her do her rounds. Ethan wandered down the hall to his office and unlocked it quickly. He tossed his key onto the desk and let out a long sigh as he sank into his leather chair.

Ethan nodded his head in time with his humming, not even realizing the corners of his mouth had curved up. He thought he would never be vulnerable with someone; he had been careful in that aspect. The trauma and abandonment he felt when his mother left was something that he always thought about; it was the entire reason why he kept people at a distance. The only person he let in was Dr. Banerji, and even then, he still retained some things to himself. Ethan absentmindedly reached into his lab coat’s front pocket and wrapped his fingers around a small box. He slowly ran his thumb over the top of the soft velvet, and his smile grew. He had bought the 4-carat diamond ring months ago, and every time he thought it was a good time to bring up their future, something would distract him. This morning he was already distracted by the song he kept humming, and the fact that Ella was snippy with him didn’t help matters.

“Hey,” Ella stood at the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. “You paged me?”

“Oh,” Ethan stood and walked around his desk to greet her. “Are you okay? You were a little-”

“Bitchy, I know,” she sighed and buried her face into Ethan’s chest. “I’m sorry, I was running late-”

“As usual,” he murmured into her hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He tugged her fully into the room and shut the door behind her.

“Mmhmm, I was running late and …” she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Ethan’s heart suddenly skipped, and he felt a tightness in his chest. It was an overwhelming feeling of dread that washed over him within seconds.

“I was running late and … I’m actually late,” she finished, her voice barely a whisper.

Ethan tilted his head and stared down at her. He was mentally prepared to hear the worst news – someone died, she was ending their relationship …

“Ethan?”

He shook his head to clear it. “Uh, you're … late? As in-”

“As in … I’m pregnant,” the tears began to roll down her face, and Ethan’s eyes widened. “I was stressed out this morning, we never talked about our future, I don’t even know if you want kids-” her voice hitched, and she began to cry harder. “I’m so sorry.”

Oh darlin’, I dream about you often my pretty darlin’

I love the way you soften my life with your love, Your precious love

“Ethan, are you listening? Are you singing?”

“I-I’m not … I don’t sing,” he grabbed Ella’s hand and led her to the couch in the corner of his office. He gestured for her to sit, and he got on both knees in front of her. “I know we never spoke of the future, Ella. I’m sorry about that, I … you know I’m not a man of many words. Fancy words are-”

“Not your thing, I know,” she finished for him as she chuckled.

“They’re not, I can’t give you magical words that sweep you off your feet. It’ll be so awkward.”

Ella nodded.

“Truth be told, I never saw myself with a family,” he stared into her eyes. “That all changed when we began our relationship.”

“So, then that means-”

“That means that I’m so happy,” he cupped her face in his large hands. “I’m thrilled, and I don’t want you to cry over this, okay? I love you.”

She flashed a watery smile. “I love you too."

2 am

Ethan lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling fan, willing himself to go to sleep. Ella had already passed out at 8 pm after a large dinner of pad thai noodles, four spring rolls, six pork and chive dumplings, and half of his spicy drunken noodles. He lay in the dark going over the day’s events – was going to be a dad – with the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

I was living like half a man, Then I couldn’t love, but now I can

You pick me up when I’m feeling sad, More soul than I ever had

He frowned. What blasted song was this? He had been accused of singing twice today, and he got strange looks from all the nurses. He turned to grab his phone on the nightstand and quickly googled the lyrics that kept running through his mind. His eyes widened when he realized what song it was. Darlin’ by The Beach Boys was a song his dad regularly played while he was a child. He remembered his parents laughing and happy together when that song was on - which was all the time. Automatically, he turned to look at Ella, who was peacefully snoring on the other side of the bed. It’s a sign.

Ethan quickly stood and quietly tiptoed to the other side of the room, where he hung his lab coat. He reached into the front pocket, took out the small velvet box, and opened it. The diamond shone like a bright star in the dark sky, and he couldn’t help but get nervous as he studied it. He picked it up out of its cushion and admired the studded in small diamonds around the circumference of the ring. Ella was a simple girl that didn’t like too much flash, plus he didn’t want her losing the diamond in a pair of gloves at work. Ethan shut the velvet box, and it made a loud snapping sound. He cringed, held his breath, and closed his eyes while Ella grunted and turned over in bed. Once the coast was clear, Ethan tiptoed to her sleeping form and slowly slipped the ring onto her third finger on her left hand. He stared down at the ring as the diamond seemed to wink at him in the moonlight; he resisted the urge to take it off. This was a stupid idea, he admonished. The worst proposal of all proposals! He scowled at the ring, then tiptoed back to his side of the bed. We’ll see what happens in the morning.

9 am

A loud squeal startled Ethan awake as he sat up quickly and noticed Ella wasn’t in bed.

"Ella? What’s wrong?” His early morning shenanigans were forgotten in his sleepy haze. Ethan saw her come into the bedroom with his large shirt on and widened eyes. “What?”

She held up her left hand, the diamond shining brightly in the morning sun that was streaking into the bedroom. “Did you do this?”

“That … depends.”

“On?”

“On whether you want it or not,” he chuckled nervously as he studied her shocked face.

“Ethan,” she walked around to his side of the bed and sat on the edge. “I’m not sure how you got a ring on such short notice, but … you don’t have to do this just because I’m pregnant.”

“Wait. What?” Ethan shook his head. “No, I’ve had that ring for a while. I have been meaning to propose, I just … always got distracted.”

“You … so you really-”

“Yes, really.”

“Ask me.” Ella’s grin grew wider as she tried to hide her giggle.

“Ella Vivenne Dela Cruz, will you marry me?”

“Wow, Ethan … this is all so sudden,” she sucked her lips between her teeth to stifle her laugh.

“Unfunny,” his deadpan glare made her roll her eyes.

“Yes!” She lunged towards him and straddled his hips.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“We’re celebrating,” Ella bit her lip as she took her shirt off. “It’s not like I can get more pregnant.”

Oh darlin’, I dream you often my pretty darlin’

I love the way soften my life with your love, Your precious love

#Darlin #Ethan Ramsey #Ethan x MC #Ethan x Ella #open heart #open heart fandom #open heart au #open heart fanfic #open heart fanfiction #happy birthday Preet #OH #OH AU #OH fanfic #OH fanfiction #OH fandom

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alwaysmarilynmonroe · 4 years

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Today is a very special day, it’s Marilyn’s Birthday! Can you believe that if she were still alive, Marilyn would have been turning 94 years old today – just two months younger than the Queen herself! With each year I always try and write a special post about this amazing woman, who has helped me so much and achieved more than anyone could have imagined in her 36 years. Therefore, I decided to write 94 facts about the Birthday Girl – some you may know, some you may not, all in the hope that genuine things will be learnt and the real Marilyn will be more understood and appreciated.

Gladys and baby Norma Jeane spend some quality time together on the beach in 1929.

Little Norma Jeane, aged seven, in 1933.

Norma Jeane photographed by David Conover whilst working at the Radio Plane Munitions Factory in either the Fall of 1944 or Spring of 1945.

Norma Jeane by Andre de Dienes in late 1945.

Marilyn by Richard Miller in 1946.

Marilyn on Tobey Beach by Andre de Dienes on July 23rd 1949.

Marilyn by Ed Clark in Griffith Park in August 1950.

Marilyn attends a Party in Ray Anthony’s home, organized by 20th Century Fox on August 3rd 1952.

Marilyn filming The Seven Year Itch on location in New York City by Sam Shaw on September 13th 1954.

Marilyn by Milton Greene on January 28th 1955.

Marilyn by Cecil Beaton on February 22nd 1956. This was her favourite photo of herself.

Marilyn attending the Premiere of The Prince In The Showgirl at the Radio City Music Hall on June 13th 1957.

Marilyn by Carl Perutz on June 16th 1958.

Marilyn by Philippe Halsman for LIFE Magazine in October 1959.

Marilyn attends a Benefit for The Actors Studio at the Roseland Dance City on March 13th 1961.

Marilyn on Santa Monica Beach for Cosmopolitan Magazine by George Barris on July 1st 1962.

______________________________________________________________________________

1. Stood at a height of 5’5½”

2. Born in the charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital at 9:30 AM on June 1st 1926.

3. Married three times;

– Jim Dougherty: (June 19th 1942 – September 13th 1946) – Joe Dimaggio: (January 14th 1954 – 31st October 1955) (Temporary divorce granted on October 27th 1954) – Arthur Miller: (June 29th 1956 – January 20th 1961).

4. Suffered two confirmed miscarriages; an ectopic pregnancy on August 1st 1957 and miscarriage in December 16th 1958.

5. Suffered with endometriosis very badly, so much so that she had a clause in her contract which stated she would be unable to work whilst menstruating.

6. Starred in 30 films – her last being uncompleted.

7. Favourite of her own performances was as Angela Phinlay in The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

8. Winner of three Golden Globes; two for World Film Favourite – Female in 1954 and 1962 and one for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for her performance as Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot (1959) in 1960.

9. Her idol was the first Platinum Blonde Bombshell, Jean Harlow.

10. Amassed a collection of over 400 books in her library, ranging from Russian Literature to Psychology.

11. Favourite perfume was Chanel No.5

12. Had two half siblings; Robert “Jackie” Baker (1918 – 1933) and Bernice Miracle (1919) – the former she would never have the chance to meet and Bernice was not informed about Marilyn until she was 19 years old.

13. Former Actor and 20th Century Fox Studio Executive, Ben Lyon created the name Marilyn Monroe in December 1946 – Marilyn after fellow Actress, Marilyn Miller and Monroe after Marilyn’s mother’s maiden name. Ironically enough, Ben starred with Jean Harlow, in her breakout movie, Hell’s Angels (1930).

14. Legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe ten years later, on February 23rd 1956.

15. Attended The Actors Studio.

16. Third woman to start her own Film Production Company – the first being Lois Weber in 1917 and the second being Mary Pickford in 1919.

17. First had her hair bleached in January 1946 at the Frank & Joseph Salon by Beautician Sylvia Barnhart, originally intended for a Shampoo Advert.

18. Contrary to popular belief, she was technically a natural blonde, not a redhead or brunette. She was born with platinum hair and was very fair until just before her teen years. Her sister described her with having dark blonde hair upon their first meeting in 1944.

19. Another myth debunked – she had blue eyes, not brown.

20. Was one of the few women in the 1950s to use weights when exercising.

21. Wore jeans before it was considered acceptable for women.

22. Her famous mole was real – albeit skin coloured, so she emphasized it using a brown eye pencil.

23. Was a Step-Mother in two of her three marriages to three children – Joe Dimaggio Jr. and Bobby and Jane Miller.

24. Found out she landed the lead role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) on her 26th Birthday.

25. Another huge myth dispelled – only actually met President Kennedy four times from 1961 – 1962. Three of them were at public events, with the last being her performance at Madison Square Garden. One of them was at Bing Crosby’s Palm Spring house with various people, so at most (which again, is very unlikely) they had a one night stand – nothing more and nothing less.

26. Was the first Playboy Cover Girl, although she did not actually pose for them, nor give permission for them to be used. Hugh Hefner bought the photograph from a Chicago Calendar Company for $500 and the two never met.

27. Speaking of Playboy, the photo was taken by Photographer Tom Kelley on May 27th 1951 and Marilyn made a total of $50 for the photo shoot. The most famous photo then went on to cause a national sensation after being sold to the Calendar Baumgarth Company and became known as, “Golden Dreams“.

28. In 1955 it was estimated that over four million copies of the Calendar had been sold.

29. Favourite singers were Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

30. Attended the Academy Awards Ceremony only once on March 29th 1951 and presented the award for “Best Sound Recording” to Thomas Moulton for All About Eve (1951) which she also starred in.

31. Performed ten shows over four days to over 100,000 soldiers and marines in Korea in February 1954 – she actually ended up catching pneumonia because it was so cold.

32. Was one of the few Stars who had Director Approval in their Contracts. Some of the names included were, John Huston, Elia Kazan, Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens, William Wyler, Joshua Logan and Sir Carol Reed.

33. Was pregnant during the filming of Some Like It Hot (1959) – filming finished on November 7th 1958 and she miscarried the following month on December 16th.

34. Featured on the cover of LIFE Magazine seven times during her lifetime;

– April 7th 1952 – May 25th 1953 – July 8th 1957 (International Edition) – April 20th 1959 – November 9th 1959 – August 15th 1960 – June 22nd 1962

35. Favourite bevarage was Dom Perignon 1953 Champagne.

36. By the time of her death, her films had grossed over $200 million, when adjusted for inflation that is the equivalent of $2 billion in 2019.

37. Designer, William Travilla dressed Marilyn for seven of her films, two (*) of them received Oscar Nominations in, “Best Costume/Design, Color“;

– Monkey Business (1952) – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) – How To Marry A Millionaire (1953) * – River Of No Return (1954) – There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) * – The Seven Year Itch (1955) – Bus Stop (1956)

38. Spent 21 months of her childhood at the Los Angeles Orphanage, from September 13th 1935 until June 7th 1937.

39. Was one of the first Stars to speak out about child abuse, with her story appearing in movie magazines as early as 1954.

40. Fostered by her grandmother’s neighbours, Ida and Albert Bolender, for the first seven years of her life.

41. Lived in England for four months, during the period of filming for The Prince and The Showgirl (1957) from July 14th 1956 – November 20th 1956.

42. Her Production Company, Marilyn Monroe Productions produced only one film, The Prince and The Showgirl (1957) based on Terrance Rattigan’s play, The Sleeping Prince.

43. Was photographed by Earl Theisen in October 1952 wearing a potato sack dress after being criticized by the press for her outfit choice at The Henrietta Awards in January 1952. A journalist wrote that Marilyn was “insignificant and vulgar“and “even in a potato bag, it would have been more elegant.“

44. Was a huge supporter of LGBT+ rights, saying the following quote about fellow actor and friend, Montgomery Clift to journalist W.J. Weatherby in 1960,

“I was remembering Monty Clift. People who aren’t fit to open the door for him sneer at his homosexuality. What do they know about it? Labels–people love putting labels on each other. Then they feel safe. People tried to make me into a lesbian. I laughed. No sex is wrong if there’s love in it.”

45. Her measurements were listed as the following by her Dressmakers; 35-22-35 and 36-24-24 by The Blue Book Modelling Agency. For the majority of her life she weighed between 117-120 pounds, with her weight fluctuating around 15 pounds, during and after her pregnancies (1957-1960), although her waist never ventured past 28.5 inches and her dress size today would be a UK Size 6-8 and a US Size 2-4 as she was a vintage Size 12.

46. Her famous white halter dress from The Seven Year Itch (1955) sold for $4.6 million ($5.6 million including auction fees) on June 18th 2011, which was owned by Debbie Reynolds. The “Happy Birthday Mr. President Dress” originally held the record for the most expensive dress, when it was sold on October 27th 1999 for $1.26 million. It then went on to be resold for $4.8 million on November 17th 2016, thus regaining it’s original achievement.

47. Was discovered by Photographer, David Conover, whilst working in The Radio Plane Munitions Factory in the Fall of 1944 or Spring of 1945, depending on sources.

48. Now known as the, “Me Too” movement, Marilyn was one of the first Stars to speak out on the, “Hollywood Wolves” in a 1953 article for Motion Picture Magazine entitled, “Wolves I Have Known”. The most famous incident being with the Head of Columbia Studios, Harry Cohn, who requested Marilyn join him on his yacht for a weekend away in Catalina Island. Marilyn asked if his wife would be joining them, which, as you can imagine – did not go down well and her contract was not renewed with the Studio. Marilyn made only one film with Columbia during her six month contract, this being Ladies Of The Chorus (1948) which was shot in just ten days!

49. Loved animals dearly and adopted a variety of pets over the years. These included a basset hound called Hugo and parakeets, Clyde, Bobo and Butch with Husband Arthur Miller. A number of cats including a persian breed called Mitsou in 1955 and Sugar Finney in 1959. Her most famous pet was gifted to her in March or April of 1961 by friend, Frank Sinatra, a little white maltese named Maf. His full name was Mafia Honey, as a humorous reference to Sinatra’s alleged connections to the Mob. After Marilyn’s death, Maf went to live with Frank Sinatra’s secretary, Gloria Lovell.

50. The book she was reading at the time of her death was Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mocking Bird.

51. One of the movies she starred in was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and won, this being All About Eve (1950) at The 23rd Academy Awards on March 29th 1951. It ended up being nominated for 14 Oscars, a record at the time and has only been matched by Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016).

52. Her first magazine cover was photographed by Andre de Dienes in December 1945 for Family Circle, released on April 26th 1946.

53. Joined The William Morris Agency on December 7th 1948.

54. Was right handed, not left as often believed.

55. Third Husband Arthur Miller wrote the screenplay for Marilyn’s last completed film, The Misfits (1961) which was originally written as a short story for Esquire Magazine in 1957. After the tragic ectopic pregnancy Marilyn endured in August of 1957, friend and Photographer, Sam Shaw suggested to Miller he alter his short story specifically for her. Ironically the making of this film culminated in their divorce and Marilyn stating,

“He could have written me anything and he comes up with this. If that’s what he thinks of me then I’m not for him and he’s not for me.” 56. Was Author, Truman Capote’s original choice for the role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) however, she was advised to turn it down by her Acting Coach, Paula Strasberg, who did not think the role of a prostitute would be good for her image. Writer George Axelrod, who wrote the Screenplay for Bus Stop (1956) and the play, The Seven Year Itch, ironically ended up being the Screenwriter for this movie.

Capote said this regarding Marilyn,

“I had seen her in a film and thought she would be perfect for the part. Holly had to have something touching about her . . . unfinished. Marilyn had that.”

57. Second Husband Joe Dimaggio had The Parisian Florists deliver red roses on Marilyn’s grave twice a week, for twenty years, from August 1962 until September 1982. Marilyn had told him how William Powell used to do this for Jean Harlow after her death and he reportedly vowed to do the same after their Wedding Ceremony. After the 20 years he then donated to a children’s charity, as he thought it would be a nice way to honour her memory. They also created the flower arrangements for her casket at her funeral.

58. The following five Directors directed Marilyn in more than one movie;

– John Huston; The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Misfits (1961) – Richard Sale; A Ticket To Tomahawk (1950) and Let’s Make It Legal (1951) – Howard Hawks; Monkey Business (1952) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) – Billy Wilder; The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959) – George Cukor; Let’s Make Love (1960) and Something’s Got To Give (1962)

59. Was an illegitimate child, which unfortunately was attached with a lot of stigma in the 1920s. Her mother, Gladys, listed her then husband Edward Mortenson on the Birth Certificate, although it is commonly accepted that her real father was Charles Stanley Gifford, as Gladys left Edward on May 26th 1925. Gladys had an affair with him, which ended when she announced her pregnancy and he never acknowledged or met Marilyn, although she tried multiple times over the years to speak with him.

60. Stayed in a number of foster homes during her childhood,

– George and Emma Atkinson; February 1934 – September 1934 – Enid and Sam Knebelcamp; Fall of 1934 – Harvey and Elsie Giffen; January 1935 – March 1935 – Grace and “Doc” Goddard; April 1935 – September 1935 and June 1937 – November 1937 and end of 1940 – February 1942 – Ida Martin; November 1937 – August 1938 – “Aunt Ana” Lower; August 1938 – End of 1940 and February 1942

61. Had her hand and footprints immortalized in cement at Graumans Chinese Theatre on June 26th 1953, with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) co-star, Jane Russell. Marilyn would place a rhinestone in the dot of the letter “i” as a reference to her character, “Lorelei Lee” but it was sadly stolen. This was an incredibly special moment for her, as she often talked about placing her hands and feet in the many prints there, when she spent her weekends at the Theatre as a child, especially in 1933 and 1934.

“When I was younger, I used to go to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and try to fit my foot in the prints in the cement there. And I’d say “Oh, oh, my foots too big. I guess that’s out.” I did have a funny feeling later when I finally put my foot down into that wet cement, I sure knew what it really meant to me, anything’s possible, almost.”

62. The famous gold lamé dress worn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and designed by William Travilla, was deemed too risqué by the censors. Unfortunately for fans, this meant that the musical number, “Down Boy” was cut from the film and we only glimpse a few seconds of the dress from behind, on screen.

63. Due to the censors, the original, “Diamond’s Are A Girl’s Best Friend” costume was changed to the now iconic pink dress with black bow. Originally it was to be a diamond encrusted two piece, which was extremely daring for the then Motion Picture Hays Code.

64. Loved Erno Lazlo Skin Cream, Vaseline and Nivea Moisturizer.

65. Had she completed Something’s Got To Give (1962), Marilyn would have been the first Star in a major Motion Picture to appear nude on film. As she passed before it was completed the achievement went to fellow Blonde Bombshell, Jayne Mansfield in, Promises! Promises (1963).

66. Met Queen Elizabeth II in England at the Empire Theater in Leicester Square whilst attending the Premiere of, “The Battle Of The River Plate“ on October 29th 1956.

67. The Misfits (1961) was both Marilyn and Clark Gable’s last completed films. Clark died 12 days after filming finished, on November 16th 1960. The film was released on Clark’s would be 60th Birthday, February 1st 1961 and Marilyn passed 18 months later.

68. As Marilyn died before the completion of Something’s Got To Give (1962) it ended up being remade with Doris Day and James Garner, entitled, Move Over Darling! (1963). The film was originally intended to be a remake of, My Favourite Wife (1940) which starred Cary Grant.

69. Signed a recording contract with RCA Records on September 1st 1953. One of her songs from River of No Return (1954) entitled, “File My Claim” sold 75,000 copies in its first three weeks of release.

70. Was admitted to the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic on February 10th 1961 by her then Psychiatrist, Marianne Kris. Originally thought to be for rest and rehabilitation, following her divorce from Arthur Miller and the strain of filming The Misfits. However, Marilyn was placed on the security ring and held against her will. Thankfully, she was able to contact ex Husband, Joe Dimaggio, who stated he would, “Take the hospital apart brick by brick” if she was not released and after three days of emotional trauma, she left.

71. Visited the following Countries;

– Canada – (July – August 1953) – Japan (February 1954) – Korea (Feburary 1954) – England (July – November 1956) – Jamaica (January 1957) – Mexico (February 1962)

72. Purchased her only home, 12305 Fifth Helena Drive on February 8th 1962, where she would tragically pass just under 6 months later.

73. The home had the following tile located on the front paving entrance saying, “cursum perficio” meaning, “my journey ends here.” The title is still there to this day.

74. Her final interview was published in LIFE Magazine on August 3rd 1962 and was written by Richard Meryman.

75. Aside from her millions of fans, had a staunch group of supporters affectionately known as, “The Monroe Six” who followed Marilyn around New York during her time there. Their nickname for Marilyn was, “Mazzie” and they became so acquainted that Marilyn actually once invited them for a picnic at her home.

76. First married at just sixteen years old, this was to avoid returning to the Orphanage she had spent almost two years in as a child.

77. Supported numerous charity events, most famously riding a pink elephant in Madison Square Garden, to support the Arthritis and Rheumatic Affections Association on March 30th 1955.

78. Left 25% of her Estate to her then Psychiatrist, Marianne Kris and 75% to mentor and friend, Lee Strasberg. For reference, her Will was last updated on January 1961 – a month before she entered the Payne Whitney Hospital on the advice of Marianne Kris.

79. At the time of it’s release, The Misfits (1961) turned out to be the most expensive black and white movie ever made, costing a budget of $4 million dollars.

80. The Premiere of The Seven Year Itch was held on her 29th Birthday, on June 1st 1955, she attended with ex Husband, Joe Dimaggio.

81. Laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery on August 8th 1962 at 1:00 PM, with friend and mentor Lee Strasberg delivering the Eulogy.

82. Although so often associated with diamonds, actually wasn’t that fond of jewellery stating, “People always ask me if I believe diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Frankly, I don’t.”

83. Spent her 36th Birthday filming Something’s Got To Give (1962) and then attending a Charity Event for muscular dystrophy at the Chavez Ravin Dodger Stadium, which also happened to be her last public appearance.

84. Whilst recovering in hospital from an appendectomy in April 1952, Marilyn asked long time Makeup Artist and friend, Allan “Whitey” Snyder to do her makeup, should she pass before him. She gave him a gold money clip with the inscription, “Whitey Dear, while I’m still warm, Marilyn” and he did fulfill this promise to her.

85. Converted to Judaism for third husband, Arthur Miller on July 1st 1956.

86. Despite appearing in 30 films, she only actually dies in one, that being her breakout movie, Niagara (1953) where her character Rose Loomis, is strangled by her Husband George, played by Joseph Cotten.

87. Moved to New York City in 1955 and attended The Actors Studio, after breaking her Film Contract with 20th Century Fox. This was for a number of reasons, mainly years of low pay, unsatisfactory scripts and lack of creative control. A new contract would finally be reinstated on December 31st.

88. Repurchased a white Baby Grand Piano that her mother, Gladys, owned during their time living together in 1933. After Marilyn passed it would then be sold at the Christies Auction of her Estate in 1999 to none other than, Mariah Carey for $632,500.

89. Wore long hair pieces in River of No Return (1954) and a medium length wig in The Misfits (1961). The first I can only assume was due to the time period and setting of a Western and the second was due to the bleach damage her hair had suffered. After the filming in 1960, she wore the wig a couple of times in public events and then reverted back to her normal hair.

90. Like all students, it was tradition to perform in front of each other in The Actors Studio and on February 17th 1955, Marilyn acted out a scene from “Anna Christie” with Maureen Stapleton. Although it was an unwritten rule that students were not meant to applaud one another, an eruption of cheers and clapping happened after Marilyn had finished.

“Everybody who saw that says that it was not only the best work Marilyn ever did, it was some of the best work ever seen at Studio, and certainly the best interpretation of Anna Christie anybody ever saw. She achieved real greatness in that scene.”

– Actor Ellen Burstyn, on recalling Marilyn’s performance.

91. Used the pseudonym, “Zelda Zonk“, when trying to remain incognito.

92. Marilyn’s mother, Gladys Baker, suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia and after various stays in institutions, was declared insane on January 15th 1935, when Marilyn was just 8 years old. After 10 years she was released and managed to retain various cleaning jobs and had developed an intense interest in Christian Science. However, by 1951 she was back in various institutions and would stay in the Rockhaven Sanitarium until 1967. Even after death, Marilyn continued to cover her mother’s care payments and Gladys would go on to outlive her for 22 years.

93. Favourite photograph of herself was taken by Cecil Beaton on February 22nd 1956.

94. Last professional photos were taken by Bert Stern, famously known as “The Last Sitting” for Vogue Magazine on June 23rd, July 10th and 12th 1962. Allan Grant took the LIFE Magazine interview pictures in her home, on July 4th and 9th 1962. Whilst George Barris took his photos for Cosmopolitan Magazine, the previous weekend on the 29th and 30th of June, until July 1st 1962. ______________________________________________________________________________

To those of you who took the time to read through all 3000+ words, thank you! It truly means more to me than you know and I really hope it’s shed some light on the truly special person Marilyn was and made you hold a good thought for her on her big day.

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Happy 94th Birthday Marilyn! Today is a very special day, it's Marilyn's Birthday! Can you believe that if she were still alive, Marilyn would have been turning 94 years old today - just two months younger than the Queen herself!

#1940s #1950s #1960s #angel #blonde bombshell #classic hollywood #hollywood #icon #legend #marilyn #marilyn monroe #norma jeane #norma jeane baker #old hollywood

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umbry-fic · 3 years

Text

A Palette Full of You (4)

Summary: Glimpses into Colette and Lloyd’s lives as they grow up together, learn who they are, and fall in love with each other.

(Written for Colloyd Week 2021)

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters: Colette Brunel, Lloyd Irving Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving Rating: G Chapter: 4 of 6 Word Count: 5897 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 12/06/2021

Chapter Title: Stardust

Chapter Summary: The astronomy club holds a stargazing event on the school rooftop. As chairperson, there's no chance Lloyd isn't going to invite Colette. But as the night progresses, actually spotting the hard-to-find stars become the least of Colette's concerns.

(Colloyd Week Day 4: Stargazing)

Notes+Warnings: Chapter 4 of my multi chapter Colloyd week fic! Warning for some major internalised acephobia.

Chapter list Full fic Previous chapter Next chapter

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16-years-old

Stepping out of the science lab into the corridor, Colette came to a halt, her schoolbag weighing on her shoulders, soaking in the warm air as other students filed past her. One of the most unfortunate things about attending practical make-up was that she wasn't guaranteed her usual seat by the lab window. Sitting right under the air-con was enough to send her into hibernation, and the test was hard enough as it was. She'd barely managed to finish on time.

Rummaging through the pocket of her navy blue pinafore, her fingers brushed past a packet of tissue and her wallet before successfully pulling her phone out. She needed a reminder of where the stargazing event was taking place, and who better to ask than Lloyd? She hoped he was reading his messages.

"7.23 pm, May 18th" blinked at her from her phone screen.

Wait, 7 missed calls? From Lloyd? What for?

Gah, she’d forgotten to tell him.

She dialled his number, placing the phone against her ear and waiting for his anxious voice to ring out. Which it did, just seconds later as he picked up.

“Colette? Where are you? I tried calling you so many times, and Sheena and Zelos wouldn’t pick up because they’re both at tuition!”

“I forgot to tell you the makeup got pushed by an hour. Sorry for making you worry, Lloyd. But I’m done now. Where’s the event at?”

"We’re on the school rooftop! Where we celebrated Sheena's birthday last month, remember?" Lloyd replied, his voice tinny in quality from the phone call. She could hear, in the background, the overlapping sounds of many voices.

“School rooftop, school rooftop, school rooftop…” she mumbled, beginning to scurry through her secondary school's corridors, head darting every which way to determine where she was and try to find clues as to where she was going. She didn’t often wander into this part of the school campus - block D, the science block - since she only took two sciences. Usually, she’d take the main staircase straight down to the canteen, but it would take forever to get back to the roof from there. She didn’t want to be too late.

“You’re coming from science lab 3, right? If I remember correctly, it’s one right, walk past the storage room to block C, and then take the first left down the bridge to block B. You should see the staircase to the roof. Do you need me to come and get you?”

“No, no, it’s fine! Just stay on the phone?”

“Alri - OI, MATTHEW, STOP MESSING WITH THE TELESCOPE! YOU DO NOT GET SPECIAL TREATMENT JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE MY DESKMATE! GET YOUR HANDS OFF AND LET ELLA HANDLE IT!” The yell was muffled, probably because Lloyd had taken the phone away from his mouth to avoid deafening her, though his raised voice was still enough to make her wince, tearing the phone away from her ear.

“Sorry about that,” Lloyd said, his voice lowered back to normal volume again. “Got to prevent property damage. You know how it is.”

“Right…” She laughed nervously, wondering how many people were up on the rooftop and what exactly they were up to. She was hoping to spend a peaceful evening stargazing with Lloyd and listening to him talk about constellations, the shining passion in his eyes rivalling even the stars above, not… getting distracted by people fooling around.

“How’s it going? Are you getting closer?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m heading in the right direction,” she assured Lloyd, taking the left he’d directed her to and running down the bridge connecting two blocks, her ponytail flaring behind her and her pinafore swirling around her legs. There was almost no one left in the school now. The hallways she’d run through had been abandoned, for the most part, the stragglers she passed by all heading in the direction of the main gate. The sky, visible from the bridge, was in the last throes of twilight, slowly bleeding into night as black seeped across the sky.

Colette skidded to a halt at the end of the bridge, gaze landing on a familiar door. She could recall this stairwell now, having taken it two months ago. She, Zelos and Lloyd had somehow managed to lead a blindfolded Sheena up it, whereafter they had surprised their friend with a birthday cake they had baked together. That birthday cake had been salvaged solely by Zelos, who was a surprisingly good baker. Or maybe they were just average, and weren't knocking over the baking tray every ten minutes like her.

“I’ve found the right staircase!” Colette said, hanging up and stuffing her phone back into her pocket and starting to take the stairs two at a time. She usually never did that (and was often teased by Sheena over it), choosing to climb each step carefully, for the risk of tripping was too high. But she was in a hurry, and so had no other choice. Her shoe-laces were coming undone, and her school bag seemed to be getting heavier with each step.

Everyone else who was attending the event was likely already on the rooftop - Colette could hear voices and the sounds of footsteps against concrete through the open door at the top of the stairwell. Grabbing the cold metal handle, she threw the door open, finally emerging onto the rooftop.

There were about thirty or so people milling around, everyone still dressed in their school uniforms, chatting with friends, holding cups of fruit punch or lounging on the mats that had come from the gymnasium. Not enough people to count as a crowd, but certainly respectable. Just a small event, one where she could relax and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Now she just had to find Lloyd...

"Colette!"

Speak of the devil! Or the angel, perhaps... Colette tracked the source of the voice and spotted Lloyd, making his way over from a group of students who were busy fiddling with a telescope, his hand gripping a red plastic cup. One side of his collar was flipped up, and the small shooting star pin that marked him as the chairperson of the astrology club was pinned to the other. Only one of the sleeves of his white blouse were folded like they were meant to be, the other way too long and leaving barely any skin visible above his elbow. His white long pants had been rolled up as much as possible - which wasn't much, honestly, the most it could reach was mid-thigh. It was one of those stuffy nights with no wind that was stifling and hard to fall asleep in.

"You made it!" Lloyd's grin grew wider as he grabbed her hand, only for him to flinch away instantly, vivid red liquid nearly sloshing over the rim of his cup. “Gah, your hand is really cold.”

"Sorry! You know how cold the lab is. Anyway, I only made it here thanks to your assistance." Colette laughed, feeling her weariness peel off her instantly. Lloyd always had that effect on her - his energy was infectious, like it was being injected straight into her veins whenever she was in close proximity to him. Especially now, with clear excitement alive on his face.

It was strange, though. He was the only one with that effect on her. Meeting her other friends never failed to make her happy, but Lloyd was the only one that could make her feel ten times more alive in an instant the moment she saw his smile. It had only started in the past year, this unknown, electrifying sensation that arose in her heart whenever she was with Lloyd. The desire to see him again after school ended got stronger with each day, but she couldn’t understand any of it…

“You’re staying for the afterparty, right?” Lloyd asked, taking a sip of the fruit punch. He said afterparty, but she knew it wouldn’t be much of a party. Just all the members of the astrology club hanging out in the tiny room the school had assigned to them, playing card games and chatting. Everyone in the club knew her by name, for she was the friend of their chairperson who somehow managed to turn up at every meeting. She was practically an honorary member at this point.

A homey gathering without any alcohol in sight. She much preferred it that way. The last time alcohol had come into play when she was staying overnight at a chalet with the rest of her class, sometime late last year. She'd avoided the cans of beer stacked on the floor, the smell not appealing to her. But alcohol sure made the rest of her classmates go wild. Running away from slightly drunk classmates trying to get her to play truth and dare was not fun. Normal truth and dare was already horrible, with questions like "who are you crushing on" and "who would you like to kiss". She didn't understand why it was a game that people insisted be played at every class gathering or orientation. No one ever believed her when she answered honestly with "no one", and she was fairly used to the reactions by now, the common ones being that she had to be lying, for everyone had someone in mind, or that she should stop acting so high-and-mighty, or just snickers of her being a prude.

Just because she was used to the biting words didn't mean they had stopped hurting, reminder stacked atop reminder of how she was isolated from everyone else around her. And as much as she hated answering "truth" whenever that accursed bottle landed on her, answering "dare" was even worse. There were the innocent ones like doing the chicken dance, and then there was having to kiss someone. She always did her best to leave as soon as the bottle made an appearance, but she could never say "no" when someone asked her directly to join, for she never knew how to turn people down. Neither did she want to give her classmates more reasons to treat her as a laughingstock for being too much of a coward to play. So now, whenever she was forced to play the game, she would give the least offensive answers possible - mostly girls, for she at least found them pretty, though she didn't think that was what attractive meant.

But the drunk version of truth and dare? That was hell on Earth. The questions got even more invasive. She could never understand how someone could ask "who would you sleep with here" with a straight face. And alcohol loosened the lips of her classmates, enough that she had heard snippets of some of the more adventurous ones describing their sexual escapades in sickening detail. She really didn't need the reminder that sexual activities weren't just a thing of fiction, but something that actually happened amongst real people and that people seemed to really want to do. She'd spent half of that chalet stay playing Uno with Zelos in a corner, because Zelos was way better at promptly rejecting offers to play truth and dare.

Only her friends had ever come to her defence, but it was not like they could help that much when they weren't in the same class, apart from Zelos. Still, they afforded much-needed safety, and they never pointed out how she was weird or strange or different, even if they must have noticed by now. But...

She was 16. Wasn't she supposed to get it by now?

“Yep, I'm staying. We can go home together,” Colette suggested, tearing her thoughts back to the present. "Dad already knows I'll be coming home late, and Aunt Anna can just pick us both up."

Colette reached out to fold Lloyd's right sleeve, straightening the wrinkles out, before reaching to flip his collar down. His uniform was always in such a state of disarray, and it was always up to her to get him looking neat before the teachers did their inspections during morning assembly.

"Yep, I'll let Mom know," Lloyd replied, squeezing her hand. "Let's actually get to stargazing, shall we? Come on, I reserved the mat with the best telescope. The..."

Colette let Lloyd ramble on about the specifications of the telescope as he guided her towards their destination. It was always endearing to hear him talk about the topics he loved, whether it be the ocean or the stars. His words would get faster as he went on, until he was barely intelligible as all the syllables clumped together, without him even noticing. She didn’t want to interrupt him, though, much preferring to just watch him as a smile inevitably grew on her face.

"Right! Get comfortable!" Lloyd said, having completed his spiel and coming to an abrupt stop. Colette stumbled a few steps forward, so engrossed in listening to Lloyd that she'd nearly tripped. He gestured towards the deep blue mat stuffed with foam, placing his cup next to it before crouching to adjust the sleek black telescope, nimble fingers flying from knobs to levers. His face was scrunched up in concentration, focussed entirely on his task.

Colette dumped her school bag down and kicked off her school shoes, leaving her feet clad in white socks, and scrambled onto the mat, lying down on it. Lloyd joined her soon after, having finished whatever preparations he was doing, sidling closer on the mat so that his shoulder pressed against hers as they both stared up into the night sky, now completely dark. In the distance, Colette could see the lighted-up M sign on the business complex.

“We can look at the stars first before we use the telescope to find the planets. What do you see, right now?”

"Um, well… I can only see one star in the sky," Colette muttered, pointing out the lone, twinkling presence. It was common knowledge that there was too much light pollution to actually see any of the vast galaxies and planets that were scattered throughout the universe. The most Colette had ever seen at once when looking out at the sky from the balcony of her apartment was three stars, dimly shining and far away from each other. They were hundreds of light-years away, unreachable and yet still shining their light for all to see.

"No, there's more. It's a really clear sky tonight, and we can see so much!" Lloyd replied eagerly. The starry-eyed enthusiasm had returned to his eyes, seeming to burrow straight into her heart. Pointing up into a particular patch of sky, he said, "There! Do you see the top of the Big Dipper?"

"Ah..." She tried to follow the line of his arm but didn't spot any hidden stars, shaking her head. "No...? The Big Dipper is the one that looks like a frying pan, right?" It was one of the many constellations that Lloyd had taught her while on his impassioned rambles about astrology. Ever since he'd picked up that one book on constellations from the library in primary school, he'd been obsessed with stars. She could still fondly remember the first time he had talked about it. She'd plopped down in front of him at the canteen table after school, asking what he was reading. He'd shut the book and told her about white dwarfs, planetary systems and the Milky Way for a full five minutes while she listened in awed silence. She'd rarely seen him this excited over anything. Lloyd had been about to continue before shutting his mouth abruptly, flushing as he realised how long he had gone on for and apologising for running her ear off. She'd told him that she didn't mind listening to him - there was something soothing about it, really, listening to his voice and watching his excited mannerisms.

"You remember?" Lloyd craned his neck so that he was facing her. There was something in the depths of those eyes that stared back at her. Something which, for the past two years, she would spot occasionally. And yet she still couldn’t put a name to it.

Somehow, how truly close they were hadn’t registered in her mind until this very moment. If she inched forward just a little, their noses would bump.

But they’d been this close so many times before. Why was this time so different?

Or, more accurately, what had changed in the past year? Why couldn’t she be this close without something in her clicking, filling her with a warmth that was both familiar but foreign? Why were her palms starting to sweat, her heart starting to race? It felt like she was about to give a presentation to a room full of strangers.

But that wasn't the case. She was just next to Lloyd, her oldest friend and the person she trusted most in the world.

Perhaps recently she had been noticing more tiny things she hadn't before, staring at him for just a little longer than she used to - how his hair fell into his eyes on days where he didn’t bother to comb or style his hair, how there was a dimple only on the right side of his mouth, how his hair could vary in shade under different lighting, from a golden brown to dark chocolate. It even appeared red sometimes.

She felt like she was at the cusp of a discovery.

"Of - of course I remember." Colette stumbled over the words, averting her gaze up towards the night sky. "You've been working on the notes for this club for so long, and I helped you with them! So of course I'd remember."

"That's true. We did spend a lot of late nights on those." Lloyd chuckled. "Remember all the pillow fights?"

"Yeah, I do. You always let me win, you cheater," she grumbled, glad for the light-hearted change in topic to distract from her confusing feelings. "But I'm happy everything worked out and you managed to get the club set up! You've worked really hard on all this. You deserve the success."

"I couldn't have done it without you, really," Lloyd retorted, taking gentle hold of her wrist. "And I know I've thanked you already, but let me just say it again. Thank you. In return, I'll do my best to show you as much as I can!" Lloyd pointed her arm towards a point in the sky. "There. Look closely. Do you see it now?"

She focussed on that spot, squinting in hopes that the secrets of the night sky would be revealed to her. "Oh!" Colette exclaimed. She could see it now, just barely - a faint source of light. There was a lonely little star, shining as brightly as it could, just enough to be noticeable but going unseen by the unobservant eye.

"You got it!" Lloyd cheered, beginning to slowly guide her hand to trace out a shape - that familiar pan shape he’d drawn for her so many times. His fingers, wrapped around her wrist, were so warm... "Now do you see the Big Dipper?"

"You're right," she said in amazement. The pattern had been there all along. How many more were waiting to be found, causing the sky to come to life before her very eyes?

"There are so many beautiful constellations to find in the sky." Lloyd grinned. Dimly lit by the gentle light of the night sky, far from the harsh fluorescent lights of the classroom and the often blinding rays of the sun, his features seemed softer than ever, and she had the urge to just... reach out and touch his face. Splay her fingers on his cheek, rest her forehead against his, let the strands of his hair fall through her fingers…

"Yeah..." She glanced back up at the night sky. She could spot the Little Dipper now, glimmering. Already, she was discovering new things.

When she glanced back, Lloyd was staring at her with a wistful expression, the arm not holding hers held stiffly against his side, like he was aching to reach out but was holding himself back.

The moment was gone, as quickly as it had come, and Lloyd's face once again sported a happy smile, like nothing of significance had happened. Perhaps she had imagined the whole thing. But in just a few seconds, the entire centre of her world had shifted, throwing her irreversibly off balance.

Her chest felt constricted, like she couldn't breathe properly, that strange sensation back in her heart again.

But it would be a lie to say she hadn’t figured out what it was. She had fallen into the unfamiliar pit of love, just as she had always wanted. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she had fallen a long time ago, but had only just realised she wasn’t standing on solid ground any longer.

She had found The One. Finally.

So why... Why had nothing changed at all?

It was no longer possible to convince herself that she could be just like everyone else. Not when she was acutely aware of how stupidly immature she was compared to everyone else, always cringing away from the thought of sex. Whether it be skipping raunchy scenes in books or shows, avoiding popular pop songs with explicit lyrics, or promptly deciding to stop listening whenever her classmates decided it was a good time to talk about it. She couldn't rid herself of nausea that would roil in her stomach. But... that was wrong, wasn't it?

If she loved someone, she was supposed to desire them. That's what happened in all the stories - people fell in love, and then they happily had sex with each other. It was everywhere. In every book, in every show. Even the terrible sex-ed lessons had parroted that a happy relationship was one with healthy amounts of sex. Everyone was going to have sex at some point once they got into a relationship, to want to have it and to eagerly give it. But she didn't. She had never felt the same way. And that was her truth, the one that went unregarded by others.

Or maybe her truth was that she was just broken. That something had shattered inside of her a long time ago, and now she couldn't be put back together, couldn't feel what she was supposed to, what others did. And she didn't know what to do about it.

No matter how much she hated the idea of sex, someday she’d have to force herself to go through with it. After all, it was a requisite for a relationship. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be worthy of love, and she didn’t love her partner enough. She owed it to whoever her partner was, even if one day it ended up being Lloyd. This was her fault, after all. No one else was broken in the same way as her.

It would just be like… forcing herself to eat her vegetables when she was younger, wincing over the yucky taste until she got used to it. Nothing more. Easy.

Maybe then she’d finally get it.

Maybe then everything would magically fix itself.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes which she willed to disappear. She felt like the stars above. Shining alone, so far away from any other companion, looking down upon a world that was too far away to understand. All alone. Always all alone.

"Too bad we can't see more here in the city. One day, I promise, we'll see the real starry sky together! The galaxies, the planets, the suns... All of it. It'll be amazing," Lloyd continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil. Because even he could not read her mind.

Colette folded her hands over her stomach, closing her eyes. The enormity of the emotion beating in her heart absolutely terrified her, as did the thought of the future and what awaited her. Could she ever act on these feelings? Would she ever be deserving of acting on them, inadequate as she was? Did she even really love him?

There was no use in agonising over these thoughts, for no answers would ever be found.

"I'd like that," she whispered, squeezing his hand. She was more than willing to just enjoy his company for now. Her dearest friend.

“I’ll show you the rest of the stars that are visible today! Then we can look into the telescope and see the nebula. I’ve already pointed it in the right direction! You won’t want to miss it, it’s incredible! Over there is…”

So long as she could remain with him, everything would be alright.

~~~

“Bye, Lloyd!” Ella said, waving as she sprinted out of the club room. “Have a safe trip home!”

“You too!” he called out after her, as loud as he could without waking up Colette. Her head was resting on his lap, the hair she had freed from her ponytail forming a golden sea that swallowed his legs. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around the huge penguin plush that acted as the club’s unofficial mascot. He couldn’t for the life of him recall where it’d come from.

How did he always end up being Colette’s pillow? Not that he was complaining…

Lloyd ran a gentle hand through Colette’s hair, making sure not to awaken her. Mom would take another 20 minutes to arrive at the drop-off point, so he might as well let Colette continue to sleep. After all, he still had to clean up and lock up the room. At least Colette had helped him with most of it.

He moved his hand rhythmically, watching her minute facial movements. What dream was she having right now? Was it a happy one? He hoped it was. He wanted nothing more than to see a truly happy smile on her face every day, and that was the root of the feelings that had built up over years.

In the ensuing silence, he couldn’t help but think back.

What had happened while he was showing her the stars? There had been a period of time when she had seemed to withdraw into herself, becoming far quieter than she usually was. Almost contemplative. Even a little sad.

She had been back to normal afterwards, cheerful with her large smiles and bright laughter. He didn’t know how to question her about it, didn’t know how to even start the conversation. He wanted to find out, so he could help, in any way he could.

But… No matter how much he hated it, he could only wait. After all, if whatever was weighing on her was simple, she would have told him already. He could only hope she’d be able to tell him about what was troubling her, someday.

And he would wait. For as long as needed…

~~~

26-years-old

Lloyd set the rental car in reverse, slowly backing it up into the empty lot in the mostly deserted car park, the wheels crunching against gravel. Turning off the engine, he pulled the keys out of the ignition and stuffed them into the pocket of his jeans. Glancing over at the seat next to him revealed that Colette was peacefully asleep, head lolling onto her shoulder. Somehow, the abrupt bump in the road some ten minutes ago hadn't woken her up.

This was their second day in Melbourne to celebrate their honeymoon. Dad and Mom had come here for their honeymoon too, but maybe some things become a tradition for a reason. He and Colette had followed a strict itinerary, taking some advice from his parents when planning where to go. They had visited the fisheries for lunch yesterday, where Colette had sung the praises of the fish fillet, absolutely delighted at its freshness, which could never be experienced at home. Following which, they had driven to Phillip island to catch the nightly penguin parade, Colette cooing over all the little penguins waddling home. It was a cute sight - both the penguins and Colette.

It was the middle of winter, the temperature just shy of needing actual winter gear but cold enough that they were both wearing turtlenecks, not accustomed to the winter winds. A bit of a shame, actually. He would have loved to witness the adorable sight of Colette in a beanie that covered her ears, cheeks flushed from the cold and fingers housed in fluffy gloves. But alas, that sight would only remain in his imagination until they travelled to a country with much colder weather.

The car journey had been silent, Colette alternating between staring at the rare car that passed them on the narrow dirt roads, or doodling on her phone with a stylus, occasionally letting out a tiny giggle. As they had agreed upon, she had stopped looking out of the window for the last leg of their journey, which was close to a whole hour. At some point she had stopped making conversation with him, soft snores replacing the sound of her voice as the quiet night and hours of travelling had finally taken their toll.

He reached out a hand to hover over her shoulder, hesitating. He didn’t want to disrupt her rest, but she wouldn’t be seeing anything if she didn’t wake up, and that would render all his effort to transport the two of them into the remote meaningless. He had no choice.

“Colette.” He called her name softly, gently shaking her shoulder until she let out a tiny sigh. Her eyes fluttered open, still filled with sleepiness.

“We’re here. It’s time to get out of the car,” he said, grabbing hold of the strands of her hair that had fallen into her face during her sleep and tucking them behind her ear.

“Oh. Thanks for waking me up.” Colette yawned, covering her mouth with her hand as she stretched, trying to shake the sleep out of her system. “I need to cover my eyes while I get out, right?” she said, covering her eyes with her palms and giggling, doing exactly as they’d discussed without question. “I can’t look until you say so! Can’t spoil the surprise now, right?”

“Perfect! I’ll help you out of the car. Wait there.”

Lloyd stepped out of the car, shutting the door and running over to her side. He opened the passenger-side door, grabbing hold of her bent arms.

"Carefully now," he muttered, slowly helping Colette out of the car and steadying her when she stumbled slightly onto the gravel. Taking a stronger hold around her arm, he began to guide her across the carpark towards a small hill, walking backwards and taking the occasional peek behind his shoulder to get a gauge for where he was going. With each step they took, the loose bits of gravel under their feet were kicked aside.

The grassy hill was a little harder to go up backwards, but he persevered. The grass was wet with dew, starting to wet the hem of his jeans as they brushed the skin of his ankles. Colette was completely silent, seemingly holding her breath in anticipation of the big reveal.

The trip out here had been exceedingly long, for this place truly was off the beaten path. He could count the number of people here with the fingers on one hand. But he could certainly say the trip had been worth it. Just sneaking a peek upwards was enough to make up for everything. This place really lived up to all the praise it had been given online.

Making sure they had a wonderful view of the sky, Lloyd came to a stop, turning Colette by the shoulders so she was facing the right direction. "You can look now," he whispered into her ear, tapping her shoulder and stepping back.

Colette uncovered her eyes and let out an audible gasp, transfixed by the night sky. They were far from civilization, so distant that there were no artificial lights to interfere with the natural dance of the stars. Laid out above them were millions of stars, clustered together and twinkling in unity. Swirls of pink and purple denoted the galaxies, resembling little bits of cotton candy painted onto the black canvas of the sky, interspersed with tiny dots that represented planets. The entire universe was spread out before their eyes to witness, splendid and magnificent.

He watched as she raised an arm, tracing the skies slowly. It almost seemed like her index finger was trailing stardust. He wouldn't be surprised if she actually was, since she was already pure magic in every other way.

She turned to face him, the starlight reflecting in her wide eyes and off the ring on her left hand, painting her as a more beautiful sight than even the gorgeous skies above him.

"You remembered!" she exclaimed, running over to throw her arms around him, knocking him back slightly as she smiled up at him. Thankfully, they were nowhere near the edge of the incline, or they would have gone tumbling down a long way. This close, he was even more reminded of her untouchable beauty: her shimmering blue eyes were breathtaking. "You kept your promise."

Colette moved her arms so they were wrapped behind his neck. She was practically hanging off of him; his gaze focussed on her smiling face.

"Well, I wanted to see it too." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to press a kiss on her forehead. "And I always do my best to keep my promises."

I promised that I would never leave you, and I will keep that promise. No matter what.

“They’re all together now. They’re not alone anymore,” Colette said, "Thank you." She rested her head against his shoulder, his hands automatically shifting to her back, holding her close. "I love you."

She said those words so easily now, without the hesitance that had bogged her down at the beginning. He knew not all of her fears and insecurities were gone - maybe they never would be, and all they could do was reassure each other. There were the terrible nights where she would sob next to him and admit she felt like a fraud for being unable to give him sexual intimacy, crying that she wasn't enough and that he deserved so much more. All he could do was hold her in his arms and whisper into her hair that it was alright, that he loved her, that he didn’t care. But as time went on, those nights became less frequent, until they were few and far between. Besides, she did give him pieces of that intimacy, whenever she could - the gift he cherished, for it truly meant the world coming from her.

"I love you too. Picture?" he offered, holding up his phone. He wanted to create a physical memory of this magical moment, one that they could preserve forever.

Besides, if his parents didn’t get a photo, they would probably murder him. Mom, at least. So would Sheena, with Zelos’ snickering as an accompaniment to the crime. He wouldn’t live to see another day once he got back home.

"Of course," she replied. And he hoped the picture would be able to capture her bright smile, that which was most precious to him.

~~~

The picture they took would become a cherished memento, to be displayed on their nightstand forever - Colette pressing a kiss to his cheek, even as she gave him bunny ears, both of their faces lit up with large smiles.

~~~

Next chapter

#fanfiction #tales of symphonia #multi chapter #colloyd #colloydweek2021 #day 4: stargazing #colette brunel #lloyd irving

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losfelizanonymous · 3 years

Text

February Festivities

In another lapse of judgment, I waited too long to get this post out. That’s what I get for spreading myself too thin at school and with this new internship writing for a late night talk show. I’m glad all of this was worth it for me! But now some Netflix show has come and taken the entire premise of my project and made it into their own show? So much for that idea. Whatever. I called you all my dear readers first.

When we left off, the tech gremlins’ prank war was in full swing. If only we could go back to the simpler times of 3 weeks ago. @askcamjones and @askbradnewton retaliated to @asktechiezeke and @askauwillie ‘s original attack and during the next battle in the war, Zeke managed to fall through the stage in the auditorium and mess up his shoulder pretty bad. Unfortunately this was not the first time he’s damaged that particular shoulder and he had surgery last week to fix it. Hope you’re doing better, Zeke. Remember for next time: keep your nose and toes pointed in the same direction as you run. Didn’t think I would have to be sharing my mom’s advice to 4 year olds with a bunch of high schoolers but here we are.

Next up, I would like to say happy birthday to some of Los Feliz’s favorite faces. @askaualexmercer, @askaujuliemolina, and @askaukayla, I hope you all had good birthdays. Alex’s birthday provided entertainment for the everyone. The entire student body watched as Alex Mercer was paraded out of school on the back of two himbos ( @askaulukepatterson and @askaubobbywilson). Julie, I’m sorry your birthday falls on the worst holiday of the year but knowing that we could celebrate you instead made it more bearable. Kayla, I know you had a great time because there ain’t no party like a Wilson House party. Thanks for the free food!

Speaking of a Wilson House party, someone thought it would be a good idea to put all the Wilsons under one roof for an evening. The guest list included all of the women that we know of who have had children with Trevor Wilson and if that doesn’t give you a hint at how the night went, you do not know the Wilsons. The evening started with Trevor proposing to Anastasia for the second time (here’s hoping this time the marriage lasts) and ended with 2 of the children pouring wine on the heads of Anastasia and Ella before running out to meet the rest of the kids outside. Needless to say, the night was a train wreck.

In school related news: the Valentines Day Dance went off without a hitch! Thanks to spectacular planning by our very own @aucarriewilson and Kayla Caro, the dance was a hit! We even got a surprise performance by Dirty Candy! It was amazing to see you all perform again! Unfortunately I don’t think a few of your classmates got to see you perform because several couples were seen leaving the dance early. Make smart choices, kids.

Finally, it has come to my attention that many of the people I write about have this blog blocked. That’s not going to stop me from writing about everyone. I hope you all know that. And with that, my dear readers, I believe we are caught up on the major public (and some private) events of the students of Los Feliz High. As always, thank you for reading and stay tuned. ¡Adiós!

#jatp multiverse #los feliz anonymous

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shyvioletcat · 4 years

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23. “Just pretend to be my date.” elorcan light the sparks

I’m getting really excited about this au, just FYI...

Masterlist

~~~~~

“All I’m saying, Lorcan,” Fenrys said around a mouthful of his sandwich, “Is that you should have some fun.”

“I don’t need your opinion, Moonbeam,” Lorcan bit back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“When was the last time you went on a date? Or even just, you know,” Fenrys asked after swallowing his sandwich then waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“What if I don’t want to date?” Lorcan countered.

Now Vaughan lent forward, brows high. “Is that true? Don’t lie to us.”

Great now they were ganging up in him. Lorcan stayed silent, but that was answer enough for them it seemed.

“Come out with us tonight then,” Fenrys said. “See what we can find.”

Lorcan just rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to see what he could find, he knew what he wanted. He just didnt know how to get it.

“We’ll all go!” Vaughan suggested eagerly.

Rowan scoffed from where he sat. “No thank you.”

“Wedding planning, is it?” Fenrys said.

“As a matter of fact yes,” Rowan admitted, but didn’t seem disappointed by the fact.

“Already on a tight leash then. Such a good dog,” Lorcan muttered.

“There’s no leash,” Fenrys chimed in. “The lucky bastard is just in love.”

Rowan grinned. “Exactly.”

“Rowan’s out, but everyone else is in, no buts,” Fenrys declared fixing Lorcan with a stare that told him he would not give up until he agreed to come.

“Fine,” Lorcan growled.

~~~~~

They had ended up in a bar on the nicer side of town. The place was brighter, smelled cleaner, than some of the other places they frequented. Drinks were a little more expensive but they tasted better too.

The night was turning out as miserable as Lorcan felt, the skies were letting out a downpour. So much so the steady stream of rain could just be heard over the music and the voices. Well, from where Lorcan was sitting at by bar. By the door. It wasn’t even late yet but lorcan as considering leaving, they’d come here as soon as their shift had finished and they’d been here for a while. Fenrys, Connall and Vaughan had all gone chasing after one drink, and that was when Gavriel had excused himself, claiming he was too old for such pursuits. He was probably right.

So that left Lorcan to mope at the bar by himself, pointedly ignoring anyone who looked his way. He’d been nursing the same drink the whole time, no desire to lose himself in alcohol tonight. 10 more minutes and then he’d go, Lorcan decided.

There was a burst of noise from the door as it opened. The rain must be pelting down outside. The emergence of a soaking wet figure confirmed his suspicions. It was a woman, most likely ducking in here to escape the weather. It took him a second to recognise the small figure and dark hair, but when she turned Lorcan looked away quickly.

It was Elide.

He didn’t know what to do, whether or not he should call her over. He took a glance around the bar, all his friends were occupied. But then his eyes connected with someone else, someone who was vaguely familiar. She was pretty with red hair, and she smiled at him when she caught him looking. She was one of the girls from that night they’d gone out for Vaughan’s birthday. One of the girls Aelin had lied to. She was part of the reason he hadn’t dated in a while, the redhead and her friend seemed to know everyone and spread the false information around.

But the way she was looking at him, the way she smiled as she began to stalk over to him, she either forgotten or didn’t care. Lorcan looked away, hoping that she would take the hint. He chanced another glance at Elide and it seemed she had spotted him too, because she gave him a smile and flicked her wet hair over her shoulder and started walking towards him as well.

And here he was. Caught in the middle. What cruel twist of fate was this?

He hoped Elide would reach him first, leaving the redhead to take the hint and leave. But given her behaviour with Rowan the last time, he wasn’t too hopeful in that regard. He’d been all too eager to chase her that night, but once was enough when it came to dealing with her vapid personality.

Elide did reach him first, soaked to the bone but still smiling. “Fancy meeting you here,” she said as she occupied the empty stool beside him.

Lorcan glanced over his shoulder and Elide followed his gaze. As he had suspected the redhead hadn’t given up her pursuit. Elide didn’t baulk though, she just asked, “Not a friend, I assume?”

Lorcan shook his head, “No.”

Elide gave him a smile he couldn’t read, then she put her hand palm up on the bar counter and wriggled her fingers. Then she whispered, “Just pretend to be my date.”

~~~~~

Elide thought she had sent Lorcan into shock from the look on his face. It took him only half a moment to comply though, and more gently than she expected he took her hand. She gave him a smile that she had seen Aelin give Rowan a hundred times, and he returned it with what could only be described as a grimace. That had Elide had laughing, louder and more obnoxiously that she would normally but the non-friend redhead had reached them and it was time for a show.

“Hey, handsome,” she said, ignoring Elide completely.

Elide moved their entwined hands to draw her attention to them and she saw the redhead’s eyes narrow.

“This new? I don’t remember you being attached last time we met,” she said with a disarmingly pretty smile and a tilt of her head.

“Very new,” Lorcan said, as he gave Elide a sideways glance. No doubt meant to be endearing, but he just looked awkward.

Elide held in her sigh, she needed to get this over with before Lorcan blew their cover with his tactlessness.

“If you don’t mind, we’re in the middle of something,” Elide lent her chin on Lorcan’s bicep. Good gods, he was solid muscle.

The redhead’s eyes flashed with a flicker of anger, she’d lost and she wasn’t happy about it.

“Just some advice,” she said, a look of triumph on her face replacing the anger. “You might want to make sure he gets checked before take it all the way.” Then she gave a pointed look at Lorcan’s crotch and his face went a deep shade shade of red.

Elide watched her walk away, brows high and a slightly incredulous look on her face as she sorted through exactly what the slighted woman had implied. Lorcan dropped her hand as the redhead disappeared from sight. That made Elide look at him.

“What —“

“Nothing,” Lorcan said and took a sip of his drink.

“As your girlfriend a think I’m entitled to know,” Elide said, failing to stop her amused smile.

“It’s not true,” Lorcan said.

Elide elbow on the bar. “What, pray tell exactly, isn’t true?”

Lorcan turned towards her, not returning her smile which only made Elide smile more.

“We were out for Vaughan’s birthday a few months ago. Her and her friend joined us. They were pretty keen on Rowan and when Aelin came to pick him up she got angry. I called her a bitch, she told them I had herpes.”

Elide tipped her head back and cackled. Then asked through her laughter, “What?”

“She told them I was her ex and that I’d given them to her. I swear it’s not true,” Lorcan said so earnestly Elide almost felt sorry for him.

“Well,” Elide said but started laughing again. Lorcan’s lips twitched up in a ghost of a smile, then he turned to her.

“What has you stumbling in here soaking wet?”

Elide had been so distracted by the recent events she had almost forgotten about her sodden state. “I was heading for the bus top to get home and the rain came out of no where, this was the first place I could find that was open. Did you know there are practically no awnings along this entire street?”

“I did not,” Lorcan added. Then there were a few beats of awkward silence before he said. “Do you want a ride home?”

The offer came as a surprise and Elide sat up a little straighter.

“I don’t want to ruin your night by ending it early, I can just wait the rain out,” Elide said, now feeling a little awkward herself.

“I was about to leave anyway,” then when he saw her questioning look he added, “truly.”

Elide thought for a moment, the rain was coming down pretty heavily and the streets were getting slick. She really didn’t live that far.

“Yeah, okay. That would be great.”

~~~~~

You’ll find the incident Lorcan is referring to in the Drabbles section of the Striking Matches masterlist under drunk Rowan says the wrong thing.

Tags:

@fucking-winchester-trash // @literary-licorice // @galyxsy // @tangledraysofsunshine // @highqueenofelfhame // @3am-reading // @soup-that-is-too-hawt // @aelinfire-bringer // @nalgenewhore // @highladyofthesith // @http-itsrebecca // @sleep-and-books // @average-girl-at-best // @alifletcher2012 // @westofmoon // @sleeping-and-books // @ttakeitbacknoww // @armixers-unite // @mariamuses // @chocolate-eating-bitch-queen // @velarian-trash // @queenofxhearts // @princess-galathynius // @heroesofterrasen // @ladyofstoriesandmusic // @empire-of-wildfire // @camerooonchiu // @crackedship // @lowhangingtreebranches // @over300books // @yourwhisperingshadows // @thesirenwashere // @tswaney17 // @impossiblescissorspeachpaper // @cat5313 // @judelovescardan // @flowerspringsea // @chaoticskyy // @the-regal-warrior // @fanfictrash3000 // @blueeyes425 // @starseternalnighttriumphant // @bamchickawowow // @thehuntressofmoon // @giorgia-the-trashpanda // @flora-and-fae // @thereaderandfangirl // @illyrian-bookworm // @lovemollywho // @someonemagical // @ella-enchanted27 // @littlehoneyybee // @artic-rowan // @acer6437 // @ariadneswake // @exersize-me-i-dare-u // @clockworkgraystairs // @chemicha // @wifeofchrishemsworth // @meltalgel-ig // @gay-book-nerd

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 4 years

Text

Blue Eyes Part 28

Summary: After the Garrison is shot up, the youngest Shelby daughter finds a new home in London. She strips herself of her last name and tries to live a peaceful life far away from her brothers’ chaos in Birmingham. But fate leads her right back into it after she runs into Alfie Solomons.

Part 26: Mosley’s plan is unveiled and Tommy warns Ella and Alfie.

Ella wasn’t sure how long she waited, curled up on the grass. But she sat up eventually to decipher what was going on. She saw a figure approaching her, framed by the headlights.

“C’mon. We need you inside.” Tommy spoke steadily but urgently. He helped his sister up.

She was shaking and pressing a hand to her stomach, right over where her scar lingered. “What happened?”

“Pol shot Linda.” He answered and walked her inside.

Luckily, Linda was out cold by the time Ella came inside. “Can’t we just have one night without this shit?” She muttered under her breath. Standing in the doorway of the dining room, she watched Arthur sit beside his wife. He was shaking and almost in tears.

“Apparently not,” Tommy replied with a weary sigh.

“Did I hear a gunshot or is Swan Lake a bit more entertaining than I assumed?” Alfie came storming into Arrow House.

“It’s alright, it’s taken care of.” Ella touched his arm.

“Yeah, well, your guest of honor’s decided to take the stage, mate.” He told Tommy.

“Is he talking about the new party?” Tommy lit a cigarette.

“Fuck if I know, I didn’t want to listen to him.” Alfie crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s talking like some…fucking dictator or something. It really puts a damper on the party, but everyone else seems to agree with him.”

“I’m going to go back out.”

“I think Alfie and I are going to head home early.” Ella linked arms with her husband. “I’ve had enough of this.”

“El, it’s late. We said we’d stay at least until tomorrow morning.”

She frowned. “You want to stay?” She asked in disbelief. It had been like pulling teeth trying to get him to go to the party in the first place.

“Alfie and I have business to discuss later,” Tommy explained.

The night’s events were starting to wear on Ella. How foolish it was to think they could have a fun, festive night for Lizzie’s birthday. “That’s fantastic, I don’t care. You can discuss business during business hours. Because that’s how business works. It’s not about sneaking around in the shadows, always looking over your shoulder to see if anyone’s fucking listening or not.”

Alfie looked tired but resolved. There was no need to argue but he did need to speak to Tommy. “You can head to bed, Ella, that’s okay.”

“What are you going to talk about?” She inquired. “Can I sit in on your little chat?” Tommy and Alfie shared a look of discomfort and it was enough to set Ella off. “So, you’re both keeping secrets from me now? Of all the times, Alfie.”

“Love, it’s…” He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Well, I’m worried now!” She threw her hands up. “I’m done with this. You two have your conversations, I don’t care anymore.” She stalked off to find one of Tommy’s booze stashes.

~~~~~~~~

Tucked away in the big room, Ella pulled out a bottle of Irish Whiskey. Forgoing the glass, she drank straight from the crystal bottle. The number of people she was angry with had doubled in one night. It must’ve been a record. She didn’t appreciate her husband keeping secrets from her. Tommy, she could understand. He’d done it before and it was silly to think he wouldn’t do it again. But Alfie? It was like a kick in the gut. How many times had she told him he was the only person she trusted? The very last person left in the world that she relied on and trusted with her heart.

Stewing at her brother’s desk, she did not want to be interrupted. But nothing about the night was going as planned.

The door opened and Mosley entered as if he owned the place. Ella’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t say anything as he walked in and glanced at the bottles of liquor near the door. “You Shelbys throw quite the party.” He looked around, taking in the sights as if everything was amusing to him.

“I don’t recall welcoming you in.” She replied venomously. “This is my family’s house after all, not yours.”

“You hold a great deal of malice for me, Miss Shelby.” Mosley sat down across the desk from her, completely ignoring her jab.

“I’ve told you many times, it’s Mrs. Solomons. You can address by my married name or don’t address me at all.”

“Ah, yes your husband. Interesting man, isn’t he?” Mosley folded his hands over his lap.

Before he could continue, Ella interrupted him. She knew the games men like him played. He wanted to work her up, make her so angry that she’d let something slip. But she wasn’t about to let that happen. “My husband is my world. I would put my life on the line for him without hesitating for a second.” No matter how much it nauseated her, she kept her eyes on Mosley to make sure he took her seriously. “You will not bring harm to anyone in my family. I’ll make sure, don’t you worry yourself with how I do it. But if you ever so much as give my husband a fucking dirty look, I’ll have you rotting out in the middle of nowhere, your body riddled with fucking bullets. See that’s the thing about us gypsies, Mr. Mosley, we know the best places to bury a body. Somewhere it’ll never be found. We can throw elegant parties and play the part, but there are some things you can’t take out of us.”

The threat only seemed to amuse the man. “Do you think your husband would do the same for you? Lay his life down on the line?”

“Without a question.” Ella folded her arms over her chest. There was no doubt what Alfie would do for her.

“He’s loyal? Faithful?”

“Yes.”

Mosley pretended to be intrigued. “Then why would I have some intelligence of a young woman seen entering and leaving your husband’s place of business? At all hours may I add?” He studied her face, waiting for the reaction of disbelief or betrayal.

Instead, Ella just laughed. “Yes, Miss Davis. Is she on your payroll or are you simply using her?”

If Mosley was alarmed, he didn’t show it. “I don’t follow.”

“You can play dumb all you fucking want. But maybe next time you make sure your employee doesn’t carry around your card. Or it might end up in the wrong hands. You fucking keep her away from my husband or there’ll be hell to pay.” Ella stood up, done with the conversation. “I have no issue of doing away with her. I won’t lose sleep over it.”

“How do you know he’s being faithful to you, then?” He tried again even if his initial plan had apparently been foiled by a misplaced business card.

“Because my husband doesn’t enjoy the company of many people. There are a select few he loves deeply. Fortunately, I’m one of those people. I trust him more than I’ll ever trust anyone ever again. But I appreciate your attempt to drive a wedge between us. I wonder what Tommy will think of that.” She went to leave.

Mosley stood up suddenly and grabbed Ella’s wrist. He pulled her close. Anger began to seep through his expression for the first time that night. His true colors began to show. “I would urge you to reconsider your alliances.”

“Put your fucking hands on me again and I’ll have my husband remove them.” She spat and ripped her arm away from him. On her way out of the big room, she ran into her brother.

Tommy looked confused. “El…”

“Don’t you dare fucking speak to me.” She replied harshly and pushed past him.

“Your sister has quite the mouth, Mr. Shelby. Not very becoming of a lady.” Mosley regained his composure and sat down again.

“I don’t think she considers herself a lady,” Tommy replied and went to pour them both drinks. He looked for the Irish whiskey and was puzzled to find it already on his desk, the top opened. “Just a woman. She’s never one for social standing. I think she’s content with what she has now.”

“And are you content with that? Your family is an extension of yourself, after all. If you have unruly family members, your reputation is severely threatened.”

“She likes to stay out of the family business so that wouldn’t be an issue for me. She’s not a face of the company.”

“That doesn’t matter in the public arena. It’s best to squash a problem before it becomes too much to handle. Now, what I propose, and I suggest you take this advice, you would have her married off to someone of significant standing. It would boost your appeal and perhaps tame her at the same time.”

Tommy’s brow furrowed. “She’s married.”

“Ah, yes, the Jew.” Mosley swirled the whiskey around in the crystal tumbler. “Well, after you’ve heard me speak, I think it should be common knowledge that you won’t be able to have a Jew as your lawyer let alone your brother-in-law.”

Tommy’s blood went cold. He paused for a moment before speaking. “It sounds like you want me to break up my sister and Alfie.”

“I’ve already attempted to do so. But your sister proves to be more stubborn than I anticipated. It was foolish of me if she’s anything like you then she’s as stubborn as a mule.”

He swallowed and his eyes went to the door that his sister had just left. Tommy was sure that if she heard any of this conversation, she would have a go at the both of them. Guns would probably be drawn. “She would never leave him and vice versa. I’m not sure what else you would suggest.” Play the part, he had to play the part. Any slip would give his intentions away.

“Get rid of him or I’ll do it for you,” Mosley replied coolly. As if murder was no skin off his back. “I know you have a reputation for making people disappear. He could prove a challenge but I trust your expertise.” Then, like it was just a bullet point on his business list or things to do, he transitioned. “Also, our friend Jimmy McCavern has asked for control of the racetracks north of Wincanton.”

Tommy was in too much of a daze to really process what Mosley was saying. He simply nodded.

“And Shelby, drink less.” Mosley left his whiskey on the desk and took his leave.

Bothered by everything that happened that night, Tommy reached over and took a long drink of the whiskey that Ella had left out.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“The nerve of that man. And the fact that Tommy’s even listening to him! That he’s fucking entertaining him!”

Alfie was tired of not only the night but the whole affair. He almost wished that he’d gone home earlier when Ella requested. “I don’t have any answers, love, I’m sorry.”

“The fact that he was trying to frame you. For cheating?” She scoffed. “Honestly!”

“C’mere,” He was proud that Ella trusted him. The thought of being unfaithful never crossed his mind even at their lowest point in the relationship. It was laughable, in fact.

Pouting, Ella walked over to him sitting on the bed. “I don’t want to deal with this anymore.”

“We don’t have to.” Alfie rested his hands on her hips. “I’ll talk to Tommy.”

Ella touched her forehead to his, her eyes closing. She felt like she needed to scrub away Mosley. Scrub away the looks he gave her and the way he grabbed her wrist. It made her feel grimy and unclean. “Alfie…”

“Yes, love?”

She shook her head. What was there to say? The world was crumbling to bits. She didn’t know which way was up anymore. The only constant was him. All she could do was draw his lips to hers and sink into a kiss. After everything, at least that was comforting and normal.

But it wasn’t long before there was a sharp knock at the door. Alfie drew away even though Ella tried to get him to ignore it.

“It’s probably your brother.” He explained and picked her up to set her on the bed beside him so he could stand up.

Ella crossed her arms over her chest, not in the mood to speak with Tommy at least for another week if she was lucky. But she wasn’t.

“Tommy, you’ve got more to talk about?” Alfie asked.

“Can I come in?”

“No.” Ella asserted from the bed.

“I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.” He replied.

Alfie stood back, letting the man into the room. “What is it?”

“I’ve just spoken to Mosley.” Tommy shut the door behind him, worried that the man could have ears anywhere even in his own goddamn house. It was wise not to take chances.

“That’s not news,” Ella muttered.

“The fascists have a very strong belief when it comes to…”

“Jews.” Alfie nodded gruffly. “I’m well aware.”

Ella’s eyes widened. “What the fuck are you talking about?” She knew Mosley had questioned her husband’s faith before but she thought it was because he was a special breed of asshole. She didn’t think the entire emerging party felt the same way.

“Should’ve heard him out in the tent, love,” Alfie said sarcastically. “Talks about putting the blame for everything on us Jewish rats. Innit that right, Tommy?”

Ella looked incredulous. “Thomas!” She snapped loudly.

Tommy looked at his wits end. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m going to handle it.” He told her. “The message dies with him. It dies with him, okay?”

“Well, we’re all waiting for your big plan! You know the one where you supposedly kill him? You’ve been talking about it for months but that fucker is still alive and walking around!”

Alfie leaned up against the armoire. He looked grim but didn’t seem to hold the same anger for Tommy as Ella did.

“Alfie, say something!” She urged.

“He’s gotten closer to the man than anyone else has. If anyone has a shot at defeating this party then…” He met his wife’s look of disbelief. “Well, fuck, I know that he’s mental, Ella, we both know that! But sometimes it takes crazy to beat crazy!”

“Exactly my point.” Tommy lit up a cigarette. It didn't matter if he was called crazy. As long as he was given the leeway to carry out his plan. In fact, he was banking on crazy to see it through. “There’s someone, once we get him, this will all be over within a week or two.”

Ella’s eyes narrowed at him. “Who?”

“An old friend.”

“Who?!” She wasn’t about to let him run around her with secrets.

“A member of the 107th. Best sniper I've ever known. He’s locked up in an asylum right now but once we break him loose, we…”

“An asylum?” Ella threw her hands up and wondered if she had been caught in a nightmare. “A fucking asylum, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What’s your plan?” Alfie asked.

“Oh my God. Alfie, please don’t entertain him, he’s probably all doped up!”

“Hey! You wanted a plan; I’m trying my best to get everyone out of this!” Tommy’s defenses went up when she mentioned his drug use.

“I wanted a plan, not a crapshoot!” Ella stood up from the bed and took a few threatening steps toward her brother.

“Hey, hey, c’mon now.” Alfie got between them before their showdown attracted the entire house’s attention and woke Linda from her sedated state.

“At a rally, I’ll have a bullet put through his fucking head. That’s the best chance we’ve got.” He continued. “If you’ve got a better idea, I’d love to hear it.”

“What about our safety?”

Tommy’s face fell a little. “I think it would be best if you and Alfie made yourself scarce until I’ve sorted everything.”

Alfie frowned. “That wasn’t what we spoke about.”

“I know. But what he said to me tonight…I’m very concerned about the safety of both of you.” His voice quieted.

Ella was breathing heavily, anger built up so much that it was spilling over. “What did he say? Verbatim, Tom. I want to know what he said, word for word.” She hissed through gritted teeth.

Tommy took a deep breath. Either way, he would incur the wrath of his sister so he decided to at least be truthful. “He said I needed to deal with Alfie or he would do it for me.”

“Deal with him. Like kill him? That man is going to kill my husband?” She pushed away from Alfie and went to get her gun tucked away in her purse.

“El, Ella!” Alfie grabbed her before she got the chance to load her pistol. “No, no, no, put that down right now.” He wrenched the gun away from her shaking hands.

“I’m going to fucking kill him; I swear to God.”

“No, you’re not,” Tommy replied firmly. “We’re doing it my way because it’s the only way this family makes it out unscathed. Nothing is traced back to us, we smother the message. That’s how we’re going to do it.” He spoke firmly.

Alfie wrapped his arms around Ella who was shaking so badly she could hardly stand up straight, even her vision was blurred with rage. “Are you happy with yourself?” She questioned fiercely. Huh? Are you fucking happy?!”

“Ella…”

“What do we do, Tom?” Alfie tried to keep the siblings from escalating even more. He had to keep a level head. Yes, there was a man not too far away that wanted him dead just because of his religion. But if that man was murdered in Arrow House, the Shelbys’ lives would be on full display to the public. It could land them all in prison, or maybe on a trip to the gallows. It would be difficult for Tommy to wrangle everyone out of a situation like that.

“We have allies in Wales. The Youngs and Lees. The further west you are might be best. I’d keep you away from the north and away from London.” Tommy’s voice evened out again.

“They found the Golds. We’re not safe out there.” Ella argued.

“They won’t know you’ve gone out that way. I’ll send them information saying you’ve traveled east.”

Ella looked indignant. Alfie looked disturbed. “I ain’t leaving my business alone.”

“We’ll be able to take care of everything for you.”

“No, no, that’s not happening, mate.” Alfie shook his head. “I’ll be running business as usual, I ain’t afraid of some fucking fascist. And I certainly ain’t gonna go live out in the middle of fucking nowhere in a caravan.”

“He intends to kill you, Alfie.” Tommy reminded him as if the man misheard him.

“Yeah, lotsa men have intended on killing me. Guess where they are now? Rotting at the bottom of the canal.”

Tommy finished his cigarette and sighed deeply. “I suppose I can’t force you to do anything. But I would warn against staying in London.”

“Yeah, well, fuck your warning. Not running off to Wales with me tails between me legs.”

Ella’s stomach flipped and she ripped away from Alfie’s arms to rush to the bathroom. She became physically ill, the anxiety overwhelming her senses. They were all fucked.

Tommy locked up Ella’s gun for the night and advised Alfie to keep an eye on her. Mosley would walk out of Arrow House alive. But his days were numbered.

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my-fan-side · 4 years

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No.41 Having Little One wear their first formal wear. #Nessian

From this Prompt List: https://50-item-writing-prompts.tumblr.com/

Having Parties and Balls are not uncommon in the Night Court, especially in Velaris. Almost every Solstice and Equinox are celebrated with one, of course, among other Traditional festivities that the court was observing. Tonight, they will be celebrating the Winter Solstice and the High Lady of the Night’s Birthday. Nesta was setting up her little girl’s dress in the bed, as Cassian comes out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around their little warrior squirming in his arms. Their little three-year-old Illyrian daughter, Adella, with the dark wavy hair she got from her father and the grey-blue stormy eyes from her mother, was so full of energy despite being woken up from her afternoon nap. It was a fun filled morning for all the kids, building a snowman, making angel wings, and having a snow ball fight with her cousins. She’s so excited because she knows she’ll be wearing a beautiful gown for the party, just like the ones the princesses wears on the stories her mother read to her.

“Alright love, settle down. Mama will dress you up on the princess gown now.” Cassian settled her daughter down by chair in front of the vanity table so Nesta can take over dressing her up. He kissed his child on her temple, while trying to wipe the towel over her body to dry her.

“Give her to me. Go and get ready yourself.” Nesta approached the father and daughter and took the towel from Cassian and set it aside, then took her daughter by the bed. Cassian can’t seem to take the smile off of his face from being amused to her daughter’s giggling and excitement. He then takes a good look at her mate, running her eyes across her body from head to toe. She’s still wearing a white bathrobe, but her hair is already fixed in her usual braided crown, and she already have a makeup on, not much, just that of what she usually wears.

“Well, not that I’m complaining, but you seem to be a little underdressed sweetheart.” Cassian smirks at his mate, wrapped her arms around her from behind as he nozzles on the side of her neck.

Nesta rolled her eyes and push her mate teasingly. “I’ll put my dress on, once I’m done with this one.” She took a hold of her daughter’s face, squeeze it gently and give her an eskimo kiss, which made the little girl snicker more. “It’s not going to take much time getting it on, we’ll both be ready when you’re done.”

“Okay, okay. I won’t take long.” Cassian said as he backed away slowly towards the bathroom.

“Right….! With your hair care ritual, we’ll probably be late to the party.” Nesta snorted.

“Ugh, you wound we sweetheart!” Cassian yelled humorously behind their bathroom door.

---

Adella is now dressed in her crimson red sleeveless ball gown, it has a bow at the waist level in the back. It is a V-cut backless, to give way to her growing wings. The dress is simple in style but the embroidered lace with sparkling glitters on the fabric made it look magical. Thus, with the matching red crown that now adorned her hair, that is braided just like her mothers’, the little girl twirls around her parent’s room feeling like a princess.

Meanwhile, Nesta watched her daughter adoringly and full of love through the vanity mirror as she put on her earrings.

“Papa! Papa! Look at me! Ella ish a Pwincess!” Adella run towards her father who is entering the room hiding something behind his back. Cassian looks so prim in proper with his black suit paired with a silk button down shirt in red, it seamlessly matches the color of Nesta and Adella’s attire.

“Maybe. But I think there’s one more thing that you need to become a real princess? Hmmm?” Adella look at her father confusedly. Not sure if she should be mad because he doesn’t agree that she is a princess. Or curious, on what does she still need to be one?

“And whash that, Papa?” In the end it was a mix of both, she put her small hands in her waist and glares at her father who is already kneeling down in front of her so they’ll be at eye level.

That look his little girl is giving him reminds him so much of Nesta, Cassian couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Well, my love, a princess has to have a shoe to dance with, right?”

Adella’s eyes widen at this, then she raised her skirt and looked at her bare foot. She looks back up at her father again with a tilt of a head, and then suddenly run to her mother side.

“Mama! My Shoe pwease!” Raising both arms with palms up towards her mother, so sure of herself that her mother will give her what she needs.

Nesta chuckles, pick up her daughter and settle her on her hip. “And what makes you so sure I’ve got your shoes?” She teased her daughter as she rubs her nose to the other. Adella laughs at her mother’s act, then framed Nesta’s face with both of her tiny hands.

“Then where’s my shoe?” the little girl asked with a frown. She’s so serious looking it’s so adorable.

Cassian then made a coughing sound that made his two favorite girls look at him. “Well, who else my love but yours truly!” He then kneels on one knee, and bow his head as he raises the shoe box towards them.

Nesta and Adella chuckles at Cassian’s antics. Nesta then puts her little girl on the bedside as Cassian approached them. He then presents the box to his little girl who can’t seem to make herself sit still. Slowly, he took off the cover of the box revealing a glittery doll shoes that matched the color of her dress perfectly. Adella’s eyes widen in awe as she saw the shoes and shrieked in anticipation. Her hands are clapping and her wings are fluttering energetically. Nesta sits down then beside her daughter, smile still plastered on her face.

After putting her shoes, Cassian stood up and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “Perfect! Now, you’re definitely a princess!” Adella looked at her feet wiggle it once, twice. Then jumps of the bed and twirls around the room, giggling and laughing, her parents laughed with her.

“Okay, okay. Everyone’s ready? Let’s go now! We don’t want to be late to the party.” Nesta then stood up and straightened up her dress before taking her daughters hand and lead the way out of their bedroom. She’s wearing a crimson mermaid cut dress, with embroidered lace and sparkling accents design, it is exactly the same fabric used on her daughter’s dress. The cut of the dress highlights her hourglass shaped figure. It has a square cut neckline that displays her perfect collarbones and ample chest. The sleeves are sheer, glistening and long as it reaches her wrist.

But before she got of their bedroom, Cassian reaches out to her elbow, pull her to his chest, and kissed her on the lips gently. “Have I told you already how stunningly beautiful you look tonight?” He whispered to her ear, his voice deep, like he was growling. It sent shivers down Nesta’s skin that made her gasped softly. She chuckles and step back a little and look at his mate’s eyes. There was love in there, in sincerity, and a little bit of lust if she’s not mistaken.

“You did. Two or three times, I believe. Now, pull yourself together, and kindly pick up the gifts for every one please. We still got a party to attend to.” She’s still chuckling as she walks out of his reach, still holding on to their daughter’s hands as they continue to walk out of their house.

---

It was Adella’s first formal event to attend to. On the year she was born, she was just a few weeks old on winter solstice, she was carried by Nesta and is present at the party for a little while, but of course she can’t really dress up at that time, & she wouldn’t even be aware of it. Other festivities after that was celebrated but not as a Ball, not like this one. So, this year, Adella was very eager to attend the party, and her parents made sure that it will be a memorable night for her. The moment the little girl found out that on her auntie’s birthday, they would have to wear big and beautiful gowns, she keeps asking her mother about what she would wear. There was never a day since then that she fails to ask if that day is the day of the ball.

When they arrived at the Ball, almost every one was already in there. Mor was immediately on Adella’s side, gushing on how beautiful the little girl looks. Mor wouldn’t admit it, but among the three Illyrian kids in their family, Adella is her favorite. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy playing with Rhysand and Azriel’s little boys, they’re very much energetic and literally took the breath out of her when they all play Hide and Seek. But with the little girl, she can play dress and make up, and that’s more her kind of game.

“Look at you! Aww you’re so cute and pretty!” She twirls the little girl admiring her outfit, squeezed her face and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Auntie Mor! I’ve got pwincess dwess! Ella is a pwincess!” Adella’s shows off her dress to Mor with that charming grin just like his father. Mor can’t help but smile wider.

“Oh of course you are!” She gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead and look up to Nesta and Cassian, who have that same grin on her daughter. “She is sooo cute!” The little girl’s parents just laughed at their friend amusingly.

The rest of the Inner Circle pretty much did the same thing to the little girl. Well except Amren, who just says “Thank the Mother for Nesta’s genes, or she won’t be that adorable.” Cassian frowns and pouts at this while Nesta whispered to his ear “She’s got your strong wingspan and your raven hair. I love your wingspan and hair.” As she caressed his man-bun and then his talon making sure he understands what she meant. And oh he did, because that pout was wiped off of his face and was immediately replaced by a smug grin.

The night was filled with so much laughter and giggling. They all sang “Happy Birthday” for the High Lady of the Night. There were wines and vodkas for the adults, and sweet juices for the kids. Gifts were received and given. There were lots of teasing, and even reminiscing. But of course, the night wouldn’t be complete without some dancing.

---

“May I have your first dance, my princess?” Cassian made a curt bow in front of his daughter, offering his hands to her. Adella’s eyes grew wide and her mouth formed an “O” in awe.

“Yesh! Yesh! Yesh!” then she happily grabbed his father’s hand and practically dragged him on the dance floor.

Nesta adoringly look at her mate and daughter dance. They are beautiful and they are hers. And she thanks the Mother every day for bringing these two people in her life.

After a while, she caught Cassian’s eye. He stopped twirling his daughter and spread his arms towards his mate, an invite to join them at the dance floor. Nesta didn’t even hesitate. She went straight to Cassian’s arms, then he pulls up their daughter to his other arm and place her on his hips. He tugs both of them closer to him, and dance with the two female he loved most.

#Nessian #Nessian prompt #nesta archeron #cassian #nessian headcanon #nessian one shot #nessian baby #myfansidefanfic #myfansidehc

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