#i told my mom that I wasn't planning on coming home for spring break

[roosterforme]

It Won't Be Long | Rooster x Reader

Summary: How are you supposed to tell your family that you have to leave? Especially when everything still feels new and flawless and beautiful? Bradley knows it will be rough to break the news to you, but telling Everett will be so much worse.

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, angst, adult language

Length: 3600 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female single!mom Reader

This is a Batting Practice one-shot but can be read alone! Check out my masterlist for more!

"Oh, shit."

Bradley's heart sank as he read the paperwork that Maverick just handed to him. "Fuck," he groaned, fighting the urge to crumple up the pages. The sounds of conversation buzzing around him in the rec room faded to a dull noise that set his teeth on edge as he thought about how he was going to explain this to you. And even worse....how he would tell Everett. 

"Sorry, Rooster," Maverick replied, cuffing him on the shoulder, but Bradley didn't move except to shake his head a fraction of an inch. He should have known this was coming. He should have been prepared for this, but it felt like a slap in the face. You and he had only been married for less than six months, and he still felt like this was very much the honeymoon phase. How the hell was he supposed to spend a single day without you and Everett, let alone one hundred of them?

He'd been planning to take the three of you up to Disneyland for a little overnight trip during spring break. Kind of a precursor to a longer vacation to Disney World in Orlando in the summer. Well, now he'd be missing all of spring break. And he was going to miss opening day at Petco Park, too.

He vaguely registered that Maverick dismissed him early, and he heard Bob calling his name as he headed for the door. He stopped but didn't turn around as he told his future brother-in-law, "I'll call you later." He'd have to tell Bob and Molly soon, because you and Everett would need them if anything happened while Bradley was deployed, but he didn't want to talk about it with anyone until he told you himself. 

When he got home before you, it gave him plenty of time to mope while he got dinner in the oven. He decided to take a long shower, suddenly wanting nothing more than to change out of his fucking uniform. The Valentine's Day card he gave you a few days ago was still propped up on your dresser, and he sighed when he looked at the pretty flowers still blooming beautifully in the vase next to it. When he opened the card and read what he'd written, he wasn't surprised to find that he had it practically memorized after spending hours agonizing about what to say to his wife on a day dedicated to being in love.

Kitten, 

You changed my life and everything in it for the better last spring, and not a minute goes by that I'm not thinking about you. I hope you'll let me love you every Valentine's Day for the rest of my life. I hope you'll love me back for all of them. I'm so happy you're my wife.

Love,

Bradley

P.S.- How do you feel about wearing your collar, leash and your bodysuit tonight?

He set the card down again with a soft groan and stripped out of his uniform. The shower felt amazing, and he treated himself to your expensive body wash before he rinsed himself off. When he put on his sweatpants and started looking for a tee shirt, everything in his drawer seemed to have Top Gun or Navy Waves printed on it. He just wasn't in the mood for any of it since he knew he was about to have two conversations he'd really rather skip, so he pulled on the Phillies shirt that he got for Christmas from you and Everett.

The kitchen timer started going off at the same time he heard your car in the driveway, and Bradley ran back downstairs to get dinner out of the oven. "You're home early!" you said, bursting through the front door with Everett by your side, and for the first time since this morning, everything seemed more colorful and loud in a good way.

"Dad! I aced my math test!" Everett said as he came running into the kitchen, waving a sheet of paper in the air. "A hundred percent!"

Bradley's heart clenched as he picked Everett up in a hug and buried his face against him. "I'm proud of you, kiddo. That's what happens when you stop rushing through your homework."

He held onto his son a little longer than he normally would before kissing his cheek and setting him down. You eyed him closely as you dumped your work stuff on one of the chairs. He must have done something to give himself away, because a second later, you said, "Ev, you promised you'd take ten minutes to clean your room before dinner."

"Fine," he replied, his voice right on the edge of whining. Normally Bradley would remind him not to talk to you that way, but he let it slide right now. Everett headed for the stairs, and once he was out of sight, you were in Bradley's arms. 

"What's wrong, Coach?" you asked, running your fingers along his cheek before pushing them through his damp hair. "What's bothering you?"

When you gently kissed him, he didn't stop you. And when it took him a minute to reply, you didn't rush him. "Baby... I'm being deployed."

Your grip on him grew incrementally tighter as you whispered, "Oh. When?" 

His forehead met yours as he forced out the sentence, "I have to leave mid March, and I'm due back on Ev's birthday."

When you nodded, he could tell you were still letting his words settle in your mind. You took a deep breath and huffed out a little laugh as you whispered, "That's a long time."

Bradley swallowed down his guilt. "It's too damn long. I don't want to go fourteen weeks without you and Ev. I don't even like going a whole day when I can help it. I'm supposed to be here with you."

You nodded, and when you spoke, he could hear the tears in your voice. "We managed without you before, we can do it again. At least you'll get home on his birthday."

He collected you tighter against his body as he groaned. He would rather do almost anything other than miss his son's eighth birthday. "Kitten. Sometimes the dates aren't accurate. Sometimes the carriers run behind schedule. One time I returned a week later than I anticipated." 

You made a soft sound that left him reeling. "Well, if that happens, then I'll explain it to him. And we'll deal with it."

"Fuck," he grunted, slipping out of your grasp and gripping the edge of the countertop with both hands as his anger flared. "I don't want the two of you to have to deal with me missing out on celebrations. I already bought tickets for Ev and I to go to see the Padres on opening day! I was going to let him skip school! If I miss his birthday, I swear I'll be fucking sick, Kitten! And if Molly doesn't have the baby before March fifteenth, then I won't get to meet him until he's three months old!"

"Bradley," you whispered, ducking under his arm so you were right there between him and the counter. "Listen to me," you said, taking his face in your hands and kissing him. "This is why we love you so much. Because you love us so much."

You had tears in your eyes that matched his as he muttered, "I still feel like we just got married. Like every day with you is so exciting. And Ev didn't grow up with a military dad. He's not used to my lifestyle. I..." Bradley paused and dipped his head down, staring at your work shoes as he said, "I feel important every day because both of you rely on me for things around here. More than just my income. Ev and I do his homework together, and I like helping you cook meals. And I live for taking him to the park to play baseball. I live for it, Kitten."

With two firm hands under his chin, you shifted him so he was looking at you. "I said we would be able to manage without you because we did it before. We know how to do it. Not that we would enjoy ourselves, Bradley. My heart will hurt with worry every day that you're gone, and Everett will miss you because you're essential to his happiness. But this is part of your career, and you're very good at it."

Bradley knew he was crying now as he said, "I'll miss the beginning of his baseball season. He's the only one from his old team who is going to play real ball again this spring instead of tee ball."

You smiled and kissed his cheek. "All thanks to you. And I'll take a million videos for you to watch. I'll email them so you can scrutinize his technique, and then I'll help him improve. I mean, look how much more I know about baseball since I first met you."

Of course your words made him feel a little better. They always did. You always validated his place in this family when he started to doubt himself. "You've come a long way, Kitten. And it's a good thing, too, because I don't think Ev is going to lose interest in baseball any time soon."

You smiled as your lips skimmed his. "I really hope not since the two of you turned the extra bedroom into a Phillies shrine."

"Why are you both crying?"

Bradley's gaze snapped toward Everett who was halfway between the bottom of the stairs and the kitchen with a concerned look on his face. "Ev," he started, unsure how to handle this conversation. Part of him wanted to wait until after the three of you had eaten dinner, but right now, he looked very upset.

"Is Aunt Molly okay?" he asked softly. "She was crying the other day when she said the baby was hurting her back."

When Bradley still hesitated, you said, "Aunt Molly is fine. She texted me a picture of her swollen feet at lunchtime." Then you leaned in closer and whispered, "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No," Bradley replied immediately. "No, I'll do it." But it was harder than he thought it would be to get the words out in a way that would make sense to a seven year old. Why had he convinced himself that he'd be good at this parenting thing? He didn't even know what the hell to say right now. "Grab our gloves," he told his son. "Let's go out back and toss a ball around before we eat dinner."

Everett perked up immediately and ran off, only to return with two well worn baseball gloves and a baseball. "Okay."

Bradley slipped on a pair of shoes. "Okay."

Wordlessly, they threw the ball around for a bit, the quiet space soothing the part of Bradley that was terrified of fucking this up. "Hey, Kiddo?"

"Yeah, Dad?" Everett asked as he threw a scorcher to Bradley.

"You remember how we talked about deployments before?"

"Yeah." His voice was softer this time, and his face fell a little bit. "I remember. It's when you have to go way out into the ocean and fly off of an aircraft carrier."

"Yeah," Bradley croaked, squeezing the ball as hard as he could in his right hand. "I'm going to have to leave to do that in a few weeks."

He watched as his son tried to be strong and keep it together, but then Everett's face crumpled as he started crying. "But you said that lasts for months," he said as he looked at the ground, and Bradley rushed toward him. "And I heard Jayden in my class say deployments are really dangerous."

"Ev," he replied, dropping the ball and his glove and kneeling right in front of him. He swiped at the tears with his fingers as he said, "I can't stand it when you cry. It breaks my heart." 

But Everett just cried more. "I don't want you to leave now. You just got here!"

"Kiddo," he whispered, wrapping him up in a hug. "I'll be back soon. It won't be long. Nothing we can't handle."

"But what if something happens to you?" 

Bradley's heart shattered and was immediately put back together. He hated making you and Everett worry about him, but the fact that you both loved him enough to care made him feel whole. He kissed his son's tear streaked cheeks and said, "The only thing that's going to happen is me flying around in my jet for a few weeks before I come right back home. Sounds pretty boring, right?"

He nodded against Bradley's shoulder. "Yeah, I guess so."

Bradley kissed his forehead and whispered, "I'll be so bored without you. I'm going to need you and Mom to take a bunch of photos and videos and email them to me all day long. And I'll need you to ace all your school assignments and be well behaved for everyone except your Aunt Molly. You think you can do that?"

Everett shrugged, but when his glove slipped off of his hand, he hugged Bradley around the neck. "I'll try, Dad. But I'll miss you."

A tear slipped down Bradley's cheek as he managed to say, "I'll miss you, too."

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

"It's not time yet," you told Everett as he sat on the couch with the iPad on his lap, staring at it longingly. "Ten more minutes. Why don't you finish your math homework while you wait?"

"Because I like doing my math homework with Dad," Everett explained as he looked at you like you were absolutely ridiculous for even suggesting such a thing. "I want to solve the problem with him."

Even though it meant you would have less time to talk to your husband about other things, you'd let Everett do math homework with him over FaceTime. It wasn't like Bradley was going to complain. They were two peas in a pod. Everett even had the Phillies current pitching stats printed out and ready to share. 

"You'll have to show him your countdown, too. We're getting closer."

Before Bradley left, he and Everett cut up countless strips of paper and wrote numbers on them so Everett could conduct a countdown until his eighth birthday. Until the day Bradley was supposed to return home. There had been a gigantic paper chain snaking through the house, but now you were down to your final ten loops. Just ten more days without Bradley.

When the iPad rang, Everett nearly dropped it in his excitement, and you ran in from the kitchen. "Dad!" he said as Bradley's handsome face filled the screen.

"Hey, Ev," he said, sounding exhausted and relieved. "I miss you, Kiddo. Where's Mom?" 

"She's right here." 

Your son tilted the screen, and Bradley sighed. "Kitten."

"Bradley! We miss you. Ten more days!"

A crooked smile broke out on his face, and he kept his eyes on you for a beat longer while Everett started telling him all about baseball practice with his new coach and how his baby cousin Charlie threw up yesterday and about how the Phillies won three games in a row. You lost him to your son just like you knew you would as soon as Everett asked him for help with his homework. 

You sat quietly on the couch while Bradley looked at the math sheet and helped him work through the problem. Then Everett showed him the remaining length of the paper chain countdown, and as soon as that was finished, Bradley said, "Great job, Kiddo. Now why don't you go clean your room up before bed while I talk to Mom?"

"Okay. Love you, Dad!"

"I love you, too," he promised. "And I'll see you on your birthday."

Everett handed you the iPad and ran upstairs to his bedroom. "After all that, I only get three minutes alone with my husband this week," you said with a little smirk.

Bradley groaned and shook his head. "I can guarantee when I get home, I'll be on you nonstop. Don't worry about that, Baby. We won't sleep for days."

You bit your lip and laughed as he groaned. "What do you want for your birthday, Coach?"

He glanced around the small room where he was sitting before he said, "You can find that information written in your Valentine's Day card. Maybe throw in some vanilla frosting, and I'll be all set."

"Sounds good," you replied, and his smile grew. "We'll count down to Ev's birthday, and then we'll count down to yours."

"Speaking of which, did you get his present ready? All wrapped up in a box?"

You nodded as your heart fluttered. "Exactly to your specifications," you promised, picturing the package you had stashed in the linen closet.

"Perfect. I need to make it up to him for missing opening day for the Padres. I hated disappointing him."

As you glanced around your living room at the remaining countdown numbers and Everett's completed math homework, you said, "Something tells me you could never truly disappoint him. See you in ten days, my love."

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

"Dad!"

Bradley rushed through the crowd on the dock and headed for his family. You looked beautiful, and somehow Everett looked like he grew six inches in three months, but everything was perfect again once he had an arm wrapped around each of you. He kissed your lips and squeezed you to his side. "I missed you, Kitten," he murmured, knowing you wouldn't be too mad if you weren't his main focus until later tonight. "Happy birthday, Kiddo," he said with a smile as he released you to hug his son. "I missed you, too."

Everett clung to him when Bradley knelt down, and he stood up again with him in his arms. "Last week, my new coach said I have a heck of an arm. And school's already over. Mom took a video of my last day on Friday. You have to watch seventeen new videos from last week. We can watch them together tomorrow before we go out for pizza with baby Charlie and Aunt Molly and Uncle Bob."

Bradley buried his face against Everett's shoulder, excited to hear him talking a mile a minute in person. "Absolutely. But first, let's get home and open your birthday present."

The ride in your car was filled with your voice and Everett's, and Bradley sat back with a smile on his face and his fingers laced with yours. "How was the aircraft carrier?" Everett asked.

"Boring, loud and uncomfortable. And they never showed the Phillies games on TV."

"We can watch the game recaps!"

Bradley was already daydreaming about taking a few days off work, lounging on the couch with Everett until lunchtime, going to the park to play baseball, and then making love to you all night.

"We can definitely watch the game recaps," he promised as you pulled into the driveway next to Bradley's prized Bronco. "But first, I really want you to open your birthday present."

He didn't change out of his uniform. He didn't even remove his boots. He just gave Everett the box wrapped in red and white paper after you handed it to him, and he watched his son tear into the paper while your hands came to rest on his chest. "You are the only birthday present that kid wanted," you whispered.

Bradley felt the flush rising in his cheeks as you kissed his neck, but Everett had the lid off the box now. "I don't know about that, Kitten. I think he'll like this one," Bradley replied as Everett put the Phillie Phanatic hat on his head and read the paper he found in the box out loud.

"Three tickets for the Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park! On the Fourth of July! Behind the dugout! That's where the Phanatic dances! We can see the Phanatic for real! In Philadelphia!"

"Told you," Bradley whispered against your lips as Everett ran around the living room, already thrilled for his first trip to Philly.

But you were shaking your head and looking up at him with the most sincere expression as you said, "Just wait for it."

And you were right. A few minutes later, after Everett's excitement for his Phillies tickets tapered off a bit, he asked, "Dad, can we build a blanket tent and watch Toy Story and eat popcorn?"

Bradley paused where he was unlacing his boots and smiled. "Under one condition."

Everett smiled back and shrugged. "Okay. What is it?"

Bradley tossed his boots aside and said, "We change into our matching baseball pajamas and grab the stuffed Phanatic from your bedroom. And Mom gets to join us, too."

"Deal."

An hour and a half later, Bradley was watching one of his favorite movies with two of his favorite people. You were feeding him popcorn and teasing his hair as you lay with your head on his shoulder in the blanket fort. Everett was sound asleep, draped across Bradley's chest, and it felt so good to be home, he almost started crying. 

"I missed this so much," he whispered, kissing Everett's forehead. "Missed my family."

You hummed softly as you raked your fingers through his hair. "Like I said, going to the Phillies game will be great and all, but having you home today was the only thing he really needed for his birthday."

Bradley grinned and asked, "And does my Kitten need me, too?"

You popped up from his shoulder and whispered, "Why don't you carry Ev up to his bed, and then I'll let you find out."

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

I love emo Coach Bradley, and it was definitely time to check in with the three of them. He never wants to be the reason Everett cries, but that kid loves him so much, it's unavoidable. Let's check back in with them again soon. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

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[natashasfilms]

Chapter Nineteen - Planning out the Mission

Summary: Returning to Hawkins for spring break, Aria is finally glad to be back at home to see her mom and friends. However, she soon finds out that the danger they’ve all faced before, is back yet again. This time, she may or may not fall at the center of it.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Original Female Character

Warnings: This story contains mature themes such as sexual content, strong language, violence, mentions of alcohol and drugs, blood, gore, and death.

Note: I imagine Aria Kaul as South Asian but I have decided to let you, the reader, imagine her appearance, hence the reason why I have not given her a face claim. However, her race does not affect the story, whatsoever. You, as the reader, are free to imagine her however you want. If you don’t see her as South Asian, then that’s fine. It won’t affect the storyline.

Series Masterlist

Aria managed to calm down enough to let both her and Steve climb up the rope to land on the other side. The visions she saw were haunting her brain, sitting down on the couch as the others looked at her with worry. Nancy sat next to her, rubbing her back as she helped the girl calm down her breathing. Eddie gave her a glass of water to drink, Aria silently thanking him and downing the entire glass in only a few seconds.

Aria slowly regained control of her breath with Nancy’s touch, leaning against her as the visions flashed throughout her mind again. She closed her eyes and rested her head on Nancy’s shoulder, Nancy in return wrapping her arm around her.

The others stood around, letting her rest. But they still couldn't help but wonder what happened and how she managed to escape Vecna. Aria felt their lingering stares on her, opening one eye to see them standing in front of the two girls. As soon as they noticed her looking at them, they all looked away, pretending to be busy with something else.

She lifted her head from Nancy’s shoulder, Nancy reluctant to let go but Aria gave her a silent look telling her that she was fine. She stood up and cleared her throat.

They all turned their heads to face her, Dustin being the first one to ask the question. “What happened and how did you escape?”

Aria took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell them the entire truth about Vecna.

“He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things.” Aria said, her voice hoarse from not speaking for so long. She sat on a chair that Eddie pulled out for her. “I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this…Giant creature with… a gaping mouth.”

They all looked at her with shock and worry, each situating themselves around the room.

“And this creature wasn't alone.” She continued, feeling herself begin to break down again. “There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes.” She took a deep breath, looking at her hands. “And then…He showed me my mom. And Mike. And Lucas. And Dustin. They were all…” She started to cry, a lump beginning to form in her throat.

Steve spoke up, looking at her. “Okay, but… he's just trying to scare you, Riya. Right? I mean…I mean, it's not real.”

“Not yet.” She answered, eyes on him. “But there…there was something else.” They all listened carefully. “He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but…they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home.”

“Four chimes.” Max stated, everyone’s gaze falling at her. “Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly.”

“I heard them too.” Aria said quietly, remembering Vecna’s words about it not being her time yet. Everyone’s eyes widened in realization.

“He's been telling us his plan this whole time.” Max breathed out.

“Four kills. Four gates.” Lucas said, looking at Max. “End of the world.”

“If that's true…He's only one kill away.” Dustin told them.

“I don’t get it.” Robin said. “Why did Aria have all those symptoms if Vecna wasn’t going to take her?”

“He said…he said he was just trying to scare me.” Aria replied. “He just wanted to show me his plan. That he was preparing me for the worst.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.” Eddie mumbled under his breath.

“Try 'em again. Try 'em again.” Steve said, telling Max to call the Byers’ house one more time.

Max went to the phone and dialed in the number, the ringing continuing. She put the phone down when no one answered still.

“Anything?” Dustin asked, though he knew the answer.

“No.” Max stated. “Rang a few times, then went to busy signal.”

“Maybe you punched it wrong.” Steve suggested. “Try again.”

“I didn't punch it in wrong.” Max said annoyingly.

“Well, I don't know.”

“Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone.” Dustin told Steve.

“I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong.”

Max called again but there was still no answer. “Same shit.”

“How is that possible?” Lucas questioned, hands on his hips.

“I told you. Joyce has this telemarketer job. Always on the phone.” Dustin said. “Mike won't stop whining about it.”

“Yeah, but this phone's been busy for, what, three days now?” Max told them. “That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong.”

“She's right.” Nancy said, walking over to the window. “It can't be just coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it.” Nancy looked outside, thinking about Jonathan, Mike, and Will. “But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead.”

“You’re right.” Aria stood up. “We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down.”

“Whoa, no, no, no. What?” Steve shut down, standing up. “Let's think this through.”

“What is there to think through, Steve?” Aria asked frustratedly.

“We barely made it out of there in one piece.” Steve responded to her question, walking closer to her.

“Yes, because we weren't prepared.” Aria said, raising her voice. “But we will be this time. We’ll have weapons and protection. And then we’ll go through the gate, find his lair, and finally kill him.”

“Or he'll kill us.” Steve responded, trying to reason with her. “The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He's not scared of us.”

“And for good reason.” Robin said, standing up from sitting on the floor. “We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One.” She stopped, shaking her head. “Sorry, what are we calling him now?”

“One.” Dustin said.

“Vecna.” Erica disagreed.

“Henry.” Aria told them.

“Right. We've learned something new about Vecna slash Henry slash One. He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But my…my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight.”

“So then why fight fair?” Dustin questioned. “You're right. He's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses?” Erica asked, raising an eyebrow.

“When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state.” Dustin explained. “I bet the same is true of Vecna.”

“That would explain what he was doing in that attic.” Lucas said, pointing a finger.

“Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless.” Said Dustin.

“Defenseless? What about the army of bats?” Steve asked, motioning the red line around his neck.

“Right. True. We'll have to find a way past them.” Dustin realized. “Distract them somehow.”

“And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?” Eddie asked him, beginning to stand up.

“No idea.” Eddie sat back down. “But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin.”

“That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings.” Robin stated. “At least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don’t even know who he's going to attack.”

“Yeah, we do.” Max spoke up, their eyes once again falling on the redhead. “I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me.”

“No.” Aria said, pointing a finger at her. “Absolutely not. I’m not letting you go as bait.” Her eyes stayed focused on Max. “If he’s going to attack someone, let it be me.”

Steve shook his head, grabbing her shoulders. “What are you saying? You’re not doing that!”

“I thought you weren’t one of the people Vecna wanted to attack.” Nancy said. “It wouldn’t work anyway.”

Aria shook her head, feeling Steve drop his hands from her shoulders. “No, but…”

“But what?” Steve asked.

“He said that my time isn’t over. Yet.” She felt everyone’s gazes burning through her. “He said I’ll join him one day.”

Max shook her head. “I still think it should be me.” Aria’s breath hitched, pursing her lips as Max continued to talk. “You have actual skills that could be put to good use. I don’t.”

“Max is right.” Dustin said. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Max responded.

“But we need you, Aria. You can help us defeat Vecna.” Dustin continued.

Aria crossed her arms, looking away. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“Well, too bad because I’m going to do it.” Max told her, looking into her eyes.

“Max.” Lucas said, looking at the redhead. “You can't. He'll kill you.”

“I survived before.” Max reassured him. “I can survive again.” She looked down onto the ground. “I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just…whatever it is…Whatever you do…Try not to miss.”

They all stayed quiet, listening to Max speak. Aria was fuming inside, angry that Max was letting herself be bait for Vecna when she knows it should be her instead. She could feel Steve’s gaze burning into the side of her head but she didn’t say anything.

They gathered around a table to figure out where to get weapons. Eddie slammed down an article onto the table, showing them a place to find weapons. “Check this out. The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for, uh…Well, killing things, basically.” Eddie said.

“You think fake Rambo has enough guns there?” Robin asked. “Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?”

“Well, lucky for us it is, so…This…This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins.” Eddie told them. “As long as we steer clear of main roads, we ought to be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks.”

“If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone.” Erica reasoned.

“Normally, I'd agree, but we need the weapons.” Nancy told them. “So I think it's worth the risk.”

“Didn’t you say you have guns or something in your house, Aria?” Robin asked the girl.

Aria crossed her arms. “I do but I definitely don’t have enough weapons for everyone.” She pursed her lips, already regretting her next choice of words. “So I think we have to go to this War Zone place.”

“Me too.” Lucas agreed.

“But is it worth the time?” Dustin questioned. “It'll take all day to bike there and back.”

“Who said anything about bikes?” Eddie looked at him.

“You got some car we don't know about?” Steve asked Eddie, arching his brows.

“It's not exactly a car, Steve.” Eddie said, standing up straight. “And it's not exactly mine, but, uh…it'll do.” He turned around to look at Max. “Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?”

Aria furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what he was going to do. Max raised her eyebrows and nodded her head, leaving his trailer to go to hers to find a mask. She came back with a Michael Myers mask, handing it to Eddie. He took it and put it on, telling the others to follow his lead.

They left the trailer and hid behind it, Eddie in the front as he silently told them to follow him. They started to run towards someone’s trailer, the owners of it sitting outside. They ran behind the trailer and Eddie found an unlocked window, opening it to jump inside. They all jumped in one by one, making sure to not be seen by anyone.

Eddie took off his mask and locked the door, sitting in the driver's seat to pull a few plugs. He started the the trailer, the engine roaring as the owners outside started to shout.

“What the hell? Hey! Open this door!”

Eddie quickly moved away from the driver’s seat, Steve quickly sitting in his place. Aria ran over to the passengers seat, sitting next to Steve as he began to drive.

“Everybody, hang on to something!” Steve yelled. Aria held onto the seat as Steve started the van, knocking over a few things on the way.

“Drive, Steve! Drive!” Dustin screamed.

“Go, go, go!”

“Shit, they look pissed.” Dustin said, looking out the window.

“It's not every day you lose your house and car in one fell swoop.” Robin answered.

Steve finally made it to the road, the drive still a little bumpy as they all held onto something. “Hold on! Hold on!”

Aria could see the owners fuming in anger and she felt extremely terrible for what they did, but in their defense, they had no other choice. The adrenaline rush was starting to slow down in her, lips parting in shock from what just happened. “Oh, my God.” She breathed out.

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington series #reticent series #steve harrington x aria kaul #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x original character #angst #fluff #steve harrington x fem #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfic

[short-hot-stories]

Castaways At College: Part 1

An April Fools Prank Goes Awry

By SilverFoxMullet. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.

Spring break was just that, a break. My leg, actually.

When I went home to Ottawa for spring break, I met up with a few of my old high school buds, and we took a day trip to the Quebec side for some skiing at one of the nearby hills, north of Ottawa. Mid afternoon, I hit a patch of ice and went down hard. It was quite a day for falls, as the hills were pretty icy this late in the season. I tried to get up, but my right ankle hurt like a bitch. None of my friends had stopped, as we were all falling a lot today, they just assumed I would get up and follow them.

"Aw fuck!" I groaned. I lay there in the snow for a few minutes, until someone slid to a stop next to me.

"Hey, are you all right?" the guy asks.

"No, I hurt my ankle. Fuck."

"Don't move it, I'll find the ski patrol. Hang on." He skied away to get help.

30 seconds later another guy stopped. Same question. "Hey are you all right?"

"I think I sprained my ankle. There was a guy here a minute ago, he said he'd send the ski patrol."

The guy turned and looked around, then waved and yelled "Ici! Over here! Vien! Here they are."

Two guys in red jackets stopped and asked what's wrong. This other guy said "Good luck!" to me, and skied away, as I recounted the fall and my symptoms. The ski patrol guys were great, they radioed for a stretcher and 20 minutes later they're loading me into an ambulance. The rest of the day was a lot of waiting, x-rays, and paperwork. The local hospital had a seasonal trauma unit for all the ski injuries, and they're used to dealing with the inter-provincial healthcare.

I called my Dad, who said he'd fetch me from the hospital, then called my buddies who were still in the chalet’. He told them to go home without me. They commiserated and said they'd drop by my house tomorrow and see how I was doing.

I eventually got a cast on my right leg. It spanned from my toes to my mid-thigh. I was issued a pair of crutches, and a whole ream of instructions (in both French and English of course) about what to do and what not to do. My Dad showed up somewhere during this tedious process and reassured me everything would be fine.

We got home really late, after stopping at a pharmacy for pain meds, and stopping for takeout, damn I was hungry by then. I was asleep in minutes after I took one of those pills after getting home.

Next morning, I had to take another pill, damn leg was throbbing like mad. I had to learn how to negotiate using the toilet with crutches, fuck, that's pain in the arse. Then I had to figure out how to shower. They gave me a shower bag for the cast but I couldn't get the damn thing on by myself. Mom was trying to be motherly (naturally) but I was way too embarrassed to be seen naked in front of her. My Dad was a trooper, he helped me with all the bathroom stuff, and I got my shower OK.

I wasn't going to be able to drive for a while, so my folks said they'd drive me back to school in Toronto. I could come home by bus and get my car once I was able to drive. Great.

"Actually, if I could have my car on campus, one of my buddies could drive me around. None of the other guys have a car." Not that my rattly old car was much of a ride, but it got us from A to B.

"OK" my Dad says, "Your mother can drive you there, and I'll follow in your car, then we'll drive back together."

"Awesome, sounds like a plan!"

The rest of the day my parents helped me work out how to deal with the cast and crutches and take care of personal stuff by myself, like getting dressed, showering, shaving (yeah, ever try to balance on one foot to shave? fuckin hell), and using the toilet. My mom went shopping and bought me a bunch of baggy sweat pants, something that would go over my cast.

My old friends dropped by with some hard coolers the next day, thinking it would cheer me up; but I had to pass on those due to the meds I was on. They laughed at me and drank it all, themselves. We all had a good laugh about my predicament, and they wished me luck at college. Gonna need it, eh?

Then it was time to head back to school. I'd been texting and calling my buddies at school, told them the whole idiot story of my misadventures. They laughed at me big time, and of course they worried about their ride, what was gonna happen to my car? I told them about the arrangements and they were happy that it would still be available.

The drive to school was really tedious, seemed to last forever, because it was so fricking uncomfortable to sit there with that stiff cast on. They got me and my stuff into my room in the dorm, and said their good-byes. I was so happy that I was on the first floor! No stairs here but there were stairs all over campus. Sure, there's elevators everywhere but I didn't know where most of them were.

First order of business, I gotta pee after that road trip. I used the big accessible stall in the bathroom, that was great. Grab bars, lots of room, it really was made for this kind of thing. Easier than the bathroom at home, that's for sure.

I was the butt of a lot of jokes and shit for the first few days, but otherwise it was fine. Down in the dining hall I spotted someone else who'd had a fun spring break. There was a girl with her whole arm in a cast, like from shoulder to wrist, with the elbow bent at 90 degrees. I wondered what happened to her. Skiing too I supposed. My buddies said we'd make a great couple and told me to go ask her out. No way, dudes, not gonna happen. I can't talk to girls, I always get freaked out and clam up.

The end of March rolled around, and I still had weeks to go before getting my cast off. There was a party on Saturday night, and I was weaning off the strong meds by now so I could have a few drinks. My floor mates were getting me drinks, too; so I ended up having a few more than I would normally have. I was feeling buzzed by the end of the night.

One of the guys suddenly showed up with a wheelchair. "Robbo! we got you some wheels, man!"

"Where'd you steal that from?" I asked, a little dubious about the idea of them scamming someone's chair.

"No No, totally not stolen, we got it for you from the Red Cross. It's legit, dude!"

"All right! Let's check out my new ride then!" I hopped over and settled into the chair. They adjusted the footrest out for me and one of them took my crutches, and they started wheeling me away.

 "Where we goin?" I asked.

"It's a surprise." says one of them, and then pull a pillowcase down over my head so I can't see where we're going. When I try to pull the covering off, they stopped me, and then the started grabbing my arms & duct taping them to the chair's armrests. We were outside by now, and I started yelling, until they taped the pillowcase tight against my mouth, to muff my yelling. Now I was getting pissed, but there's not much I could do, except literally ride this out.

They laughed and giggled and make goofy jokes as they wheeled me around campus. EventuallyI had no idea where I am, and it suddenly strikes me that it was now April 1st. The alcoholic buzz is wearing off fast under the rush of my adrenaline and anger, and I wondered what kind of demented nightmare game they've come up with.

I heard more laughing, girls this time, and they make whispered comments back and forth with the guys. I’m now in a building, but I had no clue where. My chair was pushed around some more, bumping into stuff, and then a body is dumped in my lap, then they yanked the duct tape off the pillowcase and I can again my mouth. The room is pitch black. The giggling and laughing is cut off by the slamming of a door, and everything goes quiet.

I think there's a girl in my lap, or a small, really nice smelling guy with long hair. She's quiescent, asleep or passed out, pressed against my chest.

"Hey. Hey, wake up." I said.

No response, she's just sitting there, draped over my lap. She's warm and breathing, so it's not a manikin or something. I wondered if she's okay.

I started to shift a bit, can't use my arms because they're taped down, but I try to shake her awake with my rocking shoulders. It didn't work, and now I'm afraid that if I move too much she'll fall off onto the floor.

"Hey, uh, miss, wake up." louder. She's out of it. I turn my head to the side so I'm not yelling in her ear and holler "Hey, enough crap, let me out of here!" Silence reigns. Well, fuck. Now what?

'Now what'. Then the fire alarm starts blaring. It startles the heck out of me, but still isn't enough to wake the girl.  I heard loud commotion in the halls for about 30 seconds, but then suddenly there is silence. Fuck, this is getting serious. What if it's a real fire? No, no way, it's April 1st now, gotta be a prank. I'll just wait for her to wake up, and we'll get out of here. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I began to see faint outlines of what is probably a maintenance closet or storage room.

The alarm rings for an annoyingly long time. 15 minutes I guess, I dunno, but it seems interminable. And I need to pee now. When the alarm finally stops the need to pee gets more insistent. I shifted uncomfortably under the weight of my passenger. Her hip is pressed up against my groin, adding to the struggle of my urge to piss.

More time passes, and damn, I gotta go bad, now. I'm gonna wet myself, and her too, if I don't get out of here right now. I've tried speaking to her, yelling, shaking her, and then there was another alarm that went on and on. She just isn't gonna wake up. Did those morons drug her or something?

I'm desperate now. "Come on, sleeping beauty, wake up!"

 Sleeping beauty? Yeah, fine, I'll try that before I piss all over her. I think a girl would be slightly less angry about a stolen kiss than wet pants. So I seek her mouth. There was a little light coming in under the door, but suddenly that light went out, and only a faint intermittent light glowed. Oh, crap! That would be the emergency exit lighting.

 I eventually bumped my faced against her nose, then lowered a bit and kissed her, probably a little too hard for a wakeup smooch, cause I'm dyin' here, gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee.

She's got nice soft lips, really quite kissable, and I kinda wished she was awake and under different circumstances. I kissed her again, even harder. No response. I try again, this time I let my tongue do the talking, and I push into her mouth. Helluva way to experience my own first ‘tongue-kiss’. Finally, she stirred & turned into the kiss.

Surprised, I pull back, and say "Oh thank god you're awake, help me up!"

She startled, yelping at me, "Who are you?!"

"Help me, please, I'm gonna piss my pants! Untie me!"

In the dim red glow of an exit sign I finally saw her face. She's kinda cute, not particularly pretty, and she has a cast on her right arm. It's the girl I saw in the dining hall a few times.

"Hurry!" I pleaded.

She struggled off me, and stood. “Where the hell did you take me!” she demanded. I told her that we were both abducted by campus hooligans and locked in some storage room, but I didn’t know which building. Then I said; “But I gotta pee right now and my leg is in a cast, and I’m bound to this wheelchair.

She felt the tape on my wrists. It's slow going for her to undo the tape with her one weak hand, the way she's pulling at it, she's obviously not left handed.

I'm not gonna make it, and I looked around. We're in a janitor's room or something. I spotted a stack of small waste baskets. "Quick, grab one of those buckets and put it between my legs."

She's quick on the uptake, I'll give her that, and she grabbed the bucket for me. "Pull my pants down, hurry."

"What? No!" she protested.

"Arrrrggghhh. Please, I'm gonna wet myself." I grind out through my clenched teeth.

She reached out with that uncoordinated left hand of hers and fumbles with my sweat pants. I squirmed to lift my hips a bit to help, and the elastic waistband slipped down, exposing my tight briefs.

"You gotta help. Pull me out, aim for the bucket. Please?"

I can see she's not happy with the situation, and she's fighting with her distaste at touching a man, a total stranger at that, in such a bizarre circumstance. But she perseveres, and that delicate hand fishes in my shorts for my cock. She paused momentarily as she made contact, then pulled my cock free. She picked up the empty bucket and aimed my ‘hose’ toward the container.

I groaned as I let loose. Oh god, finally! The relief was incredible. The poor girl was acting shocked as she dutifully aimed me at the bucket, and she even nudged the bucket a bit closer. I pissed on and on, holy fuck there was so much, and eventually I ran dry.

Her disposition is no longer shocked, but instead she appeared to be curious.

"Oh thank you, you saved me so much embarrassment. You can put me back in there now. Thanks."

She hesitated, and timidly tried to one-handedly stuff my cock back through the fly, and after a couple of clumsy tries I'm all set. And of course now my cock was growing fast in her hand, as I no longer had to pee, but there's a wonderful-smelling girl handling that most sensitive part of my anatomy. Something that's never happened before.

That last drop of pee evidently got on her hand, and she looked a bit frantic now, "Ew" she says.

"Just wipe it on my sweats, it's OK." I told her, and she rubbed her hand on my inner thigh. That doesn't help with my ever increasing boner of course.

She looked up at me, and her brow wrinkled. "Do you smell smoke?" she asked.

It's my turn to be startled, and I looked toward the door. Oh Fuck, there's smoke coming in under the door! That alarm was real! Why wasn't it still going off? "Quick, help me get this tape off!" She started trying to pull up my sweats, but I say "No, leave that, just get me undone!"

She started working on the tape on my left arm, and it took a few minutes to get me free. Working together, my right arm is unstuck in less than a minute. "Check the door." I told her as I looked around the room. No other doors, just shelves, a big sink, a floor pan for filling and emptying mop buckets, and stacks of boxes and stuff.

She tried the light switch but it doesn't work. Great, my idiot friends probably unscrewed the light bulb. Then she tried the door. "It's locked!" she says.

"From the outside? Why the fuck would it be set up to lock people in? Sorry. I swear when I get nervous."

"Is there really a fire, do you think?"

"I guess so, there was an alarm that went off when you were out cold."

"What do we do?" She started frantically searching her pockets and said; "I can't find my phone!"

"I didn't even bring mine to the party. No pockets."

The smell of smoke got stronger. I wheeled up next to the sink, and ran some water. Grabbing a package of paper towels, I ripped it open and dumped them in the sink. "Here, block up the crack under the door with these!"

I handed her wads of soggy paper, and she knelt down to stuff them under the door. The smoke stoped coming in, thank goodness.  But now the room is black. "Now what?" she said.

I shrugged, "I guess we wait and hope."

"I'm scared." she said in a small voice.

"Come here, sit on my lap here. Oh, uh, maybe pull up my pants first." She helped me with that and sat on me. I think the gravity of the situation is now hitting her pretty hard, I know it's got me freaked out. She burrowed into my neck and wraps her good arm wraps around me. "We're OK for now." I tell her.

I smelled her hair again, as she's crushed against me. Damn that feels nice. Shit, I don't even know her name. "I'm Robert by the way. Robert Green."

"Suzanne. Suzanne Shelton.", she informed me.

"I'd say pleased to meet you Suzanne, but under these circumstances, maybe the sentiment should be I'm ecstatic to meet you. If I was by myself I would have pissed my pants and suffocated."

She giggled, my goofy sense of humour somehow helped in this situation. "I'm glad to meet you too, Robert."

"So how did you get here?"

"I don't know, I was at the dorm party and felt dizzy, then you were kissing me." She blushed again.

"Sorry about that, I tried to wake you for like 20 minutes, but you were really out of it. I finally thought I would try the sleeping beauty trick, and it worked. Did you drink something someone else gave you?"

"Oh. Shit.” She seemed to recall. “I think so. One of my floor mates gave me a coke. It must have been spiked?  I had to take some of my pain meds for my arm earlier tonight, it was bothering me. I keep trying to do too much with it all the time."

"Oh, yeah, you don't want to mix booze or anything with that stuff, I know! Sorry about the pee episode. I really was going to wet my pants in another few seconds. Wet both our pants."

She blushed and giggled. "I never saw a guy like that, like your, thing, before."

"Wow. Okay, well, I never had a girl touch my co-, um, thing, before."

"It changed when I was putting it away. Was that, um, like...'

"Yeah, well, when a pretty girl touches me like that, I'm bound to get aroused."

Her eyes went wide at that statement. "Oh" she said. She paused a few seconds, then put her head back on my shoulder. There was that scent again. "So. Um, you think I'm pretty?"

"Well, yeah, of course. You're what I think my grandpa would call 'fetching'"

She giggled again. Damn, that sounds nice, and she smells really nice. Little Robert stirred down below. I heard a sharp intake of breath. Uh Oh. She felt that. I may have just ruined what might have been a moment.

"Am I pretty enough to make you, uh, aroused, then?"

"Oh, Suzanne, I am so embarrassed. Please, don't be offended, it's just circumstances, you know?"

She pulled back again and looked at the door. Still no smoke. Then she looked at me with a sad smile, saying "I didn't think so." Suzanne started to get up, and I realized where our wires had crossed.

I put my arms around her and said " Oh, no no. You're very pretty, and definitely arousing."

She looked surprised, but settled back down on my lap. "Oh." she said. "Thank you."

Just then we heard a muffled sound  of footsteps outside the door. We both yelled, and I grabbed a mop handle and rapped it against the door. The door opened, and a cloud of smoke poured in. A firefighter stood there, looking surprised behind his breathing apparatus. He hollered for help, and we were soon moved briskly from the building.

I was parked in my wheelchair next to the ambulance, where Suzanne was sitting on a gurney. We both had been given oxygen and been checked over for injuries. We told campus security about how we came to be there, and they got really grim. I named names, because I could've died there, we both could've died. It was a prank, but it went sideways pretty fast when that fire broke out. Cops came over and Suzanne also named a couple of girls who she thought were in on it too. Now we were finally cleared to go.

"Can I walk you back to the dorms?" I asked.

She laughed, "Don't you mean wheel me? You can't walk."

"Can too, if I had my crutches. My idiot friends left me with this chair."

"Okay, then, let's go." She beamed.

Off we went. She couldn't push me with just one hand, and I was crap at navigating that chair, but we eventually got back to the residence. We chatted amiably along the way, getting to know each other. She was really easy to talk to, unlike most girls I've tried to talk to. Maybe that was it, I wasn't chatting her up.

She was 18, a biology major, living in in the next dorm over. I told her I was in second year Computer Science, in the nearby dorm, so I had a single room.

I told her how I broke my leg, skiing near Gatineau, and the really long day I had as a result. "How did you break your arm?"

"Skating. I'm usually a good skater but sometimes you just fall wrong. I spent most of that same day in the ER, just like you. It's really hard to get dressed and shower and stuff with this thing."

"I know, believe me, I know all about it."

We were both so fired up on adrenaline after our ordeal there was no way we could sleep. "Would you like to, uh, come over to my room, for a bit? After all this, I'm not tired, and I'd be bored doing just nothing. We could talk for a while." Oh, nice, I thought, smooth man, very smooth. NOT.

She blushed, and it must've been a good one, to be visible in the dim light along the sidewalk. "I, uh, yeah. Yes. Yes I will." she stated with a bravado she didn't appear to have.

I smiled up at her. "I promise to behave, Okay?"

"What if I don't want you to behave?" she smirked.

"Then you're going to have to make your wishes known, in no uncertain terms. I don't do the pushy guy thing very well."

"I want to go to your room with you," she declared.

To be continued.

By SilverFoxMullet for Literotica

[petalsoffarose]

May 31st

We've talked a lot since I've last written. Hooked up twice since then. Took a nap in your car, went to dinner and just sat in a parking lot together. We had one plan but kept pushing it off, and you apologized. I had told you the night before that it felt like we were trying to see each other more now than when we were dating. You disagreed and than asked if you did something wrong. The next day time didn't line up and you apologize, saying "this reminds you of before doesn't it?" I ignored that part and just told you it was all fine. What I wanted to say was no, because we were dating then and try(fail) not to compare things to then. Yesterday you told me that your mom asked why we never go over to your house. It's not unusual for her to ask that. You couldn't lie and say that [Redacted] didn't want to, he was already at your house. You can't say it's because you've been lying and only hanging out with me regardless what you tell your parents. You told her the reasons I told you, just modified. You told your mom that it was because I wouldn't know how your parents would react to me and some other reason. Which technically you aren't wrong, I don't want to see your parents, family, friends. The thing is and you'd never admit this to your parents because it makes you look wrong, but I don't want to do things that I wanted to do when I was your girlfriend. I'm mad at you for telling your mom the truth. For so easily admitting something to her that I didn't even want to admit to you. I was mad, upset, betrayed. I really was and still am. You told me that your mom's response was something along the lines of "Sure we know about your business but we aren't in your business. We don't decide who you talk to, tell her to come over." No. Whatever sliver of want that I still had, is gone. I've told you from the jump it's embarrassing but now knowing that your mom knows even more? No thank you. Knowing that your dad even called you cold hearted for some of your reasons. No thank you. You then went on to tell a story, and I cut you off trying to correct you. You then went on a side story to correct me back, at that point I begged for me phone back from you. You called me out for not being interested in your story, I told you the truth. That I had no interest in hearing about you with another bitch.

We still sat in the parking lot for maybe 4 hours after that. Fighting for each others phones. Me laying on your lap at some point. Then it hit me. Over spring break we went on a date. During it I started crying because I could not shake the feeling of it being our last date, looking back it was. Intuition is a bitch I guess. I asked for a kiss to which you kindly agreed. Then you tried to take it further to which I reminded you that we are in a park, literally. You agreed and then put in the directions to take me home. At first I moved to put your arm around me so I laid my head on the center console. I put your hand on my boob, you then looked in my shirt to see what bra I was wearing. You the poked me to get a kiss to which I gladly obliged. Then you tried to get your hand in my pants and you did a double take at me before stopping. "You seem so disinterested". I told you to shut up then started touching on you. We did that the whole ride home until you told me to stop and then you pulled over a ways from my house. We didn't stop touching each other. You whining when I moved your hand away from me. I gave you head and when I was done I went to wipe my tears. You stopped me then wiped them, my sweat and attempted to smooth my hair before stating "never ever forget that's my job". You then asked what I was doing this weekend so we could finally try to hang out with [Redacted] again. I joked and asked if hanging out with me wasn't good enough. You said I was confusing. That ever since coming home, even just tonight, I have given off two different vibes. That my actions change and so do my word, frequently not matching each other. You are right, they don't match and I know that but I didn't remember anything tonight. I reminded you that you are also confusing. Then I asked what I did tonight specifically, you gave me some story about I made faces when you said certain things. I stopped and thought about our conversation about [Redacted]. I told you there was one time tonight I could think of that made me make a face. I quickly kissed you and then got out the car.

I made a joke snapping you later about how I didn't get head scratches. You told me that you got me the next time, and that i didn't appear to be sleeping so you didn't think about it. I told you that I tried but something woke me up. You asked why I didn't tell you or ask you to move the car. I told you I didn't want to be a burden or something like that. You sent me a longer message about how I wouldn't have been, how regardless of what I thought or even asked I didn't annoy you. That's something I am trying to work on.

Part of me thinks I'm detaching from you. I don't feel as strong of a love for you just a want for you in my life honestly. Then I remember the good times and get hurt. You bother me quickly now but Is till check your snapchat score and watch how long it takes for you to reply. It's exhausting, your exhausting, we're exhausting. I also know something that I want to say to you, partly because I know it'll hurt you. I want to love you but you don't want me to and that's something you have to live with not me.

#petalsoffarose #petals #letter to ex #storytime #exboyfriend #healing #feelings #relationship #writing #gene #breakup

[hawkinshell-fire]

TITLE

Eddie "The Freak" Munson

SUMMARY

Y/N just moved to Hawkins. Its the middle of the school year and almost spring break. You're not expected to find friends as you never fit in.

WORD COUNT: 1118

Chapter 8:"We're NOT Dating!"

When you wake up the next morning you hear your mom downstairs talking to someone. You down to see Eddie.

"Hey Eddie what are you doing here?" You ask.

"I just came by to hang out, but your mom said you were still sleeping," He replies.

"I told him it'd be okay to wait for you. I figured you would be up soon," She says to you.

"Anyway I've got to get to work I love you, Be safe," She adds on.

"Mom!" You yell.

She walks out the door.

"So how was your date with Steve?" Eddie asks harshly.

"Really Eddie is that why you came?" You ask him.

"Yes, I wanted to come and check in on you," He says.

"What do you mean check in on me? Do you not remember our conversation last night?" You ask annoyed.

"Yeah I do, but still, I don't think you should be hanging out with Steve," He says blankly.

"Eddie I can be friends with whoever I want, you can't control me," You say furiously.

"And besides it's not like we were alone," You add.

"You're right I can't control you. You can be friends with whoever you want, but you deliberately decided not to hang out with me and the minute you don't you're up at Steve's house wearing his clothes swimming," He says angrily.

"You know what Eddie, I didn't plan on going up to Steve's house. I was going to stay home with my mom. Like I told you last night, but she wasn't here so I decided to find some friends. So I walked up to Steve's house since I knew where he lived and he's one of the only other people I've talked to at school, and it just so happens that Robin showed up, the only other person I've talked to. So yeah I went to Steve's house," You say back.

"I even had a good time, we talked about you and it was nice," You add on.

"How long were you two alone together?" he asks.

"Eddie! It doesn't matter! We're NOT Dating!" You yell.

Eddie looks hurt by what you said. But it's the truth. You've kissed a couple times and he took you out on one date. He's never actually asked you to be his girlfriend.

"We were never really alone Eddie, He went upstairs almost immediately after I got there, and then Robin came," You say feeling bad for yelling.

"Whatever Y/N," Eddie says walking towards the door.

"Eddie! Where are you going!" You yell after him.

"I'm going home Y/N!" He leaves without saying goodbye.

Did you just fuck up something that could have been perfect? You go and sit on the couch. You plan on calling him in a couple of minutes. You don't want to leave things like this. You really like Eddie, but you can't let it slide that he was trying to tell you who to hang out with. It's your life. You stay on the couch thinking about what you're going to say to him.

A few minutes pass and you decide to get up and call him. You dial his number. The phone is ringing.

Someone picks up,

"Hello?" They say groggily.

"Um, Hello is Eddie there?" You ask.

"Um no he left this morning and hasn't came back yet," He replies.

That's weird he said he was going home.

"Oh thanks, sorry," You hang up.

Where could Eddie have gone? He was really upset with you, but why would he lie?

_____________________________________________________________________

It's been a while since you called Eddie. You figured he would have called you back. maybe he just needs space. You go upstairs and put in a tape. You lay on your bed listening to it.

_____________________________________________________________________

You must have fallen asleep. You hear someone knocking at the door. You glance over at your clock, it's 7:30. Who would be knocking at this time?

You make your way downstairs to open the door. As soon as you do Eddie grabs you by your arm gently.

"Come on Y/N," He says pulling you to his van.

"Where are we going Eddie?" You ask him.

He doesn't respond. Just opens the door for you and gets in on his side. The entire way to wherever you're going he doesn't say a word. He hasn't even looked at you once.

"Eddie? What's going on," You ask again.

Again no response, not even a glance.

Finally Eddie pulls off onto the side of the road. All you see is woods.

"Seriously Eddie where are we going?" You ask nervously.

"Calm down Y/N I'm not going to murder you," He replies finally.

" I know that. But what are we doing?" You ask.

"You'll see Y/N," He says.

He grabs your hand again and pulls you into the woods. He guides you quickly through. You arrive at a rock that's king of shaped like a skull. There's a blanket and a bunch of snacks laying on it.

"Eddie? What is this?" You ask.

"It's a surprise date," He says sitting on the blanket.

You follow him.

"Is this what you were doing all day? I tried calling but you weren't home," You say.

"Well not all day, I was pretty mad when I left so I just drove around," He says.

"Oh," You reply.

"I'm not mad anymore, you were right were not even dating, I had no right to get mad," Eddie says.

"Eddie, I didn't." He cuts you off.

"It's fine I know you didn't mean it like that but, you were right. So I figured I would make it up to you," he says.

"Eddie, you don't have to make up for anything. If anything I should," You say to him looking down at the ground.

"Hey," He pulls your chin to make you look at him, " it's fine I guess we were both in the wrong, but lets enjoy this moment now," He says planting a kiss on your cheek.

You guys sit and snack on the food for a little.

"There is a reason I brought you here," Eddie says.

"And what would that be?" You ask him.

"Well um," He pauses.

"What is it Eddie?" You poke at his sides.

"Okay here it goes," He says more to himself than you.

"Y/N Y/L will you... will you be my girlfriend," He says stuttering a little.

You stare at him. Surprised. He's waiting for your response.

You grab his face and kiss him passionately. You feel the heat radiating off of the both of you.

"Yes Eddie! I'll be your girlfriend," You say excited.

You return back to your kiss.

[dafodilion]

.

#i told my mom that I wasn't planning on coming home for spring break #and I wanna be sick #and i have all these reasons for why i logically can't go back #but like #the main reason is cause i get hella depressed anytime I'm home #and i don't really snap out of it for a week #and my grades can't take that rn #but i can't tell her that #cause she'll guilt trip me or say i'm being cruel to her for not reason #and that i don't know what depression really is #and i just #can't #cause i know that if i go back then i'm actually gonna drive myself into an underpass at two in the goddamn morning #and i can't #i can't do that #i can't keep going on like this but i'm still financially and healthcare dependent on them #.. #i may need a hug #or to go to sleep cause its already one in the morning #but like i still feel like i wanna be sick

[imaginationintowords]

Folklore [song series]

epiphany

Modern Day AU! Bucky Barnes x Natasha Romanoff; Steve Rogers x OC!Reader

Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years

[warnings: death]

word count: 3168

Age: 21 Year: Sep. 2015 Location: Brooklyn, NY

"So I was thinking, godparents," Bucky spoke up. He and Natasha were currently finishing setting up the baby's nursery in their new apartment.

They had found a nice two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, much to Natasha's dismay. Bucky thought it was the perfect place to start their new little family. It was also about a 20 to 30 minutes drive to Bucky's work and University campus. His mom and stepdad had even offered to help them out financially for a bit, just as long as Bucky continued on his path to graduate with his Masters in Music Technology in the Spring.

Bucky had managed to finish his bachelor's and masters program in just the span of 4 years, a whole year earlier than originally planned. He was proud of himself, if there's one thing he hadn't screwed up yet, it was his education. He had fully devoted himself to his education the last four years and it clearly paid off. He had also managed to get a good paying job at a studio as an engineer. He had his whole future all planned out, the pregnancy might've been a curve ball at the beginning but with the help of his family and therapist, he was handling it all so well.

"Oh you don't need to worry about the godparents, I have it all figured out already," Natasha tells him as she folds baby clothes, "I picked Abigail and Dylan."

Natasha on the other hand had decided to put her education on hold. Deciding she wanted to be a stay at home mom, Bucky constantly made sure that that's what she wanted. And she insisted every time that she was "made to be a stay at home mom". So Bucky had to reluctantly allow her to make that decision. 

Which was one of the reasons why his parents had offered to help out for at least the first year or two, they had known their son was already stressing about finances, and trying to respect Natasha's decision. They figured two years would be a good enough time for the couple to build up their savings.

Bucky didn't like the fact that his parents were helping out with money, but he knew him and Nat wouldn't have been able to make it just on is current income alone. At least not until after he graduated, his boss had already promised a raise once he graduated, but that wasn't until May and the baby was due in the next two weeks.  He promised to pay his parents back every cent they gave him, but they told him to just focus on being a good father.

"Abigail and Dylan?" He questioned.

"Yeah," she shrugged her shoulders.

"The same Abigail and Dylan that showed up to the baby shower high, and proceed to get drunk, because and I quote 'babies are so boring'. That Abigail and Dylan?"

"Come on James, they were just joking, plus baby showers aren't necessarily the most fun thing in the world," she rolled her eyes.

"Can we at least each choose one godparent?" He suggested, "You can have Abigail as the Godmother and I can choose The Godfather."

"Like Sam?"

"No, not Sam. Steve," Bucky tells her.

"Oh, then no," she simply said, turning her back to him to continue putting clothes away.

"What's your problem?" Bucky asks annoyed, finally having enough of her attitude, "This entire pregnancy you've been against everything I've suggested."

"Hey, you got to choose Brooklyn," she turned around pointing her finger at him.

"Yeah because I couldn't fucking afford Manhattan Natasha," he stressed, trying not to raise his voice at her, "You didn't want to know the gender of the baby? Fine. You get to name the baby? Fine. You choose the color scheme of the nursery, fine. You choose the hospital. You choose the apartment. God damn Nat, I haven't done a single thing but pay for everything."

"And I thank-you for that," she rolled her eyes.

"But you don't," he shakes his head in disbelief over her reactions, "You haven't thanked me once. I get that you're carrying our child, and I'm appreciative of that. But god damn Natasha, show me some respect. Show my family some respect!

"You didn't thank my mom, Rebecca, or Keith for everything they've done for you. For us. And I can't keep making up excuses to defend you," he raises his voice a little bit.

"If this relationship is ever going to work, you need to be respectful. You need to stop being so selfish. I get this isn't easy for you, but trust me, this isn't easy for me either. But I agreed to do this. I am stepping up. I want to be a part of my child's life. And I want us to be together and be family," he calms down, "But if you continue to act this way. I won't stay in this relationship."

"You're just going to abandon us?" Natasha asks grabbing her belly, suddenly realizing the reality of the situation.

"No, I won't abandon you both. But we won't be together," he explains, "I will always be in my child's life. I will always be there for them. I'm not going to put my child through the same thing I went through growing up. I promised myself I would never do that."

"So if that means that you and I break up, then so be it Natasha, I'll do it," he tells her, "My child will not grow up in a toxic household."

"Okay," she agrees, tears in her eyes, "I promise I will be better."

"Don't promise me Nat, just show me."

Two and a half weeks later Bucky found himself rushing an in-labor Natasha to the hospital, it was a quick k10 minute drive from their apartment. He quickly called his mom as the nurses wheeled Natasha away, with Bucky following.

Bucky's mom arrives within the next 10 minutes, as the nurses begin to prep Natasha in her hospital room.

Bucky sent a quick text to Steve and Sam, letting them know it was showtime and that he'll call them once the baby is here.

"How's Mama doing?" The doctor asked while entering the room, quickly taking her spot at the foot of the bed to examine Natasha.

"It hurts," Nat cried, as Bucky tried to soothe her.

"I know, but unfortunately you were too far dilated when you arrived, that it's too late for the epidural," the doctor softly explains, "But the good news is I feel Baby's head, so it's time to go."

Natasha looked over at Bucky, completely scared.

"It's okay," he assured her, "I'm right here. Everything's going to be okay."

He leaned down an placed a soft kiss to her lips, helping her relax a bit.

"Ready?" The doctor looks up at Natasha.

"Yes," Natasha nodded, grabbing a hold of Bucky and his mom's hands on either side of her.

10 minutes later, a soft cry was heard in the room. Bucky quickly glanced over to where the doctor was had finished pulling the baby out.

"Congrats Mommy and Daddy, it's a girl," she announced.

"A girl?" Bucky whispered in awe, tears filling his eyes. He looked over at Natasha, who looked a lot paler in color.

"Nat?" He called out for her.

Her eyes fluttered shut, her limbs went limp, and all the monitors started to go crazy.

The doctor quickly cut the umbilical chord and handed the baby off to an awaiting nurse.

"What's going on?" Bucky panicky asked.

"Get them out," the doctor told a nurse, ignoring Bucky's question.

A nurse quickly escorted Bucky and his mom out of the room.

"She's going to be okay right?" He asked his mom, tears streaming down his face.

"I don't know honey," she honestly said, wrapping her arms around her son. She never thought the first hug they shared after him becoming a father would be like this.

She continued to hold him, soothing him as she made silent prayers pleading for Natasha's safety.

10 minutes later. The same 10 minutes it took for them to arrive to the hospital. The same 10 minutes it took Natasha to bring their daughter into the world, the door opened.

Bucky quickly pulled apart from his mom to see the doctor walking out of the room.

The doctor's face was filled with sorrow. Bucky's mom immediately put her head down, already knowing the outcome.

"How is she?" Bucky asked.

"Mr. Barnes, Natasha had a postpartum hemorrhage, due to issues with her placenta," the doctor carefully explains, "Unfortunately, there was too much blood loss. We weren't able to save her. She died."

Bucky immediately broke down, his mom quickly caught him. The doctor placed a reassuring hand on his back.

He quickly pulled away after a couple of minutes, "The baby. How's the baby?"

"She's good. They took her to get checked just as a safety procedure," the doctor tells him, "She's on the pediatric floor. Would you like to meet her?"

"Yeah," he says, then pauses, "What about Natasha?"

"We can come get you to say goodbye once we get her cleaned," the doctor tells him.

"Okay, thank you," he says.

The doctor takes him and his mom to the pediatric floor. The walk was silent. No one knowing what to say. Bucky was no longer crying, but he felt numb the entire short walk. The doctor knocked quietly on a door, before opening.

"Doctor Monroe, this is Mr. Barnes, the baby's father," the doctor said, before stepping aside to let Bucky in, "Mr. Barnes, I'll have someone come get you when it's time."

"Okay, thank-you," he nodded his head.

"Are you ready to meet your daughter?" Doctor Monroe asked, Bucky nodded his head.

"Meet your Daddy baby girl," the doctor said, gently handing the baby over to Bucky.

Bucky looked down at the small baby in his arms. He was instantly overcome with so many different emotions. The doctor walked out of the room, while Bucky's mom watched from outside threw the window.

"Hi baby girl," he whispered, sniffling back his tears, "You're so beautiful. I'm your dad. And boy am I lucky that you chose me to be your Dad. I always imagined this day would've turned out a lot differently. But life sure knows how to throw some real curveballs."

"Your mom would've loved you," he paused, letting it all sink in. His daughter will have to grow up without a mother. No little girl should have to be without a mom.

"I'm so sorry," he cried, as the baby was lulled to sleep, "I am so sorry your mom won't be able to physically be here. I am so sorry you'll have to grow up without her. No one should have to grow up without a parent. And trust me, I know what that's like. But lucky for us, I had the greatest pleasure of being raised by the most strongest and kindest mother. She taught me everything I know. Your grandma is the best lady you will ever meet. Lucky for us because god knows we're going to be needing her a lot.

"But you and I are incredibly fortunate that we won't ever be alone. We have so many people who care about us. You'll have all the female leadership you can ever need. We can do this," he strongly said to the sleeping baby, "You and I. We can do this. And I promise you this, that no matter what happens, you will always have me. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life. My love for you is greater than anything, anyone I've ever loved. My love for you will always be easy and unconditional. You'll never have to prove your worth to me. You're worth more to me than you can ever possibly imagine. I love you."

Bucky placed a soft kiss to his daughter's forehead. The first kiss he will ever give her, but definitely not the last.

There was a soft knock at the door, he gently called for the person to come in.

His mom quietly opened and closed the door behind her, stepping to her son's side.

"She's beautiful," she smiled down at the little baby.

"She really is," Bucky beamed. He looked over at his mom and noticed she was holding a clipboard, "What's that?"

"Birth certificate," she tells him, "One of the nurses gave it to me. They said there's no rush to fill it out. You have time."

"Here, I can do that," he said gently holding the baby out for her to take.

"Are you sure?" She asked, switching with him.

"Yeah, I have a name anyways."

"What is it?" She looked over at the name written down:

Poppy James Barnes.

[flashback]

After that talk Bucky had with Natasha, he noticed a serious change in her attitude. She was beginning to be more relaxed and more selfless. Bucky felt a tiny weight lifted off his shoulder. Hoping that these changes in her personality would stay.

"So what do you think about James for a boy?" Natasha asked one night, as she and Bucky made dinner together in their small kitchen.

"For a middle name?" He asked confused.

"No, his first name."

"Oh," he paused, "I actually have never liked the idea of giving a child their parents' name. I feel like it doesn't really give them a chance to be their own person. If their parent is successful then they feel the stress of always having to live up to that. And if their parent is crap then they're forever stuck with that reminder of that person."

"That makes sense," she agreed, understanding where he was coming from,

"Then how about James for the middle name. Whether it's a boy or girl."

"I would actually really like that," he smiled at her, "I would like that a lot."

They gathered up their own plates, and sat at their small round table.

"So what other names have you come up with?" Bucky asked her as he took a bite of his chicken.

"Truthfully, I haven't found any good names. All the girls keep making suggestions and they're way too out there," she tells him, "I don't want them to have a name that's too hard to pronounce or spell."

Natasha's phone started to ring, Bucky got up to grab it for her from the living room. By the time he handed it over to her it stopped ringing.

"What kind of flower is that?" He asked her, noticing her phone's Lock Screen background.

"The California Poppy," she tells him.

"Why do you have that as your background?"

"Well my mom was actually from California," she says, "She met my Dad when they both went to Harvard. They fell in love, so she decided to stay out here on the East Coast.

"The only clear memory I have from her was all the stories she used to tell me about poppy season. How the color just made everything so lively. Her parents would take her every season. I remember seeing all the photos of her as a child surrounded by all the flowers. We looked a like as children," she fondly smiled,

"She always talked about taking me to go see them, but she and Dad were always so busy. Then she got sick and there just wasn't a way for us to go. My grandparents tried to get some out here but it was too late. I never did get to see the poppies."

Natasha was silent for a moment, letting what she said sink in. She's never told anyone that story before, the memory would always make her sad. But now sitting here with Bucky, pregnant with their child, for the first time in her life her mother's death didn't bring her such sadness. She could smile at the memory and know she had the utmost best time with her mother, even if it was short lived, she knew her mother loved her. And she can't wait to shower that love onto the baby inside of her, once they were out.

"We should go," Bucky says, "Once the baby is here we should go when it's poppy season. Plus it'd be nice seeing Steve and Liz's life out west."

"Yeah, that sounds nice," her eyes teared up, seeing how generous this man was in front of her, "I'd really love that."

"Poppy, that's cute," Winifred smiled.

"Yeah, Nat would've loved it."

"They said if you were ready, you can say your goodbyes," she carefully said.

"Okay, you're good with her?"

"Yeah. Do you want me to go with you? The nurses can watch Poppy."

"No. I'd feel much better if she was with family," he tells her, "I'll be fine mom. I can do this."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.

"Take all the time you need," the nurse told Bucky, as she led him to the room Natasha's body was in.

"Thank you," he quietly said.

She opened the door for him, and he carefully stepped inside.

He walked closer to the body on the bed. He immediately started crying at the sight of her lifeless body.

"God Nat," he cried, "I am so sorry. We never even discussed the possibility of this ever happening. I never even thought of this happening. God I don't know how I am going to ever do this alone. I never imagined myself ever raising a child alone."

He takes a moment to catch his breath.

"She's beautiful Nat, so incredibly beautiful," he tells her, "I wish you would've been able to see her. Hold her. I'm going to make sure she knows everything about you. There's not going to be a day where she doesn't know about her mother."

"When poppy season arrives I'm going to make sure to take her. Every year," he wipes away a tear, "Oh, I also named her Poppy. For you. For your mom. I promise I won't let you down. She's going to have the best life ever. I'll make sure of that. Thank-you for everything you've given me. I truly did love you. Goodbye Natasha." _________________ Age: 22

Location: CA

Year: May 2016

The car comes to a stop, parking in a spot next to a bunch of other cars. Bucky, Liz, and Steve get out of the car. Steve and Liz grab a few things from the trunk, while Bucky gets the smiley baby out of the car seat. Bucky places the baby into the stroller, Steve had gotten out. The three of them began to walk towards the field of poppies.

"Wow, there's a lot this year," Liz says, "Do you want to take her out?"

"Yeah, I'll grab her," Bucky says grabbing Poppy.

He walked ahead of Liz and Steve, taking in the moment with his daughter.

"Look at all the poppies," he whispers to the almost eight month old. She had a huge smile on her face taking in the sight around her.

She was making some babbling sounds, as if to agree with her dad.

The weather was perfect. The sun shining down on them, it wasn't too hot or too cold. Bucky just stared at the flowers, with a peaceful feeling washing over him. The last few months haven't been the easiest, but he was making it. They both were making it. Being here, gave him the reassurance that he was doing good. He could feel Natasha's presence with him there. As if she was silently saying how proud she was of him.

"We're going to be fine," he said to Poppy, placing a kiss on her head.

#folklore #epiphany folklore #folklore song series #steve rogers fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x natasha #bucky barnes x natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff angst #natasha romanoff fanfiction #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #original character series #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x original character #bucky angst #angst #fluff #bucky fluff #bucky barnes #modern au #modern day au #bucky barnes modern au #bucky barnes modern day au #bucky barnes modern day #avengers modern day au #folklore taylor swift #epiphany

[aries-rising-on-an-aquarius-tide]

Evocations: XI (A)

It was quite a run, if we're being honest, to go as long as they did. Especially considering they worked adjacent to one another.

But, it comes for all couples eventually: Late that Spring, Olivia and Alexandra had their first real fight.

They were in the park with Sky, walking her on a lunch break. Alex had gotten into the habit of taking the little dog with her to work, as long as she wasn't scheduled to be in court. The Spring air had turned warm, and they both liked to see the leaves blooming in the park, so their lunch outings were frequent.

Getting the pup had been nothing but a joy for the two of them. The little Havanese had spunk, and was utterly comical in her quirks. Contrary to their worry of Christmas morning, she hadn't been difficult to house train, and there was no way in which she wasn't spoiled rotten.

"Did you want me to make something for dinner tonight?" Liv asked Alex, keeping one eye on Sky, who was sniffing her hundredth bush.

"Better not," the blonde answered, making a face, "I'm not entirely sure yet, how long I'm going to be in the office."

"Ok," Liv nodded, but her eyes were far away, her voice tight.

"What?"

"Nothing," the brunette shrugged, but her voice was still flat. There was a beat, Alex not saying anything further, but looking at Liv impatiently. "You've just been working a lot, is all," Olivia sighed. "I feel like we haven't been spending much time together, and when we do, you're tired."

"I've always worked a lot," Alex pointed out, taken aback.

"I know. Maybe I'm just noticing it more since Sky came along. I'm not sure."

Alex worried her bottom lip with her teeth, trying to read her partner's face. "I think I spend plenty of time with Sky," she said. "And you - things have just been busy lately."

A couple passed them on the walking path, one of them pushing a stroller, and Olivia's eyes subconsciously followed it. "Alex, it's fine," she sighed, "forget I brought it up. I'm sure it won't stay this way forever. I'll come by and get Sky at the end of my shift, unless something comes up." Smiling faintly, she handed Alex the leash and turned in the direction of the precinct.

But Alexandra had caught her gaze watching the stroller, and she knew that the conversation was far from over.

. .

Olivia knocked politely before letting herself into Alex's office around 4:30 that afternoon. Sky, who had been asleep in a chair, popped her head up and came running to Liv immediately.

"Hello, Sweet Girl!" she smiled, scooping the pup into her arms. She glanced over at Alex, whose desk was buried beneath books and papers. "How goes it?"

"Oh, you know - no rest for the wicked," Alex replied without looking up.

Olivia waited a beat, to see if the blonde would say anything more. When she didn't, Liv took Sky's leash from near the door, clipped it to her collar and said, "Ok, well . . . don't forget to eat something. Message me when you're on your way home."

That was when Alex cleared her throat. "Liv. Can you sit for a second?"

She turned back from the door and set Sky back down, then sat in the armchair across from the desk.

"What is it that's really bothering you?" Alex asked. As an attorney, she never hedged her way into a difficult discussion; she never had time for it.

"I told you," Liv said, digging her heels in, "I just miss you is all."

The blonde closed her eyes for a second, not wanting to blow things up too much. "You know," she said, opening her eyes, "I saw you looking at the baby stroller today in the park." Liv said nothing, but also refused to meet Alex's gaze. "Did you want to talk about that?"

"About what? I was just looking."

Alexandra put her glasses on, pushing them up the bridge of her nose, in full lawyer mode. "You weren't just looking. You were looking longingly."

Liv was aware of her heart beginning to pound. "Is that what you saw?" Now her palms were sweating, but her words were knotted in her throat, and Olivia's eyes fell to her lap.

Alex tried again, her voice softening: "Liv. Would you like to talk about it?"

Finally, she raised her gaze and met Alex's eyes. "Do you like kids, Alexandra?"

"I, uh - " Alex leaned back heavily, "I haven't ever really been around them much, honestly. I was an only child, an overachiever who wasn't particularly popular in school . . . I didn't babysit as a teen, and I don't have many cousins."

"It never came up in any of your other relationships . . . ?" Olivia pointed out, nudging her in the right direction.

Alex grinned. "I've really only dated lawyers since college. I think we're people of a particular stripe."

"You think lawyers don't have kids?"

Alexandra's mind turned to Jack, to Ben Stone - strong men, incredible lawyers. With children. Rebecca McCoy, Peter Stone . . . children of lawyers, who she knew would have strong words to share about their fathers' absences while growing up.

"Of course they do," Alex answered, "just like doctors or firefighters do, and like hardworking SVU detectives do! What do you think any of Elliot's kids would say about it? If you asked Kathy about raising five kids, what do you think she would have to tell you?"

Liv's eyes darkened slightly. "Elliot is a great father," she said defensively.

"I don't doubt he is, Liv, when he's there - but what has he missed? Think about how much he isn't there for."

Olivia stood up then abruptly, irritated that Alex had - as always - hit the nail on the head of even her most secretive of fears. "So, then, you're saying you don't want to have children."

"I'm saying," Alex said calmly, having the advantage of courtroom experience, "that having a family is a huge undertaking, that takes a lot of planning, thinking, sacrifice! We're not - not even married yet!"

Olivia's gaze fell on Sky, whose ears were perked with her knowledge that her moms were fighting, and Liv's eyes filled with tears. She wiped angrily at the tears with the heels of her palms, refusing to shed them. "Family," she said, her voice quiet, then looked back at Alexandra, "family is the one thing I never had. I'm not sure I can accept the idea of not having my own."

"I know." The blonde was worrying her lip again. "And knowing that scares me, too."

There was further silence then, that ended with Liv scooping Sky up again. She wiped at her eyes once more, sniffed, nodded. "I'll see you when you get home," she told Alex, then left the office with just the soft click of the door shutting, and her lover's face silhouetted in the shadows of the desk lamp.

#law and order svu #svu #cabenson #olivia benson #alex cabot #alexandra cabot #olivia x alex #my writing #hearteyes4mariska #my fanfic #evocations #first fight #f/f ships #here comes the angggggggst #angst #sorry #had to happen

[qbrooklyn1056]

El angelito que cambió NYC!

The lack of resources when it comes to children should never be an issue. Why is it that rich children get treated so, much better than less fortunate children? Aren't children, children and they all should be loved and tread equally? This is no where near the case for most poor children. The system seems like they fail to protect black and brown babies, like to them its not as important as finding justice for white baby. When describing children, you think of lovable, sweet and some of the smartest little humans you’ll come across. Children are the key to joy some may say and their pure innocence makes up for some of the most hilarious and memories moments. What happens when you have people who use their children innocence for their own personal gains, and the lack of a system making sure putting the safety of children needs at top priority. You get a dead child and a ton of excuses. Either way, 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo, who would have been 32 years old this year, but instead is resting in Cypress Hills Cemetery. This would be at the hands of the people who she should’ve been most protected by.

Elisa Izquierdo was born on February 11th 1989, in Brooklyn NY, at Woodhull hospital. She was born to Gustavo Izquierdo, who was a Cuban immigrant dancer, and her mother Awilda Lopez who was Puerto Rican. The pair met in a homeless shelter in Fort Greene Brooklyn, where Izquierdo was a caretaker, and she was a resident of the shelter. Two years into the relationship Lopez got pregnant with Elisa. Izquierdo would break up with Lopez after discovering she was heavy into using crack cocaine, and that was actually part of the reason she was into the shelter anyway. She would lose her two oldest kids to child welfare (Now ACS), the same year Elisa was born. Elisa had crack cocaine in her system and Elisa was permanently place with her father. He made sure she was his world and got her into a good school, but a health condition would interfere with him paying for Elisa schooling. Says the daily news, who covered the whole story throughout the trail.

Should a parent that had been on drugs get their children back? For most, I would say, Hell No, not untroubled the child is 17 and older. This way the child can fight back or speak up against the abuse if its happening. Plus,, most abuse patents, usually only go after the weak and small, because they can't fight back. Now, the same year her mother claimed to completely drug treatment and had an apartment on Manhattan Lower East side, Rutgers Houses projects. She was now married to a maintenance worker named Carlos Lopez. Lopez was granted unsupervised visits every second weekend. This is where her two oldest siblings would tell family, that Elisa was being abused and lock in a cupboard by their mom and step-dad. (Family members did nothing). While Elisa would return home and begin bedwetting and had scars all over including her genitalia. She would vomit after coming from her mom house and would refuse to go in bathrooms. (Information also provided by the daily news), I don't know about most people, but if a child is showing all these signs, something is very wrong. This is nothing you sweep under a rug this is something the U.S. Marshall's should even be notified of. This little girl was being treated like a human punching bag, all for just being herself. Elisa story should be made into a movie or shown at them programs for people who abuse kids. Should also be shown to new parents, so they can have an understanding of the real world. Even people thinking about having a baby Should see this story, so they know how much work kids are but they may also come to realize they're not ready for a child.

Her father is the type of dad I believe anybody wouldn't want as a dad or any woman would love to have a baby by him, because of how much he cared and loved his daughter. He was a real standup guy who just wanted the best for his baby girl. He never could imagine that the person he had a baby with, was the devil in the flesh. Himand teacher notice the bruises, and she said she didn’t want to go back to her house ever again. Elisa also, told a social worker what had happened, and Izquierdo tried everything to stop the visitation rights, but the courts said she could continue to see her daughter, but under the conditions she doesn’t hit her child Izquierdo would purchase tickets for Cuba for the date of May 26, 1994, he planned on moving him and Elisa there. He would be rushed to the hospital in May, finding that he had Lung Cancer, he would pass on the same day him and his daughter was supposed to start their new life May 26, 1994. The director of the school still tried to report the mother after the father died because the school was worried. Since he wasn’t there to fight for her anymore. I sometimes wonder why God took him away from that Elisa, because she really needed him at this time, but even though this story is tragic. It's because of Elisa's story a rules and regulations have change when it comes to children.

This is were we see things get really bad for little Elisa. This is were child welfare dropped the ball over and over. This is were this beautiful little girl will lose her life because everyone around her was dropping the ball. Her mother would get temporary custody after she filed a permanent custody order of Elisa, Izquierdo family would challenge the decision, Lopez lawyer made her seem like a saint, who wasn’t going to use drugs again, and Elisa wanted to be with her biological mother. Judge Phoebe Greenbaum approved permanent custody in September 1994. Elisa was withdrawn from private school and sent to public school 126 in Manhattan. She was said to be “uncommunicative, emotionally disturbed, and urinated often”. Also, the principle at the new school said “Elisa was tearing out hair and walking with difficulty.” In 1995, some ones sent an anonymous letter to child welfare and said Lopez cut off Elisa hair and was locking her in dark rooms. The school kept reporting and child welfare kept saying “Not reportable “due to lack of evidence. The evidence was obviously there. It was supposed to be a caseworker checking on Elisa all the time. Lopez back on drugs and that spring withdrew Elisa from 126 and didn’t enroll her another school. She was in her six child and but Elisa for some reason was always her target. Why wasn't this judge disbarred? This is a slap in the face to any child going through abuse. You are basically giving the abuser a pass to do whatever they want to the child with no consequences. Do you really think that a person on drugs, who beats her child everyday, is going to change overnight? I'm here to tell you absolutely not, Not when they don't even like there own child. I believe a lot of these people should have been brought up on charges and given prison time to show the world we will not tolerate this kind of abuse.

To imagine this poor little girl being beating and abused by somebody that she hope would protect, turned out to be a monster. The mother was an evil women with real problems, besides drug use. In my opinion she knew exactlywhat she was doing, because she didn'treat all her kids that way or even think about doing half the things she did to Elisato the others. I mean this women made this child. eat her own feces, sexually assaulted with a hairbrush, hair mopped with the floor, and way more horrible things. Carlos Lopez would beat Elisa and the oldest two because they weren’t his. November 22nd. Lopez would phone her sister and says her daughter was “retarded on the bed" and she had fluid coming from her nose and mouth, which was said to be brain fluid. She was told to take her to the hospital and she said “I’ll think about it after she did the dishes.” The next day a neighbor came to see what was going on and told Lopez to call the police and she said “No.” The neighbor did and Lopez talked of committing suicide. She would admit that she threw her daughter into a wall two days prior. The autopsy revealed broken fingers, vaginal tear, burns, welts, and a bone protruding through her skin.

Elisa story gained lots of media attention and the Newspapers, such as dateline, New York times, and time magazine just to name a few. Everyone was in some way scolding child welfare services for dropping the ball horribly. Judge Phoebe Greenbaum faced a lot of backlash and claimed she followed proper procedures in the case. Then Mayor Rudolph Giulliani would create ACS (Administration for Children Services). Devoted to child welfare, which years down the line would have a lot of similar cases like Elisa. In 1996 then Governor George Pataki signed Elisa's law which is for every agency whether private or city work together to make sure children are safe, and to also protect the child’s privacy or workers in case of any situation with abuse. This is about the need to increase accountability in the city.

This whole situation is just wrong, so many people failed this child and looked the other way. I guess it goes back to what I was asking at the beginning. I believe poverty can play a big part in children not getting enough love and support from their families, because they have to work and make sure things are taking care of. One thing I learned is no matter what, talk to a child and see if anything is going on. Any little sign of anything you confront the situation, you don’t want to wait until it too late to do something about it. Hurting one of most God creatures is absolutely disgusting, and there should be no coming back from that. I wonder if she was from a family with money would child service had taken her case way more serious? The answer most likely is yes. Money talks in this country and the sad part is, people don’t take action until its always too late. One child is too many to lose to child abuse.

 • Daily News

[penwieldingdreamer]

Accidentally in Love

So as there are so few stories about the good Doctor Mike Varshavski I thought I’d try my luck here. I’m in no way a nurse or a doctor, so every medical term or anything to do with medicine will be reviewed on the WWW. Let me know what you think, and if it’s worth getting to the 2nd chapter.

Summary

After a long shift, Mike only wanted to get home to his two dogs Roxy and Bear, but the woman coming to the ER shortly before the end of his work day might have more in store for him than he thought

Chapter 1

With a slight wince I closed my eyes, leaning back on the hard bed of the ER, feeling the springs nudging harshly into my back through the thin mattress.

It was a stark contrast to the soft hands working on my face.

“Okay, Miss Bennett. That was the last of it.” the doctor sitting by my head said, pulling his gloves off.

Now the normal reaction of someone getting their head stitched up and smiled at by the nice doctor in the ER, having better things to do like saving lives, would be a 'Thank you', but I'm not normal – and drunk.

Which was why I ended up at the hospital at 2am on a Saturday night.

“You're hot, Mr. Doctor Mike.” I slurred, my head lolling back and the darkness enveloping me, my only coherent thought being the hole I needed to find to crawl into.

~¤~

“How come you always end up with a douche?”

Karen, my best friend since High School took a long sip of her Cosmo, shaking her head at my unfortunate luck. The guy I was supposed to meet for the night had stood me up, telling me he couldn't come to the restaurant I had invited him. Unfortunately I had already been there and saw him with another woman.

So, yeah, it's bad luck and bad karma right now.

Grabbing my third shot of Tequila, which I really deserved after that supposed date, I glared at her. “Well, maybe, because you always try to set me up on these dates. How many of your co-workers have you got to send them my way?”

She held up her hands and grimaced. “You know, I'm only trying to help you out. You've suffered the single life long enough now. Pete was an asshole, but I want you to see that not all of them are like him.”

“Yeah? Good luck with that.” I grumbled, the rosé wine in my hand. After that fiasco we had met up and gone out to Pinot's Pallette, a nice bar near the Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ, where Karen worked as a nurse.

She always thought with me being traumatized by Pete's ways in the relationship we had, Karen needed to find a way to get me back on track.

My first and last relationship lasted three months and after the break up I threw myself into work. But now my friend was tired of my 'I don't have time for a relationship' excuses and my mother always chewed my ear of, telling me how she would never see me walk down the isle and have more grandbabies.

Karen put her hand on mine as I leaned back in the seat, looking over at her. “I'm sorry for all the idiots I'm sending your way. I just thought with them being doctors and nurses at the center that they would at least be the right ones.”

“You know Karen, my mom and you could conspire together, she'd love nothing more than that.” I waved to the bar keeper to get me another shot of Tequila.

My friend smiled at me, reaching up to brush my brown locks out of my face. “We just want what's best for you, Laur.”

“Ha, yeah.” I grumbled onto my glass, taking a sip from my cocktail. “At the moment I'm quite happy with my apartment in a nice neighborhood, that I'm able to afford and a job I like, so no worries about me having a good life.”

Moving away from me, Karen surrendered and let out a sigh of defeat. “All right, if I promise to not set you up on another blind date, will you stop looking so sour and enjoy your night out with me? Evan has been a little chit since he decided to move in with me.”

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me when she told me about her boyfriend. He was a nice guy, a doctor working at Overlook, but he also had his negative traits, like leaving his clothes all over the place or the dirty dishes in the sink until Karen came home from her shift to clean it up.

She grinned at me and lightly hit my arm, the dark mood I had been in just moments ago flown out the window.

After another hour and one more glass of wine we both decided to call it a night, the time already flying now that it was nearly one in the morning.

“I'll just head to the restroom, all that wine and jokes are making themselves known.” Karen said, the corner of her lips lifting in a mock pained smile, getting up from her seat, swiftly grabbing her jacket and purse and moving to the toilets.

At the mention of a full bladder, mine called to attention, too, so I followed her, my tote and cardigan in hand.

The restrooms were located in the back of the bar, down a flight of stairs. The blonde in front of me grinned, linking our arms like we always did.

I was just about to take the first step down, with Karen behind me, when a couple, giggling like crazy made their way up to us. Mentally shaking my head at their antics I turned back to my friend, rolling my eyes.

“Laura?”

That's when a soft gasp tore itself from my throat, the voice still all too familiar.

“Pete?” I cocked out, so shocked at seeing him again.

Karen watched us carefully, hoping neither of us would make a scene. And just as my ex-boyfriend wanted to say something, I tripped, missing one of the steps. Falling.

I don't know if it took only minutes or hours to land at the bottom of the stairs, but it all happened in slow motion and all I could see was the horrified look on Karen's face, all I could feel was the pain that spread all over.

With how fast she ran down the steps, she nearly crashed into the wall, helping me to sit up. Pete stood frozen on the top of the stair well, watching everything unfold, while his date obviously wanted to move on. “Come on, she's drunk of her ass, no wonder she crashed.”

“We should call an ambulance.” he muttered, pulling out his phone, but Karen stopped him. “No need, I'll take her over to Overlook. We'll be fine.”

Nodding his head, Pete and the giggly woman left us while the blonde beside me was in full on nurse mode, trying to see what I had gotten myself into now.

She knew I was clumsy, always had been, but when I was drunk it was even worse. With a grimace I looked up at Karen, the pain radiating from my head down to my left hand and leg. And it wasn't the only uncomfortable thing that happened, no.

“Karen?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I peed my pants.” I spoke so softly and Karen had to strain to hear me.

~¤~

“So, Doc, you got plans after shift?” Matilda, a middle aged nurse at Overlook asked the young doctor, as he leaned on the nurse station the emergency department.

He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah not really, Matilda, it's been a long shift, so I'm just heading back to my fathers, getting the dogs and sleep.”

“Not to worry, you only got about twenty min...” she started, but the entrance door to the ER was pushed open. Karen Walters, one of the nurses working at the hospital came in, supporting a young woman to help her walk through.

“Mike, thank god.” she called, seeing the dark haired doctor standing there. “I kinda need your help.”

Mike immediately jumped into Doctor mode and helped the young woman onto a stretcher. “Get Bay 3 ready. Obvious laceration to the head, probably needs stitches.”

He then turned to Karen, ignoring to slight groan coming from the bed. “What happened?”

“Her name's Laura Bennett, age twenty-five, Caucasian . We were out for drinks, then ran into her ex-boyfriend and she tripped, fell down a couple of stairs. Hit her head pretty hard but I don't know about the rest. She's stubborn like a mule when she's drunk and won't let me check.”

“I'm not stubborn.” she slurred, throwing her left arm over her face and showing off a few nasty bruises along her forearm, a big one around her wrist. They'd have to get it checked out in X-Ray. “But I think I peed my pants.”

Mike winced slightly, thankful that she didn't seem to be in too much pain or not feel it with all the alcohol in her system. “It looks like a sprained wrist, but we'll have to x-ray it after I stitched her head.” he told Karen, before turning to Laura. “Miss Bennett, how about your friend helps you out of these bloody clothes and into one of our nice and warm gowns, then I can take a good look at your injuries.”

With a lopsided grin, the young woman eyed him carefully. “Oh, now I get it. You want to see me naked.”

The blonde nurse groaned and apologized profusely for her friends behavior, thinking that maybe she hit her head harder than she thought. “Sorry, I guess it's the alcohol and the hammering head that's got her like this.”

Mike smiled, laying his hand on Karen's arm and nodding back to Laura. “No worries. At least she's a woman. I already got three guys flirting with me today. Now help her get changed.”

~¤~

#dr mike #doctor mike #mike varshavski #mike varshavski imgaine #doctor mike story #fanfic #accidentally in love

[softmintmochi]

Genre: Angst

Summary: The biggest day of your life is finally here. You've never been happier in your life. Everyone important in your life is here, glad that you're happy.

Jimin's POV

I sigh deeply as I steady myself, my nerves making me feel on edge. Today is the day. Surrounded by my friends, I feel a sense of security. "Are you nervous, Jimin?" Seokjin pats my back soothingly, and I smile up at him. "Of course I'm nervous. What if I do something wrong? Say something wrong?" I ask, my fingers fumbling with my tie. I groan in frustration, and Seokjin takes over for me, tying it perfectly. "You're gonna be fine. We're all going to be there standing right next to you." He assures me. "Yeah, you've got nothing to worry about. Here, maybe this will calm you down." Yoongi says, handing me a flask. I gladly accept it, taking a swig and letting the liquid burn my throat. The door swings open, Namjoon smiling brightly as he raises his hands him the air. "Alright guys, it's time! Let's go get married!" He declares.

The venue is beautiful. I've seen it in pictures about a million times, but pictures can't even begin to compare to the real thing. A spring wedding in the forest. That's always been her dream. She's been planning this since she was a little girl. The trees towered over us, giving us nice shade from the sun's rays. Rows of cushioned seats decorated in lavender ribbon were lined up, facing the alter, which was also laced in ribbon, also pale pink roses poking out. It was absolutely perfect. I walk around, greeting people, ushering people to their seats, waiting anxiously for it to begin. I check my watch, and it's 20 minutes until it starts. I make sure everyone is seated and as soon as they are, I take my place up at the alter, all of my friends around me. I take a deep breath, trying my best to calm myself. It's time.

The music plays, and the doors of the building open. Taehyung rubs my arm that's hidden from view soothingly, trying to calm me down. Everyone turns as she appears, her father locking arms with her as he guides her. Her beautiful fingers wrap around the bouquet of pale pink roses, her veil draped over her face. Even with the veil hiding her, I can still tell she looks absolutely amazing. She always does, of course, but this is a day I've imagined repeatedly, and she looks even more stunning than I could've ever dreamed. The closer she gets, the more nervous I get. My foot taps unconsciously, my fingers fiddling in front of me. She looks at me, smiling before she kisses her father on the cheek, taking her place up on the alter. Her veil is lifted, and I can feel tears pricking my eyes. She's definitely more gorgeous than I could've ever dreamed of. She's perfect.

I remember the first time I saw her. We were just kids, and she sat in my table group, and I would always tug on her hair or tease her. Whenever I did something to her she'd do something right back, and that set they basis of our relationship. For years we teased each other back and forth, and the older we got, I realized my feelings for her. She would always tell me about what she wanted her wedding to be like, and I always promised her I'd make it happen. Even though I knew I loved her, I was always too nervous to tell her. It wasn't until we were 16 that I finally kissed her, and it was the best day of my life. After that happened, we talked about where we stood, our relationship, and how things would play out from then on. A few weeks later I introduced her to my other friends, and she got along with them really well. Maybe if I didn't introduce them, it would've been me standing on that alter with her.

The day after we kissed she came over to my house, sat down on my bed like any other day after school, but she seemed tense, a bit awkward. "Jimin..." She speaks softly, looking down at my floor, and I start to worry. "About last night, I-I don't think it should've happened." Her words are like a knife through my chest. "I'm sorry, but I really don't feel anything romantic towards you. You're my friend. My best friend. I still want to be your best friend." Another knife. I really don't feel anything romantic towards you. The words ring through my ears over and over. All I can do is smile and nod. "Alright then, best friend. No worries." I laugh, and she smiles. "This isn't gonna make things weird between us?" She asks nervously. "Nah, it's all good. I don't want things to be weird between us." I wave my hand, doing a damn good job at hiding my broken heart. "Oh that's great!" She jumps up, running over to hug me, as she's done many times.

Weeks later we were still hanging out after school, like nothing ever happened. I introduced her to some more of my friends, and we all went to hang out at a park, and from the moment she waved at everyone, Namjoon going the extra mile to get up and shake her hand, I knew I was screwed. The more we hung out the closer those two got, his love for literature and music, his morals and ideals and philosophies matching hers. The whole time, all I could do was stand by. Whenever I wanted to say something, do something to show she should be with me and not him, I couldn't. They're perfect for each other, and who am I to try and stop their happiness?

Somehow I managed to stay composed through the whole service, even smiling and patting Namjoon on the back after they kiss. I have to keep it together until I go home. Please, at least until I get home. Everyone goes straight from the service to the reception, the venue being nearby. The happy couple takes a car while the rest of the wedding party splits up between two vans, bridesmaids in one and groomsmen in the other. When we're finally in the confines of the van, a collective sigh spills from our mouths, and I lean forward, my head in my hands. "You did a great job, Jimin." Jin reaches up, patting my back. A round of agreeing hums sounds through the car, and I sniffle while nodding.

"I can't do this right now. I just need to suck it up." I nod, wiping away any tears that escaped. The van pulls up to the venue, and I hope my eyes aren't red. I don't want Y/N to see me sad. We all get out, Going inside and taking our seats at the large table. It takes about 20 minutes for everyone to gather, taking their assigned seats. I smiled as Namjoon sat down next to me, but on the inside, I was falling apart.

Speech time. One of the many moments I had been dreading since I became the best man. I stand, clearing my throat and tapping my glass, getting everyone's attention. As everyone quiets down, all eyes on me, I feel on the verge of breaking again. Its hard, but I keep my cool, smiling out at the crowd. Guess it's go time.

"Hello everyone. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Park Jimin. Now, I've been friends with Y/N and Namjoon for a really long time. I was actually the one that introduced Y/N to Namjoon. Um, I didn't actually write anything for this, I figured I'd just wing it. Let's hope it goes well." I smile, and everyone laughs. "I don't really have much to say, um, I could tell some funny stories about each of them, God knows I have so much dirt. But, I won't do that. As I look around the room, and saw the service, I can tell you personally that this is absolutely Y/N's dream wedding. Trust me, she told me for years every little detail of what she wanted. Everything looks perfect, and she truly deserves it. Namjoon and Y/N, I knew from the moment I introduced you that you guys were perfect for each other, and I'm really glad you guys are happy. You both are amazing people that deserve only the best. I know it's short, but like I said, probably should've prepared something. I don't think it really takes much to get my point across though. These two are amazing together, and I hope you guys have an amazing future together."

Everyone claps, Namjoon hugging me as Y/N smiles at me. I take my seat, and all the other speeches are done. Mine probably sucked the most, but at this point, I don't really care. I'm just glad it's over with. After the speeches everyone eats and mingles, the music starts to play, everyone hitting the dance floor. The main dances take place, then everyone starts to dance together. Even though dancing is my passion, I decide to stand to he side, watching Y/N as Namjoon spins her around, holding her close to him. She looks so happy, it puts a smile on my face. All I've ever wanted was for her to be happy, and she is.

After a bit, she notices me, waving me over. I put my hands up, shaking my head, but she comes closer, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. I groan in defeat as I start dancing, her sweet laugh ringing through my ears. She's having so much fun. A slower song comes on, and I get bold, holding my hand out to her. "Namjoon, you mind if I take this dance?" I ask my friend, and he smiles. "Nah man, go ahead. I'm gonna dance with my mom." He smiles, patting me on the back. Y/N takes my hand, and I pull her close, my hand resting on her back.

"So, are you having fun yet?" She asks. "Yeah, I am. It's a great wedding. You guys did an amazing job." I smile at her. She beams, and I'm so glad it's finally because of something I did. "You were there to help a lot. I'm so lucky to have a best friend like you." She chuckles. Best friend. That's right. Even now, as her hand is in mine, holding her close to me, I'm still the best friend. All I can do is nod and smile, focusing on keeping composed. Apparently, it doesn't work. "Jimin? You okay?" She asks softly, rubbing my bicep soothingly. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I smile, hoping it helps. "Chim, I've known you since we were five, I think I can tell when something's bothering you." She scoffs. All I do is nod, not saying anything.

It's takes a few moments, until she speaks again. "Is it because of-" "Y/N." I cut her off before she can say more. "Are you happy? Really happy with Namjoon?" I ask. She nods, looking up at me. "Then that's all that matters. I'm happy you're happy." I smile, rubbing her back. She nods, understanding that I don't want to talk about it anymore. The song ends, and Namjoon comes over. "Jimin, mind if I steal my wife back?" He beams. "Of course. Go ahead. I think I might be heading out soon anyway." I say, patting him on the back. "Wait what?" Y/N asks. "Leaving already?" Namjoon says. I smile at both of them. "Yeah, I'm exhausted. I'll see you guys when you get back from the honeymoon?" I ask. "Yeah. Alright then. Rest up, bud." Namjoon nods, patting my arm. Y/N reaches over, giving me a hug. "Thank you Jimin. For everything." She whispers. I pull back and smile at them before waving. I say goodbye to the guys and then wait outside for my cab. I'll be home soon. Finally.

As soon as I'm safe in my home, I close the door with my back, sighing deeply. I slide down the door, and as my bottom hits the floor, I lose it. I hug my knees to my chest, sobbing loudly. I've kept it together for so long, and everything is gushing out now. I'm glad she's happy, but why couldn't it be with me? I'm a good guy. I could make her happy. I'd treat her like the queen that she is. I'd give here everything she's ever wanted and everything she deserves. My body shakes as I sob. I'll never have a chance. I just hope Namjoon treats her right. He's a good guy, so I hope he keeps her safe and happy. I'm glad she's happy.

#bts #bts jimin #bts angst #bts smut #bts fluff #jimin #park jimin #jimin angst #jimin fluff #bts park jimin

[jocy-diaries]

04.10.2022

Okay Saturday's game went well too! Messed around with magical items but like... I asked someone to do a spell for me...and then they were in a deadly fight and I feel SO GUILTY ;A; I told them so and they said it was alright but like. Yikes. Also~ I got to learn about some fun characters from my group~ And they said I was part of the group! Honestly I'm really happy to be part of it >///> And thank goodness for my therapist. I'm really grateful for her. And apparently mom backed away from the statement that I wasn't saving enough money. But she thinks I said thirty while I said thirteen sooo.... Interesting. Anyways. Ima look and see how real estate works.

Then Sunday! At long last! My sister had spring break but her friends didn't wanna go anywhere so we went to Helen GA for the day! It was lovely~ I spent so much money... And drive for like four hours. But it was worth it I think! It had a good time which is all that mattered. I think I want to start planning yearly trips with not only me friend and for myself but also with my siblings. So I think we'll go to Meow Wolf's Denver location next year~ Maybe I could stop in and see my Denver friends too. It's so weird to call them friends... But I guess that's what they are, right?

We got a father Sumatran coffee for his birthday coming up later this month and we got to grind this ourselves~ The process was fun! And those are the books I got from the library that I totally forgot to show lol Overall a very good Sunday~ And then I drank and passed out once I got home lol But it was a lot of fun!

#dear diary #april 2022 #04.10.2022

[estrxlar]

The Ghost Of You

04 - Learning To Receive

These chapters songs:

Moonlight On The River; Mac Demarco

Nostalgic Feel; Bedroom

New Flesh; Current Joys

——

TW: Self-harm, death.

(Not done by you, don't worry)

——

- K.S. Perspective

      Only two or three days had passed since high school had started, which meant only a couple more walks home with Y/n. They were shorter and quiet, and of course, there weren't any swerving cars.

But so far, what I had suspected was correct. She and I made amends and became buddies, thankfully.

      The only times she was left alone were when I had morning practice, and she had to have one of her friends drive her home. Either that or she would have to walk home alone. I would've loved to accompany her, but volleyball was something I didn't take lightly, and my priorities were important to me.

      Both I and my younger brother participated in volleyball and gave it our all ever since we were able to balance on our feet. Sadly, our parents were far too busy to go to any games, or even help us practice at home. But their goal was for their kids to grow up strong and steady with good grades and good stats, so that's why they made sure my younger brother and I were on top of our shit.

      Once my first year ended, I didn't expect that I would have to carry so many burdens all in one year. That's around the time mother had died from sickness, which left me with doubts, wishes, and an unaccomplished relationship with her.

      After the sudden death, our family didn't move on very well. My brother developed anxiety and depression, and he eventually had to take a break from school and volleyball. Then, my father became dull and increased his hours at work to avoid coming home to such a depressing home, leaving my brother and me to continue caring for ourselves, by ourselves.

      I, on the other hand, had barely anything to say about it. All I could do was pose as if I were handling it better than I had. Truth is, my mother's death changed my entire persona. I grew grim and gummy, deprived myself of rest, and repressed the trauma I've received. Not only did I overwork myself because of volleyball and stress, but I also grieved in harmful ways. It'd either be a blade to the wrist, or a night with a girl; anything that could help distract me from my state of deep dejection.

      It's been that way ever since. Only recently have I realized that I'm ruining whatever recovery I built up. That was all because of my best friend— Daichi— who had helped me come out about my feelings towards my mom's passing. Ever since, I've been able to learn from my mistakes, and slowly pick my life back up. I was beginning to become a better player for my team, better support for my family, and a better person for myself.

      That only happened recently. So now, I'm left with lots of things to mend, and relationships to make. I'm determined that I'll mourn more healthily than before.

——

      "Y/n!" A hopeful call leaves my lips, turning her head. As assumed, it was Y/n. Today she looked even brighter than before; she just has gotten more sleep. Not to mention she wore long socks instead of leggings, which must have been pretty hard in this weather.

      I didn't get to see her this morning due to morning practice, but I did catch her before lunch. Just enough time to tell her I won't be riding the bus tonight either.

      I look both ways of the cross hallway, before grabbing my book bag strap with both hands and jogging towards Y/n. I wasn't sure why I was so eager to see her, but all I knew was I needed a refreshing moment, and she could give me exactly that.

      "Why hello, Mrs. Refreshing!" I joke, bowing my head towards her while she giggled. Looking up, she stands there, shining by the sunlight that reflected on the windows.

      'If I could, I'd take a photo of you right here, just to show you how gorgeous you are.' I quickly put a halter on my thoughts, snapping back to a respectful filter. 'No, I can't do that. Not to myself, most definitely not to Y/n.'

      "You look nice today!" I exclaim, awkwardly patting the side of my hips while smiling at her. Hopefully, I hadn't made her uncomfortable in the first ten seconds of talking to her. The last thing I wanted was to ruin yet another relationship with a girl.

      Thankfully, Y/n responded with kind appreciation to my comment. "Why thank you, sir. And what brings you in my presence?" Her words curl in a formal British accent, adding onto our joke.

      Standing normally, I explain, "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to say hi, and to tell you I might not be walking home with you today. I'm really sorry,  practice has been very necessary for our team. I-I hope you understand." I stutter on the last part, with a gentle tone to add on. Ditching Y/n for most of the week wasn't what I had planned at first, but what I had told her was 100% true. The first years, as well as the rest of us, we're in bad shape. With our spring tournament coming up, we had no time to waste.

      "Oh, that's alright. I understand. I was in volleyball too, after all. Although, I do wish you could still accompany me. It gets a little lonely.." She looks down for a minute while I contemplate my existence entirely. 'So it does bother her.' But she quickly caught onto my thoughts by my expression and came up with a solution. "If— if you'd like, I can simply stay near the gym until practice is over! That way I can see you and your boys in action, yeah?"

      Her fists pop up into the air, as a bright smile appeared on her face. If you didn't know Y/n personally, you would expect them to be cold stone and dull. But in reality, I find they're like everybody else, and have a bright side to them, just like the one that was being portrayed right now.

      Nodding with her statement, I reply hesitantly. "Hm, I'd have to ask the captain, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind—"

  ��   "Oh, Daichi? We're buddies, he'll be alright." I'm dazed by what she'd said, pausing the motion of rubbing my neck. She and Daichi hang in completely different groups, though! 'How is it they know each other? They hang around two very different friend groups.. that is unless they have some type of history I'm unaware about.' I think to myself, trying my best to find a reason they would be friends, but I couldn't. And so, I begin my questioning. "You two know each other?"

      Suddenly, Y/ns gaze twists. "Suga, you introduced me to them during our first year, silly. Remember? I went with you from practice once. And besides that, my good friend Miya is close to him."

      "Oh, yeah! I remember that. That means you only know Asahi, Daichi, and Kiyoko, right? I've gotta introduce you to the rest of the team! I'm sure they've missed you!" I chuckle, throwing an arm around her shoulders cautiously, expecting her to reject it. But she goes on casually with our discussion.

      "That's right.. well... I'm also— sort of— friends with them. Well, except Asahi. But Kiyoko and I are pretty close."

      '?' I tilt my head at the uncertain tone she spoke with. "Pretty close?" I ask, turning into the cafeteria with my arm still around her. The room is, of course, crowded as hell.

      Still, I manage to draw out what Y/n was saying to me, leaning my ear close to her mouth for better audio. "Yes! She's one of my best friends.. we used to date and it didn't work out, but we're pretty tight!"

      'DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT?!' My eyes widen, and I immediately let go of her, tightening my hands around the strap of my school bag. A gulp falls down my throat before I ask, "Did you say.. date?! You mean you two went out?!"

      To my surprise, Y/n nods proudly. "Yes! Why, did you not think she'd go out with a girl? Or is it so astonishing that I could ever get a girl like her?" She teases, while I'm still puzzled. So many questions ran through my head at the sudden fact: was Kiyoko gay? Was Y/n gay?! Does that mean she's gotten closer to Kiyoko than anyone before??

      "Suga, calm down. It's not like we're still together. As I said, it didn't work out!" She smirks towards me, putting a finger up towards her cheek. "Why? You got a little crush on her..? I wouldn't blame you."

      "N-no! It's not like that! It's just— she never told any of us. I guess she just keeps to herself more than predicted." My sentence comes out to sound like a question, rather than a response. It wasn't that I didn't support it, or that I was surprised Kiyoko would be her girlfriend. Honestly, I was just a little jealous of both of them.

      Either way, it seemed it didn't work out. So it didn't matter now. "Anyway, we're about best friends now, so I'm pretty familiar with your team. I don't think they would mind if I came, but just in case, I'll ask Daichi and Kiyoko." She explains, before looking back towards the slowly dying crowd of students in front of the cafeteria. "I better go soon, Suga. I'll let your captain know I'll be heading over there later—"

      "Wait!" I shut my eyes out of nervousness, as my brain wires work to come up with an excuse for why I yelled that. "You used to play volleyball, right?"

      An awkward nod from Y/n is given to me, followed by, "Yes, but I was sort of just a bench warmer. Nothing big." The hands that held her lunch box gripped tighter, as she suspected I would ask her a favor much larger than a lunch.

      "Mind helping me teach one of our new members how to receive?" I say. "His name is Hinata, and he's a first year. He has great talent and has great potential, but he kind of... sucks at volleyball. I mean, from what I've heard, he practices a lot. But I just think he needs some guidance. So, want to?"

      "Uhm... I'm pretty rusty.. but sure! It wouldn't hurt, right? Besides, I think I need a break from my friends wouldn't do any harm."

      'Yes, I did it.' I thought to myself, before leading her towards the doors that led to the gym. "Alright then, right this way!"

      "Suga! Don't you need your bag?" She immediately asks, tugging on my collared shirt. But I shake my head, responding with a light smile.

      "It's already outside, I just came to check on you, is all."

——

      Up, down, and up again went the ball. Each receive that Hinata had tried had failed every time. At this point, I wouldn't blame Y/n if she wanted to leave. But there she sits against the concrete wall of the outside of the gym, licking white rice off a spoon.

      "Hinata, drop your hips down more," I say to him, demonstrating the position I had stated. "Hit the ball like you're trying to return it where it came from. Got it?"

      Hinata's light expression appears on his face once again. "Yeah, got it!" He exclaims, before getting right into position. I signal the ball is going in the air before my palm hits it in the right spot, sending it towards him.

      And it shoots right back, along with a slap against Hinata's wrists. "Nice!" He praises himself, leaving a feeling of proudness deep within me.

      I'd never been able to teach somebody one of my special skills and having them accomplish it, not the way I did with Hinata. But that was mostly because he was driven by his entire body and soul to memorize every movement in his muscles to create a perfect receive. And who had taught him that? Your one and only.

      "Would you like me to start setting for you tomorrow morning?" I ask the ginger with confidence he'd reply with a yes. Thankfully, that's exactly what happened. His eyes light up in the sun, and his hands take full hold of the ball. "Y-you mean it, sir?!"

      The cold wind hits me, as well as another dosage of serotonin from the first year."Well, I am Karasuno's official setter after all! And you wanna practice spikes, right?" I ask, placing my red hands onto my hips.

      "Exactly! I love to spike! It feels so good when you get it right, and it's cooler than anything!" He shouts. I couldn't help but laugh at his excitement, even if it wasn't the first time he'd portrayed it. Hinata sure reminded me of my past self, and I'd do anything to help first-year Sugawara.

      Y/n suddenly joins our conversation, digging into a reason why Hinata is the way he is when it comes to spikes. "You must have a thing for spiking, don't you?"

      Hinata nods, putting a fist towards his face. "Yes. I didn't have a setter throughout middle school, and I was actually the only club member until my third year of junior high. I used to get my friend in the Basketball Club to toss for me, but after I had dropped out of the club, I went to anybody that could help me practice. Take the first years, and the ladies and setters from the girls' team, too. I've made a lot of friends along the way, but none of those people could ever become my real teammates. That's why I was dying to find out what kind of setters were in high school— but now.. you know."

      Hinatas pure passion dies down once he reaches the word 'setter', and I wouldn't blame him. The person he's supposed to be paired with is his complete opposite, and frankly, a dick-head. "Well, as I said, I'm a setter too. I'll toss you a few, Hinata! Don't get all down."

      I was expecting further satisfaction, but instead, his expression twists into envy. "But it's just that if I have you throw to me now, it kind of feels like... I'm losing." He frowns, looking away from my figure in anger.

      "You're just like someone I know, Hinata!   Always competitive." Y/n says, placing her small bento to the side, and lifting herself from the shaded spot she sat in. Her hands dust off her navy blue skirt, and her blazer comes off. "Why're you so competitive when it comes to Kageyama?"

      "If you ask me, it's better to avoid making enemies with those kinds of people." I join in.

      She wraps her hands around Hinatas shoulders, leaning over his shoulder. "You know, Hinata, you're not as bad as you make yourself out to be. Wanna know a secret about Kageyama?"Without hesitation, Hinata is fully interested in what Y/n had to say. Frankly, so was I.

      "Whatever you see from Kageyama is something he's learned from other players. He wasn't always so snobby; he used to be calmer and kinder. But once he was shown what he could do with his talent, it went to his head. Don't let that become you, Hinata! You have so much potential it's insane! I've never met anybody with as much love for volleyball as you." She pulls up her sleeves, getting into position for a receive, signifying I could rest now. "

      "How do you know what he used to be like, Y/n?" Hinata asks her, sending the ball into the air. My eyes follow it, but my ears listen intently to their conversation.

     "Well, I went to the same middle school as him. When he was a first-year, I was a third. Me and my friend we're on the girls' team, while my other three friends were on the boys' team. The four of us practiced every second of the day, which meant the two teams spent a lot of time together. Everything Kageyama knows is from another player; don't think he's just magically good at volleyball. Anyway, I don't know much about Kageyama, but I do know that he's changed dramatically." She explained. Just then, the bell for our sixth period had rung, and doors were heard opening and closing, as well as students fluttering around hallways.

       The three of us pause our mini practice and gather out things where they were settled. Thoughts ran through my head as I put my school blazer back onto my torso. If Y/n went to the same middle school as Kageyama, that must mean she knows a lot about Aoba Johsai: one of our greatest enemies in volleyball. And if she knows him, could she be familiar with his playstyle? In that case, having her around would not harm the team.

      "Sugawara, I'm off." She's heard saying from behind me, while she put her school bag over her shoulders. "Thank you for having me here with you and Hinata, I'm glad I could be of help."

      I nod in response, nervously breathing through the teeth."Yes, of course. Uhm— would you like me to pick you up from your classroom later on? Either that, or you could walk to the gym after band practice." I ask the young girl, longing for more time to hang about her.

      Then, she began walking backward, meanwhile talking. "I think I'll be just fine, Sugawara. No need to worry about me all the time. I've managed without you the past couple of days haven't I?" Her h/c danced with the wind as she did so, and the corners of her lips rose as she said so.

      "That's right.. I'll catch you later then!" I manage to shout out, raising a hand for a gentle wave, but it was too late. Y/n was already turning into the doors of the school, returning the gesture.

      Somehow, she always found a way to make the chains around my heart tighten a bit more. What was it that drew me towards Y/n? Hell, if I knew. "Wow, Sugawara. You've got yourself a pretty friend! She seems nice, too." Hinata expresses, looking agar with me. "Is she your girlfriend, or something?"

      "No, Hinata. Just an old friend. Someone who may know me better than anybody, you know." Y/n; The girl who knew her way around my heart.

—

Hey everybody, sorry I've been M.I.A for a while. Don't worry, I'm not giving up on my ff!!! I would never do that. This fan fiction is super duper important.

Please note my chapters!! It lets me know you guys enjoy them.

Make sure to be taking care of yourself: drink water, go outside, eat something, and heal yourself after hard work:) It's currently mental awareness month, and it's very important to be taking time for yourself.

love you guys

- Sugawara's beauty mark

[storiesformygrandson]

PRINCESS SHEA  by Arican KURTAY It was a warm spring afternoon. Deren was home alone watching his favorite episode of Space Traders for the three hundredth and sixty seventh time on his I-pad with the same enthusiasm as he had watched it for the first time. His school was closed for spring break and he did not expect his parents to come before dark so he had the whole house for himself. He could eat his snacks without anyone telling him to eat proper food instead of these. It was Saturday tomorrow and he had a very important match to play. His coach had told him and all his teammates that they should take the day off before the game, running for three miles in the morning and resting in the afternoon and that was what he was doing. Then he heard someone knocking on the door. He wasn't expecting anyone so he thought that it was the cargo guy bringing another package for his dad. The knocking continued so he finally decided to open the door. He opened the door and who does he see, Princess Shea, his favorite character from Space Traders, standing just in front of him. He got so excited that his whole system got into the breakdown mode. His vision blurred, his pulse jumped from seventy to one hundred and seventy, his jaw almost fell down and his brain started giving strange signals. It took him a couple of minutes to get back to his factory settings. A girl, a life size model of his favorite princess  Shea was standing in front of him. She was almost the same age as him, had black hair and was looking at him with her dark eyes. She had not spoken nor moved since the door was opened. “Hi Deren “ she said with a slight smile. Deren finally gathered himself and, “Sorry, I was not expecting anyone and you look so much like princess Shea that I was shocked so I may have acted a bit strangely” he said. “I wish I was princess Shea, whoever she is but my name is Sue. I am a friend of Amy, your classmate. She spoke very highly of you”. “Amy, of course, she is a very nice girl and good friend of mine. I can do anything for her. Why don't you come inside, I can offer you something cold to drink, it's rather hot outside”. Deren said as he was being himself again. Sue sat down on the sofa. She was wearing a white T shirt with the picture of a black witch riding on her broom. She sure is a witch Deren thought, but a nice one. “I hope you can one day tell me who this princess of yours is because I really wish I was her” Sue said smiling. Deren was surprised, how could anyone not know anything about Space Traders, but she was a girl and they watched their own stuff. Deren went to the kitchen, looked at himself in the mirror, shaped his hair and came back with two bottles of soft drink. “What can I do for you”, he asked. “Well it is a bit of a long story and you may find it silly but  promise me to listen to it to the end and not laugh at me when its finished. I am very embarrassed to come to you but Amy told me that you were a very clever kid and if anyone could help me, it would be you”. Deren was very flattered by these words, “Of course I can do anything for you and Amy, just tell me your story”, he replied. “Do you know anything about witches “, she asked Deren. “Just what I have read in story books or seen in some movies “. “Well that is not exactly like what you know. The witches are also like normal people and live among them. A normal person cannot identify a witch but the witches immediately recognize someone of their kind. I used to live in Chicago but when my dad had to change his job, we moved over here. I had to go to a new school, have new friends and there I met Janet. I immediately understood that she was a witch, Oh by the way did I forget to tell you that I am also a witch.” Deren was so surprised that he did not know what to say. He remembered what he thought of her when he first saw her, but that was just a silly idea at that time and he never thought it would be true. “I belong to the ‘purple violet’ family but Janet is a member of the ‘black dragon’ family and they are the most evil group of witches. They even kidnap babies to raise them as witches,”  Sue continued. “I am just a second grade witch and have a lot to learn, so after school I have to study witchcraft. It is really a very difficult subject, so I keep a diary where I write the things I learn during my studies. My diary has a hidden section where I keep the key for my invisible safe box. My magic wand is in this safe as well as other stuff required for my magic. I always keep my diary in my bag and my bag is always where I can see it. Janet saw me put the diary in my bag and sent someone to steal it. I did not notice that it was missing until yesterday evening. Then I told my supervisor, Aunt Felicity what had happened and asked her what I should do about it. She told me that my diary was in the room of the mother witch of the black dragon family, and that the mother witch would try to learn the secrets of our family by reading this diary. “We have to take it back, but only someone who is not a witch could enter that room, otherwise they will be noticed”, Aunt Felicity said. I am new in this city and don't know many people so I asked Amy for help and without hesitation she told me that only Deren could do this. So Deren, this is where you come in. Are you going to help me?” Deren had listened very carefully to what Sue had said but could not figure out how he could be of any help “What can I do” he asked, “I don’t even know where the castle of the black dragons is or what I can do if I ever find it”. “Don't worry, Aunt Felicity will come to you at midnight and will give you some magic powers then take you to the castle. I will also be there and we will wait for you near the main entrance of the castle. The castle is guarded by black dragons of different kinds. I hope you can get inside without being seen. Once you are inside it is rather easy because the witches have a meeting at midnight where the mother witch will give them a lecture about witchcraft. All of them will be in the cellars of the castle. There will be only one dragon in the room of the mother witch which you will have to slay”. “And one more thing” Sue said, “ Once you bring back the diary to us, all your magic powers will be gone and you will not remember anything about the castle with the dragons”. After that Sue got up, said goodbye and left. Deren was alone again. Everything had happened so quickly that he did not have enough time to think about it. All he could do now was to wait for Aunt Felicity to come at midnight. His mom and dad came in the evening. They were tired from work and wanted to have an early dinner. Deren helped them prepare the table and while they were eating, they talked about their day. “Didn't you get bored at home all day watching your I-pad”, his mother asked him. “No, not exactly,” Deren replied. His mother had to write a report and his father had some more work to do so Deren got up to his room and started to wait for Aunt Felicity. He was almost falling asleep when someone touched his shoulder. He looked up and saw Aunt Felicity standing beside his bed. She was much younger than he expected and was wearing a purple dress. “Time has come,” she said. “Now we are leaving”. She held Deren’s hand and they passed right through the wall and started flying towards the clouds. Then suddenly they came to a forest and Sue was waiting for them over there. “From here on you are by yourself” they said, and Deren started walking towards the castle. He had already made a plan. Since he had magic powers, he was going to sound the Space Traders alarm and ask for help. He did not have to wait long, Captain Forlan and Princess Shea arrived immediately. They knew that Deren was a great fan of their’s and they told him that they would do everything in their power to help. Deren told them about his plan. They made some slight changes but found the plan perfect. All Deren needed now was some equipment and that was no problem. They gave Deren a magneto shield and Spectrum laser gun which was powerful enough to kill a dragon. Their plan was simple but it needed a lot of skill and courage. Captain Forlan and Princess Shea would attack the main gate of the castle with their magneto-mobile and try to lure the flying dragons towards the forest. In the meantime Deren, with his magic skills would enter the castle from the roof. Everything started as planned. The flying dragons guarding the castle went after the magneto-mobile and tried to destroy it with flames from their mouths. Captain Forlan and princess Shea were fighting back with their Spectrum laser cannons. It was a very fierce fight. When Deren saw that all of the dragons were going after his friends, he flew to the roof and entered the castle through the attic window. He was trying not to make any noise as he approached the room of the mother witch. He slightly opened the door and saw the guardian dragon looking out of the window, trying to figure out what was going on outside. He saw the diary laying on the table, just as Sue had described it. He took a step towards the table but suddenly the dragon turned towards him. He could see its huge red eyes and sharp teeth even in the dark. The dragon threw a flame ball towards him, but Deren was able to stop it with his magneto shield. However, the force of the flame ball made him fall down just as another flame ball passed right over his head. He quickly drew his spectrum laser gun and shot at the dragon. The dragon fell down with a great noise. Deren picked up the diary from the table and was out of the room in a flash. He ran to the attic as he heard the dragon running after him. He flew back to the forest and sent a message to Captain Forlan and princess Shea that the mission was over and they could get back to their duties in space. Sue and Aunt Felicity were waiting for him. When Deren gave Sue her diary, she became so happy that she started  crying with joy. Aunt Felicity hugged Deren and told him that they were very proud of what he had done and would never forget it. “Now is the time for you to go back to bed and forget about the castle”, Aunt Felicity said. Next morning Deren woke up very early but he felt very strong and relaxed. He had never felt like this for a long time. Anyway, today was match day and he had to prepare himself. There was a great crowd at the stadium. People were cheering for both teams. The players were trying their best to win the game. Last minutes were being played and both sides had not been able to score a goal. The defense player kicked the ball forward and it landed just between Deren and the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper was much closer to the ball but Deren was fast, very fast indeed. He reached the ball before the goalkeeper and kicked it to the goal. The goalkeeper touched it at the last second and changed the direction of the ball. It was going out. Suddenly the ball stopped in mid air, changed direction and went directly to the goal. His team had won the match at the last minute of the game. Every one was cheering like crazy, all of his team mates were around Deren, hugging him. Deren was very happy indeed, he had been able to score a victory goal for his team. Then he raised his head and saw Sue, standing behind the goal. She winked at him then smiled, holding the magic wand in her hand.

#story storiesformygrandson childrenstory witch witchstory spacetrader adventure childadventure aricankurtay