#oh and I get to see Paige twice this weekend!! I love when I get to see Paige!!

[imaginespazzi]

Part 5: One Perfect Day

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Let me photograph you in this light (in case it is the last time that we might be exactly like we were)

(In which a procrastinating writer procrastinates giving her ship happiness)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Angst, Pining, Some Fluff

Words: 7.5K

TW: Swearing, Alcohol, Alludes to Sexual Content

A/N: Good evening my lovelies <3. As many of you have reminded me it is indeed Friday and so here we are, nobody needs to yell at me! I know I'm years too late with this but I hope y'all like it anyways, even though this is very much mainly hurt with very little comfort. But for things to get better, they have to get worse and remember, it's all for the plot! There's plenty of creative liberty taken this chapter with how hotels and post-championship celebrations work and other logistics but I wrote it how I needed to so just go with it. Did I edit? Yes. Are there typos and errors anyway? Probably. As always, tell me what you liked, what you disliked and what you'd like to see next. Have a wonderful weekend lovelies!!

March 2019 

The final buzzer echoes through the Williams Arena, and the disappointment of the last couple of years is finally drowned out as the Hopkins Royals win the state championship. Surrounded by the cheers of her teammates, Paige doesn’t know if she’d call this the happiest moment of her life, the stomach flu symptoms haven’t quite faded yet, but she knows it’s definitely on her mount rushmore of times when life was great. 

For a second, as she’d been crouched over the toilet with Azzi’s hands soothingly rubbing her back, feeling her soul leave with the remnants of last night's dinner, Paige had almost lost hope. But she’d never been taught to give up without a fight. And so it hadn’t mattered that she definitely looked a little green or that standing up was taking twice the energy it normally did, Paige was going to play today. It hadn’t been a flashy scoring night but she’d done everything else her team needed. And as that lead had built and built and built, Paige knew, the moment was still hers. 

“Paigeyyyyy,” Drew is the first one to find her after her and her teammates break apart, launching his tiny body into her legs, “you won!”

Paige laughs, lifting her brother into her arms and spinning him around, “I told you I was gonna didn’t I?”

One by one, her whole family, the epitome of a modern family, pull her into hugs and then they gather into one large group hug, with Paige at the centre of it all. Her siblings look at her with pure admiration while her parent’s eyes are filled with pride. And it fulfils that part of Paige that has always lived a little more for her family than for herself. 

As her family moves away slowly, Paige finds herself face to face with Azzi’s shining smile and her heart skips a beat. And she doesn’t really know when it started or even how really, but it gets a little more difficult every time she sees Azzi, for Paige to convince herself that that fluttering in her chest is nothing. 

“You look a little pale white girl,” Azzi teases, taking a couple of steps towards the blonde, “glad you didn’t vomit all over the floor.”

“Nah no bullshit flu is stopping Paige Bueckers. The flu is scared of me,” Paige juts out her chest with a smirk, earning her a patented eye roll from the younger girl. 

“Oh yeah, you’re real scary,” Azzi indulges before pulling Paige into a bone-crushing hug, “I’m proud of you P.”

Paige smiles into the crook of Azzi’s neck, basking in the glow of the compliment. It’s these little moments they have in between their constant banter, where they let themselves be each other’s biggest cheerleaders, that makes them Paige and Azzi. They pull away, still grinning. and Paige’s eyes roam over the Team Paige jersey framing Azzi’s body. It makes her feel some type of way to see the younger girl wearing her name across her chest, but it’s not a feeling Paige is quite ready to accept. Perhaps it’s been written in their destiny that someday things will change, that eventually they’ll both have to confront the something more that’s simmering underneath it all, but for now, Paige just wants to protect what they already have. 

“That’s a pretty jersey,” she says with a wink, fingers rushing over the soft material. 

“I was forced at gunpoint to wear it,” Azzi sighs dramatically, “I was actually cheering for Stillwater. Their pg’s kinda cute.”

Paige bristles at the comment, the queasiness from this morning returning with vengeance, “she’s mid as hell on and off the court.”

“Don’t be petty Paige. You think she’d let me wear her jersey instead?” 

“You know what,” Paige fights a losing battle with the quick surge of anger that’s taking birth in her stomach, “how about you take off my winner’s jersey and go to the loser’s locker room and beg for her jersey instead.”

She knows Azzi’s joking, knows the point guard on the other team isn’t even really Azzi’s type, knows that even if Azzi’s being serious, Paige doesn’t have a right to feel this way. But that green eyed monster is clawing at her heart, squeezing it and making it hard to breathe. 

“Oh- hey hey hey,” Azzi’s quick to grab at her when Paige tries to storm off, “chill dude. You know I’m just kidding.”

“Well it wasn’t funny,” Paige pouts, aware that she’s being unnecessarily childish. 

Azzi opens her mouth, about to make some smartass quip but there must be something about how genuinely frustrated Paige looks that softens her expression, “I came to watch you P. I have no idea what that other girl was doing. I was cheering for you the whole time.”

“You’re so sappy,” Paige snorts, throwing a handful of confetti at Azzi, but inside, the ice cold jealousy melts into something warm and lovely, spreading through her heart into her veins. 

“Can’t even say nice shit without you being a dick about it,” Azzi rolls her eyes, as she links her arms through Paige’s,  “now come on, let’s go celebrate you.”

***

It’s almost 2 a.m. when Paige’s teammates finally begin to filter out of her house, leaving with droopy eyes and tired smiles. She and Azzi stand in the doorway, waving goodbye to every last one of them and it feels a little domestic, like a couple after a dinner party. Paige shakes that thought away the minute it begins to form, forcing herself to ignore the burst of wouldn’t that be lovely that blooms in her chest.

“What if I just fell asleep here?” Paige sags against the doorframe. 

“You’d probably fall flat on your face and I’d get an epic video of it.”

“You’re so fucking mean to me.”

“Oh yeah right because you’re so nice to me.”

“Am to,” Paige retorts, before she makes grabby hands towards Azzi, “carry me?”

Azzi swats her hands away, “Absolutely not lazy, it’s one flight of stairs.”

“That’s like 20 steps,” Paige whines. To be honest, she’s not that tired. Out of the two of them, she’s probably closer to being a night owl. But Paige is nothing if not a little bit of nuisance, especially when it comes to Azzi. 

“Are you an athlete or not,” Azzi chides, rolling her eyes. 

“Bro I just won a championship AND I had the flu. And you won’t even carry me? What kind of best friend are you?”

“Paige.”

“Azziiiiii.”

“Paige I’m tired.”

“Pleeeeeaseeee.”

The younger girl sighs, a sign of her caving in, before turning around so her back is facing Paige's front, “fine, get on you big baby.”

“YES-”

“Dude shut up, you’re gonna wake everybody up,” Azzi groans, always the responsible one. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Paige whispers as she jumps onto Azzi’s back, the force of it causing the brunette to take a couple steps forward, “fucking hell Azzi don’t drop me.”

Azzi lets out an indignant squawk, as she regains her balance,  “with that attitude, I should drop you.”

“If you’re too weak to carry me, just say that,” Paige teases, wrapping her legs firmly around Azzi’s torso.  She buries her shit-eating grin in her best friend’s neck, as she loops her arms around Azzi’s shoulders.

“It is not my fault you’ve put on like a hundred pounds since I last saw you.”

Azzi squeals when Paige pinches at her ribcage and the blonde immediately slaps a hand on her best friend’s mouth, “what happened to being quiet? Now, onwards horsey- OW! Did you just fucking bite my hand!?”

“What happened to being quiet?” Azzi mocks, adjusting Paige’s weight on her back as she begins to walk towards the staircase, grumbling something under her breath about ‘ungrateful best friends’ but Paige knows she doesn’t mean a word of it. She snuggles further into Azzi’s neck, letting herself breathe in the scent of the younger girl. 

When Azzi had first left Minnesota, after they’d spent every second since the plane ride back from Argentina, Paige had thought that that hollowness in her chest was temporary, that it would fade once she got back into daily life. It didn’t. And the thing is the word miss had existed in Paige’s dictionary before too but she doesn’t think she really understood what it meant til she started to miss Azzi. 

As soon as they reach Paige’s bedroom, Azzi’s already swatting Paige off her back. The blonde falls back onto the pillows on her bed with a content sigh, watching with a cheeky grin as Azzi pretends to stretch out the muscles on her back and her arms.

“I think that might have broke my fucking back,” the younger girl groan, face scrunching up in mock exhaustion, “and I have to sit on a plane again tomorrow.”

That wipes the smile straight off Paige's face. It’s so easy to get lost in the moment with Azzi, so easy to forget that they spend less time together than they do apart. They haven’t bothered with the actual lights but even in the dim glow of the moon through Paige’s windows, Azzi sees her best friend’s change in expression clearly, her own face becoming melancholic. Sighing, she climbs onto the bed herself and lies down next to Paige, intertwining her hands with the older girl’s. 

“You could stay a little longer,” Paige says after a moment, eyes resolutely focused on the ceiling. 

Azzi let out a wistful sigh, “I wish. But you know I can’t.”

“You can, you just won’t, little miss goody-two-shoes,” the light-hearted teasing eases some of the mood as they both let out soft giggles. They dissolve into a comfortable silence before, “I can’t wait til we’re playing for UConn together.”

Paige misses the way Azzi stiffens a little next to her, too enthralled with imagining a future where she and her best friend could conquer the world together. She knows Azzi, with all her indecisive tendencies, hasn’t quite come around to being anywhere near ready to pick a college team yet but Paige still has time to convince her and Paige Bueckers is nothing if not persuasive. 

“So it’s definitely UConn then?” 

“Yeah. I mean it’s UConn dude. The UConn. They’re the best. All these other programs are nice but when UConn calls, you don’t say no to that shit,” and Paige means that with all her heart. As the number one recruit in her class, there had been no shortage of offers and of course Paige had entertained them for a little while. But the minute Geno Auriemma had given his offer, everything else had become obsolete. She hadn’t committed yet, still maintaining a façade of being in the decision stage, but all of that was just a front. Paige knows she’s meant to be a UConn husky, there’s no way around it. 

“I think you’ll make a pretty damn good Husky,” Azzi says with a soft smile, as she absentmindedly plays with Paige’s fingers. 

“We’ll make damn good Huskies,” Paige affirms. 

“I don’t know P, California’s pretty tempting,” it’s said teasingly but a hint of seriousness slips through the cracks anyway. 

Paige scoffs, “cause it’s hot? Bruh that much heat would be boring. Connecticut gets all four seasons. We’d get the heat and the snow.”

“I get all of that in Virginia already,” Azzi points out with a huff, “maybe I want something different.”

“You do get something different. You get to play with me. That’s different.”

“Yeah but-”

“Dude why are you fighting me on this? Do you not want to be on the same team as me or something?” Paige asks agitatedly, suddenly feeling frustrated with the turn the conversation had taken. 

“Okay breathe,” Azzi gives her a stern side-eye, “I was just saying California’s nice. Of course I want to be on your team. Did the shirt not make that obvious?”

Involuntarily, Paige has to smile at the memory of Azzi’s jersey, the team Paige that had been loudly imprinted across her chest, “right, sorry got a little carried away. I just always want you on my team, you know?”

“I’m always on Team Paige. I always have been. I always will be,” Azzi says firmly, as if it’s the most obvious truth in the world.  

When Paige turns her head to look at her best friend, the younger girl is already looking back at her and the sincerity in Azzi’s eyes makes Paige’s heart stutter. The moon shines against Azzi’s face and Paige swears she can see every little detail in the dim light. And the thing is Paige has always known Azzi’s a pretty girl, she’s not blind. But it’s different tonight. Tonight Azzi’s the kind of beautiful that Paige wants to memorise until it’s imprinted in the back of her eyelids, the kind of beautiful that she wants to lock away in a treasure chest and preserve only for her own eyes to ever see again. The kind of beautiful that Paige knows she isn’t allowed to think of Azzi as. But still, right now, Azzi’s the kind of beautiful that makes Paige want to try and see if maybe, just maybe, there’s the possibility for something more. 

That night, when she finally falls asleep to the sound of her best friend’s quiet breathing, Paige dreams of UConn and championships and at the end of it all, kissing Azzi under the confetti. 

***

April 2024

There’s 14 seconds left in the National Championship game and UConn is ahead by eight points. Adrenaline courses through Paige’s veins as that one elusive dream of hers seems to finally be coming closer and closer to fruition. Winning a National Championship had been on her mind since she’d first picked up a basketball. The minute she’d committed to UConn, it had felt inevitable and yet year after year, her team had fallen just a little short. But this afternoon, it seems like it’s finally within grasp. 14 seconds to go. 14 steps closer to having her perfect moment. 

Except, every time Paige had imagined this moment, she’d expected her best friend to be there. In the beginning, before everything, she’d dreamed of them being on the court together, running into each other’s arms the minute the buzzer sounded. And then, until the last second today before she had to take the court, Paige had just assumed that when she’d look in the stands, somewhere in the crowd, there’d be the one face she wanted to see most in the world. But no matter how much she squinted, that face had been nowhere to be found and Paige had forced herself to compartmentalise her disappointment, and focus on the game. She hadn’t looked at the crowd since. 

The ball is in the other team’s hands, their point guard, diligently calling out plays before she inbounds it. Coach’s words echo in Paige’s head, try for a clean steal but don’t under any circumstances foul. Their pg inbounds the ball and the shot clock starts to count down. The ball bounces through the hands of different players on the other team but the UConn defence is stifling. Their coach is out of timeouts and it isn’t until the last millisecond that they heave up a prayer shot. And it doesn’t matter if it goes in, it’s a two point possession game, but Paige’s eyes are glued on the basketball anyways. 

The shot is an airball. The buzzer sounds through the arena. UConn wins their 12th national championship. 

For a second, everything goes silent around Paige. The normally over-excitable girl, known for her insane golden retriever energy, is perfectly still. It takes a couple more seconds for the adrenaline to hit. And then she’s screaming, pummeling her body into the rest of her teammates as the bleed blue crowd goes wild. She loses herself in the noise of her teammates cheering and the bright lights of cameras flashing nearby. They did it. And it doesn’t erase just how fucking hard the last couple of year had been, but it makes the burden significantly lighter. 

Paige rushes through the handshake line, the opposing team’s coach giving her an appreciative review of her performance before she’s recaptured into a group hug by her teammates. It’s a surreal feeling really, one that’s far better than even her most wonderful dreams. For the first time since the game began, Paige lets her gaze wander over to the family section who are all tearfully hugging, smiling at her parents and then her siblings and then- 

When her eyes meet Azzi’s, it’s like the last piece of the puzzle has finally settled into its rightful place, completing the perfect picture of Paige’s perfect moment. A #5 UConn jersey hangs loosely against Azzi’s hips as she smiles shyly at her best friend. And Paige is scared to blink, scared if she looks away, the girl in front of her will disappear. It takes everything in her to not rush into the stands, pull her best friend into her and kiss her under the confetti. 

Azzi doesn’t budge when the rest of the family and friends crew start to move towards the court. There’s too much attention, too much media, for that to be a feasible option. Paige wishes they would all just disappear, let her have her moment the exact way she’d pictured it. She thinks she’d like to fulfil that dream of hers, kiss Azzi in the confetti, twirl her around, and between it all, let the world know that she was Paige’s. 

As always, Drew is the first person to reach her. He’s a little too big for her to pick up, but she spins him around anyway. 

“You won Paigey,” her little brother squeals and he might be older now, but that innocent admiration of his older sister is as palpable as always, “I knew you could do it!”

“Thanks for always believing in me, little dude,” Paige says softly, leaning her cheek against the top of Drew’s head.

Over the top of her brother's head, Paige realises with sudden panic that Azzi’s not there anymore. Dread filters into her bloodstream, the voices in her head screaming it was too good to be true. The way her body tenses doesn’t go unnoticed by her mother who’s quick to hold her. 

“She said to tell you she’d see you at the hotel later,” Amy Jo says with a knowing smile, before letting Paige’s body sag into hers. She rubs her daughter’s back as relief settles into the younger girl's features, “proud of you Paigey.”

Paige smiles into her mother’s chest. Last year had been the hardest of her life and for a while the light at the end of the tunnel had been hard to see. Today, she feels the light surrounding her, washing away all the darkness from the last few years, bathing her in the glow of happiness. 

***

“I always knew you’d look good in a UConn jersey.”

Azzi’s eyes fly open and Paige smirks, leaning her body against the wall. The last couple of hours had been a whirlwind of media, champagne and excited chatter about what the after party would be like. Paige’s focus had been on celebrating, but the thought of getting back to Azzi had been a constantly lingering presence in the back of her mind. And as the bus had gotten closer to the hotel, anxiety had creeped in because what if Azzi wasn’t there? What if she’d changed her mind? 

Paige had smiled for the fans outside the hotel, diligently posing for pictures and signing autographs, ignoring the heaviness in heart. But as soon as she was far away from prying eyes, she was bolting towards her room. And then everything was okay. Paige has heard a lot of cliché things about love, about how it makes you hear violins and see stars and all of that, about how it increases your heart rate and makes you flush. But Paige thinks all of that can’t quite be right. Because when she’d seen Azzi, curled up in her sheets, #5 jersey crumpled but still fitted around her body, Paige had only felt a sense of calm. And that Paige thinks, is probably the actual truth of love, it’s about finding peace and to Paige, Azzi has always been her peace. 

“I’d look great in any jersey,” Azzi claps back groggily, moving to sit up. 

“But you look the best in mine. You always have,” Paige tries to keep her voice teasing, but it comes out sounding rather wistful, and the next words are even softer, “you came.”

Azzi bites her lips, looking down at her fiddling thumbs, “you asked me to.”

Those four little words carve themselves into a little crevice in Paige’s heart as if they’ll stay there forever, as if they’ll echo through her entire body for the rest of time. She practically throws herself onto the younger girl, the force of it pushing Azzi back down into the pillows, as she buries her head in the crook of Azzi’s neck. Their legs slot together of their own accord and it’s a little bit like they’re trying to meld into each other’s skin the way they press themselves as close as possible, til there’s barely space for air in between them. They lie like that for god knows how long; it goes by in a rush and yet ever so slowly. 

“I’m really fucking happy you’re here,” Paige whispers into Azzi’s skin, “really fucking happy.”

Azzi doesn’t say anything, humming into Paige’s hair as she tightens her grip on the blonde’s waist but Paige can tell by the way she stiffens underneath her, that Azzi’s holding herself back from something. Her heart hammers in her chest as she lifts her face from Azzi’s neck to inspect the younger girl’s face. 

“What aren’t you saying to me Az?” she whispers quietly with a sinking feeling.

“Paige,” Azzi closes her eyes. And just that is enough for Paige to understand exactly what’s going through her best friend’s head and suddenly she wishes she’d never asked, just let them have this moment. 

“Never mind, I don't want to hear it.”

“That’s not how that works. I- I wanted to wait a little but we- we need to talk.”

“No we don’t,” Paige retorts stubbornly, fighting the tears threatening to spill, “I don’t want to.”

“Paige-”

The girl in question pushes herself off of Azzi, rising to sit on her knees, “this is meant to be the best day of my life Azzi.”

“I know- I’m sorr-”

“What game are you playing, Azzi? Why even fucking come if you were never gonna stay?” Paige spits out. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have,” Azzi says softly, as she sits up “maybe- maybe I should have stayed away. But it’s you Paige, it’s you and I- I’ve never been that good at staying away from you. And maybe I’m just really selfish but I- I told you once that I wanted to be there when your dreams came true and so- here I am.”

They’d barely known each other when Azzi had said that, when they had just been young innocent girls with a tentative friendship, lying in the grass and sharing their dreams. Back then, the words had thrown Paige off. She hadn’t quite understood why they had meant that much to her, why they had filled her with more warmth than the sun shining above them. But she’d tucked them away in a little corner of her heart hoping she’d understand it better when she was older. She’s older now and she understands. Except every single emotion she’d felt at fifteen is heightened with the realisation that the words had meant something to Azzi too. And-

Paige surges forward to kiss Azzi. She’s pretty sure this bipolar act of theirs will be the death of them someday but it’s the only thing in the moment that makes sense. Azzi is hesitant at first, clearly too in her head, always the overthinker, but she gives in when Paige squeezes at her waist. It’s not as if they’ve kissed that many times before but it feels familiar, a little bit like coming home. She moves to straddle Azzi’s hips and they can’t get any closer really with every bit of their bodies pressed together now, but Paige tries anyways, tries to etch please don’t leave me into the other girl’s skin. And she isn’t sure if the salt she can taste is from the tears steadily streaming from Azzi’s eyes or the ones free-falling from her own. 

The minute Azzi pulls away, Paige misses her. 

“We can’t-”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Paige cuts Azzi off immediately, resting her forehead against the younger girl’s, “please.”

“Paige,” Azzi breathes out, “I have to go.”

“No you don’t,” Paige says stubbornly. 

“Paige please-”

“Stay- fuck please- Azzi- just give me tonight. Tomorrow we can talk and you can-,” Paige swallows, not wanting to say leave out loud, “but please- tonight can we just pretend? Can you give me that? Fuck- can I just have tonight? Please- just- stay.”

Azzi lets out a shaky breath, “it won’t make it hurt less.”

“I know- fuck- I know but I just don’t want it to hurt right now.”

“Okay,” Azzi whispers slowly, thumb caressing Paige’s wet eyelashes, “okay, I’ll stay tonight.”

Paige kisses her again. 

***

The UConn team falls in love with Azzi in a matter of hours. No one had been shocked when Paige had shown up to the after party a.k.a everybody gathering at the hotel bar, fashionably late and with a nervous Azzi teetering behind her. It had been awkward at first; everyone was a little unsure of how to act around the new presence. Not only was Azzi from a rival team, but everyone was at least a little aware of her tumultuous relationship with their star player. But then KK had wanted to film a tiktok that needed someone to do random camerawork and when everybody else had groaned, Azzi had quietly volunteered. Much to KK’s delight, Azzi turned out to be quite the cameraman. And that apparently was all that was needed and Paige marvels at the way Azzi just fits.

She moves around Paige’s team as if they’re just as much hers. One second she’s timing some stupid drinking game that KK and Ice are playing, the next she’s sitting in a corner laughing with a more subdued Ash and Q. 

Aubrey and Ayanna gush over their girlfriend and Azzi’s coos over their pictures, a hint of wistfulness on her face when she meets Paige’s eyes. 

The team does their routine of teasing Aaliyah’s about being vegetarian and Azzi diligently backs the Canadian up with a spiel of how tofu isn’t actually that bad. That gets her a hi-5 from Aaliyah despite the eye rolls from the rest of the team. 

Despite being a little tipsy from having been dragged into doing shots with Amari and Carol, the two other people she knows pretty well, Azzi diligently lets Inés and Jana teach her little bits of Portuguese and Egyptian. 

Even Nika sheds her frostiness, amused by Azzi’s curiosity to learn her native language beyond just the curse words, and teaches the younger girl a couple of words. Azzi rolls her eyes fondly when she realises she’s been taught to say UConn is the best team ever in Croatian and amidst Nika’s laughter, Paige knows is a hidden acceptance. 

But the best part of it is that although Azzi’s suddenly being pulled in all different directions by various UConn girls, she never really leaves Paige’s side through it all. There’s always a little bit of them touching, whether it’s their shoulders or their knees, even when they’re both involved in completely different conversations and activities. It feels oddly domestic and Paige is reminded of the part after her state championship all over again. The burst of i want this forever that stirs in her chest makes her want to sob because it collides head first against a wall of this is only for tonight. And Paige knows that one night won’t ever be enough for her. 

“Aye Paige’s girl, come play truth or shots with,” KK’s loud voice breaks through Paige’s cloud of distress and it’s eclipsed by the implication of those two words. 

Paige’s girl. The phrases makes itself home in Paige’s heart, sounding so fucking right. She hasn’t let herself acknowledge it truly ever but that’s how it’s always been in Paige’s mind. It’s how she’s always thought of Azzi. As hers. Her Azzi. Her girl. 

“I’m not-that’s not-” Azzi’s cheeks are tinted pink as she stutters through her words, withering under KK’s cocked eyebrow. 

“Uh-okay if you say so,” KK rolls her eyes, holding her hands up in a sarcastic defensive position, “guess we’re starting off truth or shots by lying.”

The rest of the team laughs as Azzi’s blush grows even deeper and Paige can’t even try and hide her smile, her own neck tingling a little bit as she tucks herself into Azzi’s side. And it’s not real, they’re not anything, but in this moment it feels a little bit like they’re everything. 

“You guys are sickening,” Ice accuses when she notices the two of them cheesily smiling at each other, “it makes me gag.”

“They’re cute. Leave them alone,” Caroline chastises, ever the supportive friend. 

Azzi leans back against Paige’s arm as the group goes around the circle, asking each other ridiculous questions, cheering like little kids when their teammates opts to drink instead of answering a vaguely invasive question. When it’s her turn, Paige can already tell by the glint in KK’s eyes that her menace mini-me is about to cause trouble. 

“Paigey cakes, when’s the last time you had sex?”

Next to her, Paige can feel Azzi stiffen immediately. The shot feels heavy in Paige’s hand as she seriously contemplates taking it. She knows why KK asked the question, probably having concocted some idea of exposing Paige and Azzi. She’d known by the waggling eyebrows that the whole team had thought the two of them were late because they’d been fucking but that couldn’t be further from the bitter truth. 

Paige chances a look at Azzi’s face as she bites down on her lips. The younger girl’s face is stoically devoid of any emotion and Paige knows she’s thinking about the night of the crash (or as Paige likes to call it, the most terrifying night of her life) except- 

“November, last year,” Paige says slowly and Azzi whips her face around to look at her, lips falling apart in shock. 

“Don’t play, there’s no fucking way,” Ice guffaws and Paige shrugs. 

“It’s the truth.”

“Bruh what the fuck,” KK looks a little shell-shocked, “how the fuck did you survive that long?”

“Some of us actually know what to do with our own fingers,” Paige quips defensively, trying to ignore the butterflies dancing in her stomach at the way Azzi’s still looking at her. 

“I bet Azzi knows all about your fingers huh Azzi?” and even that, KK’s unhinged commentary, isn’t enough to get Azzi to pull her gaze away from Paige. It’s almost as if she hadn’t heard it all. 

“You didn’t- that night?” Azzi manages to get out. 

“Couldn’t do it,” Paige mumbles, “she wasn’t you.”

Despite the horde of people around them, they’re in their own little bubble now. There are a multitude of questions swimming in Azzi’s eyes and Paige wants to answer all of them if it means that maybe just maybe, she could prevent the inevitable misery tomorrow would bring. 

“Okay Azzi, it’s your turn,” Amari’s voice draws Azzi’s attention away and Paige feels cold without the heat of it. She doesn’t know how she’ll survive tomorrow. Living in the present isn’t working and Paige finds herself already feeling the emptiness she knows will become her reality in a couple of hours. Her fingers tap an incessant pattern on her thigh as she tries to keep her focus on the game, 

Azzi swallows nervously before mustering up a grin with false confidence, “I’m ready. Hit me with your best, I’m not drinking.”

“We’ll see about that,” KK smirks, diabolically rubbing her hands together, before she turns to Nika, “all yours Nik-Nik.”

The other girls “ooh”, knowing  Nika’s reputation for being notoriously good at this game. The Croatian grins at Azzi, as she sits up from where she’d been lazily lying on the love seat, a glint of mischief in her eyes. And then her eyes meet the forlorn ones of her twin and something shifts. When she looks back at Azzi, there’s a more serious look on Nika’s face. 

“Have you ever been in love?”

There’s pin drop silence once the gravity of the question registers. The light-hearted air in the room is replaced with anticipation, as all of Paige’s teammates look back and forth between their point guard and her best friend. Paige isn’t sure if she wants to know the answer, doesn’t know if there’s an answer that wouldn’t break her heart just a little bit. For a second, it looks like Azzi’s going to drink until she puts the shot down on her hand rest until- 

“Yes,” she confesses in a whisper, and Paige feels her heart begin to race, “I have.”

“How many times?” Nika prods

“That’s not how the game works. I already answered your question.”

“Different rules for newcomers,” Nika shrugs. It’s a blatant lie but nobody says anything. Paige is still caught up in her own head and the other girls won't challenge Nika, not when they’re just as curious, “I get to ask questions til you drink.”

Azzi narrows her eyes, knowing it’s all bullshit and maybe if she wasn’t a little bit tipsy and competitive, maybe if she couldn’t feel every inch of Paige’s side pressed against her, she’d walk away but she can’t. 

“Only once,” she answers. 

“With your ex-girlfriend?” Nika asks. The way she raises an eyebrow suggests there’s only one right answer to the question. Paige doesn’t know if there’s a right or wrong answer, only that there’s an answer that would shatter her. 

“No. I was never in love with her,” Azzi directs the answer towards Nika, but everyone knows it’s meant for Paige’s ears. And despite the tornado still roaring in her body, the blonde lets out a sigh of relief. 

Nika’s intimidating demeanour cracks a little bit when that answer makes her smile, “are you in love with someone right now?”

Even if it’s not said out loud, the implication of Nika’s question, the someone, is clear. And suddenly Paige doesn’t want to hear the answer, not right now, not when they’re both a little tipsy, not when they’re surrounded by all her teammates, not when their future is so unclear. 

“Drink,” Paige cuts in, holding the shot in front of Azzi, “don’t answer it.”

“Paige-”

“Drink Azzi,” Paige says firmly. 

Azzi looks equal parts relieved and frustrated as she downs the drink, happy to have gotten out of the uncomfortable round of questioning but a little annoyed at losing in front of the UConn girls. 

“And you said you wouldn’t drink,” Nika sneers, as she hi-5’s her teammates. 

“Because you bent the rules; she did great,” Paige defends immediately and everyone snickers, the mood in the room returning to something more casual.

“So fucking pussywhipped,” Ice teases. 

“Shut up,” Paige whines, hiding her face against Azzi’s shoulder as everybody else laughs. If the voices in head screaming this is just for tonight would shut up for a second, Paige thinks maybe she could fall in love with this moment, surrounded by her found family. 

It’s almost 3 am when the team decides maybe they should start going to bed, knowing they have a morning flight back to Connecticut. Everyone else is still in a jovial mood, sufficiently drunk of both alcohol and the high of a championship but Paige’s stomach pools with dread. Every minute is a step closer to a goodbye, she’ll never be prepared to say. 

They get to the lobby of the hotel when Paige turns to Azzi, ignoring her anxiety to be a nuisance instead. 

“No,” Azzi says immediately when she sees Paige making grabby hands at her, “there’s literally an elevator Paige.”

“So? That just makes it easier for you. This is tradition.”

“In what world is this a tradition?” Azzi sighs exasperatedly. 

“Since I won the state championship,” Paige grins, “pleeeeease, I’m tired, my feet hurt.”

Azzi gives her an unimpressed look, “you’ve been sitting for the last couple of hours.”

“And before that I was winning a championship, after beating your team by the way,” Paige’s smirk widens when Azzi guffaws at catching a stray. 

“Oh fuck off. Reminding me of that is not the way to get me to carry you by the way.”

“C’mon Az, you know you’re gonna give in anyway. You know you wanna sleep, stop wasting time.”

Azzi rolls her eyes with a dramatic sight before doing exactly what she always does, giving into Paige, “hop on then you big baby.”

Paige cheers, latching on Azzi’s back as her knees circle around the other girl’s waist. Unlike when they were younger, Azzi’s doesn’t stumble anymore at the additional weight. She’s stronger now, completely solid and steady underneath Paige and that absolutely doesn’t trigger any inappropriate thoughts in the older girl’s brains, absolutely. 

“Y’all are so cringe,” KK crinkles up her face when she turns to look at them as they wait for the elevator, but there’s a certain amount of fondness in her voice, “but Azzi’s cool. Much cooler than you P boogers. You should bring her around more often.”

Paige’s smile vanishes in tandem with Azzi letting out a strangled noise. KK looks between the two of them, slowly realising maybe she’d just put her foot in her mouth. 

“Yeah, maybe,” Paige answers noncommittally, trying to keep her voice steady. 

Much to her relief, the elevator dings open, saving her from having to say anything more. She wraps her arms tighter around Azzi, burying her face as far into the other girl’s neck as she can and closing her eyes, trying to lose herself in Azzi, instead of in the jail of her own mind.

She doesn’t look up from where she’s nestled into Azzi’s skin, when the rest of her teammates start towards their own separate rooms, telling Azzi how lovely it was to meet her. 

“Can you get off her back, so I can give her a hug?” Ice pinches Paige’s arm but the older girl just shrugs her off. 

“No. Go hug someone else.”

“Bro you’re so fucking annoying,” Ice groans and Azzi sends her an apologetic wink but it doesn’t go unnoticed that she doesn’t try to shake Paige off like she normally would. It heals something in Paige to know that Azzi doesn’t want to let go either. And she doesn’t understand why they’re doing this, why they’re fighting this, when neither of them want to. 

“I think your teammates might like me better than you,” Azzi teases when they finally get back to the room and Paige climbs off of her back. The blonde is too lost in her thoughts to come back with a smart quip. And of course her best friend notices it immediately, nudging her quietly, “P? You good?”

Paige blinks up at Azzi, and even before she says the word, she knows Azzi’s already read them in her eyes, “I don’t want you to go.”

“Paige,” Azzi sighs tiredly, “what happened to pretending tonight?”

“Fuck pretending,” Paige blames the alcohol for how loud her voice comes out, guilty only because it makes the girl in front of her flinch, “I don’t want just tonight. It’s no where near fucking enough. I want forever. With you.”

“That’s not- Paige- we live on different sides of the country.”

“For now, but we can make it work. It’s us,” Paige pleads desperately. 

Azzi scoffs, stepping away from Paige, “you say that like it a good thing.”

“What-”

“Us! We don’t- it’s not- being ‘us’ is not a good thing Paige. May us from before but us now? Us now is complicated and messy and hard and I just- I can’t do this Paige.”

“You can- we can- Azzi- just- think about it okay- sleep on it- you’ll see. You’ll see, I’m right.”

Azzi shakes her head, closing her eyes as a single teardrop leaks out, “you’re making this so fucking hard Paige.”

“I don’t want to- I’m sorry- I’m so sorry baby,” the term of endearment slips through Paige’s lips before she can catch it, “but I need you to think about it once please.”

She moves to cup Azzi’s cheeks, thumb caressing away the tears, “please.”

“Okay, okay,” Azzi nods, resting her forehead against Paige’s, “I’ll think about it.”

They’re quiet as they get changed for bed, thinking about the same thing. Co-existing together comes naturally to them after years of inhabiting each other’s space and the. there's no getting in each other’s way, even if they’re both dead silent. It’s awkward when they finally get into bed, both of them lying on their back, resolutely staring up at the ceiling. Paige is the first one to move, turning onto her side so she can face Azzi. The moon shines against Azzi’s face and Paige thinks that so much has changed, but Azzi’s still that kind of beautiful, the same kind of beautiful Paige had thought of her as since the state championship. 

“What was your answer going to be,” she asks quietly. 

“To what?”

“To Nika’s question. Are you in love with someone right now?”

Azzi hesitates a little bit, before turning her own body to face Paige, “you know the answer Paige, you don’t need me to say it.”

Paige doesn’t prod, knowing they were too volatile for her to keep pushing. Instead she reaches over to intertwine their hands together. 

“Do you know what my answer would have been?”

“Yeah,” Azzi says softly, squeezing her hands, “yeah I do.”

Maybe there’s peace in knowing. Or maybe there’s only more pain. Paige doesn’t know if the truth sets her free, doesn’t know if she could ever even be set free from the shackles that bind her to Azzi, doesn’t think she even wants to be set free. But at least Azzi knows too. Maybe there’s peace in drowning together. 

***

Paige wakes up in a panic when she reaches over and finds the other side of the bed empty. She gets up with a jolt, eyes frantically searching for Azzi, until they finally land on the girl sitting on the couch next to the bed. 

“Fuck,” Paige’s voice is still wracked with sleep, “I thought you left.”

“That’s more your style,” Azzi says and Paige flinches at the reminder, “how’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good. How about you?”

“Pretty shit actually” Azzi admits, “I woke up every two seconds, scared you’d be gone.”

“Az-”

“You asked me to believe in you- to believe in us and I-” Azzi draws in a sharp breath and Paige knows she’s not going to like where this is going, “I want to- I really, really, wish I could. But I don’t. I can’t- I can’t be with you Paige- not when I’m scared you’re going to break my heart every second.”

“Azzi,” Paige scrambles across the bed, stopping when the girl in question holds her hands up. Everything in her feels like it’s on fire. There are no burn marks on her skin but she swears she’s been turned to ashes underneath. 

“And you deserve better than that too Paige. You deserve someone who- who’s not scared. Who can give you all of herself without- without holding back and I- I can’t do that.”

“You can- fuck- Azzi you can- please,” desperation leaks through every syllable as Paige fights what she knows is a losing battle. 

“Not right now. Too much has happened between us and we can’t- we can’t just ignore all of that and start something new- maybe someday- but not right now.”

Azzi stands up from her seat, hesitantly walking over to Paige’s side of the bed. She cups Paige’s face, watery dark brown eyes meeting crystal blue ones that are glistening with tears. 

“Azzi please,” Paige begs, feeling everything slip away before she’d even had a chance to fight for it. 

Azzi presses her lips to Paige’s forehead, holding them there for what feels like the briefest of seconds until she’s pulling away, “I’m sorry P.”

And then she’s gone and every part of Paige’s heart is gone with her. 

#pazzi #paige bueckers #azzi fudd #wcbb

[atlafan]

Office Neighbors - Part Six

a/n: here we are, and it certainly won’t be over after this! didn’t have time to proof read sorry, hope you enjoy! (reblogs and feedback are super helpful!)

warnings: fluff, smut, minor character death

words: 15K

masterpost

The semester was in full swing, and you were counting down the days until Thanksgiving break. It was time you could dedicate to grading, and your brother always cooked this gourmet meal for your family, so all in all, you were just ready to for the little time away. You just needed to get through another two weeks.

It was also time off for Harry. Andy always spent his Thanksgiving break with Paige since Harry got him for Christmas in London. Typically, you ate at Harry’s house for dinner twice a week, and then when Andy was at Paige’s for a weekend, Harry would either sleep at your place, or you would sleep at his. Sometimes you would go to the library together to work. He really helped you find a work-life balance. Now, Harry usually went to Lisa’s for Thanksgiving, but he wasn’t sure if those plans were set to change. He was sort of hoping to go to Boston with you, but he didn’t want to invite himself.

“I think you should just ask her.” Andy says as he helps Harry set the table.

“I don’t want to impose, it’s rude.”

“But you’re her boyfriend, she should want you to spend Thanksgiving with her.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

“You say that all the time.” He rolls his eyes.

“It is! It’s not just her and I having dinner, I’d be meeting her whole family, that’s a big deal.”

“Why?”

“Because…well…it’s one thing for her to like me, but I’d want her family to like me too.”

“Dad, literally who has ever met you ever likes you. Even Noah’s parents like you.”

“Thanks.” Harry chuckles. The doorbell rings and he smiles. “Go open that for her, will you?”

Andy races over to the door, and opens it for you.

“Hi, Y/N.” He smiles.

“Hi, Andy, how was school?” You smile as you come in and kick your boots off. “Getting cold out there.” You shiver as you take your jacket off.

“School was good.” He shrugs. “My health class just started and it’s really awkward.”

“Oh, I bet.” You walk in with him and the dessert your brought. “I brought cookies, couldn’t help myself.” You say to Harry, kissing his cheek.

“Thank you.” He smiles and takes it to put on the counter. “We’re having chili tonight, thought it would be nice for a cold evening.”

“Definitely, it smells amazing.”

Everyone makes a bowl, and adds what they want. After chatting about something funny one of Harry’s students says, Andy jumps into the conversation.

“Man, I cannot wait for Thanksgiving break. I know it’s only a few days, but I can’t wait.”

Harry slowly turns his head to look at his son, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Yeah? You go to your mom’s right?” You say.

“Mhm, my grandparents and aunt come, and so does Noah’s family. It’s actually pretty fun. My mum and aunt cook everything together. What do you usually do for Thanksgiving, Y/N?”

“Well, when I was growing up we always hosted at my parent’s house, but my brother tends to host now since he’s the one that does that cooking.”

“He’s a chef, right?”

“A sous chef, but yeah.” You smile. “Although, he doesn’t cook everything. I tend to make the more Jewish dishes, and then he makes the more traditional Thanksgiving things.”

“Noah’s mum makes a brisket, do you guys have that too?”

“Mhm! My brother makes it, although I don’t eat it anymore.” You shrug and take another bite of the chili.

“Dad goes to Auntie Lisa’s.”

“Oh, you do?”

“Yeah…”

“That must be so much fun! Her husband is such a good cook. At the last game night there he made this spinach puff things, and I think I ate the whole tray.” You laugh.

“It’s usually a good time, yeah.”

“I’m surprised you don’t do Thanksgiving at Paige’s.”

“Nah, we tend to keep holidays separate. Her family doesn’t really understand the co-parenting.”

“Gram and Gramp are kind of snooty.” Andy says. “I love them, but I usually cap the convo at five minutes, and then I find an excuse to walk away.”

You burst out laughing and so does Harry, and Andy ends up laughing too. After dinner, and the cookies, Andy goes off to start his homework, which leaves you and Harry to clean up in the kitchen.

“He’s a lot like you, you know? He’s very smooth.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bringing up what we all do for Thanksgiving, almost seemed like he was hinting at something.” You smirk. “It’s cute you talk to him about me, honestly.”

“What…I wasn’t-“

“Did you really think I wasn’t going to invite you?”

“I…well, it’s a couple of weeks away and you haven’t mentioned it, so I just figured you weren’t ready for me to meet your family.” He runs a hand through his hair.

“I was going to run it by you tomorrow…I took me a minute to work up the courage to tell my family I was going to invite you, I’m sorry.”

“No! It’s okay, so, you want me to come?”

“I do, would you?”

“Yes.” He puts his hands on your hips and kisses you. “I’d love to.”

“Great!” You wrap your arms around his neck. “I was thinking we could drive down Thursday, and then spend the night at a hotel in the city, and then Friday we could, like, do a ton of touristy Boston things before driving back up.”

“That sounds amazing. Um, let me pay for the hotel though.”

“Oh, please.” You scoff.  

“Come on, it’s gonna be really expensive because of the holiday.”

“Julian, Phil’s partner, manages a hotel in the city, he said he could cut me a deal. It’s really no problem.”

“Oh…well, alright then.” He smiles. “I’m excited.”

“Me too.”

“Do you think they’ll like me?”

“I think so, yeah, but I have to warn you…when I first told you about them they had a lot of concern that I was getting involved with someone who has a kid, so they may ask a lot of personal questions. I told them not to, but they tend not to listen to me.”

“Guess it sort of comes with the territory. Nothing I can’t handle.”

You kiss goodbye before you leave, and Harry nearly squeals. He goes down to Andy’s room.

“Guess who got invited to Thanksgiving?”

“Are you serious?!” Andy stands up and gives Harry a high five. “That’s great! You should bake a pumpkin pie, you make the best pumpkin pie.”

“I do, don’t I?” He smirks. “I’ll ask her what I can bring. We’re gonna be going over night together, wow.”

“Is it that big of a deal? You have sleepovers all the time.”

“Andy…”

“I’m not stupid, Dad, she leaves…girly things here.”

“Okay, so we have sleepovers a lot, but going away with someone overnight is, like, next level.”

“You went camping together before you were even together, and then you went to that conference.”

“We didn’t share a room at the conference. It’s…it’s just different, okay? A good different. It’s gonna be great.”

“How come she doesn’t stay over when I’m here?”

“We haven’t really been together long enough for that. I don’t think she really feels comfortable just yet.”

“Why? You’re just sleeping.”

“Right…”

Andy gives Harry a weird look, and then his eyes widen.

“Oh, Jesus, Dad, don’t be gross!”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You’re so annoying, get out!”

Harry puts his hands up in defense and walks away. He really didn’t mean anything by his response, but Andy was smart, and sex was still an awkward topic. He wouldn’t even watch a movie with Harry now if there was a kissing scene in it. Things were okay with Brandon, and that was all Harry cared about. He was sort of hoping health class would help.

//

Andy had a half day at school on Wednesday, so Harry had to pick him up and bring him back to the university. When he was picking him up he noticed him saying goodbye to Brandon. They were hugging…for a while.

“See you Monday, have fun at your mom’s.” Brandon smiles as he lets go of Andy.

“Thanks, have a good time in Connecticut.”

“Text me if you need me…I know it’s a lot for you over there for so long.”

“I will, I’ll probably need to call you Thursday night.”

“Works for me, it’ll give me an excuse to get away from cousins. I really don’t feel like staying up to play Barbie’s with them.” He rolls his eyes.

“You’re the best.” He looks over and sees Harry’s car. “My dad’s here…bye.”

“Bye.”

They hug one more time and then Andy walks over to Harry’s car, getting in the back seat.

“Hey, how was the half day.”

“Good.” Andy shrugs. “We just ate food and watched a movie.”

“Are you still hungry? I brought some extra snacks to my office this morning.”

“Yeah, I’m hungry. Did you bring anything good?”

“Cheese sticks and grapes.”

“Guess that’s fine.”

“You’re gonna eat a lot of junk this weekend, couldn’t letcha eat a bad snack with me before Mum comes to get you.”

When Harry gets back to his office with Andy, he sees you laughing with Andre. Now, Harry knew he had nothing to worry about with Andre, but he was definitely curious to see what was so funny.

“Hi, Y/N!” Andy says, hugging you.

“Oh! Hi, Andy.” You smile and hug him back.

“What’s so funny?” Harry asks coolly.

“Oh, Y/N was just pointing out how students just skip class all week to beat the traffic, but we don’t have that luxury.”

“I mean, I know all classes after three are cancelled, so we can sort of leave early, but come on. At least let me know you’re not gonna be there.” You say. “Whatever, just need to teach one more class.”

“Can I go?” Andy asks.

“Andy…Y/N’s teaching a class about rhetoric, it’s a little high level for you.”

“I don’t have any homework or anything to do, and I don’t feel like just sitting around.”

“He can come if he wants.” You shrug. “Gotta go now though.”

“Okay!” Andy runs into Harry’s office to grab his snack and then joins you.

“He really likes her, huh?” Andre says to Harry.

“Yeah, he does.”

//

What you were talking about in class was way over Andy’s head, but what he did understand was when you put an episode of The Office. You wanted to show different persuasion tactics used while making a sale, and you thought it would be relatable for the students. Andy thought you were the coolest person in the world for showing it.

“Alright, I hope you all have a great few days off, I’ll see you Monday.” You say at the end of class. Andy gets up from the back of the class and comes towards you. “So, what did you think?”

“I liked the part where you put on The Office.” He giggles.

“I thought so.”

“I didn’t understand a word you said, but I sort of got some of it when you put the show on. It’s sort of cool how, like, a sow you could watch just for fun could have a deeper meaning.”

“It’s very cool.” You smile and walk with him back down to Harry’s office.

You stop short when you see Paige sitting on the edge of his desk.

“Mum?”

“Hi, honey! I came to surprise you. I had a half day today too.” She smiles and hugs him. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Hi, how are you?”

“I’m good, thanks. Dad already helped me put your things in my car, so we’re good to go.”

“Oh…alright.” Andy gives Harry a hug goodbye. “Have in Boston.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Harry stands up and puts his hands in his pockets.

“Boston?” Paige raises an eyebrow with a smile.

“He’s coming home with me.” You say.

“That’s great! Well, safe travels.”

“Bye, Y/N.” Andy hugs you and out the door they go.

“Did you know she was coming here to get him?”

“No, she texted me, like, two seconds after you went to class, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting to see her.”

“You know, she mentioned a while back that she’d like to get together with you sometime…I think it might be a good idea for you to get to know her better.”

“Harry, no offense, but I don’t need to be best friends with your ex.”

“I’m not asking you to be, but you’re in Andy’s life, she wants to get to know you better.”

“Just a one on one thing?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll think about it.” You say and leave his office. He follows you into yours and you sigh.

“Do you have a problem with Paige?”

“No, of course not. I just don’t feel super comfortable getting together with her so she can grill me.”

“That’s not why she wants to meet up with you.”

“So, it wouldn’t be a couple of hours of her asking me a bunch of questions?”

“Well, you’d ask her questions too. I did the same with Noah, and I get along great with him.”

“I get along just fine with her.”

“You’ve been around her, like, four times.”

“And it’s been great every time, why rock the boat?” You shrug.

“Y/N…she’s the mother of my kid, she’s not going anywhere, and it would mean a lot to me if you got to know her better, alright?”

“Alright…maybe once the semester is over she and I could get together for lunch or something.”

He smiles at you and kisses your cheek.

“You’re the best.”

“Someone has to be.” You sigh and it makes him laugh. “Did you want to just stay at my place tonight so we can leave from there tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sounds good. What time do you want me over?”

“Seven?”

“I’ll be there.”

//

Harry: what should I pack for clothes, how fancy is dinner?

You: I’ll just be in jeans a blouse, wear what makes you comfortable

You thought it was sweet that Harry was a little nervous to meet your family. They weren’t scary people, but you were the baby, and you knew that came with a lot of questions. Harry comes over a little after seven in some joggers and a long sleeve shirt, and a couple of bags.

“Mm, smells good in here.” He says, kissing your cheek.

“I just finished baking what I need to bring.”

“I made a pumpkin pie to bring, could I stick it in the fridge?”

“That’s so sweet! Of course, go right ahead.”

You take his bags and bring them into your disaster of a room. You hadn’t been very good at putting your laundry away once it was folded, nor were you good about getting your dirty laundry in the hamper. You sigh and start running around to tidy it up.

“I thought you did chores once a week?” Harry chuckles as he stands in the doorway.

“I…haven’t been making much time for it with all the work I need to do. And then I come in here and it’s just too overwhelming. Everywhere else is fine though.”

“You know, having a messy room can cause just as much anxiety before you go to bed because you get reminded of the stress-“

“Har?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t need a lecture from you on my messy bedroom, okay?”

“Wasn’t giving you one.” He raises his hands in defense. “Don’t feel like you need to clean it just because I’m here either.”

“No, I don’t wanna come back to a mess, just…go watch TV until I’m done in here, it’s mostly just laundry.”

“I can help if you want.” You make a face at him. “What? I could throw a load in for you, or help you put things away.”

“You can help by just giving me a minute. I’ve been trying to reconfigure things, I may buy a larger dresser soon.”

“Why? You could just go through get rid of what you don’t need. Perfect time of year to do it.”

“I did that already…” You bite your bottom lip. “I was thinking…well…you come over a lot, and I’ve been trying to clean out a couple of drawers for you so you could just leave some weekend clothes here if you wanted.”

“R-really?” He looks at you like a wide eyed puppy.

“Yeah, we’ve been together five months, I think it makes sense to give you a drawer, I even made room in my bathroom for you, come look.” You tug him into the bathroom “I put up this rack so you could leave some shaving stuff or whatever you usually bring. If you’re comfortable with it.”

“You won’t mind my stuff crowding you?”

“No, if anything it’ll be like you’re here when you’re not here.” You say quietly and look at him. “I leave things at your place, I want you to leave things here.”

Harry tilts your chin up to look at him and he kisses you. He never had a relationship like this before. Well, he sort of did this with Paige, but it was different. He thought it was so sweet that you wanted these pieces of him around, and he knows he should do the same for you.

“Next time you’re at my place, there will be a drawer and some closet space for you.” He smiles. “I’ll go watch some TV while you do your thing.”

“Thanks.”

Around forty-five minutes later you plop down onto the couch next to Harry, and sigh. He throws an arm around you and kisses your temple.

“What are you watching?”

“SNL’s Thanksgiving clip show.”

“Oh fun!”

“What time do we need to be on the road tomorrow?”

“Not terribly early. Today’s the big travel day, I didn’t hit any traffic last year. We can leave around eleven.”

“Amazing. I don’t mind getting up early, but it’s nice to not have to sleep in on our days off.”

“I agree.”

You both shift so you can lay on top of him. He rubs your back, and you both giggle over the funny sketches. You pull a blanket over the two of you, and just get really cozy.

“I’m excited to be going overnight with you in the city. Where are we going Friday?”

“I thought we could take the T to Faneuil Hall and do some shopping, and then we could go to the North End for food.”

“Sounds good to me. Is there anything specific I need to know about your family before I meet them?”

“Not really…my parents can be sort of abrasive, but they mean well. Phil and Julian are pretty chill.”

“How long have they been together for?”

“God, like…six years I think.”

“That’s nice.”

“They’re a great couple. I think everyone will like you, Harry, nothing to worry about.” You lean up and kiss his forehead.

He cups your cheeks and pulls you closer to kiss your lips. You skootch up his body, and his hands slide down to your ass. You bite down on his bottom lip briefly before pulling away.

“Can we be lame and just go get really cozy in bed?” You say.

“Not lame at all, I’m pretty tired from all the grading I did this afternoon.”

You get off him and you both do your nightly routines before getting into bed.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is your bed so warm already?”

“Oh! I turned my heated blanket on before I came out to watch TV with you. Nice and toasty, right?”

“Very.” He chuckles. “Now turn over so I can have that booty.”

“Harry.” You laugh, but do as he says, and adjust right into him. His leg goes right over your hip like always, and he holds you nice and close.

“I’m so glad you like sleeping like this, I don’t know what I’d do.” He chuckles into the back of your head.

“I know, could you imagine if I wasn’t to feel crushed while I’m sleeping?”

“Y/N.” He laughs.

“For real, I sleep so well with you.”

“Me too.” He nuzzles in closer. “Maybe when I get back from London you could try sleeping over on school nights.” You turn over to face him immediately.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah…wouldn’t be so weird, would it?”

“How would Andy feel about it?”

“He asks all the time why you don’t just spend the night when you have dinner with us. We could try it out and see how it goes.”

“With you in London for a few weeks, what does he do for school?”

“Oh, Paige just drives him back and forth.”

“That’s not annoying?”

“She really doesn’t mind it, it’s just extra time to spend together. It’s only two weeks for him to deal with it.”

“I could…help with rides if need be…or if he misses the house at all I could always stay over there with him.”

“Oh, so you’ll have sleepover with him without me?”

“I’m just saying, I can be helpful.”

“I appreciate that.” He kisses you. “So, will you try sleeping over some night when I get back?”

“Yeah, as long as he’s okay with it, we can give it a try. I wouldn’t mind carpooling.”

You kiss again, and you turn back over so he can spoon you. Five months together, and things were going so well.

//

The next morning your alarm goes off at 8:30. You turn it off quickly, and when you try to get up Harry clings to you tighter.

“Harry.” You giggle. “I need to shower.”

“But you’re so cozy.” He groans.

“You know how long it takes me to blow dry and curl my hair, please let me get up.”

“Alright.” He sighs. “But I’m going in there with you.”

“Oh, you are?” You raise an eyebrow at him.

“Mhm, gonna fuck you in there.” He grins at you. “If you want.”

“Hmmm.” You pretend to mull it over, but you grin back at him and nod.

Now, typically, you wouldn’t just let a guy stick it in, and trust his pullout game, but condoms in the shower never felt good, so you and Harry may have agreed that shower sex was the one time he didn’t need a condom. The first time you did it like this, not too long ago, you nearly cried from how good it felt it really feel him inside you.

“Oh, fuck, right there, Harry!” You moan out as he thrusts into you from behind, his skin slapping against yours. You reach back to squeeze at his arm as you come undone, and he pulls out shortly after to come on your ass. You both sigh with relief.

“Feel like horny teenager with you sometimes.” He chuckles as he starts to lather up his body.

“Me too.” You start washing your hair.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“I know you said you got off the pill because it didn’t make you feel good, but…are there other birth controls out there that don’t fuck with you?”

“Yeah, they’re called condoms.” You say as you put some conditioner in.

“Y/N.” He rolls his eyes and steps into the water once you’re done rinsing your hair.

“I mean…I know there’s an IUD that doesn’t mess with your hormones, but the procedure is a tad invasive, and it probably wouldn’t even be in there that long.”

“Why’s that?” He scrubs his own head so he doesn’t see your face flush.

“I just mean, like, I don’t know, what’s wrong with what we’re doing?”

“Nothing…I guess selfishly it would be nice to do it like this all the time, and not have to worry.” He looks at you. “You done?” He asks as he reaches to turn the water off.

“Yeah.” You pull the curtain and get toweled up, and hand him his. “I get where you’re coming from with that…I just…selfishly I don’t wanna compromise on it. If you’re worried about pulling out, then we don’t need to fuck in the shower like this. We can just go back to what we were before.”

“But I like fucking you in the shower like this.” He pouts and puts his hands on your hips. “You won’t even think about going on something?”

“I’m sorry, Harry…I don’t want to.”

“Alright.” He sighs. “I get it, I suppose. Condoms it is.” He kisses your forehead and leaves you to do your hair.

When you finish with your hair, you don’t see Harry in your bedroom. You go into the kitchen and see him fully dressed, getting some peanut butter on toast.

“Here, a light breakfast.” He smiles.

“Thank you.” You kiss his cheek, and take a bite of the toast. “You look handsome.” You smile at him and he smiles back.

“I’m gonna go call Andy while you’re finishing up. Do you mind if I use your office?”

“Not at all! Go right ahead.”

You finish up the toast and then go back into your room to finish getting ready. You put on a pair of black jeans, and a blue long sleeve blouse, and then go into the bathroom to put a little makeup on.

“Y/N?” Harry pops his head into the bathroom.

“Yeah?” You giggle.

“Andy wants to wish you a happy Thanksgiving.”

“Oh!” You reach out for the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi, Y/N!”

“Hi, Andy, happy turkey day.” You smile.

“You too! You and Dad are going to Boston for a couple of days, huh?”

“That’s right! Want us to bring you back anything special?”

“That depends…where are you going?”

“We’re going to be where a ton of Italian restaurants are, which means Italian bakeries. Would you like a fresh cannoli brought back to you?”

“I think I’d like you forever if you did that.” He laughs and so do you.

“Then I think that can be arranged.”

“Okay! Sorry, Mum wants to talk to Dad…”

“Oh! That’s fine, it was nice talking to you.” You hand the phone back to Harry. He was smiling ear to ear.

“Hey, yeah, he is polite isn’t he?” Harry chuckles and steps out of the bathroom. When you come out to the living room he’s sitting on the couch reading.

“All set?”

“Yeah, was just waiting for you. You’re good to go?”

“Mhm, would you carry the food down to the car for me?” You say, putting your jacket on.

“Yup, I’ll grab our bags too.”

“Thank you.” You give him a quick kiss and out the door you go.

You didn’t have an automatic start on your car and you wanted to warm it up a bit. Harry brings everything down to the car, and off you go towards the highway. He keeps a hand on your thigh as his other hand’s fingers drum along to whatever music you’ve put on. You liked that even when you were the one driving he still had a hand on you.

“I can drive us back tomorrow if you’d like.” He speaks up.

“That’s okay, it’s really not that long of a drive. Hour and twenty, max.”

“Takes me two hours to get to Boston…”

“You, my darling, drive like a grandma, that’s why.” You smirk.

“I do not!” He laughs. “I’m careful.”

“You don’t go over seventy…”

“That’s the speed limit! And you know as well as I do the state police up here pull everyone over.”

“You know what’s funny? I got pulled over before I got my NH plates, now I never get pulled over. I do eighty on the highway up here, and that’s perfect.”

“It’s too fast.”

“No, going ninety would be too fast. Just wait until we’re really driving in the city, you’ll be amazed at my swiftness.”

“You mean at your aggressiveness.”

“It’s called being a defensive driver. Maybe when Andy gets older I should be the one to teach him how to drive, or else we’ll have two grannies on our hands.” You throw him a cheeky grin and he just rolls his eyes at you.

“He’s never going driving with you unless I’m there too.”

Harry would never admit it, but he really liked it when you’d drop little hints that you were in this for the long haul. It would be years until Andy would be able to get his permit, and yet, here you are, thinking ahead about it. It was something you did once in a while, even this morning, Harry picked up on it when you mentioned how pointless an IUD would be. It was too soon to talk about kids and stuff, but he knew that was where your head was at, and it made him feel really good.

“You teach him how to park a car, you’re way better at that. I’m such a nervous parker.” You laugh. “One time I had to drive my boss to a conference we were both going to, and I had to park in a garage, and you know how narrow those spots can be. I told him I was nervous at parking, and he covered his eyes so I could park the car. He was such a sweet man, had kids my age at the time.”

“Would you like for me to do that from now on? Cover my eyes so you can park your car?” He chuckles.

“I wouldn’t hate it.”

“Why do you get so nervous?”

“I have my dad to thank for that. He’d watch me back out of the driveway just to make sure I didn’t run over the grass, it was so annoying.”

“Ah, a very dad thing to do. Grass is really important to us, you know? If you’ve got a shitty lawn it reflects poorly on you.” He smirks.

“Oh, shut up.” You roll your eyes. “You both can bond about going to Lowe’s on the weekends and looking at planks of wood.”

Harry bursts out laughing because that is definitely something he’s done before.

“I don’t just look at planks of wood, I also often go and look at the different types of mulch.”

“Do you ever bring a tape measure with you?”

“Keep one in my trunk, actually. Never know when you’ll need to take measurements for something.”

“Jesus.” You laugh and shake your head. “When you become a dad is there like an initiation ceremony where you get a bunch of that stuff?”

“Oh, sure, but it’s top secret. I’ve said too much already.”

You giggle at him. You were happy long car rides were never awkward with Harry. You could joke around, and then also sit in a comfortable silence. Today was going to be a good day.

//

Phil lived in a really nice condominium in the newly renovated areas of Southie. Harry was impressed that a sous chef could afford such a nice neighborhood.

“It’s kind of sad because this used to be where more of the affordable housing was, and then it got really gentrified. In their spare time, Phil and Julian try to help out and volunteer their time to help the people that got pushed out.”

“Wow, good for them.”

Harry helps carry the food as you key into the building, and lead him towards the elevator. You knock on the door before going in.

“Hello!” You say brightly as you both walk in.

“Hey!” Julian says, giving you a hug and kiss. “Come on in, Phil’s just basting the turkey. Hello.” He smiles at Harry.

“Hi, nice to meet you.” They shake hands, and Julian takes the food from him.

“Oh! A pumpkin pie, just what we needed, thank you.”

“No problem.” Harry smiles. You hook your arm around his waist as you walk further into the home.

“Hey!” Phil says coming over to the two of you. He gives you a hug and shakes Harry’s hand.

“This is Harry.” You say.

“Nice to meet you, man. Heard a lot of good things.” Phil smiles.

“Nice to meet you too. This is a great place.”

“Thanks! Been here for, like, what…three years?” He asks Julian.

“Yup! Almost three and a half. Got for a steal at the time.”

“Are Mum and Dad here?” You ask.

“Yeah, in the living room. Go and get comfortable, everything’s still cooking. They’re watching the parade.”

You nod and lead Harry into the living room.

“Mum, Dad, we’re here.” You say and they both get up to say hello. “Harry, this is my mum, Rebecca, and my dad, Richard.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you both.” He shakes both of their hands.

“Finally!” Your mom nearly squeals and throws her arms around Harry, and gives him a nice, wet kiss on the cheek. “It’s so good to meet you, Harry. We were starting to think you were made up!”

“Mum…I’ve shown you pictures.”

“You’re awfully good at that photoshop nonsense, could have just been edited.” She scoffs. “You’re very handsome.”

“Um…thank you.” His cheeks were incredibly red.

“Where’s your son today?” Your dad asks and you want to smack him for diving right in.

“Oh, he’s with his mum and her family today. She’s not from the U.K. like I am, so she actually celebrates Thanksgiving, I just observe.” He jokes, but it doesn’t land, so he clears his throat. “It’s just part of our custody agreement, I get him for Christmas.”

Your parents share a look, and then both smile at Harry.

“Your brother put out some munchies until dinner’s ready.” Your mom says. “Come, sit, I know the drive was long.”

“It wasn’t too bad, not much traffic to complain about.” You say as you stick a carrot into some dip. “Can I get you a drink, Har? Phil’s got beer and wine.”

“Just a beer would be great, thank you.”

You smile and go into the kitchen. He almost wishes he followed you because your parents stay looking at him. He was wearing a nice button up, so his tattoos weren’t overly exposed, so it couldn’t be that.

“So, how old is your son?” Your mom asks.

“Eleven, he’ll be twelve in May. His name is Andy.”

“Is it short for Andrew, or is it just Andy?” Your dad asks.

“It’s short for Andrew.” Harry smiled. “Andrew Jacob Styles.”

“What a lovely name.” You mom smiles. “Is he named after anyone?”

“Um, Jacob is a family name on his mum’s side, and Andrew was just a name with both really liked.” He shrugs. “Nothing more to it than that.”

“You’re still close with her, his mum…” Your dad notes.

“Sort of. We do the co-parenting to the best of our ability. Living close by helps with that.”

“I think it’s nice you can get along so well. We have some friends who have divorced, and they can’t stand each other. I feel terrible for the kids, they get caught in the middle, unfortunately.”

“Well, my ex and I were never ma-“

“Here were are.” You say, handing Harry a beer, a glass of red in your other hand. “How’s the parade?” You ask sitting down next to Harry.

“Y/N, you interrupted our conversation.” Your dad says. “Harry was just explaining to us how his co-parenting works.”

“Dad…I don’t think Harry really wants to talk about that right now, okay?”

“It’s alright.” Harry says. “I know it must be a tad odd for your daughter to be dating someone with so much baggage, I get it.” He takes a sip of his beer. “I was young, accidents happen, but I wouldn’t change a thing.” He puts his arm around you and sits a little more comfortably.

“Well, we hope to meet little Andy at some point.” Your mom says. “Maybe this summer we can come up for a little visit, Y/N.”

“Yeah, maybe.” You smile and lean into Harry. “He’s so sweet, and funny. He’s a really talented painter too. He’s decorated some things in my office for me.”

“Wow, that’s a big deal. You wouldn’t even let me help decorate.” Your mom chuckles.

“Because your taste is terrible, Mum, no offense.” You grimace.

“She’s right, Becky.” Your dad laughs.

“Oh, what do you two know?” She stands up. “I’m going to see if Phil needs help.”

You and your dad laugh a little.

“Good, now I can switch it to football. I actually don’t give a fuck about the parade.” Richard says. “Pardon my French.”

“No worries.” Harry says. “I don’t give a fuck either.” He grins and it makes your dad laugh.

Okay, despite the bit of awkwardness at the beginning, this was actually going pretty well. You knew your parents had their reservations with Harry, but they didn’t seem too put off. After an hour or so of watching football, everyone is called to the dining area for dinner. The spread looked incredible, your brother outdid himself. He and Julian sit at the heads of the table, and then you and Harry sit across from your parents.

“Before we dig in, I just want to say how thankful I am that we could all be together today.” Phil says. “This is the first year I didn’t have to work, so we were able to do this at a normal hour like other families. It’s nice having to wait until nearly eight o’clock.” He smiles. “Two is much better. Enjoy!”

Everyone hums in agreement, and take what they want. Phil made plenty of veggies and other meatless options for you and Harry.

“Harry, how long have you been a professor for?” Julian asks once everyone has what they want.

“Um, like, ten years I’d say. I taught while I was getting my master’s, so I count that. Got my PhD a little over four years ago, though.”

“Very cool, and did you know you always wanted to be a teacher or…?”

“Honestly, no.” He chuckles. “But I really liked what I was studying and researching, and I knew I wanted to keep doing that, and so when I was getting my master’s and became a TA, I fell in love with teaching. I don’t think I could do it at a K-12 level, but I really like teaching at a collegiate level.”

“That’s exactly what Y/N always says.” Phil says.

“It’s true! I don’t think I could teach young kids, but I really like the college kids. Especially the upperclassmen, they’re a tad more mature.”

“Harry, how did you end up over here in the states?” Your mom asks.

“Ah, well, I was looking to study abroad. I went to a school in London my freshman year, and I liked it, but I really wanted to branch out, so I ended up in New York for school. I loved it.”

“And…now you live in New Hampshire?” Your dad asks.

“Yeah, so, when I was looking for master’s programs I was looking for schools in that area because, um, my ex’s grandparents lived in the lakes region, and we needed a bit of help. Her parents live in Connecticut, and there weren’t any schools I wanted to go to out there, so I ended up at UNH for that. The drive to Manchester every day wasn’t fun, but it made things easier to have her family closer by. It was a decent compromise. I almost moved to that area full time, but her grandparents passed away, and she had to take their home over, so I ended up at our university for my doctoral program so I could stay close to my son.” He takes a sip of his drink. “I fell in love with area. I got into hiking and some of the other outdoorsy stuff there is to do. It’s home now.”

“And your family, they’re in the U.K.?” Phil asks.

“Yeah, my mum and sister both live in London. Mum’s retired and lives with my sister. She’s married with a couple of kids, so she may as well be a live in nanny.” He chuckles. “I bring Andy home to see them for Christmas, and sometimes they come to visit in the summer.”

“So, do you have dual citizenship or just a work visa?” Julian asks.

“He wouldn’t need that since he married a U.S. citizen.” Your dad says.

“See, I was trying to explain earlier, we never got married.” Harry explains. “Um…so, yeah, I have dual citizenship. I was here on a school visa for a bit, and then I got the work visa, but I knew I was stayed so I went through the citizenship process. It was a real bitch, I have to say.”

The table laughs and agrees. The conversation turns to politics, only briefly, and then goes back to light chatter. Once dessert is out and eaten, everyone is stuffed. You and Harry help clean up, and then your parents leave shortly after. Everyone feels like they can take a deep breath now.

“So you two are staying at Julian’s hotel, yeah?” Phil asks.

“Yup, why?” You raise an eyebrow.

“How about we meet you guys in the city, and we go to that bar we all like?”

“That sounds great! Meet us there around eight?”

“Works for me.”

“That work for you?” You ask Harry.

“Yeah, sounds like fun.” He smiles.

//

Once you’re checking into the hotel, you head to the elevator, and go up to your room. Harry notes how nice the hotel is, and you agree. Julian was a really good manager, and did well to make sure that the place ran smoothly. You key into the room, and you both plop down on the bed with a big sigh.

“I’m stuffed.” Harry says with a slight chuckle.

“Same here.” You look over to your bag and tug it towards you, rummaging through it and pulling out a small purple bottle. “Um…so…usually we each have two different bathrooms to use when we have sleepovers, or maybe…we don’t tend to use the bathroom in a certain way, but that’ll be different tonight so I brought this.” You show him the small bottle. “So…we can just use the bathroom and not feel embarrassed.”

Harry smirks and takes the small bottle to read it.

“Poo-perize…” He looks at you.

“You just spray it before you go, and it’s like you never went at all.”  

“Ah, well, good thinking. I wouldn’t want you knowing that I took a shit.”

“Harry.” You groan and snatch the bottle from him.

“Are you telling me you’ve never shit at my house in the five months we’ve been together?”

“I…have…just not a lot. I don’t know, I’m not good with other people’s bathrooms. I’m just gonna go stick this in there.”

You get up while he shakes his head and laughs at you. You come back out and lay down next to him on the bed.

“I’m gonna tell you something I told Andy when he was about two years old.” He says to you.

“What’s that?”

“Everybody poops.”

“Gah!” You exasperate. “I know that, obviously, I just don’t want you thinking about me doing it…”

“It’s not like my ear’s gonna be pressed up against the door!” He laughs. “Lighten up.” He pulls you to rest your head on his chest and he kisses you on the top of your head.

“Did you have fun earlier? I hope my parents weren’t too invasive.”

“They were fine, I totally understood why they were asking what they were asking. I know it’s odd for someone my age to have a kid in middle school.”

“I just don’t want you to think they were judging. I actually think they really liked you.”

“I’m glad to hear it. It’ll be nice for them to come visit in the summer. Maybe we could all go to the cabin.”

“God, they would love that, babe.” You snuggle further into him.

After resting for a while, and using the bathroom, you both head down to meet Phil and Julian at a bar down the street. You all grab a booth and start a tab for drinks.

“So, this is where you all go when you visit?” Harry asks you once the drinks are on the table.

“Sort of, this is where I come with them.”

“Y/N has probably been to every bar in this city.” Phil laughs.

“You’re gonna make me sound like an alcoholic!” You laugh. “When you go to school in the city, you gotta find the good places to go. All trial and error.”

“You also had a really good fake ID.” Julian smirks. “Remember when we took her out for her twenty-first, and the bartender practically scolded her?” He laughs.

“Oh my god, he was so mad at me.” You take a sip of your drink. “There was this one place I had been sneaking into for years, and I wanted my twenty-first birthday party to be there, and I had been pretty friendly with the bartender, right? So I had him my new ID, and he, oh my god, I thought he was gonna flip his shit.”

“He gave you free shots though, so he couldn’t have been too mad.” Phil winks at you and you just shake your head.

“Yeah.” You roll your eyes.

The reason the bartender had not flipped out, thrown you out was because you promised a very a good blow job in the bathroom on his break. You had delivered, and then he gave you free shots all night, and you ended up going home with him to further explore after said blow job, but you weren’t about to expose yourself to Harry like that. You didn’t want him to think you were immature, even if it was something that happened years ago.

“Must be nice to have grown up in a place where the legal drinking age is eighteen.” Julian says to Harry.

“Yeah, it was pretty sweet that last year before going to uni. My friends and I would go to the clubs, get in a bit of trouble.” He chuckles after taking a sip of his drink. “I’m kind of glad I came to America for the rest of school, I think it helped me settle down a bit.”

“I studied abroad for culinary school,” Phil starts, “mostly in France, but when I would go out with my friends it would definitely get wild. It was a culture shock to start the evenings so late! We wouldn’t leave until midnight sometimes.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly how it is, and we’d stay out until after four in the morning most times.”

“That was the first time I saw hard drugs being used so casually. People just doing lines in the bathroom and stuff. It happens here too, but it was way less taboo over there.”

“Phil, did you ever…?” You ask him.

“God no, I mean, I smoked share of weed, but I never did anything more than that. I was too afraid of being fucked up while chopping something in the kitchen.”

“Did you?” You ask Harry. You were more curious than anything.

“Yeah.” He says casually with a shrug. “Like I said, I’m glad I came here to finish school.”

“Holy shit, what did it feel like?” You gaze up at him. “I’ve never done anything like that, I’ve never even gotten high…”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” He gives your hand a squeeze. “It was so long ago, I don’t really remember, honestly. You just sort of feel happy and out of it.”

“Y/N, you never smoked or did an edible or anything?” Phil asks, almost shocked.

“I mean, I’ve been hot boxed before, but that’s it. I just stuck to drinking.” You laugh. “I was too scared, I didn’t know if I would be one of those people that would freak out or have a bad trip or something.” You finish your drink and so does everyone else.

“Does everyone want the same thing? I can go up and get the next round.” Harry offers.

“That’d be great.” Julian says, and you and Phil nod. Harry gives you a quick kiss before getting up to go to the bar. “He’s dreamy, Y/N, I don’t know how you get any work done.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what type of guy I was expecting, but I’d let him leave marks on me too.”

“Phil!” You giggle. “I’m glad you both like him so far. He’s amazing.”

“And things are still good between you and his kid?”

“Yeah! Andy really likes me. I think it helps that he had time to get used to me a little when Harry and I were just friends. Something tells me Harry had mentioned he had a little crush on me to him though because there was this one time Andy texted me from Harry’s phone to ask me to come get ice cream with them.” You giggle again. “It was so cute.”

“Little wing man, that’s sweet.” Phil nods.

“Sometimes I feel bad because you can tell he prefers to be with me and Harry, as opposed to his mum and soon to be step-dad…I don’t really get it.”

“He’s eleven, right?” Julian asks and you nod. “I get it. I was a total momma’s boy, and then when I started middle school, I wanted nothing to do with my mom, and it killed her. We fought all the time, and I found myself wanting to be with my dad more. Not even to talk, just being in his presence, you know? I think it’s puberty. I have a great relationship with my mom now. It’s just a phase.”

“Yeah, plus, it must be weird to have two father figures in your life. One’s telling you what to do, but you also wanna respect your actual father. Must be confusing.”

“Alright.” Harry says as he sits down with the four drinks. “What I miss?”

“Nothing, babe.” You smile and kiss his cheek. “These two were just swooning over you, that’s all.” You grin at your brother and his partner.

“Really? Well, I’m flattered.” Harry jokes.

“I have to know, do students, like, throw themselves at you?” Phil asks.

“Um, not so much anymore, when I was younger they did. A lot of them also know I’m spoken for now, so that helps.”

“It’s so awkward! Some of the senior boys I advise have tried flirting with me in our meetings, and I’m like…you’re kidding right? Keep your shrimp dick to yourself.” You take a large sip of your drink and sway your head to the music in the bar.

“I’d love to know what some kid could possibly even say to you in that setting.” Phil chuckles.

“They think they’re so adult, you know? It’s all in the body language. They adjust themselves, trying to get me to look down, and they’ll bite their bottom lips to be sexy, it’s repulsive really. But my problem is I bite my lip when I feel nervous so then they think it’s working, and then they’re shocked when I’m like actually you deserved a D on this.”

Phil and Julian laugh, but Harry doesn’t really like the sound of anyone flirting with you.

“You know, you can report that if it gets aggressive.” He says.

“Oh, it’s fine. They realize when I don’t give in that it doesn’t work, and they should just put the work in.” You see the concern on his face. “Don’t worry, if it was that aggressive I’d call H.R. right away.” You put your hand on his thigh and give it a squeeze.

“You know what I think we should after this? Go to an actual club. I feel like dancing and working off all that food.” Julian says.

“Ugh, I knew you were going to say that.” Phil groans. “I’m exhausted.”

“Can’t help it.” He shrugs and looks at you. “Y/N?”

“Fuck yeah.” You look up at Harry. “What do you say? You’ve never really seen me dance before.”

“That’s true, I could be up for that, although, I probably won’t do much dancing.”

“Good, I’ll have someone to hang back with while these two pop their asses.” Phil says and it makes everyone laugh.

//

Phil and Julian order an uber to take you and Harry to one of the lgbtq+ friendly clubs they knew of in a different part of the city. You had been there with them before so you were excited. You were also excited that Harry was being such a good sport.

You get into the club easily since the bouncer knew Phil and Julian well, and you all go up to the bar to get drinks. You decide on something fun and fruity while Harry opts for a gin and tonic. Wannabe by the Spice Girls comes on and Julian yanks you onto the dance floor.

“It’ll be hours before we see them again.” Phil chuckles and takes a sip of drink.

“You never dance?”

“Sometimes I do, but it’s not my favorite. I’m not very coordinated.”

“Neither am I! I look like an idiot whenever I dance.” Harry laughs. “But I suppose that’s half the fun.”

Harry peers into the crowd and smiles when he sees you and Julian shouting the words to the song to each other, and giggling. He watches as the two of you dance together and it makes him smile more.

“You two have been together a long time then?” Harry asks. “If you both took her out for her twenty-first?”

“Yeah! That was around the time we made things official. We met right before I went to Italy to do some more studying, and then when I came back we decided to really be together. He’s amazing, an incredible partner. He’s brilliant, honestly.”

“Are you two married, or…?”

“We’re in a civil union.” Phil shrugs. “We’ve talked openly about it, and neither of us really feel the need to get married, you know? We know we wanna be together, we don’t need a court or a piece of paper to lock it in. We each wear these rings.” Phil holds up his left hand. “See the one on my middle finger? That’s a promise ring he gave to me, and I gave one to him. That’s enough.”

“That’s really sweet.” Harry smiles.

“You have a lot of cool rings.” Phil takes one of Harry’s hands to look them over.

“Thanks! Started collecting them basically when I was nineteen. I’ve always really liked rings and bracelets.”

“And perfectly manicured nails?” Phil raises an eyebrow at him.

“Started doing that in uni. The crowd I hung out with was into black nail polish, I got into it too. It’s actually what helped me snag my ex.” He rubs the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Really?”

“Yeah, we were friends for a bit, and one night she got really drunk and she started crying because her nail ripped and she just wanted to take all the polish off and start over, and I told her I had stuff back at my room to do that, so I took her back with me and basically did her nails. I let her sleep in my bed and I slept on the floor, and then the next morning before I could even say anything she kissed me.”

“Oh my god, that’s like out of a movie.” Phil swoons, letting go of Harry’s hand. “But I think I like the story of the camping trip with my sister better.” He takes a sip of his drink. “Actually, I think I like that you casually brought her to a family party, and then brought her back to your place to watch the sunset.”

“Told her I liked her that night too, but I back peddled.” Harry chuckles.

“She picked up on that, but I think she chose to ignore it at the time. I’m glad she came to her senses.”

“Me too.” Harry smiles.

After a few songs, you come back to Harry, throwing your arms around his neck. Your fruity drink hitting you much faster than your others.

“Maybe just one more.” You slur.

“Or, and here me out, you could start drinking some water.” He tucks some hair behind your hair to keep it from your sweaty forehead.

“But-“

He dips his mouth to your ear to whisper.

“I’d like to have a little fun when we get back, and we can’t do that if you’re sloshed, babe.” He moves back to look at you with raises eyebrows and you nod. “Great, I’ll go get you some ice water.”

He returns shortly and you guzzle it down. Once you’re all set you make your way back to Julian. Harry taps his foot along with the beat of the song.

“Hey, handsome, can I buy you a drink?” A guy slightly shorter than Harry says to him brightly.

“Um, I’m so sorry, I’m here with someone.” He points over to you.

“Why aren’t you dancing with her then?!”

“He’s got a point, Harry.” Phil teases him.

“You’re not dancing with Julian!”

“Fair enough.” Phil finishes the rest of his drink and strolls over to join you and Julian. You both hoot and holler with excitement.

“Go on, pretty boy, go show your girl a good time.” The man winks and then walks away.

Harry sighs and makes his way over to you. Your eyes light up and your smile says it all. You’re absolutely delighted that he’s come over to you. You wrap your arms around his torso and press your cheek to his chest, swaying back and forth with him. His arms go around you and he rests his chin on the top of your head. It didn’t matter that the song was fast paced, you were happy to just be pressed up against him the way you were. You look up at him, smiling.

“What?” He smiles down at you.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

//

It was a wonderful night out with Phil and Julian, but it had to end sometime, so you and Harry uber back to the hotel around one in the morning. You didn’t want to be too tired for whatever fun he wanted have with you.

“That was fun.” He says to you in the back of the car. “I like them, they were really welcoming.”

“I’m so glad! I figured you’d get along well since you’re around the same age.” You shrug.

“That club was fun too, got hit on by a guy.”

“You did?!”

“Yup.” He says proudly. “Called me handsome and asked me if I wanted a drink, but don’t worry, I told him I was there with someone.”

“Well, thank god, otherwise you’d be in an uber with someone else right now.” You say facetiously and he laughs.

“Should I be offended that you think I could so easily be swayed to leave with someone else?” He nudges you playfully.

“Nah, I’m just teasing. I know you wouldn’t do that.”

“Besides,” he leans in closer to your ear so the driver won’t hear, “the only tight, little hole I wanna fuck is yours.”

Your eyes grow wide and you feel a shiver go down your spine. You know that he’s referring to your other hole. His mouth had been on it enough times now for you to know he definitely wanted to have anal with you, but you weren’t sure of how you felt about it exactly. You could see him maybe using a finger or something, but his entire prick? Your thoughts are broken when you feel his lips on your temple.

You get to the hotel and head up to your room, hand in hand.

“Oh!” You say as you get inside the room. “I brought something to wear to bed, and I really wanna put it on for you.”

“You never wear anything to bed, though.” He chuckles.

“I know! I brought it special for the trip. I didn’t think we’d be out as late as we were. Please? It’s really cute.” You pout.

“It’s just gonna come off a minute after you put it on, but sure.” He smiles and sits on the edge of the bed. “I’ll humor you.”

You grab your bag and bring it into the bathroom with you. This also gives you a chance to just freshen up since you were sweating on the dance floor. You touch up your makeup, apply some fresh deodorant, and spritz a little bit of perfume onto your wrists, and dab a bit behind your neck. Next you take out the garments you wanted to wear for him. It wasn’t incredibly special, but cute nonetheless. It was a pastel purple set of silk pajamas. The top was tank top style with a little bit of lace where you cleavage would sit, and the bottoms were shorts that just show your under-bum. Class, but sexy. You brush your hair out so it looks less frizzy, and then peak your head out of the bathroom door.

“Ready for me?”

“Ready, babe.”

“Close your eyes.”

Harry sighs and closes his eyes. He had already taken his glasses off and put them away. His palms are pressed behind him on the mattress. You tip toe out of the bathroom and come to stand in front of him.

“Okay, open.”

His eyes flutter closed and then they widen when he looks you up and down. You twirl around for him and giggle.

“What do you think?”

“You look…lovely, Y/N.” His hands come up to rest on your hips. “When did you get these?”

“Not too long ago. I’ve been saving it for a night away where I’d maybe have excuse to change into something else.”

“S’very pretty. I love the color on you.”

You smile down at him and get yourself situated so that you’re straddling him. His hands slide down to your ass and he squeezes you. His hands then move up under the back of the top and then he drags his nails down your soft skin and your head rolls back. He takes the opportunity to sponge wet kisses up your jugular, and around to the crook of your neck. He licks up to just under your earlobe, and sinks his teeth into your skin. You gasp from the sensation, loving the way it feels. Your hands move to clutch at his shoulders as he creates a nice, purple mark on your neck.

“Fuck, Harry.” You breathe after he detaches himself from you.

“To match your pj’s.” He smirks.

A slight whimper leaves your lips, and then you start unbuttoning his shirt furiously. He helps you get it off him, and then you run your hands up and down his torso, making scratch marks of your own. You loved the way his stomach would tighten from the feeling of your nails. Your fingers work next to undo his belt and button on his jeans.

“Need you naked.” You kiss him. “Now.”

He nods quickly and you stand up to help him get his pants off. He kicks them to the floor as he works to get his boxers off as well. Once they’re throw somewhere you kiss him again, and work your way down his body. He opens his legs up more you and you plant kisses up and down his hard dick. You move to tease him a little, nipping at his inner thigh the way he would do to you. He cards his fingers through your hair, and makes a makeshift ponytail for you with his fist. You lick up his shaft with the flat of your tongue and the moan his lets out just eggs you on further. You kiss his tip before taking it into your mouth and you sink down on him, taking him as deep as you can before popping back off him.

Not that he ever thought of her while he was with you, but times like this Harry couldn’t help but compare you to Paige. She never did things like this for him. He always had to ask her to do it, and she’d only do it for a couple of minutes. She’d give him a hand job no problem, but she rarely would put her mouth on him, which made him sad because he had no problem doing it for her. You, on the other hand, would often initiate with him, and he loved that about you. Sometimes you’d be lounging on the couch or even just reading in bed together, and you’d look at him. He knew the look very well now, and he would just nod, and all of a sudden your mouth would be on him. Times like this it was just more confirmation that he was with the right person.

Blow jobs were things you didn’t particularly enjoy unless you really liked a guy, which is exactly what you told him when you first gave him one. If you were going to make a guy feel good, you wanted to make sure that guy was going to make you feel just as good, and Harry passed that test. Now, you loved pleasuring him like this no problem. Even when you were on your period, you didn’t care that you couldn’t have much in return unless you got in the shower.

You lick over his slit and moan from the taste, which you didn’t particularly love, but just the fact that he was already leaking for you was enough for you to make the noise. You smear your bottom lip along his tip because you know he likes it sloppy, and you know his precome his bound to dribble down your chin. You look up at him and see he’s already watching you, chest heaving. You bring your face away, a string of spit keeping you attached to him before you lick over your lip and smirk.

“What?”

“Well…it’s just…I’m a little tired.” You look away and then back up to him, your grin growing. “So, what if I just put my mouth over you and you do the work?”

“Are you asking me to fuck your mouth?” He was being very serious.

“Yes, Harry.”

“Are you comfortable on the floor or do you want to get on the bed?”

“Maybe just hand me a pillow for my knees?”

He nods and quickly grabs a pillow from the head of for you. You get it situated to get yourself more comfortable, and you nod. He tightens his grip on your hair as you lower your mouth back around him. He starts by just easing you on and off, up and down. Your eyes flutter closed so you can focus on breathing through your nose. He bucks his hips up carefully to get a little further down your throat, and to help you adjust. You widen your throat as much as you can. You keep one hand on his thigh, and the other you keep in a fist, squeezing your thumb. An old trick you learned in college to help suppress your gag reflex. A placebo at best, but it worked.

“Oh my god, baby.” He groans as he really gets a rhythm going, bobbing your head up and down for you as he moves his hips. “You’re so fucking perfect.”

Your eyes flutter open and you do your best to look at him through your lashes, but all you can see are the ferns on his hips and love handles. You had drool and precome dripping down your chin, and you knew he had to be loving it. He was panting as he looks down at you, biting furiously into his bottom lip as to not disturb whatever neighbors were on either sides of the walls.

He was being extremely careful of you, which just turned you on more. It showed how much self-control he truly had to not just be ramming and thrusting his dick down your throat. Your nails are digging into his thigh, and you do choke on him at one point, but you’re okay. Eventually he has you come fully off of him.

“Don’t wanna come in my mouth?” You ask as you catch your breath and wipe your chin with the back of your hand.

“Not if you want me to fuck your cunt later.”

“Oh.” You blush. “Yeah, I want that.”

“Alright then.” He chuckles and helps you up. “Felt so good, baby.” He kisses your now swollen lips.

He lays you down on the bed, your head comfy on the pillows. He reaches between your legs and groans when he feels how wet you are through the silk shorts.

“Christ.” He breathes. “Taking this all off now.”

You nod and lift your arms up. He gets you fully naked and spreads your legs open. Just as you did with him, he kisses down your body, nipping where he pleases, and starts leaving more love bites on your inner thighs, causing you to squirm.

“Stay still for me, baby.”

“M’trying, sorry.”

You give him a soft smile and he gives you one back before he licks around your folds. You feel yourself almost go cross-eyed from the sensation. His teeth nip at your clit before he sucks on it, and he has to use one of his arms to hold you down because you’re just extremely sensitive tonight for whatever reason. His thumb replaces his mouth on your clit so he lick into you.

“Oh, god.” You moan. Your hands fly to his hair to tug on. “Harry.” You whimper and it’s music to his ears. It just makes him fuck you harder with his tongue. His thumb rubs perfect circles into where you need it most, and you feel your legs shaking around him. “Fucking, Christ!” You cry out as you start panting. You could feel your orgasm already approaching. He just knew exactly what to do, and it was incredible.

He pops up briefly to get some air, and then he looks at you, furrowing your brows.

“Wh-what is it?” You ask innocently.

“Would you…” He holds up his index and middle finger.

“Oh! Mhm.” You smile and open your mouth for him. He smiles back at you and brings his fingers to your mouth to suck on. You make eye contact as you lap and suck around him.

“Thank you, darling.”

Your heart flutters as he works his way back down between your legs. His fingers slide inside you while his mouth finds your clit again. His fingers curl up inside you, and you grip at the comforter on the bed. They pump and twist and pet you, and it’s all too much along with his tongue flicking at your clit.

“Ah! Fuck, Harry!” Your back arches off the bed, and your eyes roll into the back of your head. When he retracts his finger from you, you look at him, your eyes growing dark with lust. “Get the condoms.”

He nods and rummages through his bag for them, tearing one of them open, and sliding it onto his hard, throbbing dick. You put your hands onto his shoulders to brace yourself as he thrusts inside you. He buries his face into the crook of your neck as he rocks in and out. You get a fist full of his hair and rock your hips along with his.

“Fuck, Y/N.” He groans and looks at you, peaking his tongue out. You take the signal and let your mouth fall open so he can kiss you. It’s a searing kiss, needy, like he hadn’t kissed you in weeks. That was the thing with Harry, he always kissed you like he hadn’t seen you in ages, like he hadn’t touched you in ages. It was fucking fantastic.

“Harry, I’m gonna come again.” You whine. It was from the way you were grinding against him, otherwise you don’t think you would have had one again so quickly, not that you were complaining. He keeps everything the same so you can get there, and boy do you get there. He puts his hand over your mouth so you can cry out how you need to. You catch your breath and then you look up at him. “Let me ride you.”

He nods and pulls out, flipping on his back. You grip him to line yourself up once you’ve swung your leg over his lap. You sigh with relief once he’s inside you again. His hands work their way up your body to knead your breasts as move around on him in large circles. He looks up at you and starts chuckling.

“What could possibly be funny?” You ask, giggling.

“Nothing, I just like you a lot.” You pout at that. Since you said your I love yous, neither of you had made your like you a lot statement, and it filled your heart.

“I like you a lot too, Harry.” You lean down to kiss him, sucking on his bottom lip before returning up right.

“Gonna fuck me, baby?”

“Mhm, gonna fuck you so good.”

You start to raise and lower on him, his hands coming down to squeeze at your hips. Usually he would even up taking over, but he wanted to let you do it. He knew you wanted to do it, and you were so kind as to let him fuck your mouth earlier the least he could do was let you control the pace just this once. It also inflated his ego immensely to look up and watch your face like this. The joy you were getting from riding him was so delicious to him.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous like this, Y/N.” he squeezes harder at your hips, sure to leave bruises later, but you don’t care.

Your hands plant onto his thighs behind you as you continue to bounce up and down on him.

“Rub my clit, Harry, please.” You nearly whine.

He does so without question and you let out a loud moan. He could feel you squeezing around him and it was bringing him nearly over the edge. He could feel the ecstasy bubbling at the base of his spine.

“Baby, I’m not gonna last much longer.” He groans.

“Good, want you to come, let go, Harry.”

You feel his warm come fill up the condom, and the sensation along with his fingers rubbing on you guide you to your third release, causing you to collapse onto his heaving chest. He tilts your chin up and he smears his lips over yours.

//

After the long day and night you both had, neither of you were upset to have woke up at 10:15. You shower together, without any funny business, and get ready for the day. Harry furrows his brows at the booties you put on.

“What?” You ask him. “Don’t like ‘em?”

“No, they’re cute, it’s just…won’t your feet hurt walking around in them all day? I know you lived here and everything, but-“

“I promise, Daddy, if my feet hurt I won’t complain and if I do, you can say I told you so.”

“Y/N.” He sighs. “I hate it when you call me that so condescendingly, my express of concern isn’t me being fatherly, it’s me being your boyfriend who would feel terrible if your feet got all blistered.”

Your features soften, you didn’t realize how much your little joked bothered him.

“Oh…I’m sorry, um, these are actually pretty good for walking in. I wouldn’t wear them if I knew they’d hurt, but I appreciate you looking out for me.”

You give him a kiss on the cheek, and he grabs the bags. You check out, and grab a coffee from the complimentary section of the breakfast area, and put everything in the car.

“Julian said we could park here for the day no problem. We just need to talk to the green line stop, and we’ll be good to go.” You explain after locking the car back up.

You make your way to the green line station, and you just use your Charlie Card to get the both of you through, and onto the train that would get you Government Center. You were happy to be traveling with Harry. Sometimes when you were in town with people who didn’t understand the hustle and bustle of the T it could be frustrating, but Harry had the tube back in London, so this was second nature to him.

You almost feel giddy after coming off the train, and see The Quincy Market sign come into view. You tug at Harry’s hand to get him to walk faster towards the shops.

“There’s a Ray-Bans store here I wanna go to. They’re bound to have a sale right now. Oh! And there’s this store that sells really hot sauces I think you’ll like. Does Andy like graphic T’s? There’s a Newbury Comics here and I’d like to get him a gift from there.”

“For what? Thought you only promised a cannoli?”

“I did, but it would be for Christmas. Is that alright if I wanna-mph!” His lips were on yours, his hands cupping your cheeks. He was just overwhelmed with how much you cared about his son.

“Yeah, he likes graphic T’s.” He says it like he didn’t just shove his tongue down your throat, gently intertwining your fingers as you continue to walk.

You clear your throat and nod, giving his hand a squeeze. You go in and out of the shops. You note the sunglasses that Harry pays special attention to so you know which ones to get him for the holidays. You go into Sephora for a bit to look at the expensive makeup on one end of the store, and he looks at the foundation and concealer he would typically use. So much was on sale, you end up buying a ton of new brushes and sponges, and he gets the remover wipes he likes using. You go into spicy sauce store, and pick out a couple of bottles of things you’d each like to try, and then off to Newbury Comics.

“Do you shop at any of these clothing stores?” He asks subtly.

“Not really, I do StitchFix, why?”

“No reason.” He shrugs. Damn. He literally had no idea what to get you for the holidays. You bought yourself a new pair of sunglasses, and pretty much whatever else you needed. He was at a loss.

“So, what shows does he watch? I’d like to get him a shirt that’s relevant.” You say as you both make your way to the clothing section of the store.

“He’s really into Spongebob reruns at the moment, it’s been driving me nuts.”

“Seriously? That show is over twenty years old…”

“I know! He discovered it a few months ago, and he thinks it’s hilarious.” Harry sighs. “He also likes The Simpons, The Office, oh! He’s really into Malcom in the Middle right now.”

“How does even know about that show?”

“He found it on Hulu one night and he asked if he could watch it and I said okay. He loves it.”

“Hmm.” You tap your chin for a second. “I may need to go on Etsy then. I think I know of a shirt he would like, but I doubt they have it here.”

“You don’t have to go to so much trouble, Y/N. He’ll like whatever you give him.”

“That’s just it, I don’t want him to like it, I want him to love it.”

Harry thought his heart was going to burst as you looked around. You come to the section of the store with all of the different card games.

“Is he too young for Cards Against Humanity? Could be fun for him and Brandon.”

“Wee bit.”

“Alright…oh, what about What Do You Meme? That’s age appropriate, no?”

“Oh, he’s actually been asking for something like that. It’s a good stocking stuffer.”

“Perfect!” You snatch a pack. “This will also be from me.” You wink at him and keep looking around.

“What do you usually do for the holidays, anyways?”

“Well, whenever Hanukkah falls, I usually do something with my family, and then I lay low on Christmas.”

“Maybe during one of the nights of Hanukkah you could come over and the three of us could do something traditional with you.”

“I’d love that, Har.” You smile at him. “I could show you how to make homemade potato pancakes.”

“That would be a lot of fun.” He kisses your cheek.

Eventually you both walk over to the North End to get some Italian food for a late lunch/early dinner. You each enjoy raviolis and lots of bread. You make sure to stop off at one of the bakeries to grab some cannolis.

“You can just put these in your freezer, they should still be good when he gets home.”

“Sounds good, he’s gonna be so excited.”

You make your way back to the hotel garage and get into the car.

“Babe, let me drive, you’re tired.”

“No, I can do it.”

“Y/N.”

“Let me just get us through the city, and then I’ll pull over at the rest stop in Londonderry.”

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes.

You end up doing just that. You zip through the city, staying in the left lane the whole time, and then you pull over at the rest area. You let Harry drive the rest of the way, and he drives back to your place.

“Did you wanna stay over tonight? I could come to yours tomorrow, or if you’re sick of me we can-“

“Why do you always say that?” He chuckles. “I could never be sick of you.”

You beam at him, and you both get up inside your apartment. After you unpack your things, you both get into bed, and fall asleep quickly. It was the perfect Thanksgiving.

//

“Dad, these are so good.” Andy says, mouth full of cannoli Sunday night. “Y/N is the best.”

“I’ll pass the message on to her.” Harry smiles. “Listen, uh, how would you feel if she started staying over sometimes when you’re here?”

“I’d be okay with that, I don’t really care.”

“I just wanna make sure you feel comfortable with it. It’s okay if you don’t.”

“Dad, I really don’t care. I’d like it if she stayed here. I feel bad that she thinks she can’t. Then we could all have breakfast together in the mornings, that would be fun.”

“Yeah, it would. I’ll let her know you’re cool with it, thanks.”

“Thanks for asking first.”

“It’s your house too, not gonna make any big changes without consulting you.”

Later that night, as he’s crawling into bed, Harry texts you.

Harry: got the okay from the head of the house, you’re good to spend the night any time you feel comfortable doing so…he loved the cannolis btw

You: oh well, glad I was able to butter him up with those, lol why don’t we give it a try tomorrow?

Harry: are you just saying that because you know Mondays are baked ziti night????

You: what?! I’m offended! I want to come spend the night with you, it in no way has anything to do with your delicious, amazing, incredible, mouth watering baked ziti

Harry: god, you know what complimenting my food does to me 😈 😈 😈

You: goodnight, Harry

Harry: no!

You: yes

Harry: don’t do this

You: I’m so tired! You barely let me leave your bed this morning…need to catch up on sleep

Harry: everything we did today you wanted. I know because I asked and you said yes

You: very true! And now I’m telling you I’m going to sleep, I love you, I’ll see you tomorrow

Harry: alright, I love you too, sweet dreams, baby

//

The next morning, Harry gets up at 5AM to do his yoga in his bedroom, and then goes into the kitchen to get zome ziti boiled. It wasn’t a difficult dish to make, especially since there wasn’t meat in it, but Harry did use three types of shredded cheese, and he had a homemade marinara sauce. Once the ziti is cooked, he layers it all in a glass dish and sticks it in the fridge. It’ll go in the over to bake when he gets home later.

His next task is to shower, and get dressed before waking Andy up.

“Buddy, time to get up.” Harry comes in and sits on the edge of Andy’s bed. “Come on, sun’s up and everything.”

Andy groans like he does most mornings.

“Don’t gimme that. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs, please.” He mumbles.

“Can do, now get up.” He takes the top blanket away and Andy groans louder, but it wakes him up enough to get out of bed.

Harry whips up some eggs for Andy and some peanut butter toast for himself, and sets it on the table. Andy comes out in jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt.

“Basketball’s gonna be starting in a bit, you must be excited.”

“Yup.” Andy smiles. “And winter program starts this Friday, I’m really excited for that. Do you think you’ll chaperone?”

“Probably. I’ll find a Friday to come out and help.”

“Y/N should come too.”

“I don’t know if she skiis…”

“How could she not in this area?”

“It’s not for everyone.” He shrugs. “I’ll ask her if she wants to come up to the cabin some weekend or something before having her help out with a bunch of kids.”

“Okay, fair point. Oh! You could teach her to ski, you’re a good teacher.”

“I’d have her take a professional lesson, Andy. It’s not as easy for adults to learn this kind of stuff as it is for kids.”

“You could still show her the basics.”

“Eat your eggs.” Harry rolls his eyes. “By the way, she’s coming for dinner tonight.”

“Of course she is.” Andy giggles. “It’s baked ziti night.”

“That’s what I said! Anyways, she’s gonna try staying over with us. Want you on your best behavior.”

“When am I not?” Andy scoffs.

“Hmm, let’s see…” Harry holds his hand up to start counting on his fingers.

“Okay, okay, I promise I’ll be good.”

“Thank you.”

//

It was a busy work day since it was the Monday after a short holiday break. You barely saw Harry, but you decide to leave him a little love note on his desk while he was teaching. You notice he left his phone on his desk. Something he rarely does, but it happens once in a while. You see it light up with a news notification, and you do a double take. His lock screen was a picture of the two of you. You pick it up and hold it closer.

“When did he…?” You trail off as you smile. It was a picture of you from one of your hikes. You’re looking up at him, smiling and sweaty, but smiling nonetheless.

“Y/N?” Harry says coming into his office. “What are you doing with my phone?”

“I…I was just leaving you a note, and it lit up…and…I didn’t realize I was your lock screen…” You hand him his phone.

“Of course you’re my lock screen, you have been for a while…”

“I guess I never noticed.” You look away. “I have a picture of the two of us as mine, see.” You show him your phone. “It’s from when we made that mess making waffles from scratch. Makes me smile every time I look at it.”

“Can’t believe I never noticed either…” He looks at the screen and then to you. He steps towards you. “You were leaving me a note?”

“Yeah, I…we barely saw each other today, and I know you need to get home soon, so I was just leaving you a little love note.”

“Oh.” He sets his things down on his desk and comes even closer to you. He tucks some hair behind your ear, his tell for wanting a kiss.

You lean up and he leans down and your lips press against each other. It doesn’t last long, you’re at work after all.

“Okay, well, I have some work to do.” You blush. “Um, I’ll be over by 6:30, does that work?”

“Works great.”

He watches you leave and he sighs dreamily as he gathers his things. He zips home and helps Andy with his homework before getting the ziti in the oven. You get over there around 6:30, with your overnight bag slung over your shoulder.

“Hi, boys.” You say as come inside after Andy answers the door.

“Y/N, those cannolis you got were so good. Thanks again.”

“Oh! I’m so glad you liked them, Andy.” You ruffle the hair on the top of his head and go to put your things down in Harry’s room before coming into the kitchen to give him a kiss. “It smells so good in here.”

“Just took it out of the oven, sit.” He smiles.

After dinner you’re itching to change into come comfier clothes, so you do. You put on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, one Harry gave to you, and you come out with your laptop to the living room.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Nope, Andy?”

“Do your thing.” He shrugs as he flips the TV to Hulu to put Malcom in the Middle.

“Remember, two episodes and then you can go read before bed.” Harry reminds him.

“I’m fully aware, thanks.” He rolls his eyes.

“When I was your age, my bed time was 9:30, but CSI, the Las Vegas one, was on at nine, and I used to watch TV with my mom in bed every night, and CSI was on Thursdays, and so every Thursday we’d have the same fight because I had to see how the episode ended, you know? And then my mom would get so tired that she’d just let me stay up and finish it.”

The boys both look at you with wide eyes. You had a tendency to talk really fast when you had a story to tell.

“Dad says I can’t watch TV right before bed because then I won’t sleep well.”

“He’s right about that! I could never sleep after watching TV with my mom. She’d watch Date Line and scary shows like that.”

“If you were scared, then why would watch with her?” Andy asks.

“Well, my mom worked until eight most nights and I just wanted to spend time with her, so getting into bed and watching TV with her was my way of doing that.”

“That’s sweet.” Harry says, putting his arm around you.

After Andy goes to bed around nine, making sure to give you and Harry a hug, you both decide to get ready for bed as well. You do your routine, and chew on your bottom lip.

“What is it?” He asks he slides into bed with his book.

“Can I still sleep naked? Does he ever come in here?”

“Hmm, how about just a t-shirt? Grab any one of mine from my dresser.”

“Okay, fair enough compromise.”

You change quickly, and get into bed with a book of your own.

“This is nice.” He says, smiling at you. “Having you here on a Monday night.”

“Yeah, feels right.” You kiss his cheek and open your book to the page you dog-eared.

Even though Harry just wanted to ravage you, he knew that would probably have to wait until you showered in the morning. You did look awfully cute when you passed out with your book still in your hand. Harry takes it, saved your place, and sets it on the night table closest to you. He takes his glasses off and turns off the lights, then kisses your forehead before wrapping himself around you. You adjust into him and drift off fully.

You’re woken up abruptly around midnight by Harry’s phone buzzing. It goes off a few times so he finally turns over and grabs it.

“Oh, shit.” He says.

“What?” You mumble.

“Paige called three times, hold on.” He swipes his phone to call her back.

“Harry?!”

“Hey, what’s going on, is everything alright?”

“No…everything’s not alright.” She sobs.

“What happened?” Harry sits up fully. “What’s wrong, darling?” When he says that it makes you sit up. He was clearly trying to calm her down, but you didn’t like him using the term of endearment.

“My…my father died.”

#harry styles #office neighbors #harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles series #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles y/n #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #singledad!harry #professor!harry

[tommodirection]

Birthday

Niall Horan x Reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: angst with a happy ending, swearing

Masterlist

A/N: Heylo! I hope you enjoy this! The person who requested this did not want their name mentioned, but I hope they enjoy! If you want to be added to my taglist just let me know! Thank you, and have a nice day!🥰💕❤️

—

You hadn’t spent a birthday alone since you were six, and even then you had your dad at home with you. You never thought you’d encounter the situation again, always surrounded by close friends and family.

Above anything else, you never thought you’d be spending it without Niall.

You’d been together for two years now, you’d celebrated your birthday together twice now. The first year, Niall decided to take you out of dinner, but it ended up being a disaster. Your dress tore, Niall spilled food all over himself, the waitress was a fan of Niall, and not a fan of you, so you ended up going home. Of course it wasn’t ideal, but you both still had a laugh out of it.

Last year, you had decided to stay in, you had learned your lesson from last year. Niall decided to build a fort in the living room, he went all out. He bought fairy lights, an abundance of snacks, about a dozen fluffy pillows, and he even bought a small projector so you could binge watch your favorite movies. It was the best birthday you had ever had.

This year, you were expecting something just as sensual. You walked into the kitchen, biting back a smile as you searched for your boyfriend.

The kitchen was empty, no breakfast, no cups of coffee, and no Niall.

The first thought that entered your mind was that he wanted to surprise you, so you tiptoed through the kitchen, skeptic as to if he was there.

You were answered when you saw a sticky note on the counter, right next to the coffee machine.

‘Sorry love, had to run into the studio for filming! See you tonight!’ Signed by Niall.

You studied the sticky note for a minute longer. Maybe it was just a joke? Something to sell the prank.

You grabbed your phone out of your pocket, quickly dialing Niall’s number before averting your eyes back to the note. It rang for a few moments before he finally picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Niall, where’d you go?” You ask, trying to control your labored breath.

“I went to the studio, they needed me to come and record some stuff. I wrote it on the note,” he said, loud chatter in the background.

“Oh, I guess I missed it,” you mumbled, “I was just calling to see if it was a prank or something,” you admitted.

“Why would I prank you about this?” He chuckled, “I probably won’t be home until after you’re asleep, you can probably go out with Paige if you get bored,” he said, his voice rushed.

Paige was out of town this weekend, as was Henry, your only other friend. You and Niall had discussed this last week. He really fucking forgot. “I’ll find something to do, bye,” you said sharply, hanging up before he got to say anything.

You glared at the note, crumpling it up and throwing it across the room. Tears of frustration pricked your eyes, threatening to spill over at any second.

You pressed the heels of your hands into your eyes, letting out a groan of frustration.

Maybe you were being unfair, he was a busy man with a busy job, and he definitely didn’t have a pristine memory, but just as that thought surfaced, you immediately shut it down. This was your birthday. The one day of the year, beside your anniversary, where you had grown expectant to Niall’s spoiling. This was the one day out of the year you could be this angry, rationally, at your boyfriend for canceling.

Instead of confronting him, you decided to wallow in your own self-pity and anger. You made a bowl of popcorn, cuddling up on the couch as you turned on old rom-coms, the occasional tear slipping down your cheek.

Around eight pm, you decided you had enough of mostly Ryan Reynolds sitcoms. You began playing your heartbreak playlist on your speaker, the volume would definitely gain complaints from your neighbors, but you didn’t care.

You went to raid the pantry, seeing if you could find anything to use to eat away your problems. Your eyes landed on the cake mix you had bought earlier that week, expecting to make it with Niall.

You rushed into making it, using your spoon to sing while it baked. Once it was finished, you let it cool, gathering the frosting and candles you had also bought.

You began frosting it, not even caring about the mess you were making. It was mostly just white, but you decided to be extra, putting some red icing in a makeshift piping bag, and wrote your name with a small heart under it.

You brought it to the counter, turning up your music. You grabbed a fork and dived into the cake, shoveling it into your face, but you couldn’t even enjoy it, not without Niall there.

“Happy fucking birthday to me,” you grumbled.

Your music tuned out the sound of the door opening, and it tuned out the happy humming of Niall, getting back from a productive and enjoyable day at the studio. He was a little confused when he heard the music, but he knew you enjoyed music, it wasn’t that strange to hear the music through the hallway walls.

You began poking meaninglessly at the cake, depression dragging you down from your sugar-high. The song switched and you heard Niall walking into the room. He was beaming. He placed his jacket on the chair, licking his lips at the sight of the cake. He grabbed a fork, turning off the music from your speaker.

“What’s this for? Something special today?” He inquired, digging his fork in to take a bite.

You let out a small ‘oh’, the realization finally sinking in. A part of you still believed it was all a hoax, and he would come home with some extravagant surprise, but this solidified it.

He had really forgotten your birthday.

Your eyes began to water again, Niall looking at you quizzically. You looked down, refusing to meet his gaze, “It’s my birthday, Niall,” you said, voice cracking at the end.

You heard him whisper a small ‘what’, and you heard him grabbing his phone, checking the date. “Shit,” he whispered, slamming his phone onto the counter and running his hand through his hair.

He didn’t say anything for a few moments, so you calmly stood, setting your fork down and walking out of the room. You made your way to the bedroom, hearing the soft thuds of Niall’s sock-clad feet trailing behind you. You crawled onto the bed, sitting criss cross with your back against the headboard, staring at the wall ahead of you.

Niall sat in front of you, placing a hand on your knee. “Love, I’m so, so sorry,” he mumbled, scooting closer to you until your knees were touching.

You pursed your lips, shaking your head, “Sorry is just a word, Niall, it doesn’t immediately solve everything,” you grumbled, looking down and picking at your pajama pants.

“I know, I know,” he whispered, bending over and placing his hand on your cheek, and for the first time since you started dating, you didn’t lean into his touch. He removed his hand. “Why didn’t you say anything? If I had known, I would’ve come running back home.”

You let out a sarcastic chuckle. “All day I thought it was just a prank, well, a part of me did. I was hoping you’d come home and surprise me and we’d spend the day together again. When I called you, I didn’t expect you to actually not know it was my birthday, so I panicked and hung up. I didn’t say anything because I was hurt. I was hurt that my one boyfriend didn’t even remember my birthday,” you were rambling now, “You’d think it’d be easy to remember, seeing as we’ve celebrated it twice already, and we were literally talking about last week, but apparently it wasn't important enough for you to remember.”

You pulled your knees to your chest, resting your head on them. Niall’s face fell, and he looked down at his hands, he began picking at his dry skin. You grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away. Yeah, you were mad, but you weren’t going to let him accidentally make himself bleed.

“I don’t know how I forgot, I was planning on letting you decide what we did all day, but this morning,” he bit his lip, “they called me in and I just forgot. I’m such an idiot,” he said, shoving his face into his hands.

You softened, “Niall, you aren’t an idiot. You’re a busy man, with a horrible memory. I’m not really mad,” you admitted, “I’m just upset, and a little disappointed. I forgive you for forgetting my birthday, but on two conditions. One, if you ever forget my birthday again, I’m leaving,” you said seriously, “and two, you gotta make this one up to me,” you teased, and he smiled, pulling you in for a hug.

“I love you,” he murmured into your hair.

“I love you too.”

“Now, get dressed, I’ve got a hell of a birthday to make up, and the night’s still young.”

—

Permanent Taglist: @everything-is-alrightt @kaiaduke @franchesca-791 @alwayshave-faith

#niall horan #niall horan x reader #one direction x reader #one direction #niall horan x you #niall horan x y/n #niall james horan #solo niall #angst with a happy ending #this sucks #i’m sorry

[writing-reylo]

The One with The Miscommunication

Rey’s heart is pounding as her Uber pulls up to the restaurant. It’s within walking distance, but she didn’t want to risk arriving with sweat glistening in her forehead, so she spent the money. And that’s how serious she was about this; that’s how much this date meant to her. Her first date with Ben was worth spending unnecessary money so that she could look her best.

Ben Solo. Tall, built like a sky rise, so handsome he made her heart hurt. Her best friend. Her favourite person in the whole world.

She loved him so much she would risk their friendship for this opportunity to be more.

Asking him had been the most nerve-wracking thing she had ever done.

“Hey Ben, do you want to go to The Castle for dinner tonight?” She’d asked him, palms sweaty and heart racing this morning as they walked into the building they both worked in, separate companies and different floors.

They’d met when the elevator had gotten stuck a year before and had bonded over the shared trauma of being stuck twenty floors above nothing in a small metal box.

He’d smiled at her. “Of course.” She’s grinned at him as the elevator moved upwards. “I’ll see you at 7 then. It’s a date,” she’d replied, shooting him a smile as the elevator arrived at her floor.

“You can do this girl,” she whispers to herself as she looks through the glass. Ben hasn’t arrived yet but there is still ten minutes to go and Ben is chronically on time for things, while Rey feels odd if she isn’t at least a few minutes early.

She thinks about walking inside and waiting but the air is cool and despite taking the Uber, she can feel her body has developed a fine layer of sweat anyway.

She looks down at the black heels she rarely wears and wonders what he’ll think. She’d only ever worn them once where he’d seen and she had remembered the way his eyes had drifted down her legs, bare but for her cocktail dress that ended two inches above her knees.

She remembered the way his hand had twitched when he’d danced with her and realised her dress was backless as his hand had met bare flesh.

She’d wanted to kiss him that night so badly, but had lost her courage after he’d gotten into an argument with his Father that had ended with Ben drinking too much whiskey and Rey sleeping above the covers next to him to make sure he didn’t choke in his sleep.

But now, now she was ready.

She giggles under her breath, giddy and nervous, before looking up and seeing his car pull into a spot a short walk away.

She smooths down the front of her forest green sweater dress and takes a deep breath before running her tongue over her teeth, making sure none of the blood red lipstick she is wearing has transferred.

She is resisting the urge to pull up her phone camera and double check when she hears footsteps approaching.

She’s grinning widely when she looks up at him, her heart already at risk of exploding before every muscle in her body freezes.

He’s not alone.

Her smile drops so suddenly she imagines it must have looked almost comical as she takes in her best friend, in a button up the exact colour of her dress that would make her laugh under different circumstances. But she can’t laugh because he’s standing next to their friends Hux and Rose.

Her heart seizes before restarting and she can feel the fissure tears forming all over the organ.

He has invited people on their date, which has made it no longer a date.

Her heart beat once, twice and she inhaled shakily before looking up at Ben.

He was looking at her and she knew what he would be seeing. The makeup, the hair she’d painstakingly curled and brushed until it was perfect and shiny. The dress and shoes in place of her usual jeans and converse.

She watches him blink slowly as he looks at her with wide eyes that she loves so much but, in this moment, make her want to cry.

“Hi,” she says, sounding soft and timid and so unlike herself that she wishes desperately she was already inside with a drink in her hand. A large one.

“Hey,” Ben responds, and she watches as he swallows and fuck her, this is so awkward.

“Rey!” Her dearest female friend exclaims, coming forward to hug her. Rose’s pregnant belly juts out in between them and Rey finds herself, giggling as she embraces her friend, taking a few shaky breaths she knows Rose can hear.

“I didn’t realise, I’m so sorry,” Rose whispers into her hair and Rey shrugs into the hug.

They pull apart and Rey smiles at her, not the grin of before but as close as she can get with the rejection swimming around her. “How much longer until my little Goddaughter arrives?” She asks, though she knows the answer. Little Paige isn’t here yet, but Rey already loves the girl so dearly.

“Three weeks,” Hux answers with a smile. He’s become more personable in the three years she’s known him, and he no longer has resting sneer face. “Everything is ready, we’re just waiting on her now.”

“Putting that crib together almost made me cry,” Rey responds, and they all laugh, except Ben, but Rey can’t look at him just yet.

They make their way into the restaurant, Ben still silent as they hang their coats and make their way to the hostess.

“Welcome to The Castle. Do you have a reservation?” The hostess asks and Rey can feel her face redden as she responds.

“I had made a reservation for two under Niima, but I was hoping you have a free table for four?”

She can see Ben’s fists clenched beside her and ignores it while she waits for the hostess, who thankfully does have a bigger table and leads them to it.

The smell of garlic and bread permeate the air, making Rey’s stomach growl loudly.

“Holy shit Rey, you need to get that under control,” Hux responds with a laugh as they slide into the booth.

“She had to work through lunch- “

“I had to work through lunch- “

She and Ben say at the same time, looking up at one another with surprise. They each halt and lock gazes for a few moments. It’s okay, she tells herself as she looks into his warm coffee eyes, he still loves you, just not the same way you do and that’s okay.

“Jinx,” she smiles softly, breaking the silence and she watches him relax a fraction.

Rose distracts them all them, discussing the baby and Rey is eternally grateful to her friend as they order drinks.

She pushes the rejection down into the same box with all of her other hurts and closes the lid tightly, promising herself the rest of the weekend to have tequila, Thai food and The Office to mourn what never would be.

—-

She makes it through dinner hiding her wound. It still throbs but she manages to hide it beneath self-depreciating jokes and glasses of white wine to take the edge off.

Ben is quieter than normal, but Rose and Hux fulfil their duties as friends to ease the tension between the God Parents of their unborn baby.

Ben stands to go to the bathroom and Rose orders dessert and Rey finds she can breathe a little easier as he walks away.

“So, what the fudge is going on?” Hux demands to know as soon as Ben has left the room. Rey raises an eyebrow at the word fudge, and he rolls his eyes. “We’re trying to be good parents.”

“Was this supposed to be a date?” Rose asks Rey so softly that it almost makes Rey break, the tone gentle and maternal. Rey lets out a shaky breath and nods. “But Ben invited us.”

“Yeah,” Rey replies quietly.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry,” Rose whispers, wrapping an arm around her and squeezing.

“I thought we were on the same page,” Rey explains. “So, I went for it, you know? I guess we’re in different places.”

“Rey, I’m pretty sure you’re wrong,” Rose says, but before they can say anything else, Ben is back, and dessert is arriving.

He smiles at Rey softly as the waiter lowers a plate of cheesecake in front of him but then frowns when nothing in placed in front of her.

“You didn’t get dessert?” He asks, puzzled.

She shakes her head. “I’m full.”

He looks at her in bewilderment. “But you’re never full.”

She laughs and it sounds only slightly fake. “I’m not hungry, I swear.”

He drops it and everyone except Rey eats their dessert. She tries not to stare at the clock and orders her Uber before the waiter is even taking their plates.

Her Uber arrives as they’re putting their coats on and Ben speaks his longest sentence of the night. “Do you want me to give you a lift home?”

She is more than a little relieved to have an excuse. “My Uber is here.”

She thinks she sees his shoulders fall but knows she’s probably projecting as she rushes through goodbyes with Rose and Hux.

She hesitates slightly before hugging Ben and she sees him notice, frowning as his arms wrap around her. She tries not to inhale his scent, but the smell of peppermint, coffee and bergamot somehow make their way into her nostrils despite her efforts and she fights not to tighten her embrace.

It’s over in less than a few seconds but feels like forever when her arms drop.

She’s escaping into the Uber in almost no time at all, and the driver is pulling away from the curb by the time the first tear falls.

———————————————————————

In no time at all, the driver is pulling up the store at the corner of her street, wishing her a (very awkward) goodnight. She wipes her face before entering the store, taking measures and controlled breaths as she fills a cart with tequila, limes, ginger ale and all of her favourite snacks.

The owner, Maz, says nothing as she rings Rey up, taking in the tear stains on her face. “The alcohol is on me, honey,” the woman says, and Rey feels her eyes fill with tears once more.

She is able to keep a hold of herself as she walks to her building, letting herself in and taking the elevator to her floor.

She’s considering taking a shot or two to take the edge off when she looks up and sees Ben sitting with his back pressed against her door, legs stretched out in front of him. He has his phone in his hand, but he’s only turning it over and over.

Three shots then, she decides.

“Hey,” she says, and he looks up at her, eyes wide and she watches as he rushes to his feet, clearing his throat.

“Hi,” he replies softly.

“Can I get through?” She asks and he moves wordlessly, shuffling so that she can unlock her apartment door.

They both enter without saying a word and she carries her shopping to her kitchen island, dropping it, pulling out the bottle of tequila and making her way to the cupboard where she keeps her shot glasses. She takes one and Ben starts to talk but she raises a hand, meeting his eyes as she pulls the plastic from the lid, unscrews it and pours a shot.

He frowns at her as she lifts the small glass to her lips, downing the liquid and then taking a deep breath before meeting his eyes once more.

“Okay,” she says and watches as he swallows.

“It was supposed to be a date,” he says quietly, softly. She blinks slowly, before breaking eye contact and pours herself another shot. “You asked me on a date.”

“I asked you on a date,” she confirms, meeting his gaze for a tenth of a second before downing a second shot.

“You asked me on a date, and I invited our friends,” he states, and she flinches. He startles in response and takes a step forward.

The island is between them, but she takes a step back anyway. He notices.

“Sweetheart,” he says softly, and she stares at the heels still on her feet and avoids his gaze.

She hears him move closer and she looks up, her heart almost shattering at his expression.

He is looking at her like she once saw him look at a frightened dog in a shelter they volunteered at, like she was going to bolt any second. In his defence, she feels as though she might.

“Rey, I didn’t realise it was a date until I saw you,” he explains gently, taking another step forward. She takes another step backwards, her lower back pressing against her countertop. “I thought it was just another dinner, until I saw that dress. I didn’t realise it was supposed to just be you and me.”

His dark eyes are consuming as they bore into hers and she breathes unsteadily as she breaks his gaze to stare down at the bottle of tequila, wishing she’d just popped a straw into the bottle and called it a night.

He says nothing for a moment and neither can she. She isn’t sure that anything would even come out of her mouth if she did open it to speak. Her broken heart is pounding and she doesn’t know what to do.

“Rey,” he says softly and she closes her eyes, trying to hide the moisture in them, but a tear falls down her cheek anyway. She lifts a shaking hand to wipe it away.

“Rey,” he repeats, closer this time but she doesn’t open her eyes. She’s never felt like more of a coward.

She feels a warm touch on her chin. “Sweetheart look at me,” he whispers, in a soft, gentle tone she’d never heard him use before.

She opens her eyes and he’s there, so close she can feel the heat radiating from his body, can smell his minty shampoo that costs so much it had made him blush when admitting it.

He’s right there, and he’s looking at her with the softest expression on his face, his lips curved into the slightest of smiles. His hands move to cup her face, thumbs sweeping along her cheekbones.

“Rey,” he whispers, and the way he says her name threatens to break her apart for the second time tonight. “I never could have thought – I couldn’t imagine – I didn’t- “

She tries to move away but he doesn’t let her, a frustrated sound slipping from his lips. “I’m not explaining this right.”

“Ben, you don’t have to let me down gently,” she whispers hoarsely. “It’s okay if you don’t see me that way.”

He blinks and his head jerks in shock, hands twitching against her face. “See you that way?” he repeats, but it sounds like a question.

“Romantically, I mean. I’m happy to still be friends, if you’re okay with that. I don’t want to lose you from my life just because you don’t feel the way that I do.” The words hurt as they come out, but she can’t stop them or the tone of desperation that sneaks out with them. She can’t lose him.

“And how do you feel?” he asks her, in the tone she’s heard him use a hundred times before, when someone is pissing him off.

“How do I feel?”

His eyes narrow and his hands drop from her face to grab at her clenched fists. They open automatically at his touch and suddenly her hands are engulfed in his. “About me, Rey. How do you feel about me?”

There is no escape from this, she realises quickly. There is no way that he will let her avoid this conversation. Her hands tremble beneath his.

She looks at him, at the man who has become her best friend. His eyes are wide and bright, and she feels every blink a loss of their splendour. There has barely been a night in six months that she hasn’t dreamed about these eyes. They’d been the first thing she’d noticed about him the night that elevator had stopped and their gazes had locked, wide and alarmed.

“I love you, Ben” she says before she can stop herself, before she can filter it with something less permanent, something easier to take back.

He closes his eyes then, for three seconds that feel like lifetimes. She feels as though she has lived many lifetimes when he opens them again.

They are glistening with unshed tears.

“You love me?” his voice is hoarse, his breath jagged.

“Yes, but- “she isn’t able to finish, isn’t able to speak as his mouth presses against hers in a kiss her body has been waiting for for months. His mouth is soft, so incredibly gentle against her own and she cannot help the gasp that slips from her, her mouth opening beneath his.

He lets go of her hands and less than a second later they are sliding into her hair, at the exact moment his tongue is moving into her mouth, brushing expertly against her own.

She had spent long nights thinking about kissing Ben Solo, had run hundreds of scenarios of what kissing him would be like. Her most replayed had been wild, hungry. She had expected Ben to kiss her like he was starving.

The reality was Ben kissing her so carefully, his mouth sweeping against hers so intentionally, that she can feel herself starting to unravel. His tongue sweeps along hers in measured strokes that make her knees weak. He kisses her the way she once watched him eat an ice cream cone, so expertly that none had melted over his had the way that hers had. His hands are twisted in her hair and hers are tangled in his and she has never felt so alive.

He kisses her and she knows she’ll never be the same.

She had loved him before, as her friend, as her potential partner. But now, now she knew that the chemistry she had thought between them wasn’t the inferno she’d worried would set her ablaze, but instead a steady, intense heat that warmed her from the inside out. She was worried she’d be consumed by the flames, but instead, she knew that she could flourish beneath this sunlight.

He pulls her closer and she whimpers beneath his mouth, those careful kisses slowly pulling her to pieces. He pulls away then, pressing his forehead against her own as they each gasp for breath.

Her hands move from his hair to rest along his neck and she can feel his heartbeat beneath her fingertips, a pounding concerto to match her own.

He moves forward again, but instead of her lips, he kisses her cheeks, her nose, the corner of her mouth. Soft, whispers of kisses. Rey feels her eyes fill with tears once more. One falls and he kisses it away

“Rey,” he whispers, pulling back to look at her. His expression is open, happy, one he often wears when they are alone. “I love you so much, sweetheart.”

She blinks. Once, twice.

He smiles at her then, eyes alight with a tenderness that looks different than it did a moment ago, somehow.

She opens her mouth but nothing comes out and she closes it again, her thoughts a jumbled mess, trying to make sense of this new information.

I love you so much, sweetheart.

The words play over and over as he continues to watch her, smile still firmly in place.

“You love me?” she finally asks and she watches a tear fall from his right eye as he chuckles.

“I have been in love with you almost as long as I have known you,” he tells her, leaning forward to press more kisses against her skin. “Deeply, insanely, completely.”

He keeps kissing her and before she can stop herself, she can feel her lips lifting into a smile. He kisses the corners of her mouth.

“You love me even though I ruined your cashmere sweater by running it through the wash?” she asks, remembering the way he’d clenched his jaw when she’d sheepishly presented him with remains of the black mess.

“So much,” he tells her, moving his hands down to her neck, along her shoulders and down her arms until his hands are wrapped around her waist. She resists the urge to look down to see how far his giant hands reach around. She’s spent many a night wondering if his fingertips would touch at the back.

“You love me even though I threw out your suspicious smelling Vietnamese leftovers?” he asks her and her body shakes with her laughter. She’d been so mad at him.

“So much, Ben,” she says as he pulls back to smile at her. It’s both the same and different to every other smile he’s ever given her. She loves his smile, knowing that he doesn’t do it often makes her feel like she’s won something every time he gifts her with one.

“You love me even though I think red wine is abhorrent?” She remembers the look on his face when she’d spat out the sip he’d made her try all over his pristine kitchen counter.

“Even though,” he laughs, pulling her into his body, until almost all of her his pressed against him. She can feel the hardness between his legs against her stomach.

“You love me even though I didn’t realise tonight was a date and asked our friends to come? Even though I had thought for a second before realising there would be no way you’d want me like that, that maybe you did? Even though when I saw you on that sidewalk, I saw how beautiful you were and realised how much of a coward I’ve been since I realised how I felt about you?”

“You’re my favourite person in the world Ben,” she tells him softly. “There’s not a but here for me, no even thoughs. I love you as you are, for everything that you are.”

“I love you, too. For everything that you are.”

He kisses her again and for the first time in her life, Rey Niima has everything she has ever wanted.

The End.

Hey 👋🏻 it’s been a minute. Like a lot of people, TROS kinda felt like a kick in teeth for me and it’s taken me a while to get back into fic writing during COVID (I’m an essential worker, and it’s been tough). Anyway, this one was a bit long, but I hope you liked it. And I hope it made up a little for my absence ❤️

#reylo #reylo trash #ben solo #kylo x rey #reylo fanfic #reylo fanfiction #rey #reylo au

[wolfpawn]

Once Bitten Twice Shy, Chapter 20 Final Chapter

Previous Chapter

Chapter Summary -  Paige sits in England, trying to get over a brokenheart, not the least bit interested in meeting friends, Mark puts that plan out of action, with interesting consequences. 

Tag, @wolfsmom1 @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @damalseer@nonsensicalobsessions  @standing-onthe-edge @hiddlesbitch1

anyone else who wishes to be added to the tags, just ask :)

a/n  - Thank you to everyone who came on this random journey with me. 

“One night?” Sophie pushed. 

“I am not in the mood Sophie, Mum is tired a lot since the surgery and it’s not fair to have Dad be the one to help her all the time,” Paige replied. “Besides, I am tired of being the only lone wolf at these things.” “Well, at the last one you went to, you…” “Brought myself into a situation where I ended up getting my heart broken even worse than the time I nearly married a cheating scumbag,” Paige replied. “I am not really in the mood, Soph, but thank you for the invitation. Maybe I will see you soon.”  “You live in the same city as me.”

“So there’s a good chance I will meet you soon.”  “Maybe.” Sophie shook her head as she put down the phone. 

“Paige?” 

Sophie looked at her husband. “Yes, she is going to help with her mother.” “Understandable. How is she?” “Great, they seem to have gotten to it before it was a big danger and took out the breast to prevent it becoming any more of an issue, but she is tired apparently and you know Paige.” “Always wants to help everyone. So, eight of us in total then?” “It would seem so, get a spare of everything because someone knocks something or someone gets something wrong somewhere,” Sophie ordered. 

“Will do.” Ben kissed her cheek as he went to get what she wanted. 

*

“My turn.” 

“What, it is not your turn.”  “Yes, it is. I’m the oldest and I said it’s my turn.” Mark sat on his sister, causing her to swear at him. “Go and be human again, Paige.” “I am very human.” 

“You know what I mean.”  Mark countered. “Look, I heard you talking to Sophie, they are having a dinner night, go be a normal young woman for an evening.” “They will have everything organised by now.” “Just check.” 

“You can’t help Mum with certain things.” “Dad and Fiona can do what I can’t. Look, one night won’t kill you.” 

“Maybe it will,” Paige challenged. “I am not really in the mood, Mark.”  “Well, get in the mood. I am kicking you out.” 

“You can’t kick me out, it’s not your house,” Paige argued. 

“Dad,” Mark called their father, who came into the room a moment later. “Kick Paige out of your house for the night.”

“What?” Martin looked at his son as though he was mad. 

“Kick out your daughter. She is not meeting friends because she thinks she needs to be here day and night even though you, Fiona and I are here and Mum is fine,” Mark explained. 

“Mark...” Paige growled. 

Martin looked between his children for a second before urging Paige out of the seat she was in. “I do not want to see you until lunchtime tomorrow, do I make myself clear?” “Dad?” 

“No, no ‘Dad’, you are stuck in here day and night with your mother and me. You need to be young, not that weekend of foolery you did in college but go and talk to people your own age.”

“Mark and Fiona are my age.” “Now, Paige. Damn it, I am telling you to go and see your friends or so help me I will change the locks and not let you back in here. Go.” 

Paige was about to argue her father when she noticed the sad look in his eyes. “Okay, Dad. I’ll go.” She gently squeezed his hand. “Don’t get upset.” “You have been through so much lately, Paigey, with your Mum, with everything with Tom.” She swallowed and chewed her lip. “I just...I hate seeing you so down. Being in the house all the time isn’t going to do you any good. You need to see your friends.” “I do.” 

“Then get your ass out of my house and go be a young woman. Who knows, maybe you could find some young man to sweep you off your feet.” “I am doubtful, but I guess anything is better than looking at Mark for the night.” “Bite me,” Her brother snarked. 

“Like Hell, I’d catch something,” She retorted. She pulled out her phone. “Guess I better see if I am welcome.” She commented, tapping out Sophie’s number. 

* Sophie beamed as she told Paige to get her ass over asap. When she hung up the phone, she went in search of her husband to inform him of their need to set another place. When she informed him, he nodded and stated that he was aware and would deal with it. 

When Paige turned up, Sophie answered the door and hugged her tightly. “Hello.” “Hi.” “So, how did you end up being convinced to come?” “Mark told Dad that I was invited and to kick me out of his house so I would come, so here I am.” “I am glad he did.” She ushered Paige into the kitchen. 

Ben came down the stairs just as there was a knock on the door. Smiling, knowing who it was, he opened it. “So, do I greet you like an American now?” He joked. 

Tom smiled back. “I will take a good old fashioned British one, if you don’t mind.” He embraced his friend. “How are you?” “All the better for seeing you, how was the US?”  “Fine, we have a few days off so I said I would come home, meet my new nephew.” He smiled. 

“How is your sister, this was her first, right?” “Yes, she is loving it apparently. He’s a cute little thing.” Tom walked with him into the living area. “But they are dealing with him at night and I have not seen you two in ages so when you extended the invite, I thought, why not?” “Why not, indeed, it’s great to have you.” 

*

“So, wine?” Sophie offered. 

“No thanks, I want a clear head for tomorrow, Mum is going to the hairdressers, I promised I’d bring her. She is excited to get out and about so I want to make sure she has a good...did you tell your husband I was coming?” Paige asked worriedly. 

Sophie’s brow furrowed. “What?” “Why is Ben staring at me like I am some form of apparition?” She pointed to the living area where Ben was staring blankly at her. 

Sophie looked into the living room where indeed, her husband was staring at her friend. “I have no idea. I told him to put out an extra set of everything?” “I sort of feel like I am persona non grata.” 

“What, no…” Sophie walked towards her husband. 

Paige, feeling uncomfortable went to the bathroom. 

“What is wrong with you?” Sophie asked. “You have Paige thinking she is not welcome.” 

“When did Paige say she was coming?”

“This afternoon, I told you to set another place and you said you were aware.”

“I thought you knew about Tom coming.” “Tom?” “Tom.” “Wait, Tom is here?” 

Just as Paige came to the bathroom, the door opened, bringing her face to face with Tom. “Oh.” Tom, just as startled, stared at her for a moment. “Paige?” “Well, it’s hardly Beyonce. What are you doing here, I thought you were in New York for another eight or ten weeks?” 

“We have a few days off. Emma had her baby so I came home, Ben offered dinner so I said yes. You?” “I live in London and never said I was going anywhere else?” She smiled awkwardly.

No, of course. How is your mum?”

“Fine, her biopsy came back as expected, but she caught it really early so she is doing great.” 

“Good, well not good that she is ill but good everything seems to be set to be okay.” “I gathered.” Paige smiled. “So, did Zawe come with you?” “No, no it was never like that, Paige. We...there was never anything between us. The media tried to imply that there was, but awe, she is a great friend, but nothing more.” 

“It’s not my business.” “Paige, listen. I need to speak to you. I tried and tried and every time something came up but I can’t take it anymore, I need to speak to you.” Tom had nothing he had prepared before ready, not the eloquent words or anything else, he only decided to throw it out there before something else got in the way. “I wanted to ask you for so long, but then you said in New York about you waiting too long. Paige, I am insane about you and I really hate not talking to you every day and not seeing you anymore. The time we were together, you were everything I could ever want but I was stupidly thinking you didn’t like me in the same way and how I was so worried about leaving anyone in London. I am gone a lot, my life is a lot of work for me, let alone anyone around me, but you always just seemed to glide through and you being there meant everything to me and I just...I want to be with you, officially, and properly.”  

“What?” 

“I know this is a lot to process at once, and I am sorry to throw it on you, but every fucking time I tried to tell you, or even kiss you, someone interrupted and I can’t take it again. I needed to tell you. I needed you to say yes or no, whatever you want, I will respect, but I needed to say it and let you know how I feel because I can’t hold it in any more. I just can’t. I am mad about you, I...You literally are the woman I could see a future with and that doesn’t scare me, it excites me. You are so intelligent and caring and independent and I need to let you know and if I am being too forward, tell me. If I am not what you want, then tell me, but not knowing is chewing me up inside. I am so sorry to dump this on you, but I need to get it out.” “That really is a lot to process.” Paige stated in shock. She thought about it. She had begun to accept Tom was interested in another woman, she had forced herself to understand she was not what he wanted so she was not sure how to deal with realising she was wrong. “I...I don’t....” She rubbed her hands over her face. “Tom, I...I thought you weren’t interested.” “I am.” He stepped in front of her, his hand on her cheek. “Fuck me, I am. I just took too long to admit it.”  “It’s just…I don’t…”

“Just say it. Whatever it is, I will respect it.”

“I am just so confused.” She inhaled deeply. 

“How can I assist?” “I don’t know. I guess, just give me a while to figure it out?” Tom smiled and took her hand, kissing it as he looked her in the eye. “Take all the time you need.” 

“It’s not you, please believe me, it’s just, I feel like a mess recently, with Mum and everything.” “Completely understandable. Would you rather I leave?” “What, are you fucking nuts, I am not going to tell you to leave your friends home because I’m trying to figure this out, what’s wrong with you?” 

Tom smiled. “Don’t ever change, please.”

Paige bit her lips together and looked at him coyly. “You make it hard to want to.” Thinking for only another second or two, she leant up and pressed her lips to his. 

Tom, realising what was happening, kissed her back, his hand going to her face and cupping her cheek gently. 

“Tom?” Ben’s voice came up the stairs. 

Tom reached for the closest item to him, which happened to be a towel and threw it down the stairwell. “Not now.” He growled. 

“If you two go at it in my bathroom, I swear, I will throw cold water on you.” “Better than your bedroom, in all fairness.” Paige retorted before kissing Tom again, him laughing against her lips. When she pulled back again, she looked at him for a moment. “I know you are busy at the moment with the show, but I will be here when you get back.” 

don't

“Don’t say that, I won’t go back.” 

“You will because you’re a professional. I will be here.” “After that, I have the Loki series.”  “I know. And I will still be here. Just...don’t hurt me, not like he did.” “Never,” Tom swore, kissing her again. 

*

Tom sat back in his chair. He rubbed his hands over his face. It was the second last week of the show. He was exhausted, he wanted to go home, ring Paige, and fall asleep to her voice. 

He had stayed in her home the following two nights he was in London, both nights spent getting to know each other in the one way their talks did not teach them. Tom had to spend time with his family, but he did so with Paige by his side. When his family saw her, they all were elated. The pair pretended it was simply that they decided to try and work through the time apart, neither wanting to admit their scam before. Tom informed Luke, Paige informed Oscar, both were surprised but not overly shocked, having discussed the other’s character with each other before and noting their similar personalities. Tom went to see Violet before returning to New York, something that made her happier than they thought possible. She cried on seeing him and seeing him holding her daughter’s hand again. 

When Tom went to the airport for his flight, he looked worriedly at Paige. “If it gets too much, tell me.”  “If you decide you want someone else, tell me.” With promises made, they kissed and said goodbye. 

He missed it, he wanted to be back in London, in bed with her and talking, like they did the first morning after they woke in her bed, having professed their feelings. He wanted nothing more than to be with her. 

“You look tired.” He turned to see Zawe in the doorway. “Everything alright?” “Missing home.”  “It’s not Britain, is it? I never thought I would miss home so much.” She walked into the room, her arms folded. “Do you miss her?” “Terribly.” “What would you do if she was here now?” “Hug her, tell her I want nothing more than to go back to the apartment, sort Bobby and then just relax with her. Swear I was fine but doze off on the couch, her rolling her eyes and snorting, having told me five times to just go to bed.” Tom smiled at the thought.

“Sounds so normal,” Zawe commented. There was no ill-meaning in her words, simply statement of thought. 

“Sounds perfect in my opinion,” Tom stated wearily. 

“I’m inclined to agree.” 

For a moment, Tom didn’t register the voice before his eyes widened, then he turned and he saw Paige standing at the door. “What…?” “I was able to get a flight to New York, so I took it. Mark is going away for Christmas with Fiona, so they are at home this week, I had a few days to burn, so…” Tom got off the chair and noted the smile on Zawe's face. “You…” “Zawe helped me to get in here, she was so good.” Paige smiled. “Guess who both have the same editor, that was handy.” 

Tom leant over and gave his co-star a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.” “Any time. I will leave you two to it.” Zawe walked out of the room. “Have a good evening.” “You too.” Paige walked over to him. “I think we need to get you to the apartment and get you some rest.” “In a minute.” “Why, what have you left to do?” “Kiss you.” Tom leant forward and did just that. 

#Once Bitten Twice Shy #chapter 20 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic

[bluboothalassophile]

Learning Curb

Piper Halliwell was a very proud mother of three Twice Blessed children. She adored her children, would die for them without hesitation. They were her babies, they were special, and they were powerful. In a world full of heroes that was actually kind of cool.

Titans Tower was in the center of San Francisco’s bay, had been for years, the heroes there did a lot of good for the communities. Whether it was battling some out of control, over powered crazy, or community service, those kids were pillars of the hero world. She knew because Wyatt had avowed he’d be Nightwing for about four years; she had the Halloween pictures to prove it. Chris had kind of gravitated more towards the very dark Titan, Raven, finding her use of shadows to be cool. Melinda loved Starfire, not that Piper would ever allow her daughter to exit the house dressed like that! Nope, not happening. Melinda was a child, she would not dress that risqué.

It was impressive, for all the world of superheroes which they lived in, Piper still found it more impressive that Magic was not a prominent part of the world and still greatly unknown to mortals and feared. Sure, there was an open magic user in the Justice League, a young witch by the name Zatanna, who was an irrevocable force of Light Magic but other than here and there occasionally, there weren’t many Magic wielding superheroes. Which had allowed the Magic community to remain greatly in the dark. Supernatural beings were not flocking to the light, and she didn’t know what that meant for her world if magic was thoroughly uncovered. Until then though a good portion of hers and her family’s feats would remain unknown to the world in the battles against the evil which had threatened existence as it stood. The Charmed Ones and the Twice Blessed would stand against all the evil which the world couldn’t see.

However, this secrecy had led to her fighting frequently about his Magic and being careful about showing off! Honestly, he was so like Paige it was maddening! Her hardheaded, softhearted, boisterous son who smiled like the sun and light up everyone’s world, couldn’t seem to understand he couldn’t be a hero just to be a hero. He might be Twice Blessed but he was not a superhero, and the epic fights they had had about that were something which had scared her. Scared her that Wyatt could go evil, however, now that he was sixteen, he was seeing that being a hero wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and had set his sights on universities instead. Wyatt was the captain of his football team, star quarterback and demon slayer on weekends, he was the amazing big brother she always knew he could be for Chris and Melinda, and a vigilant protector of his younger cousins. Piper was very proud of her boy, but vastly relieved he was no longer pushing her to go to Titan’s Tower and put his application in to be a superhero; she was pretty sure she’d go grey before she was fifty if he did that.

Melinda was a lot like her brother, she wanted to show off to the world, to show she was good and capable of kicking butt like her brothers and taking charge like her aunts. She was too young to understand the repercussions of that, but she hadn’t been as incessant about the superhero gig as Wyatt had been. Which was a relief to Piper, she didn’t think she could handle her tween if she was on full swing of wanting to be a superhero. Melinda, her beautiful, logical, critically minded daughter already had her sights set on being a Whitelighter like her father. Melinda was proving to be a prodigy in potions, alchemy, and runes, her mind being more mathematically aligned than Piper could keep up. Her little girl was a ‘genius’ according to her mortal teachers, which was wonderful to hear, but Piper had no idea how to keep up with her twelve year old who was studying college math and brewing vanquishing potions. However, she did keep up; somehow.

Wyatt and Melinda did take up most of her patience and temper; to be fair, those to extroverted children were a handful especially with the Twice Blessed abilities. Also, they were so much Daddy’s kids that it was a bit much for her at times; Leo was a very involved father with his kids, but still it wore her ragged that her eldest and youngest were so defiant and energetic.

Piper’s middle son, Chris was her easy baby. Shy, sweet Chris was her easy child. Which was saying something because he was… Chris. Piper didn’t know if it was true or not, but she had suspicions about her independent quiet boy; she suspected since his birth, but since his fourteenth birthday she felt her suspicions were confirmed. Her baby Chris and her older Chris had merged, not that Chris said much but there were times she would be talking with her son and he’d be talking about a different event that hadn’t happened, but was very real to him, and he’d be very confused; but at the same time he was her sweet, innocent Chris who didn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders. But his drive and inner fire were stunted with these two Chris’ in his head, she felt it, Chris wanted purpose, past cooking and researching all the time, he was her warrior child. Now there was no war for him to fight, no siblings to fight for; but rather fight with when demons ganged up on them, he wasn’t alone; though he was still greatly a loner by nature, and his secrecy wasn’t a habit she had broken him of. Just the other day she had gotten a call from his school that he had been in a fight; she still didn’t know what about. There was this chaotic energy in her boy, and it confused him as he had no where or anyone to direct his worries and focus on. Still, for as difficult as Chris could be, he was, as he had forever been, a Mama’s boy however he had a good relationship with Leo too this time around. There were still residual issues, but Chris and she talked them through, and if it wasn’t her talking them through with him it was Victor, Victor was very good with her boy still.

Chris was complicated, somewhat more entangled with his previous self and current self than his siblings could understand, but they had infinite patience for their brother. For which Piper was grateful for, because she knew for a fact Prue and Phoebe would not have had the patience needed to endure her if she was like Chris as a child. Chris was two people in one, and it was difficult enough to distinguish who was who as they both have the same core personality, but her Chris wasn’t neurotic like her older Chris had been.

However, cleaning her kitchen as she looked over the books for P3 and her restaurant, Patty’s all was well for her quiet afternoon. It was a productive time for her as Wyatt, Melinda and Chris were all at school; would be going to Magic School after school and practice, so she was free until about eight tonight. Which meant she was going to get caught up on the books. At least that’s what it meant until her phone rang.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Miss Halliwell, it’s your son,” the principle started.

“Has something happened?” she asked.

“Uh… Chris has…” he started.

“What’s happened to Chris?” she started. Chris; while her easy child, was also the child who had her going mama bear faster than the other two; she had lost him once but she would never lose him again!

“He’s… vanished, ma’am,” the principle said.

“WHAT!?” Piper shouted as she stood up, grabbing her keys and jacket, snagging her purse too.

“He was sitting in class one second, then he was gone in a bunch of blue sparkly lights!” the principle sounded panicked.

Piper stopped dead. “A bunch of lights?”

“Yes,” the principle said as calmly as he could.

“I’ll be right there,” she said. She hung up as she got in the car. “LEO!”

She was already gunning it down the street as she drove for his school. Leo materialized in the passenger seat.

“What!?” he demanded catching her panic.

“Our son just orbed out of school!” she said.

“He DID What!?” Leo shouted in fear and shock.

“I don’t know why!? But he orbed out of class!” Piper stated.

“Oh God…” Leo stared in horror at this information. Piper felt the horror of it too, their son was missing and had blatantly used his powers publicly! Maybe they could blame a supervillain; that wasn’t new news in San Francisco. But still, Piper didn’t know what to think of where he could’ve gone!

~~~*~*~*~~~

Mary-Beth needed guidance! She wanted to talk to her damn cousin who had unlocked her magic, and she just…

Oh God she hoped this worked because she was running out of ideas for even getting in touch with Raven since… no, she wouldn’t go there. She refused to believe it.

Raven… Raven was infallible and invincible and indomitable, there was just no way, none that Rae was actually dead. No. She was this all powerful demon who no one had been able to vanquish or kill and she just got her cousin, so no. Just no. Looking in her cousin’s grimoire she continued drawing the summoning seal.

No demon summon, monster, ghost, spirit, wizard, witch, or warlock summon had brought her cousin to her, so that was making her think that her cousin wasn’t a demon. So, next step, she was summoning angels. Which was what she was drawing on the ground as she walked in the ruins of Azarath. Something was going to give, and her cousin was going to talk to her, her cousin wasn’t dead.

Standing up she grabbed the Book of Azarath and stalked to the podium, she’d just have to whip up a rhyme and get her cousin. Sitting on the stones she glared at the little glowing black bird with red eyes.

“I call upon thee/ Wise soul for guidance/ Come straight to me/ No more defiance!” Mary snapped. There was a brilliant blue which came to swirl over the white wax of her seal which had the fires igniting. Mary’s knee bounced as she struggled to keep her patience; this was the farthest her spell had gotten.

The world illuminated a bit, there was a sharp jingling sound as light illuminated the ruins ceiling and a scream as a body came flying down and smashing into the seal, a heavy thud and a groan accompanied the actions.

“You aren’t a demon! I knew it! You lying bitch!” Mary shouted slamming her book shut as she leapt to her feet.

“Ow!” a voice groaned as she stalked into the seal. She blinked twice as she found herself staring at a boy; her age, looking at her through thick dark bangs, his green eyes were sharp.

“Who the hell are you?” She sputtered stepping back from him.

“I could ask you the same question,” he huffed as he got himself up to his feet. The guy was a giant, gangly too; he wasn’t built like her cousin’s boyfriend. The guy had a sharp face, squared features, a frown nearly etched in stone, and sharp green eyes, his dark fringe of brown-almost black hair fell in his eyes as he glared stubbornly at her.

“You are sure as hell not who I was summoning.”

“Summoned!?” he sputtered.

“What are you?” Mary demanded stepping out of the seals, grabbing the Book of Azar too as she now stepped behind the podiums of the old astrology tower.

“Uh… Where am I?” he asked her.

“I asked you first.” She said sharply.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Chris was used to weird. Weird was part of being a Halliwell; like having another set of his own memories in his head which were in sync with his own memories as he grew up. Which was… freaky needless to say the least. His mom and grandpa walked him through these memories when they cropped up, as did his dad, but it made his head both crowded and confusing. He had issues with himself, and not even the best shrink ever could untangle, it also had him and his dad’s relationship in this loopdeloop relationship in many ways.

However!

No matter how freaking weird his life could be, his head getting scrambled or demons attacking or Josh Higgins shoving him into a locker he had NEVER been hijacked by magic!

Until today.

Sitting in his classroom taking his AP World History FINAL and then it was like a spear had been slammed in his gut and someone yanked on it as hard as they could, yanking him out of reality until he came crashing down from the ceiling and onto a stone floor, gasping for air. There was a very angry voice, and a set of black boots at his face, before the girl had retreated as he gained his feet.

He had NO idea where he was, or what was going on, all he knew was that he was here.

Still trying to get his bearings, his eyes narrowed on the only thing not spinning in the room; the girl. She was small of frame, athletic, long curly black hair which fell everywhere, violet eyes and a proud face. She wasn’t a demon, he could sense that, especially with the way her violet eyes were shining, all she was, was powerful. Chris sensed no darkness or light off of her though.

“I’m Chris,” he said, holding up his hand to wave at her, fully intending to orb out, noticing his pen. Oh God, his final! His mom was going to kill him! Oh God! He was so dead!

“I’m Mary-Beth,” she answered then, she was standing by an impressive grimoire, he didn’t recognize it. Knowing a lot of magical families had private grimoires not shared with the Elders he wouldn’t be surprised if even his dad didn’t know this book on sight. Nothing about the ancient leather bound book screamed threat though. Nothing about this screamed threat.

“Huh,” he nodded and now looked down at what he was standing on, his eyes widened recognizing the seal. It was impressive! He walked around, the runes were sure, and the intricacy of the design; no one he had ever met had the artistic perfection for seals like this! “Did you do this?” he asked.

“Um…” she opened her mouth, shut it, her eyes flicked from him to the seal as she picked up her grimoire and stepped back. “Yes?”

“Cool,” he said. “Norse runes with Celt design and a mythos root, impressive, is that!? Whoa, this is some serious magic!”

“I’m sorry, but… who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Chris.”

“Yeah, I mean, what are you Chris?” she said. “I wasn’t trying to summon a… whatever you are.”

“A whatever I am?” he questioned. “What were you trying to summon?”

“My cousin,” she answered.

“Huh, well I don’t know about your cousin, but this impressive biblical level work for summoning uh… something like me. What’s your cousin?”

“Not you,” she answered blandly. “she didn’t do the white light thingy.”

“White light?... Oh! You mean orbing!” he corrected.

“Whatever. She did the shadow thing,” Mary-Beth said.

“The… the… I’m sorry, what?” he asked with a nervous chuckle. “Your cousin’s a demon!?” he squeaked.

“Duh,” she rolled her eyes.

He felt all the color and blood drain from his face as he trembled slightly. “Oh hell.”

“The problem is I can’t seem to summon her, and I got you instead!” she snarled in frustration.

“You… you’re…. you’re trying to summon a demon and got a whitelighter?” he sputtered. “Wait! Why are you trying to summon a demon?”

“I need advice,” she shrugged.

“Demons don’t give advice.”

“She gives the best advice, I refuse… she’s not dead.” Mary-Beth stated firmly.

“Dead!? Demons are vanquished!” he shouted.

“Whatever, she’s not dead. I don’t care what the world thinks,” Mary-Beth mumbled as she slammed her book down and started flipping through the pages.

“Wh-Who was your cousin?” he asked nervously, the power this girl radiated was immense; not even Wyatt had power this wild, raw or immense. Wyatt was the most powerful being he knew too. This girl, who was about his age, radiated power, neither light nor dark magic, just… magic.

“Raven,” she answered. “Gem of Scath.”

Chris stood there, slacked jawed. The Titaness’ death had been a global event, her declaring war, warping reality, tearing apart warships, her and the Outlaws, they had stopped the Tameranean invasion, and it had come at the cost of Raven. The Titan had fallen saving the Outlaw, his mom had theorized that Raven had been a very powerful sorceress and that black bird she used as a weapon was no mere shadows but her soul, the death of Raven’s body had severed soul and life and Raven had died; at least that was what his mom had theorized. Now Chris saw something different, a very powerful, magic demon whose immense power had warped reality in a single battle.

That kind of power was… beyond Elder Power, or gods even. And if the girl’s claim was true, which it wasn't too far of a stretch to see how this girl radiated the sheer amount of power to be related to someone like Raven, then she was alone, scared, and from the fact she was trying to summon the demon; she had no Whitelighter.

“Raven… Titans Raven? The superhero? She was a demon!?” he squeaked.

“Yes…”

“And you’re just trying to summon a demon!? Any old demon!? Have you Lost Your Mind!?” he shouted.

“Well I’m running out of options!?” she screamed back.

“What about your Whitelighter!?” he demanded.

“My what!?” she sputtered.

“You know! Your magical guide directing you down the path of good! The Whitelighter assigned to you; that Dad would’ve assigned to you!?”

Now Mary-Beth straightened folding her arms as she marched up to the edge of her line on the seal. “Do I look like I have some magical guardian angel!? I’m kind of winging it here pal!”

“There’s no way you don’t have a Whitelighter, power like yours; I can feel it. And I’m Twice Blessed.”

“Whatever that means. And my power has nothing to do with this!” she snapped.

“You’re…” he started.

“I just… I want my cousin,” the girl murmured now, her curly hair falling as a veil around her as her head dropped.

“Vanquished is vanquished.”

“Rae isn’t dead!” Mary snapped, her head snapping up as her eyes watered.

“I watched her die!” he snapped.

“So what!? I think I would feel if my cousin was dead,” she snapped.

He opened his mouth to rebut that, but then snapped it shut. He’d feel if his cousins were in trouble or dead, he knew that feeling. “Why are you trying to summon her?”

“What do you care?”

“I don’t! I was summoned from my AP World History Final, by you, and now I’m here… oh god… Mom’s going to kill me! I orbed! Oh no… Oh God… I’m so dead,” he gasped, the panic no welled up in his chest. He had orbed! Against his will! IN CLASS! He was dead! He would go sign himself into the morgue now! Oh fuck! “Mom’s going to kill me!”

“I couldn’t have just summoned some random dude unless you were… Oh My God! You’re part angel! Oh no… Dad’s going to kill me!” Mary-Beth gasped.

“Your dad!? My mom’s going to blow me up!”

“Do angels even have moms!?” she yelled in panic.

“My mom’s a witch!” he shouted.

“Oh God…” Mary looked mortified now, and even paler than her ivory complexion should allow. “How's that even possible I thought angels were sexless beings, you know what, don't need to know, I cross a line today. It’s enough.”

“I’m technically half Whitelighter.”

“I’m so dead. I can’t believe I summoned an angel! Without consent!” she gasped.

“My mom and aunts do it all the time,” he said blandly.

“I’m so dead.”

“Not as dead as me! I orbed! In class!”

“Wait? Class? Magic School, like Grimwood?” she asked.

“No! Public High School!” he yelped. Mary suddenly had a look of ultimate pity on her face.

“Dude, Hell is better than high school.”

“I’m not disagreeing, but my mom is going to kill me!” he cringed.

“Angels can’t die.”

“I’m only half, and it’s Whitelighter, not angel, angels are completely different,” he said sharply. His mom was so going to blow him up! There was a thunderous roar in the distance which had his head snapping over to where he looked out at ruins to see a massive black dragon flying through the skies.

“Is that a…”

“Yeah, it’s my cousin’s pet,” she answered.

“Oh I am so dead.” He muttered.

“I…” there was a flurry of white lights around him and his summoner and then he yelped as she was slammed into him and they were yanked back through the void until he felt himself rematerializing and slamming into the attic floor.

“Will you please! Stop! Doing! THAT!” he hissed as the girl slammed on top of him.

“Chris!” his mom shouted and there was a flurry of movement as Mary scrambled off him.

“Who the hell are you!?” His little sister’s voice barked, and he looked up just in time to watch Melinda hovering and a potion in hand. Wyatt threw a shield around them as his hands started glowing red, his dad was over him, and his mom was glaring at where Mary was. Scrambling to his feet he dove between Mary and his family.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Everyone calm down!” he shouted.

“Out of the way Chris,” Wyatt ordered.

“Dude, calm your tits!” Chris snapped.

“Peanut?” his mom drawled out the warning.

“She’s not a demon!” he promised. “Dad!” he pleaded.

“She’s… not a demon,” Leo relented. Chris would’ve slumped in relief except now he was keenly aware that all eyes were on Mary-Beth and himself.

“Well if she’s not a demon, then what the hell is she!?” Piper snapped. Chris tensed as he looked at Mary-Beth, who was frozen, she stared at all them with a blank face and huge violet eyes.

“Uh… Powerful?” he said with a nervous shrug.

“I can sense that,” Wyatt and his dad snapped at him.

“I’m Raven’s cousin.” Mary-Beth said, stepping up beside him now, he stared down at her, she was so damn small; like his mom.  His mom and dad blinked dumbly, Wyatt frowned, Melinda looked confused.

“Raven?”

“The Titan,” Mary-Beth stated. “I wasn’t trying to summon… Chris, I was trying to summon my cousin,” Mary stated. Now his family floundered a bit and he saw Wyatt staring at Mary-Beth in a hint of awe and trepidation. Melinda was digesting this information. His parents were looking between them and back at Mary. Mary rubbed her eyes, regained her composure and he saw her straighten her back and hold her head high. She looked like one of the Native Americans in the history books, unyieldingly proud even in sorrow. Chris didn’t know what to say or do right now and just awkwardly shifted on his feet waiting for their reaction to sink in; he didn’t know if he was to be a buffer between Mary-Beth and them, or just dive out of the way when his mom went into mom mode.

“Sweetie,” his mom’s voice was soft as she walked forward. “Have you tried a séance?”

“I’ve tried everything!” Mary-Beth exploded now, the force of her power was a shockwave, which had his mom stepping back with wide eyes. “I was trying summonings now and all I got was…” Mary gave him a bland gesture as she started pacing around in her fury. “Nothing is working!”

“Sweetie, honey, you need to calm down,” Piper said. Chris felt the house trembling at Mary’s fury.

“I can’t! I got… Magic and I have NO Idea how to control it! I go to a school of freaks! My history teacher is a mummy! An actual wrapped up Mummy! And I have no friends, I can’t stay home! My brother and sister also have magic! And I need HELP! She Can’t Be Dead! She Said She’d Help! I Have No Idea What To Do!” Mary screamed the last of her tirade and his mom caught the girl’s hands now, forcing Mary to stop pacing and to stare at her.

“Calm down,” Piper stated. “I’m Piper,” she said.

Mary blinked a few times at this. “Mary-Beth.”

“Alright, we’re going to figure this out kiddo.” Piper said.

“And how can you help?” Mary demanded bitterly.

“I don’t know yet, sweetie, but I’ve been where you are. So, take a breath, we’re going to the kitchen and we’ll call your mom,” Piper said calmly.

“Thanks mom,” Chris sighed.

“No problem, peanut. Why don’t you show Mary-Beth the kitchen while your father and I chat? Wyatt, Melinda, don’t eat all the cookies,” Piper warned.

“Come on,” Chris said to Mary who merely glared at him before she sighed and relented as she walked after.

“Where am I?”

“My house,” he answered.

“Where is that exactly?”

“San Francisco.”

“I’m so grounded,” she sighed.

“At least mom didn’t blow me up for orbing in public,” he said.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Mary-Beth just relented that she had no say in what was going on; some cosmic consequence she’d bet. Trying to summon Raven back from the dead or wherever she was hiding, it just… it wasn’t fair! She had no idea what to do, and her cousin wasn’t coming to her calls and! It was too much, just too much!

“Do you know Superboy?” a voice cut through her thoughts which had her looking at a younger girl with sharp brown eyes and sandy brown hair.

“Melinda!” Wyatt snapped.

“What!?” Melinda defended, she saw Chris and Wyatt roll their eyes then.

“What?” Mary-Beth stammered.

“You said your cousin was Raven, so do you know Superboy or not?” Melinda demanded.

“I don’t know the heroes,” Mary answered.

“Really? Not Aqualad, or Robin, or anything?” Wyatt asked.

“Uh… no,” she answered. “I met Arsenal, once,” she omitted; because she’d been sworn to secrecy, she hadn’t ever talked about it.

“That’s… neat,” Chris offered.

“He’s the archer dude who dresses up in red and works with the Red Hood now,” she clarified.

“Oh!” Wyatt and Chris said in recognition.

“I… I wasn’t a hero. I just, I found out she was my cousin last year,” Mary said hesitantly.

“So you weren’t close?” Wyatt asked; the mere idea seemed unfathomable to these three as they looked between each other.

“I… we were kinda just getting to know each other,” she said. Raven had been kind to her, and her siblings, she was just, very reluctant to get invested in them or anything else really. Mary had thought it odd until the Magic had manifested then Raven’s standoffish ways had made some degree of sense. This power… it was all consuming and it was terrifying. Mary had also learned her cousin was the product of her mother’s rape and sired only because of a satanic cult summoning a demon called Trigon. Yeah, easy to see why Raven didn’t let people into her life with open arms and a smile when that information had been revealed; even her mom realized that and realized that badgering Raven wasn’t going to get Raven coming into their family. But… it’d been something just a beginning of a relationship, something Mary could rely on and now, Raven was dead and she had no one who understood her fear of herself.

“Oh, that sucks,” Wyatt grimaced.

“I, we were kind of starting to be friends, the magic thing,” she said.

“Come on, mom made peanut butter chocolate chip,” Chris said.

“That’s cause she always makes your favorites,” Melinda rolled her eyes.

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“Does Not!”

“Dude she does,” Wyatt snickered.

“Chris is a mama’s boy!” Melinda informed her in a loud whispered.

“AM NOT!”

“Are too!” she countered.

“Rae’s best friend was a total badass and a mama’s boy, according to Arsenal,” she said primly which had them all staring at them. “Mama’s Boys are total badasses!” she decided. Her mom was so going to wash her mouth out with soap if she knew that she had cursed.

“Fine, I’m a mama’s boy,” Chris relented, but stuck his tongue out at Wyatt and Melinda in triumph. Wyatt laughed as he messed up his brother’s hair and Melinda pouted as she walked after Wyatt.

“So, can I ask how you summoned my baby brother off this plane?” Wyatt asked as they guided her to a kitchen.

“There was a seal in the book, I drew it, I thought Raven would come,” Mary mumbled as she was sat down at the island. “Not Chris.”

“So you didn’t summon my baby bro on purpose?” Wyatt asked.

“I don’t even know him, why would I summon him?” she asked blandly.

“Twice Bless?” Melinda said.

Mary frowned. “You have all said that like it means something, it means nothing.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chris said.

“I’m not. I’m worried about how I’m getting back to school before the head mistress notices that I’m missing and calls my mom so I’m grounded for an eternity!” Mary groaned. That realization was hitting her just now with the information that she was currently in San Francisco. She was so dead when her mom found out she wasn’t in Louisiana at Grimwood. Going to Azarath was because her mom didn’t know about Azarath, and that was the only reason she had gotten away with that.

“Have a cookie,” Chris ordered shoving one under her nose which had his siblings snorting in amusement, he stared at her blandly.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Piper watched the kids bustle out. Phoebe and Paige had been on call if she hadn’t been able to have Wyatt summon Chris back, what she hadn’t expected was the girl.The girl had been small, athletic, curly black hair, proud face and blue eyes, she had held her ground but been so tiny and looked so defenseless and confused that Piper had wanted to reach over to the girl and comfort her. The sheer raw power the girl had displayed when her emotions had let loose was impressive; not even Wyatt had had power like that. Watching the kids run down the stairs with the girl, Mary-Beth; Piper folded her arms as she watched them go then turned on Leo.

“What the hell was that!?” Piper demanded. “Did you feel that!?” she sputtered.

“A very powerful witch,” Leo said. Piper frowned.

“A confused, powerful, scared little girl who was summoning God knows what and got Chris! Where’s her Whitelighter!?” Piper demanded.

“I…” he started then he looked confused for a minute. “I don’t know,” he said softly. “The Elders are good at keeping track of power like… like that, but I’ve…” he seemed at a loss. “She felt neutral.”

“Neutral?”

“It’s a rarity of Magic, most family lines are ingrained with Dark or Light Magic, it’s the preference of the family which leads to this and the powers they can use. The Magic is the tool, the individual person’s intent determines if this person is good or evil. The base of the family’s magic type though does tend to influence a person one way or another, like the Charmed Ones being good,” he said.

“And this girl is Neutral?” Piper asked, unimpressed a bit by this. That girl was more powerful than Wyatt!

“Well, I’m not saying she isn’t powerful, but she is comprised of enormous amounts of Dark and Light Magic, and that power is swirling about her growing rather quickly, without hindrance,” Leo said.

“So… who the hell was Raven in the magic world for the cousin to be that powerful?” Piper demanded.

“I… don’t know,” Leo admitted.

“How can you not know, if the hero was that massive of Magic influence shouldn’t the Elders or someone felt that?” Piper demanded.

“I don’t know, but I’ll go ask the other Elders,” Leo orbed out and Piper sighed as she rubbed her brow.

Walking down to her kitchen she paused seeing Chris shoving a cookie under the girl’s nose. Mary-Beth, she remembered, looked very small, and lost, and rather hopeless right now. Funny, Piper thought, she had never dwelled on these larger than life heroes having families or lives outside the hero life. People like Superman, or Batman, they just were so unreal and mythic that it had seemed unbelievable that they had families, or people outside the world of crisis and chaos which had them continuously saving the world. They were just so… godlike, so impersonal and real, so powerful and indomitable, they didn’t seem real. The mere idea of them having lives seemed abstract to her. It was shocking, the Titan Raven had seemed so larger than life it was impossible to think of her as someone’s cousin, or daughter, or niece.

“Mary-Beth,” Piper smiled as she walked in, the girl turned a bit to her, cookie in her mouth with large violet eyes.

“Uh… They gave me the cookie,” she pointed at Chris and Wyatt then.

“Oh I don’t care about the cookies, I said go get the cookies,” Piper waved off. “Wyatt, you take Melinda to Magic School, and go to practice, no orbing,” she warned.

“I could…!” Melinda started.

“No. Wyatt go,” Piper said as Wyatt walked by ruffling Chris’ hair as he walked by and Melinda skipped after him.

“I should go to finish my final…” Chris started.

“Oh no mister, you sit right there.” Piper warned her son. “Now, Mary-Beth,” she turned on the teen. “I would like to call your mother,” she said.

“Why?” Mary asked nervously.

“Well, as a mother of magical kids, I know how unnerving it is to have your kid just… poof.” Piper said.

“You don’t have to, she thinks I’m at school right now, and I think I can get back to school before anyone notices.”

“Uh-huh, what school?” Piper pried. She was calling Mary-Beth’s mother one way or another.

“A…Magic School?” Mary offered.

“Hm, my husband runs a Magic School,” Piper offered. She figured this would be a give take situation, because of how this girl was a child who trusted authority, but was also looking wary. A Cousin who had been a powerful Titan though, Piper would be suspicious if the girl wasn’t wary of people. Especially with power like that.

“Cool,” Mary said.

“So, Mary or Mary-Beth?” Piper asked.

“You can call me Mary,” she offered.

“Your cousin was Raven?”

“Yeah, long lost daughter of my mom’s older sister,” Mary offered.

“Your family must be very powerful, magically,” Piper said.

“No,” Mary shook her head. Chris looked at her, and Piper nodded as her son TK’d a cookie to him. She looked at Mary who was looking at her curiously. “You guys are magical?”

“Yes,” Piper answered.

“Mom’s a Charmed One, and I’m Twice Blessed,” Chris offered.

“What’s that?” Mary asked.

“Uh… Mom?”

“Well, the Charmed Ones are three sisters, myself and my two sisters, and we are the most powerful coming witches of our family line, prophesized since my ancestor Melinda’s death when she was burned at the stake. We are destined to be forces of good,” Piper said. “My children are Twice Blessed and welcomed for restoring balance between good and evil, they are half witch, half Whitelighter.”

“I’m really sorry about the summoning! I know I’m supposed to ask angels for help and it’s rude to summon them, please don’t blow me up!” Mary said suddenly.

“Why would I blow you up?”

“Chris said you were going to blow him up, and he’s your son, so I think you’d blow me up instead, and my dad’s Catholic and I know summoning an angel is… not okay. I’m supposed to ask for help, not demand their attention and!” Mary started.

“Hey, it’s cool,” Chris offered.

“Sweetie, you did nothing wrong,” Piper cut off the nervous teen.

“I… didn’t?” Mary tilted her head.

“No. Whitelighters are not angels,” Piper said. “So you are safe, no need to feel rude. Whitelighters are supposed to help and guide you.”

“What’s a Whitelighter?” Mary whispered to Chris.

“Guides, they are mortals who were dedicated to helping others and decided they wanted to continue that in their afterlife, which leads them to being Whitelighters,” Piper said. “I think the Elders deal with the Angels, and a Whitelighter is like an Angel, but they are different beings entirely,” Piper promised.

“Whitelighters also only guide witches and look after Whitelighters-to-be,” Chris offered helpfully.

“Oh,” Mary said with a disbelieving face as she nibbled on a cookie Chris shoved under her nose unceremoniously. “So is Rae a… Whitelighter…?”

“Well I don’t know,” Piper said. “Tell me about your cousin, Raven.”

“She was… cool, a hero, she was very apathetic, and powerful, but she was amazing. Mom said that Rae was magic,” Mary said.

“And what kind of Magic did Raven practice? I’m assuming soul magic, of some extent, because I think that bird she weaponized was her soul,” Piper offered.

“Rae was a demon, she had many powers,” Mary said softly.

“A demon?” Piper stuttered.

“Yeah, Trigon’s only daughter, Gem of Scath, Daughter of Darkness, her best friend called her the Queen of Hell,” Mary said.

“I see,” Piper said tightly. She didn’t know what to make of that information. However there was a finality to the answer she could provide. “I’m sorry sweetie, but no, she would not be a Whitelighter. Whitelighters are mortals, just normal humans, and even if Raven was a good guy, she was a demon.”

“But…” Mary started.

“If she was vanquished there’s no coming back from that,” Piper offered softly.

“She’s not dead! I would feel if she was!” Mary spat out as she hopped to her feet, her powers roiled, and Piper sensed the Nexus reacting to the violent surge of power Mary was displaying.

“Sweetie,” Piper started.

“Rae died saving all us, and severing the soul from the body means that Rae’s soul is likely gone, dissipated,” Chris offered.

“No.”

“So you were trying to summon your cousin and you summoned Chris instead?” Piper said changing the topic. She understood that death, and it’s finality even were terrifying. But demon’s deaths were final mostly, and Raven’s death, a soul severed from the body, would be no exception.

“It was so cool mom! She had this seal, with Norse runes and Celt design with a mythos base, it looked like those biblical seals the Elders talk about in class, the detail and specifications in the seal!” Chris started. Piper saw his awe at what Mary had obviously done, and she smiled a bit seeing the old Chris geeking through with glee; one thing they both had in common was their love of knowledge and learning.

“What spell did you use exactly?” Piper asked. Summonings were hard when one did not have a way to know what exactly they were summoning.

“Um…” Mary started.

“It’s okay, I just want to understand what happened,” Piper offered as she leaned over her counter. Mary nervously shifted on her feet. Chris got up when there was a knock on the door and walked out of the room.

The teen bit her lip before she looked at Piper nervously. “It was in the Book, and it said it was a gift spell, ‘I call upon thee/ Wise soul for guidance/ Come straight to me/ No more defiance’?” Mary said uncertainly.

“AH!” Chris crashed into the wall with a flurry of orbs.

“CHRIS!” Phoebe and Paige shouted, and she heard her sisters running to the kitchen.

“Ow,” her son muttered. Mary was just standing ramrod straight staring dumbly at Chris who had slammed into the arch by her.  Piper hid her amusement at this behind her hand. “Will we stop slamming me into things!” Chris shouted.

“I didn’t ask for you to come flying out of light and into a wall!” Mary shouted back. They glared at one another then.

“Chris! Are you okay!?” Phoebe demanded.

“I think Chris has gotten his first Charge,” Piper said as Phoebe caught Chris’ face in her hands, her fingers running through his hair.

“What? I thought we had binded his powers until he was eighteen for the Whitelighter stuff,” Paige said. “Who are you?” she looked at Mary then. Mary darted over to her, and Piper chuckled at the teen hiding behind her, peering around her at Phoebe, Paige and Chris. The poor girl looked so nervous and scared.

“I don’t have a Charge mom,” Chris said shaking off his aunt, TKing a cookie to Mary and himself as he walked over to her. Piper ran her fingers through his hair and smiled a little, her stubborn son just didn’t know it yet. Mary accepted the cookie.

“Who’s this?” Phoebe asked, wincing at the teen a bit. Piper guessed that, if Mary’s displays of powers were accurate, the girl had some very powerful emotions churning within her.

“This is Mary-Beth, she is the reason Chris orbed out of class, she summoned him,” Piper said.

“Well, I took care of that,” Paige said. “Cast a memory spell, you got sick and ran out of class to throw up in the trash bin, Wyatt took you home,” Paige said.

“Really?” Chris whined.

“It was the only one that allowed you to retake you final,” Paige offered blandly.

“Sorry,” Mary offered.

“You weren’t trying to summon me,” Chris pointed out.

“Well still, finals suck,” Mary said.

“I have band practice!” Chris said.

“You’re staying home until we got this sorted out,” Phoebe and Paige stated firmly. He rolled his eyes. “What do you mean summoned?” Phoebe asked then.

“Mary-Beth is a very powerful witch,” Piper offered. “She was trying to summon her cousin, the Titan Raven, and has somehow summoned Chris.”

“Wait, superhero Raven, the Titan?” Paige asked.

“Yeah, that was my cousin,” Mary said softly.

“Mary, these are my sisters, and fellow Charmed Ones; Phoebe and Paige,” she said.

“Nice to meet you sweetie,” Phoebe smiled.

“Takes a lot of power to summon a Twice Blessed,” Paige observed.

“I was after my cousin, I don’t even know Chris!” Mary defended. “Sorry again.”

“No problem,” Chris sighed. “Everyone already thinks I’m a loser in school anyways,” he muttered. Piper frowned at that.

“I could go beat them up?” Mary offered.

“Nah, it’s cool.”

“No it’s not.” She stubbornly insisted.

“Mary, can I please have your mother’s number to call her,” Piper said.

“I…”

“Sweetie, I just want your mom to know you’re alright, you can trust us. We’re not going to do anything to you,” she promised. Mary bit her lip then sighed reluctantly.

“I didn’t take my phone to Azarath,” she muttered.

“What?”

“There’s no cell reception there!” Mary defended.

“Azarath?” Phoebe and Paige echoed. Mary just said her number, Piper pulled out her phone to dial it.

“Chris, why don’t you show Mary the conservatory,” Piper said.

“Come on,” Chris motioned as he orbed the cookies with them.

“Put those back mister!”

“Run!” Chris shouted, which had the teens running for the gardens.

“Cookies!” Paige shouted, then there was a surge of orbs which were nothing but flowers from her rose bushes. “Damn it.”

“I thought you said cookies,” Phoebe teased.

The phone rang twice before Piper turned away from the bickering.

“Hello, Williams residence,” a smoky voice answered.

“Hi, I’m Piper Halliwell, I would like to speak to Mary-Beth’s mom,” she said.

“This is Alice,” came the answer. “Did something happen there? Is Mary alright?”

“Well, where is there?”

“You are calling from Grimwood Academy, right?” the voice was now wary.

“No, I’m calling from San Francisco, there’s been a bit of an incident,” Piper said carefully.

“WHAT!?” Alice bellowed.

“It appears that Mary was trying to summon her cousin and summoned my son,” Piper said.

“I’m confused.”

“If you would like, I can come over and explain it,” Piper offered.

“From San Francisco!?” Alice demanded incredulously.

“Where are you?” Piper asked.

“Water Mill, Long Island,” she answered.

“Oh boy,” Piper sighed. “Yes, you see, I’m a witch, and my sister can bring me to you,” Piper offered.

“What is this about exactly? Is Mary alright?” Alice said.

“Yes, but I do think that we will have things to discuss in person, which would make this easier.”

“I…”

“Mary is perfectly safe, she is in the garden right now with my son Chris,” Piper assured as she watched the young girl kick off her boots and start climbing up the tree. Chris followed.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Chris sat up on his branch in the tree, the cookies in his lap, and glasses of milk for himself and Mary.

“You seriously don’t want me to go beat up the bullies?” Mamry asked as he flicked her a cookie.

“Nah, it’s cool,” he shrugged it off. He was kind of used to it, and with more power than the average teen he knew it was best to shrug it off than let it build up. He had enough power to decimate his school if he lost his temper. He was like his mom and not his dad, so his temper ran hot and deep; he knew this, so he worked on controlling it. He wasn’t like happy go lucky Wyatt, nor was he sweet natured like Mel. “Besides, wouldn’t you be Miss Popular or something?” he offered cheekily.

“No, not really,” Mary shrugged, her leg swinging as it dangled.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I’m liked,” Mary offered. “But I’m the oddman out.” she shrugged. “I guess it makes sense now, my cousin being who she was, and now these powers. I just… I always thought Grandma was being dramatic, but I guess not,” Mary mumbled.

“Your Grandma? Was she a witch?” Chris asked, his interest peeked.

“No,” Mary snorted. “Gods no. She was a Medicine Woman for the Navajo. We have a ranch in Farmington,” she said.

“Cool!” Chris grinned.

“Is your mom really a witch?” Mary asked.

“Yeah, total badass too! What’s your mom do?”

“My mom is a realtor,” she answered.

“Really?”

“Yeah, she and my dad have a business in New York.” She shrugged.

“Always wanted to see New York,” he said.

“I’m not from the city, I’m from Water Mill!” Mary snapped.

“So, it’d all be cool!” he countered.

“Mets or Yankees?” she demanded.

“I’m a Giants fan,” he pointed out blandly.

“Traitors!” she gasped.

“Oh come on! it’s been like seventy years!”

“Dude I am a New Yorker, I’m salty about you leaving,” she stated primly.

“And New York is so superior to the rest of the country how!?” he sputtered.

“Because, we’re New York. Besides, beats Texas.”

“True,” he conceded. “I gotta ask, your cousin was a superhero what was that like!?” he finally asked the nagging question on his mind as he looked over at her.

“Rae was… Rae. She was this force, meeting her, it was like meeting an alien. We didn’t know she was a hero when we met her, I found out when she saved us from a skinwalker attacking my Tribe this fall. And it just… You know how Jean Grey was this powerful force, this amazing power as Phoenix?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. He was impressed that there was a chick who read comics and he got it.

“Rae was like that, but she was stable, she knew who she was, what she could do, how far she could push herself and what she could do. I just, she was awe inspiring, demon or not.”

“How do you know she was a demon?” he asked her. He had lived in San Francisco his whole life, he had fought demons, and felt evil, and with as powerful as Raven was, he had never felt evil from her. He was sure he’d have felt if someone as powerful as Raven was evil. Besides, he hadn’t ever felt magic from the Titan; and he’d been at a rescue site of one of her battles defending the city.

“Rae said it,” she shrugged. “Rae also had all this power, and her four eyes when she showed them, and she was grey. Grey.”

“That’s… I just never felt a demon like that here,” he shrugged.

“Rae wasn’t evil, she was powerful,” Mary insisted.

“I don’t think she was evil,” he admitted. Raven warping reality to fight the Tameranean invasion had been impressive; but it hadn’t been something that screamed evil. Just power.

“She was just, amazing, I wanted to get to know her, for real, you know. She just got it,” Mary shrugged.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I think her being an empath had a lot to do with that. Arsenal said that Rae’s best friend was so chaotic and wild, that I think Rae’s being an empath just helped her understand and connect with people,” Mary said thoughtfully.

“My aunt’s an empath,” he offered.

“That’s cool. I don’t think I could handle being one to be honest.”

“It’d be hard.”

“Serious question, favorite superhero?” she demanded.

“Wonder Woman,” he answered. “Yours?”

“Aquaman,” she answered.

“He’s cool,” he said. “Who do you root for; Yankees or Mets?”

“Mets, all the way, born and raised,” she grinned.

“That hurts.”

“Football, Baseball or Hockey?”

“Baseball.”

“If you could fly or be invisible, which would you be?”

“I think I’d like to fly.”

“Cool.”

“How are you not Miss Popular?” he asked.

“Cause I’m me,” she answered.

“What?”

“I guess I’m like my cousin, what you see is what you get, and people don’t like having someone who doesn’t want to change to appease them around in their cliques.”

“So, between Dr. Strange and your cousin; who’d win?” he asked.

“Dr. Strange is fiction.”

“Are you sure?” he challenged.

“He’s a Marvel Comic character.”

“We are officially best friends for all eternity, you will never be rid of me,” Chris decided.

Mary gave him a bland look. “You’re a band geek aren’t you?” she asked.

“Drumline actually,” he countered.

“There’s a difference?” she mused.

“Massive, I’m guessing you’re a volleyball chick,” he decided.

“Softball,” she snapped defensively.

“Same thing.”

“Oh no, not even close,” she started. He was amused now as he offered her a cookie.

“Then know I’m not a band geek, I’m drum line,” he mused.

“There’s a difference?”

“I’m as cool as the underside of a pillow,” he offered.

“That is corny dude!” she laughed.

“Admit it, I got swagger,” he grinned.

“You are a dork, I like you,” she decided.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Wyatt Halliwell was many things, popular, Twice Blessed, witch, Whitelighter in training, demon slayer, Valid Victorian, class president, big brother, captain of the football and baseball team, and most importantly big brother; though he was pretty sure that was already on the list. Wyatt loved his brother and sister; he adored his cousins, he would die for them, he would kill for them, he’d throw the entire world to hell to keep them safe.

He knew that he would do it too, even had an ‘evil’ version of himself to thank for know about that. He knew Chris didn’t know this, but some of Wyatt’s first memories of Chris was ‘Big Chris’ and his quest to save him from the clutches of madness descending into evil. Chris’ death was amongst his first memories, along with an inornate amount of confusion as ‘Big Chris’ vanished, and baby Chris appeared. Mom had been so devastated by ‘Big Chris’ vanishing, and he remembered resenting Little Chris so much. 

However, it was recently that he had started connecting the two Chris’ as one. Chris was Chris, he could see it in his little brother’s focus, tenacity, courage, disregard for his own well-being and self-value, sarcasm, wit, knowledge thirst, and his battle prowess. So, while it had taken fourteen years to connect the dots for what had happened to ‘Big Chris’ but now he knew and knowing had him overprotective of his baby brother. Nothing was ever going to harm his brother; he’d obliterate the world before anything could take his baby brother away from him again. Especially some witch who had summoned Chris!

Wyatt didn’t get it, he didn’t understand why Chris had been summoned or how; he had watched mom and his aunts personally bind their Whitelighter charge collecting ability with the aid of an Elder; other than dad. So Wyatt was startled that Chris had a charge when they couldn’t, they couldn’t hear the pleas for help and guidance; and he was a bit envious. He was the eldest, he got to do everything first, Chris was his baby brother and it was Wyatt’s job to go first and make sure that everything was safe for his younger siblings and cousins. 

“Chris’ new friend was cool,” Mel said conversationally as they walked through Magic School.

“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged off. He just had to drop off Mel, call coach; fake being dad, and go home to vanquish that threat to his little brother. Or he was going to relieve his baby bro of being a Whitelighter for the sake of Chris’ because his little brother was in no way ready for that responsibility. Besides, his baby brother had done enough, Chris deserved to be normal, and happy, and safe; Chris had given up everything to get a happily ever after; and Wyatt was going to keep it that way.

“Wy!?” Mel drawled out.

“Hm?”

“What are you thinking?” she pestered.

“Nothing?”

“You got that ‘I’m up to something’ face,” Mel stated.

“There’s nothing wrong with my face!”

“Except it’s fugly!” she teased.

“Where’d you learn that!?” he demanded.

“School; and what are you thinking!?” she persisted.

“Nothing monkey face,” he shoved her head a bit while messing up her hair then. “Go to alchemy!” he ordered as they walked to the door of the class.

“I’m eleven, Wy, I can walk to alchemy myself,” she persisted.

“Sure you can,” he nodded.

“What are you doing?” she persisted.

“Nothing, Mel.”

“I’ll tell mom,” she stated.

He would’ve shuddered at the thought, but he wasn’t fooled. “If you tell mom, anything, I’ll tell her about Mumbai,” he warned.

“I!”

“Go Mel,” he pointed at the class room. The normal Whitelighter in charge of the class along with a punk looking young woman who smiled.

“Class, this is Epiphany Greaves visiting us all the way from London,” the Whitelighter introduced as Wyatt walked down the hall. He didn’t care about anything but making sure that Chris was safe again, so he was going to go home and have a little talk with this witch.

No one got to hurt his baby brother, no one was ever going to hurt him again. 

~~~*~*~*~~~

Piper and Paige landed on an empty road, the greenery rustling in the wind as some crops rolled under the wind.

“Where are we?” Paige asked.

“Long Island,” Piper answered and turned to see a large white farm house a bit down the driveway. She was going to just go, see if the family knew where Alice Williams would be. She hadn’t thought this through entirely, she knew that, but all she could think was of her own child and how if they were in trouble; emotional or otherwise that she would want to have someone tell her; if only to get help for her child.

“Piper! Wait!” Paige yelped after her.

“I’m walking, keep up,” Piper suggested to her youngest sister. Paige was grumbled a bit as she stomped after her and Piper ignored her. The massive, white, two story farm house had a beautiful front porch, was rather quaint, and picturesque; belonging a century ago and preserved beautifully here. Rather like the Manor, she thought. Walking up the steps she reached the front door and rang the bell.

“Piper, this is a bad idea!” Paige hissed.

“I am speaking to another mother,” Piper stated.

“Who’s kid summoned Chris out of class in broad daylight, bypassing all our protections on Chris. What if she’s a warlock?” Paige muttered.

“Mary-Beth is a scared girl who is summoning things which should not be summoned. She’s rather lucky to have summoned Chris instead of the alternative,” Piper stated firmly. As unsettling as it was that there was someone out there who could bypass all the wards, protections, and binds on any of her children, she recognized an overwhelmed, scared child when she saw one. There was a bat resting by the front door, and a few mitts on the porch, along with a bike. Suddenly the door was yanked open by a young boy, younger than Henry Jr.

“MOM!” the kid shouted.

“Billy! What have I told you about answering the door!?” a sharp, commanding voice demanded.

“But!”

“No buts!” she snapped appearing. “Go to your room!”

“I was going out to…!”

“I swear if you even think about it, I will ground you, to your room!” the woman stated. The dark haired boy glared his blue eyes as he stalked off and then the woman looked at them through the screen of her door; a blonde toddler gracefully balanced on her hip. “I’m sorry, can I help you?”

“I’m Piper Halliwell, we spoke on the phone,” Piper smiled.

“I… about Mary!” she gasped.

“Can we come in?” Piper asked.

“I’d rather…” she started then heaved a sigh. “One moment,” the woman said as she shut her door. Piper tried not to let her agitation show but a few minutes later the woman walked out onto the porch. Her hair was long, black, thick, her eyes were dark, and her face an odd but beautifully striking cross of aristocratic German beauty and Native American beauty. The woman was taller than Piper, athletic, and despite the baby weight, it was clear this woman was shedding it quickly; much to Piper’s envy. “Is Mary alright?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Yeah,” Paige reluctantly volunteered.

“I… are you from Grimwood?” she asked.

“Grimwood?” Paige asked.

“Uh… the, you know? Special Needs School?” Alice said nervously. Piper looked at Paige who shrugged.

“No,” Piper said.

“Then I’m confused…” Alice started.

“How about we start over, I’m Piper Halliwell,” Piper said as she held up her hand. “Owner of P3 and Patty’s, in San Francisco, California, I’m here because your witch daughter summoned my witchlighter son. Magic is real, and I’m here about your daughter,” Piper said.

Alice now stared dumbly at them both.

“I also know your niece was the Titan Raven, who was a demon,” Piper supplied.

“I…”

“We’re witches,” Paige supplied as the woman paled.

“May we come in to discuss this?” Piper asked. The woman looked too stunned when she yelped and vanished almost instantly.

“Ah, Paige, go home, keep an eye on Chris and Mary, I’ll call when I’m ready to come home,” she said.

“But!”

“I can handle magic babies, go,” Piper dismissed. Paige pulled a face as she stuck her tongue out but orbed out, taking a deep breath Piper knocked on the door again to see a frazzled mom reappear, baby on hip and a disgruntled look on her face. 

“Mrs. Williams, I’m here to help.”

“I…”

“I’m not here to harm you or your family,” Piper promised. “I just want to talk to you about your daughter and your children.”

Alice took a heavy breath and leaned on the door before pushing the screen open, Piper took the invitation as she walked into the little entry room, Alice shut the heavy door behind her then. The home felt like a home and she looked at Alice.

“Help how?” the mom asked.

“I’m like them,” Piper smiled.

“Prove it,” Alice stated, bouncing her baby on her hip. With a flick of her hand Piper sent a small charge at the base of the flower vase cause it to fall then she froze it midair before walking over to pick it up and put it back on the small table it had been on. “Okay,” Alice nodded.

“Mrs. Williams, I am here because your daughter is currently eating cookies with my son,” Piper said.

“She’s fourteen, she’s not dating,” Alice started.

“Oh no, trust me, it’s not that. Your daughter drew a summoning seal and pulled my son out of this reality, and his class, and to her,” Piper said. “Until about an hour ago I didn’t even know that she existed; trust me here I thought it was another demon after my boy, I’m very relieved it’s just your daughter who summoned him.”

“A… demon?”

“Not your niece,” Piper said. “Mary said that Raven was a demon, and I am sorry for your loss,” Piper said softly.

“Raven was… brave,” Alice said.

“Yes she was, and I’m sorry to ask, but were she and Mary close?” Piper asked as they walked into a sun room. Piper took a seat across from Alice then.

“I’m sorry, but I’m very confused,” Alice said. “What exactly is going on here? Mary’s at her new school in Louisiana.” 

“Grimwood?” Piper deduced. “Mrs. Williams, do you mind if we get to some personal questions? I’m only here to help Mary-Beth and Chris, before your daughter summons something that she shouldn’t.”

“I, is Mary in serious trouble?” Alice sighed.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Fine,” Alice sighed.

“Were Raven and Mary-Beth close?”

“Not really, I mean, they were just getting to know each other, we all were. Raven wasn’t…” Alice blinked a few times as she looked away, her tears were welling up. “Raven was the daughter of my older sister, Angela. I… I didn’t even know she was alive until a few years ago and it was by fluke. I put the dots together, and I hounded her until she relented. Raven was… private.”

“What was Raven?”

“She said she was a demon, that her father was some all powerful demon, Trigon,” Alice said.

“I see. And the family magic?”

“What magic?” Alice laughed bitterly. “Until eight months ago we had no magic! A Skinwalker was abducting children when we were on the ranch with my father. Raven and her friend helped find the kids for the Mystery Inc., but Mary-Beth, Billy and Jess, their magic; according to Raven, was dormant, but was jumpstarted because of the stress of the situation. My mom was a Medicine Woman, but it’s… It was a hoax, or at least I thought it was.”

“You thought magic was a hoax?” 

“Why wouldn’t I!? We have men flying in the sky in red capes, and a Batman beating up criminals in Gotham, Magic was not a reality I was expecting in my home when the world was known for falling apart and we have demi gods saving us.”

“I see,” Piper nodded. 

“I think your family’s magic was… suppressed, and it rekindled at points of extreme stress with heavy magic influence.”

“What the Hell!? How’d you get in my house!?” Alice shouted as she leapt up

“I’m sorry, I’m Leo,” Leo said as he smiled nervously. Alice snatched up a lamp, putting herself between Leo and the toddler.

“I…”

“He’s not a threat,” Piper said reassuringly. “He’s my husband.”

“Where the hell did he come from!?” Alice shrieked.

“Did you talk to her about the Whitelighters?” Leo whispered to her.

“I just got here!” Piper grounded out and flicked her hands freezing Alice in place. Piper looked at the toddler who screamed and a surge of light emulated from the child as magic seemed to materialize around her. Piper darted over, picking up the confused toddler.

“Hey, hey there, no need for the lights,” she promised. “Shh, Shh, mommy’s okay, promise,” Piper coo’d as she looked over at Leo who was staring at the kid in a mixture of disbelief and awe.

“What’d the Elders say?” Piper asked as muscle memory had her bouncing the upset toddler and soothing the child.

“The… The Roth line is…” he started and Piper stopped pacing as she the toddler seemed to bring a brilliant light to wrap around them, swirling in it’s golds, silvers, whites, blacks, all of it pushed and pulled and the toddler seemed enamored with the light.

“Leo?” Piper questioned.

“The Roth line is a cultivation of the strongest magic lines in history, cultivated globally and funneled into this family,” Leo said.

“Alice just said they never had magi?”

“It was repressed somehow I guess,” Leo said.

“Time at the camps will do that,” an old raspy voice said which had her and Leo snapping over as an old man walked into the room; the German in his accent was noticeable though it was faint.

“I’m sorry…”

“Would you mind unfreezing my daughter?” the old man asked; his amusement obvious and Piper felt time slip from her control as the room came to life and the magic dissipated. Alice looked bewildered and confused when the toddler disappeared from Piper’s grasp and reappeared in her mother’s arms.

“Papa?” Alice looked bewildered.

“Magic was never a gift of mine, my sister though had the gift,” the man said. “Alan Roth,” he introduced himself. “And you are a Whitelighter, you are a witch,” he said.

“you shouldn’t be up, you know what the doctors said.”

“I’m old, liebling, we die,” he snapped irritably. Alice sighed in exasperation, Piper bit her lip.

“You know what  I am?” Leo said in awe.

“Gideon did nothing to save my family from the ghettos or the camps,” Alan said in disgust. “Stipped my family of their powers.”

“Papa?”

“Your family has been bread for magic, to be Magic, the things you are capable of… that shouldn’t be possible.”

“Descended from Moses,” Alan said. “Divine power, gifted magic, Egyptian priests, Asian sorcerers, Tribal Medicine Men, I am aware.”

“It’s… Your family, I have never witnessed that, Neutral, Raw Magic,” Leo said in awe.

“Papa,” Alice started.

“Let us have a bit of tea and chat, amuse an old man’s final moments,” Alan said as he walked slowly for the kitchen. Piper looked to Leo who was still staring at the toddler in awe before he walked after Alan Roth. Unsure what else to do she walked with Leo, Alice followed, and the toddler started sleeping on her shoulder.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Phoebe watched Chris and Mary from the kitchen window as she stood at the sink trying to decide what to do about the girl. There were few things about demons which truly terrified Phoebe Halliwell, she had loved one, she had carried his child, she had been his Queen, and she had destroyed him. She had destroyed him, her heart had shattered in the process. But demons were not so powerful to warp reality, to stop an invading armada single handedly. They did not possess power so pure, so raw, so true to do that. And knowing that the girl; Mary-Beth, hadn’t been lying about what her cousin had been, and knowing that the Titan Raven had been a demon of that caliber, and they never sensed it, genuinely terrified her. But then again, Mary-Beth’s power wasn’t anything to sneeze at either.

Billie had been powerful, about the most powerful witch Phoebe had encountered besides her sisters. At least, that was how it was before she had encountered this girl who was casually sitting in the tree with Chris and they were eating cookies. So mundane and normal, but that power.

It was immense; like Wyatt’s, it was consuming and powerful, and different in a way. Phoebe couldn’t nail it down, but there was something almost surreal about Mary-Beth, like she was Magic, like it was hers to pull on, command. It was different from any other power that Phoebe had encountered.

“How are they?” Paige asked orbing in.

“Nothing’s changed, they’re just talking,” Phoebe answered. She had been watching them religiously since they had run to the backyard.

“About?” Paige pestered.

“Stuff,” Phoebe shrugged, she couldn’t feel anything between the kids beside curiosity and seeking information on the other. They were getting reads on each other. Chris was actually liking the girl, Mary was reluctantly liking Chris. It was kind of cute; if it wasn’t concerning Phoebe.

Phoebe had never forgiven herself in the entirety of her life for how she had handled Chris when he was twenty-two and desperate to be conceived. She had never forgiven herself for that reluctance because Chris sensed it and it had seemed to put this strain between them, a gap of sorts, one she didn’t know how to fix. Chris had bonded tightly with Piper; both as a young man and as the child he was now. He had the same reluctance about him where she was concerned; she knew it, could sense it, even if Chris didn’t understand it entirely. No matter how good of a mom, aunt, friend, confident and witch, that gap from Chris when he was twenty-two remained with Chris now.

“I don’t like this,” Paige hissed as she glared at them.

“I don’t either, but there’s not much we can do without exposing our Magic,” Phoebe stated.

“So What!?” Paige spat out. “Heroes like Zatanna, and Dr. Fate expose the Magic world everyday, what would be so wrong if I did? Besides I don’t like that girl, she is trouble, she’s bad, evil, anything with power like that can’t be trusted.”

“I don’t know Paige,” Phoebe murmured.

“You don’t know? How could you not know, you were married to the Source!” Paige nearly shouted.

“Which is why I don’t know, she doesn’t have a trace of evil in her; unlike Cole, she feels normal, a teenage girl coming into her powers! I don’t feel this… sucking void where her soul should be. And I don’t know if Raven was really a demon or something, but I feel no evil off this girl!” Phoebe snapped. Just this immense power. Wyatt’s own power had outclassed hers’ and Cole’s child’s, and this girl’s power seemed too much. And if Raven’s displayed power was anything to go off of, then they were right to fear this little witch but it was too premature to fear her.

“She has to be!” Paige started.

“What?” Phoebe snapped. “She has to be what? Something powerful, yes, but she doesn’t have to be anything more or less. We don’t know what she is or what she wants or what she’s after. All we know is that she is powerful and Chris is who was summoned. And we don’t even know the full circumstances of that because Chris is sitting there talking with her, and Piper went to talk to her mother. We know nothing Paige.”

With that Phoebe turned to examine Mary-Beth and Chris. She saw their animated talking, like two kids working on getting to know each other, but there was something more to it, she couldn’t describe it, she just could se it.

The girl was rather pretty, which was a shock to Phoebe because the last time a pretty girl had come for Chris it had been Bianca. Not that Phoebe liked Bianca. The Phoenix Witch was a doomed soul from what Phoebe could feel, even before, now she was just so lost and her mother was twisting her up. But there was also the fact the older Phoenix Witch had about five years on her nephew. Phoebe didn’t like the implications of that because of Chris’ young age and what she had known of that terrible future. Now though, now Phoebe wanted and worked at keeping Chris away from that Phoenix Witch. Mary though was an unexpected change that she didn’t know what to think of.

~~~*~*~*~~~

“You’ve never watched Riverdale!?” she sputtered as she sat there.

“Well it’s not that good of a show,” Chris dismissed.

“That’s bull and you know it!” she snapped.

“Oh please, Game of Thrones is so much better!” he defended.

“I don’t think you’re old enough to watch that,” she stated.

“I’m the same age as you!”

“That’s my point.”

“I watch it with my brother.”

“Okay, so what else do you watch beside the blood and gore of Game of Thrones?”

“It’s not just blood and gore!” he defended. “It’s a slow burn political drama with the real display of if a dragon was involved in warfare of the medieval times. I think Jon Snow and Sansa are the best characters, but I like Ayra,” he shrugged.

“You are a dork.”

“Well, I also like Bosch,” he shrugged.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you know it?”

“Yeah, my dad and I watch it all the time, don’t tell my mom, because she doesn’t approve, but I’ve been watching it with him since it started. I couldn’t look at the dead parts, or the sex scenes but there isn’t a lot of that in there.”

“That’s cool.”

“Now, you’re west coast, is In-N-Out really that good?” she asked.

“The best fast food burger money can buy,” he promised.

“I think I’ll have to try that.”

“So if you play softball, and not volleyball, what position do you play and why not volleyball?”

“I play left field. And I don’t know, just never wanted to play volleyball,” she shrugged. “Why drumline and not football?”

“’Cause I have the coordination of an octopus on ice,” he stated. Mary snorted as she covered her mouth to keep from laughing harder.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t,” she smothered.

“Go ahead, Wy does,” he sighed in defeat.

“I’m a big sis, it is our sacred duty as older siblings to torment our younger siblings.” She managed as she fought her laughter back. Every time she laughed something always happened, her ‘magic’ seemed to explode with her amusement; she had blown up the television last time.

“Yeah well, I have spaz coordination where sports are concerned,” he shrugged.

“Where sports are concerned?” she mused.

“Yeah, give me an athame and a slew of demons to kill and I won’t even trip. Make me play football and I have butterfingers with clown feet all of a sudden,” he admitted.

“Dude, that’s bad.”

“Yeah, I’m the last kid picked; after the crippled kids and special need kids.”

“That’s really bad.”

“Yeah, so drumline!” he smiled in delight.

“You’re a dork. Let me guess you are even a Star Trek lover? Hans Solo your favorite hero?”

“That’s Star Wars, and no, I am not.”

“Then what’s your favorite old show?”

“Gilligan’s Island. Yours?”

“I liked Bewitched.”

“I thought of you as an I Love Lucy kind of girl.”

“Nope.”

“My aunts love Sex in the City, I think those chicks are nuts.”

“Never watched it.”

“I watched it with Wy when he snuck it away from them.”

“Your brother and you watch a lot of things you shouldn’t.”

“Wy’s good like that.”

“That’s not good.”

“It is too.”

“So what else do you like?”

“Well, Arianaa lot of  Grande, Jonas Brothers, Blink 182, Taylor Swift, you know, normal stuff,” she shrugged.

“Why does everyone like the Jonas Brothers?” Chris whined.

“Cause they’re hot,” she answered.

“That’s a bad reason.”

“So what exactly does me summoning you mean for you and me?” she asked as she took an offered cookie.

“I don’t know, I just… I don’t know. I don’t know what any of this means other than you summoned me and now my mom is talking to your mom and the Whitelighter in me is almost demanding that I take over taking care of you.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of,” she stated.

“Well you were demanding help and guidance and somehow that summoned me, and I don’t know what any of this means?” he stated.

“Great, we’re screwed.”

“Not necessarily,” a new voice said. Mary turned to look down the tree as a tall figure appeared in a flurry of lights. It was Wyatt, he walked forward to the base of the tree, and smiled charmingly. Mary would admit he looked charming enough; like a Captain America type; perfect. Blond hair, chiseled good looks, blue eyes, he looked so trustworthy and easy to believe.

“Uh…”

“You summoned help and guidance from what Chris just said, I can help with that,” he smiled.

“Dude!”

“Well, I’m just saying, I’m the eldest, I’m Twice Blessed, and way more powerful, I’m sure I’d be a great Whitelighter for Mary-Beth,” Wyatt said charmingly.

Mary rolled her eyes then. It wasn’t so much the tone of what he was saying; because despite how it sounded, it didn’t sound belittling to Chris; but rather the arrogance. Mary was sure that Raven had said something about Pride being the most lethal of Sins, hubris being the greatest of flaws. And as her cousin had shown to be the living embodiment of Pride, Mary was inclined to believe her. “And Chris wouldn’t be a good Whitelighter?” Mary challenged.

“Whoa, I’m not!” Chris started.

“I’m just saying that my baby brother shouldn’t have to take on a responsibility like this lightly, I am older, and wiser, and more than powerful enough to help you out,” Wyatt stated.

“And I’m not powerful!?” Chris sputtered.

“That isn’t what I mean Chris.”

“Sure it is,” Mary argued.

“No it’s not.”

“You don’t think I can handle this Wy? But we don’t even know if I am to be her Whitelighter or not, I got summoned because she was summoning the most powerful being she could!” Chris argued.

“I just didn’t expect to get you,” Mary snapped. “No offense,” she offered to Chris.

“None taken.” He shrugged as they turned their attention back on Wyatt. “I might be a fantastic Whitelighter!”

“You’re fourteen!”

“And I’ve already done it!” Chris snapped. Mary didn’t get what that meant but she sensed the roiling offense and bristling temper. Her own temper was something of a monster when unleashed so she focused on not letting this encounter rile her up.

“You have not! Mom and Dad bound our Whitelighter calling as toddlers,” he snapped.

“So!? I have the memories and know how, I can too handle being Mary’s Whitelighter.”

“I don’t need a Whitelighter! I need help!”

“I can manage that too!”

“See! We don’t need you to decide what we’re doing!” Mary snapped at Wyatt.

“You know you’re not ready for a responsibility like that Chris,” Wyatt argued.

“How do you know I’m not?” Chris snapped furiously.

“Because I am your big brother!”

“That’s a pitiful excuse!” Mary argued.

“You don’t get a say.”

“I do too, I’m the eldest of three,” Mary countered folding her arms as she let out a huff. Blowing a stray curl from her eyes as she glared daringly at him.

“Chris, you are not old enough to be a Whitelighter. I won’t let you be!”

“You’re not dad!” Chris snapped.

“And I didn’t summon you, so obviously I’m meant to have Chris if I’m to have a Whitelighter at all!” Mary snapped.

“Exactly what she said!” Chris snapped as he jabbed his thumb at her.

“Let’s go,” Mary stated as she hopped down from the tree, Chris followed and grabbed her arm as they disappeared in a flurry of lights out of there. A gasp escaped her as they rematerialized, she stumbled on the landing as she grabbed his arm on the slippery surface.

“Where did you say you were from?” Chris asked her.

Mary yelped seeing where they were as she grabbed onto Chris’ arm more tightly and stared down at the rushing traffic below her, the Titan’s Tower was standing tall and proud and the most terrifying feeling filled her with exhilaration as her stomach dropped at the height difference. They were atop the Golden Gate Bridge! Holy…! “Long Island! Watermill! GET ME OUT OF HERE!” she shrieked.

Chris’ face screwed up in concentration before they once again disappeared in a flurry of lights, she gasped as they crashed in a creek and sighed.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” she sighed as she stood up. “Come on, we’re walking.”

“Where are we even going?”

“I’m going home,” Mary stated.

“What about school?”

“I go to a boarding school in Louisiana for Magic, and it’s the weekend.”

“Okay, odd. I thought there was only one Magic school,” Chris said.

“No, the guy who got me into the school had a big old family plantation he’s inheritated that’s been in his family since forever back when the French landed in Louisiana,” she shrugged. “He gave it over to the head mistress and her students when they were exposed; there’s three games keepers there; they’re ghosts, and they call themselves the Boo Brothers!”

Mary, despite everything of the past year, while being homesick and terrified, did like her school. They teleported her home on weekends, and she could participate in her club sports, but she just… she was lonely. It wasn’t like she was Miss Popular, or a Vampire, Werewolf, or even a traditional Witch in any sense; she was an outcast in the supernatural just as she was an outcast in the mortal world. The only saving grace had been the fact that Raven got it, Raven might’ve refused, point blank to even contemplate teaching her magic, but Raven was always available to talk when she was scared or confused or frustrated with the Magic which seemed to accumulate around her. However, even that didn’t seem to last as her cousin was now dead, and Mary was very scared of her own Magic. The only reason that she had even attempted to summon Raven was because her powers went haywire last week and she had nearly killed a ghost and the precious Tribred from the rival school. It wasn’t a good feeling, everyone had started giving her a wide berth when she was in the halls or in class; even the teachers were wary of her. To make matters worse, the entire incident was an accident!

So, she had decided to scream for Raven’s help, or at least be able to talk to someone who could understand what the hell was going on with her. She hadn’t meant for this mess to happen. Also, if she couldn’t get her powers under control soon she would be resigned to being a permanent resident of Grimwood until her powers stopped their instability. Or she would be forced to bind her powers, which didn’t sound pleasant even if she didn’t want all this Magic.

Sibella had said that it was because Mary was a very different kind of witch, and they were just trying to figure out what kind she was so they could teach her. There was nothing normal about the powers Mary-Beth possessed, and for that matter, nothing normal for what Billy and Jess possessed, even Raven; for all her power seemed to be different from a normal witch in the magic sense.

It was so weird and different.

“You seemed pretty pissed about Wy’s arguments,” Chris said. Breaking Mary-Beth from her frustrating thoughts.

“Because I don’t like people dictating what is best for me,” Mary stated. “My Dad says I get it from his side of the family. Vikings, Scots, Dutch thing,” she waved dismissively.

“Any other reason?” Chris said.

“The last person who told me what was best for me was a Skinwalker wanting to devour my little brother and sister; if it wasn’t for Rae then we’d have been dead.”

“Well, if it helps, I have two me’s in my head.”

“What!?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged.

“That’s a headache,” she decided.

“You have no idea,” Chris sighed. “But the good news, the other me has been a Whitelighter so if you need one I at least have a clue how to be one.”

“Well I’m not sure I need a Whitelighter, or guardian angel thing, I just… I need help,” Mary sighed.

“Which is what Whitelighters do,” he answered.

“And I still have no idea what the hell a Whitelighter is.”

“That’s okay, mom will be able to clarify all this.”

“Moms do that,” she nodded.

“Which way?” Chris asked when they stood on a road.

Mary paused as she looked over the road they were on and pointed west. “That way a bit.” She started marching in the direction of her family home; the South Hampton was super rich folks, but her farm house was the plain home.

“Is this a Native American thing? Just know where you are?” he demanded.

“Navajo, and no, my dad was a Marine Sniper, I know where I am.” She stated. Her dad had been a bit insistent on teaching her basic survival; which had come in handy at Grimwood; Louisiana’s bayou was no joke.

“Wait, if you’re Navajo, why are you all the way over here?” Chris asked.

“Dude, I’m New Yorker, German and Navajo, Mom’s got a ranch in New Mexico from Gramps, we live here cause it’s better life and this is my dad’s family property. Been in his family for four hundred years,” she stated as she pulled her curls up.

“I’m mostly English according to my mom and aunts.”

“I think everyone’s mixed here in the States,” she said. “But it’s home. And that’s my house.”

“Oh thank God, I can…” he started.

“No teleporting, we’re walking come on!” she stated. Chris pouted a bit as she started cutting across her field. Dad still liked having the farm working order, it was a use for the land and could keep them all busy. Being busy was good. Also rewarding as Mom loved the work on a farm having grown up on a ranch. Mary admitted she liked the ranch and the horses, and she didn’t mind the farm.

“What is that smell!?”

“Keep walking,” Mary called over her shoulder.

“Ick!”

“Watch for the mud,” Mary chuckled.

“This is gross.”

“I take it as in you��re a city boy,” she mused.

“Dude, I frequent the Underworld,” he snapped.

“Uh-huh, I bet that grosser than here. Come on!” she said.

“You are a very demanding person,” he said.

“Yup, now keep up!” 

“Is this a family trait or something? Was Raven like this!?”

“No, no it’s not,” Mary admitted. “Rae was…” Mary paused as she thought about what her cousin was like, because there had had been something about her. Raven had this aura, this commanding presence, and regal like persona. Raven was invincible, indomitable, a force of nature, nothing commanded her or stood in her way, Mary wanted to be like that; to have that confidence. “Rae was a queen, truly, a complete Queen and badass.”

“Mar Said A Bad Word! I’m Going To Tell Mom!”

“GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE TROLL!” Mary shouted when she spotted her little brother’s black head at the barn running for the house.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Alice sat warily across from these two strangers in her house, feeling this eerie similarity to eight months ago when two mortals and her niece had sat across from her informing her that Mary, Billy and Jess were no longer normal children. Rachel had said that because of a jumpstart to the magic encounter with the Skinwalker intent on devouring the town and reservations’ children, and Mary’s intervention that there had been a repower in the mortal family’s line. Rachel had said that she was born in Magic, that Angela had practiced Magic, all of which Alice found nearly impossible to believe.

Angela had been the first to scoff at the idea of Magic, to mock the old legends, to look for logic in everything. Angela didn’t practice Magic. But somehow her sister, the elder sister that she knew everything about and had been best friends with, was a stranger she hadn’t know. And her niece was a super witch of some sort who she didn’t know what to think of. Rachel had dropped that bombshell on her which had altered her world forever. Her children were powerful witches, sorcerers, whatever, they were so powerful that the school she had sent Mary too could barely contain her daughter’s Magic! Grimwood Finishing School for Ghouls was struggling with Mary-Beth. The adjustment was hard on her eldest too, because it was all the way across the country from home, and it was so different. Apparently, there was an entire supernatural world hidden from the mortal view and Alice had no part of it, she didn’t even know what to think anymore because of that!

Especially because she was now in charge of three powerful children she couldn’t control anymore! How was she supposed to parent when ‘you’re grounded’ could mean thing when the child could go anywhere, and literally do anything without being abled to be stopped? Grimwood was a solution to teach, but it wasn’t a way to parent; and she couldn’t keep homeschooling Billy as they figured this out. The Headmistress’s second, Vincent vanGhoul; said that Mary, Billy, and Jess were displaying Ancient Magic, so extinct and mixed together with Old and New Magic that there was no way to truly know what they were capable of.

To make matters worse; they had been completely normal! There had been no heroes in their house, no metas, no aliens, nothing, there’d been nothing supernatural here either. It was all so perfectly and utterly normal, though she and Jack could discuss the issues of the modern times with the aliens, heroes, villains, metas, and political. It was all so normal that they could discus it without fearing prejudice, but now, now it was different and that was terrifying. It was scarier if her neighbors or Mary’s friends figured out that Rachel Roth was actually Raven, and that they now had Magic.

Now there were two strangers sitting here, saying Mary had summoned their son to her.

“Now, I know this is hard to believe, but we’re not here to harm you or your family,” the man; Leo; said gently.

“You and everyone keeps saying that,” Alice hissed.

“I just…” Leo started.

“Enough. There is much you do not know Alice.” Her father said patiently.

“Why is that?” Leo said. “A family line this powerful, even the Elders said…” Leo started.

“What?” Alice demanded.

“Your family lines are Magic,” Leo said.

“That means nothing,” Alice started.

“No, you don’t understand,” Leo cut her off. “Magic is elemental, it’s an art, it’s all similar in use; for Light and Dark Magic, Wizards, Warlocks, Witches, it’s all about the Magic, but the difference is the base line which the family will call upon. Light or Dark Magic; it’s what defines the intent and use of the Magi of the wielder. Magic is energy, it’s a force, few can tap into it, and few can call it, but the ones who can, can only tap into one base; not both; they can either tap into Light Magic or Dark Magic.”

“That still means nothing,” Alice said as she started bouncing Jess on her lap.

“It means everything, now, for centuries these family lines; of Light and Dark Magic, have stuck to their bases, rarely intermixing, there’s a bit of incompatibility according to the Elders for the mix to even happen, it would be a neutralizing point of the families to intermix. However, YOUR family seems to be composed of both. Moses, Ragnar, Morgana, the Raven, shamen, priests, priestesses, wizards, witches, warlocks, and so much more, Light and Dark Magic has been compiled and condensed into your family line. Light, Dark, it’s all the same to your family, same with Ancient, Old and New Magic, it’s all there, just to tap into, swirling around you. It’s… I’ve never seen this,” Leo stated.

“It means,” Alice started.

“Your children are the only three truly neutral spell weavers ever sired, and they are the most powerful mortal witches created.”

“Spell Weavers?” Alan asked.

“It’s… It was an Ancient ability only seen in the First Witch and Wizard, it’s Magic at it’s rarest purest form. It is Magic, the ability to pull on any Magic around them, to create whatever they want, to have no limitations to their ability.”

“Rae never said,” Alice started.

“I doubt she’d have known,” he said. “This kind of Magic died with King Solomon. The closest remnants to power like that that the modern world has witnessed is Zatarra’s family line, or Dr. Fate. It’s not heard of anymore. Raven’s ability to warp reality, to bend space and cosmos to her will, to command that much power, it’s celestial, not even Elders have power like that. Whatever Raven was, I doubt she was demon, I doubt she was even entirely mortal.”

“What does have power like that?”

“Celestial beings,” he answered. “But your mortal children, they are the remnants, and rebirth of an Ancient Magic long since been extinct, and yet it’s manifested in your family lines. I’ve never seen power like this, not in the Charmed Ones, or my own children who are Twice Blessed.”

“So they can do anything?” Alice whispered in horror as she stared at her daughter in her arms.

“It’s their’s to call upon, it’s their power to utilize and manipulate. It’s power unlike any other. Ven was she wasn’t just a mere demon to possess power like that.”

“Raven was only half demon, my daughter was completely mortal.” Alan spoke, which had Alice frowning.

“Angela didn’t believe in or practice magic,” Alice stated.

“If I might ask, what happened to Angela?” Piper asked her.

Alice bit her lip as her heart stuttered at the thought of her sister and what had happened. “Angela went to Columbia, she was going to be a lawyer. She went missing though.”

“Missing?”

“Last I had heard from her she was dating some guy who didn’t like how she was so close to her family, but then she just vanished. She was living in the city at the time, so when I reported her missing there was no trace of her. It was like she had never been here. There were no records of her, no trace,” Alice whispered.

“Angela vanished,” Alan said sadly.

“That sounds like someone uncovered her family line and decided to utilize her power for themselves,” Leo decided.

“For what?”

“Who was Raven’s father?” Piper asked.

“Some demon named Trigon. But what does this have to do with Mary, Billy and Jess?”

“Nothing, the mortal side of your family, your family, is going to be unique. You mentioned a school Mary’s going to?” Leo said. Alice saw a dangerous back track when she saw one but she decided to follow it. Both Piper and Leo had been unsettled hearing the name ‘Trigon’ though it meant truly nothing to her.

“Yeah, she goes to Grimwood Finishing School for Ghouls,” Alice answered.

“For Ghouls?” Piper questioned.

“The gentleman who recommended it said it was a safe place to learn Magic, he’s been right for this,” Alice said. “It’s just no one knows how to teach her, so her powers seems to be growing and are unpredictable.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to know how to actually teach her Magic,” Leo admitted.

“So I’m cursed?” a new voice said which had Alice looking over at her two children and a tall, gangly teen with brown hair and green eyes. All three kids looked horrified.

“No Mary,” Alice started getting up when her daughter disappeared in a swirl of green lights which had the boy looking shocked.

“That’s new,” the boy said.

“I can do that,” Billy whispered.

“Chris,” Piper sighed. “What are you doing here?”

“Wyatt was being a brat, so we decided to come here with you,” Chris answered.

“I’m sorry, but what the Hell is going on!?” Alice demanded. “Billy, go to your room, and you better be there when I check on you or else you will be grounded!”

“Yes mom,” her nine year old sulked as he walked for the stairs.

“Who are you?” Alice turned her attention on the boy now.

“Uh… I’m Chris, Hi,” he said awkwardly. “Mary-Beth kind of summoned me out of my World History Final,” he said as he held out his hand. She looked at the hand and took it lightly before looking at Piper and Leo and her father.

“Chris, go,” Leo said.

“I… I have a feeling you’ll know where she is.”

“What does that mean!?” Alice demanded when the young teen disappeared in a swirl of blue orbs of light. “Will someone answer my question!? What the Hell Is Going On!?”

“I think Chris is your daughter’s Whitelighter,” Leo said.

“What is a Whitelighter?” Alice growled.

“Alice, calm down,” Alan barked.

“No. Not until I know what is going on!” Alice snapped.

“Whitelighters are guides for good witches,” Leo said. “Almost like guardian angels. Your family, your kids, they’re neutral Magic, so an Elder couldn’t just assign a Whitelighter to them.”

“I think because Mary was summoning guidance, she summoned Chris,” Piper finished for Leo. “I think my son is meant to help your daughter, to help guide her in this magic world.”

“He’s a kid.”

“There’s more to Chris than what meets your eye. He’s already been a Whitelighter, and died saving the future. My son looks, acts, and is fourteen, but he has already lived twenty-three years before these fourteen.” Piper said softly.

“What?”

“Time Travel,” Alan concluded.

“Wat do you know of that?” Alice spun on her father.

“Much, it’s how I met Raven,” Alan said. “Though she went by a different name then, a fracture of her true self, but power unrivaled by any other.”

“You never told me this?” Alice said softly.

“I was a young boy, in the camps, I had just lost my sister, my mother, my father, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, everyone, everything. We had had our powers bound by a Whitelighter, Gideon, and we were sentenced to death. She was a creature unlike any I had ever witnessed, would ever witness, she walked into that hellhole, looking like a Savage Queen there to tear the world asunder. You could not find grace like that in anything outside stories of avenging angels.

“She stormed the camp, coming for her companions, and she freed us. Nothing could stand in her way, so yes, Alice, I have always known about Raven and who she would be and was to be.” Alan said.

“You knew?” Alice whispered. Her father had never seemed surprised by Rachel’s reveal to be Raven, but she hadn’t dwelled on his lack of shock. She hadn’t thought about how he had told Rachel to go, to do what she was born to do, she hadn’t thought about that. No, she had focused on her missing children, and what was happening to them.

“Yes, tochter, I’ve known. I’ve always known,” he said. “I believe that only the wisest and most head strong of souls could even keep Mary on the right path.”

~~~*~*~*~~~

Chris followed the pull until he found himself landing on the surf and he saw her sitting there before the ocean. Shoving his hands in his pockets he walked towards her, not entirely sure what he was going to say to her, but he knew that he would be saying something to her. That long curly black hair was whipping around her as he came to stand by where she was sitting.

“You know it’s not the end of the world to have this power, right?” he asked.

“To do what with it?” Mary asked, her blue eyes glanced up at him.

“Well, lots of things,” he said, sitting beside her. “There’s Destinies for people like you and Wyatt, and my mom. The Charmed Ones, the Twice Blessed, the Gem of Scath, they’re always destinies and prophecies for people like us.”

“I’m not a warrior like Rae was, I’m not strong like her, I’m not… I’m just me. There’s no destiny for me, I just, I play softball and try my best, and I’m going to be normal! Or I was. I’m not interesting or anything amazing, I’m just me.”

“I’m just me too,” he pointed out. “Being the next King Arthur’s little brother is no picnic either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he’ll get Excalibur when he’s eighteen, mom’s got it in the attic,” he said.

“He strikes me more of a Lancelot type than King Arthur.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you strike me as King Arthur,” Mary decided.

“So what are you?”

“Merlin, obviously I’m Merlin at this point.”

“Not going to try to be Genevieve?”

“Before today I’d have totally said I’m Genevieve but your brother’s gay and you’re not my type.”

“Wait! What!?” he sputtered.

“What? You’re not!” she defended.

“No, Wyatt’s Gay?” he sputtered.

“Uh, sorry, bad joke,” she grimaced.

“Why’d you say it though?”

“His hair! Only guys I know with perfect hair like that are gay or movie stars. Though I was just joking.”

“No… Makes sense,” Chris said. “This isn’t about Wyatt though, it’s about you.”

“I don’t want to be me.”

“Why? That power you have now? Your cousin could control it, so can you,” he pointed out.

“Raven wasn’t, she wasn’t like anyone I’ve ever known. Rae wasn’t just a demon, she was a warrior, she was this force, and her control on her powers left her apathetic and cold. And when she lost control she was unstoppable.”

“So?”

“So what if I lose control? I already hurt the invincible Tribred from a rival school, and I nearly destroyed my school, and it’s too much,” Mary groaned as her head dropped to her knees, her hands diving into her hair as she curled in on herself. He could feel the power emanating from her as he sat there, and it was intense, churning, and coiling dangerously to snap and lash out. He knew that, but even though he wasn’t a true, full Whitelighter or even an empath he could feel her power, her emotions were tied to this power.

“Then you lose control, no one has perfect control, you just… my mom says you learn to do better,” he said softly.

“You don’t understand,” she started.

“Don’t I? Magical beings losing control are responsible for the worst catastrophes known to man, it’s not like New Krypton, or a Justice League battle, we’re talking about a single person who could destroy entire civilizations. A single witch can bring down an entire empire to their knees if not careful with their powers, and their powers never stop growing, I get it Mary. I get it far better than you want me to get it. But you can choose, choose to be better, to make your own fate, to have your own choices, to embrace your destiny, whatever that may be. The power doesn’t define you, you define the power.”

“Raven said the same thing,” she whispered.

“I think if your cousin was a demon, like you say, that she’d be an example of defining the power not the power defining her,” he pointed out.

“Raven…” she started. “Rae was special.”

“So are you, no less than her, no more, just different.”

“You sound like you know what you’re talking about there,” she mused.

“I don’t, I’m quoting my mom.”

“My mom clearly thinks I’m a monster.”

“I don’t think she thinks that,” his mom’s voice said and he turned to the bluff to see his dad orbing away. “I think your mom is mortal, with no powers, as is your father, and she now has three very powerful children who don’t necessarily see her as an authority figure anymore, I think it scares here that someone could come after you, to use you and manipulate you and she doesn’t know how to help you or stop that. I also think it terrifies her that you are now no longer just her little girl but a young witch and she can’t relate or reach out because she doesn’t understand what it’s like. I think she’s scared to lose you and more terrified that she doesn’t know what to do. This is new sweetie, it’s new for you, her, your father, your brother and your sister, and it sounds like the only true link to the magic world you had was someone who just couldn’t teach you.” Chris gave his mom a grateful look as she sat on Mary’s other side.

“Raven said she couldn’t teach me because she was different from me,” Mary said bitterly.

“Which is true. You are different, very different from Raven, and different from any one else, I don’t know how to teach you, and I don’t think anyone truly knows. But you go to a school for Magic, and you have the chance to learn, to figure it out, in a safe place. Which is good. And now, if you want, whenever you need help, Chris is just and orb away and he can bring you over to the Manor.”

“Why would you want to help me?”

“Oh, no reason, sweetie,” his mom said softly. “But all moms want to help. Even when we don’t know how to help or how to react. Your mom knows nothing about Magic, I know a thing or two, and if you let us, we can help you. I want to help you because I can, Mary, no other reason.”

“But what if I lose control again and bad things happen, again,” Mary murmured.

“What happened, exactly?” he asked. His mom shot him a look and he shrugged.

Mary hid her face in her knees then. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she mumbled through her knees. Chris wouldn’t have heard her if he hadn’t been listening for her, and the response was about normal for when he lost control.

“When I started regaining my powers I kept freezing everything when I was nervous or overwhelmed, whole rooms; and I was managing a restaurant at the time so things are always moving. And I could only freeze a room at that time.”

“Raven never lost control,” Mary mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true sweetie,” she said softly. Chris watched his mom reach over to Mary and nod for him to go. He decided to go to his dad who was standing on the porch with Alice and an old man.

“Chris,” his dad smiled at him. “This is Alice Williams, Mary’s mom.”

“Hi Mrs. Williams,” he said as he cautiously walked up the steps. The woman looked at him with a piercing gaze and sighed.

“So my daughter summoned?, you out of your class,” Alice stated.

“Yeah, pretty impressive magic, she could’ve probably summoned a full angel if I hadn’t gotten tangled up in her spell somehow.” Chris admitted that he had nothing but admiration for the spell work Mary had gone about creating, it was impressive. He hadn’t seen anything like it, ever, in either lifetime.

“And you think you’re supposed to be her… guardian angel?” Alice said.

“Um…” he scratched the back of his neck nervously as he gave his dad a silent plea for help here. He had no idea what he was supposed to think or feel about being summoned, he didn’t have this contestant noise in his head since meeting Mary; his dad and aunt had always described gaining charges similar to gaining an always open telephone line dialed to him in case the charge needed help. But he could feel her, just barely, like a whisper on the conscious edges of his mind.

“We’re not sure, entirely, but there is no harm here in us getting to know each other,” his dad said.

“I mean if she wants me I’ll be her friend,” he offered. “That came out wrong!” he gasped as he heard what he said.

Alice smiled slightly; her amusement clear and his dad looked ready to laugh at him. Chris found his shoes very interesting just now.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Piper hesitated before she placed a steady hand on the young teen’s shoulder. “I know this is scary, Mary, and I know it’s overwhelming. You don’t know what to do, and you don’t have a guide or a family member to turn to about this. And I know that this is too much for you, you’re young and this is a power no young person should have.”

A teary blue eye peeked at her and Piper smiled a bit. “But You Are Meant To Have This Power.”

“I don’t want it.”

“It’s a gift, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now,” Piper said and she moved a stray curl from Mary’s temple so she could see the girl. “But this isn’t the end sweetie. I promise you this isn’t the end.”

“It killed my cousin,” Mary murmured.

“No, I don’t think it did, I think your cousin made a very calculated decision in her method of attack, and when her teammate was in danger to being killed she sacrificed herself. I do not believe she did that lightly, nor do I believe that she left you entirely. I’d bet that she’s even watching out for you right now, in her own way.”

“Rae didn’t want anything to do with us,” Mary mumbled. “Mom only found out about her because of that stupid picture!”

“Why didn’t she want anything to do with you?”

“She said a satanic cult was after her, and she didn’t want to endanger us, and she didn’t know about us cause Aunt Angela didn’t think we were worth talking about. And her dad was some big demon lord who wanted to destroy the world,” Mary said bitterly. “I didn’t even want to meet her, Raven, she was just a Titan, she wasn’t real. Like a celebrity, like a Wayne or a movie star, she just wasn’t real. Then she was, and I wanted to get to know her then she pushed away from us, mom couldn’t even get her to come over. The last thing I said to her was I hated her and I hoped she died so I didn’t have to have Magic.”

“Oh sweetie,” Piper sighed.

“But I didn’t hate her,” Mary whispered. “I just wanted to get to know her. But she didn’t want to get to know me.”

“Sweetie, I don’t think it was about you,” Piper said softly.

“She was an empath! Couldn’t she feel what I wanted? I just wanted to get to know her!” Mary groaned hiding in her knees again. Piper sighed as she rubbed the young girl’s back soothingly.

“Sweetie, I don’t think it had anything to do with you,” Piper said softly. “It sounds like Raven had a lot to protect, a world, her teammates, a city, a civilization, and herself. I think she didn’t want to hurt you or get you hurt if you got close to her.”

“But I just wanted to know her!”

“I know, and it isn’t fair, sweetie. But I think, I think Raven loved you very much to stay away.”

“How can you love someone and stay away?” Mary asked her, her head coming up to stare at her with red, wet eyes.

“Well, satanic cults are very dangerous, sweetie, and when they fixate on a person they are not afraid to do whatever is necessary to ensure that they get what they want.”

“She had a brother, two moms, a niece and nephews,” Mary shuddered.

“And I will bet all that I am that ever single one of those people in her life were aware of what was after her and could and would defend themselves.”

“But!”

“Your cousin just wanted to keep you safe, and that’s love, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

“I just wish I wasn’t this freak!”

“You’re not a freak, you’re special, you just… no one gets immediate control, no one is perfect with their powers immediately, not metas, aliens or homo-magi,” she said. “And you, and your siblings, are Charmed, and it will make life very difficult, and different, but it is worth it, all you need is a bit of trust and patience in yourself. And if you want, I am more than happy to teach you, as are my sisters, and you have a school where you can learn. And this power, no matter how terrifying it is, is something you will learn, and you will define, not the other way around,” Piper insisted. “You just need a little faith and patience.”

“I’m sorry for summoning your son,” Mary murmured.

“It’s fine, I’m not thrilled that he’s becoming a Whitelighter, but I think you will be good for him, give him a purpose.”

“I…”

“You two can always just be friends too, but I think you summoned him for a reason, why not learn what that reason is?” Piper offered.

“I just… I didn’t want to be this,” Mary murmured.

“No one ever does, sweetie, but it’s okay, you learn.”

“Raven’s not dead.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not, but she’s not here for now,” Piper said softly.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Mary said nothing as she stared out at the water, her hair being tugged on by the wind. So she was a witch, and she couldn’t summon her cousin, and she didn’t want this. But maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t as bad as she thought.

She couldn’t replace Raven, but maybe, not now, but in time, she could learn to be like her cousin, to stand for what was good in this world, to fight for it. She wasn’t a warrior but she could learn.

She hoped she could learn.

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #one-shot #hopes for a bastard universe #hopes for a bastard #hopes for a bastard spoilers #Mary-Beth Williams #chris halliwell #piper halliwell #leo wyatt #alice roth #wyatt halliwell #melinda halliwell

[tallskinnyvanillalatte]

Castle Episodes (Seasons 1+2)

So, I decided to do a Castle rewatch because I miss the show a lot. And I thought I could write down some of my favorite moments and some important moments and just some random thoughts. Not on every episode but those that I thought needed to be mentioned. It’s a personal post, so I might mention episodes that you wouldn’t and it’s possible that I won’t mention episodes that you would. This post is for seasons 1 and 2 only, I’ll start with season 3 now and will publish the post once I’m done with season 3.

1x01 Flowers for your Grave: The pilot. Where everything gets started. Classic.

1x02 Nanny McDead: Some lovely Castle/Alexis moments. Also, “So what” is the ringtone of the dead person.

1x03 Hedge Fund Homeboys: There’s this adorable scene where Castle watches Alexis sleep and he’s really worried about her because of the case and makes sure that she knows that she could tell him everything. Also the next day, there’s this silly moment where Alexis beats herself up over not paying for the subway and not telling Castle about it and he’s like “yeah you need to be punished - mandatory ice cream for breakfast for a week”. It’s super silly but also super adorable.

1x05 A Chill Goes Through Her Veins: We get some first information on Beckett’s mother’s death. Also, Joshua Radin’s “No envy, no fear” plays at the end.

1x06 Always Buy Retail: We meet Alexis’ mom <3 Meredith is exhausting, but I wish we’d seen her more frequently on the show. Especially in the episode where Alexis was kidnapped. Also, Castle gets his “writer” vest in this one. Also the scene where Castle receives a message on his phone with his “dad! dad! dad!” ringtone is HILARIOUS. Also, Castle saves Beckett’s life in this episode. The last scene is too adorable where Meredith tells them that she got a job offer and thus can’t stay in New York. Castle looks super good in this scene and the way he hugs Alexis is so adorable. He looks so cute the way he smiles and how he holds her and my heart just <3 <3

1x07 Home is where the heart stops: Beckett saves Castle’s life.

1x09 Little Girl Lost: A two-year-old girl is abducted. Of course this gets a little personal for Castle. There’s an adorable scene with him and Alexis, where he hugs here. It’s a “pea-pod thing”.”I can’t imagine anything like this ever happening to Alexis” I used that quote on a gifset I made about Alexis’ abduction. (this one) 

1x10 A death in the family: Alexis wants to go to the junior-senior prom with Owen and she’s like “please say yes” and Castle goes “If I say yes, will you promise to stay up past your bedtime, have a good time?” It’s so cute <3 And then Martha goes “you’re letting her go out with someone you’ve never met? What kind of a father are you?” and he’s not too sure about it anymore lol and even asks Beckett for a background check on the boy. “Sweety, I want you to know that no matter what you think you look, you’re perfect exactly the way you are” There are so many cute Castle-Alexis moments. The scene where Alexis returns from prom and she and Castle talk - it’s so adorable and he loves his daughter so much, I wanna cry. Also, Castle has some new information on Beckett’s mother’s murder.

2x01 Deep in death: Beckett saves Castle’s life. Also, Castle to Alexis “Thank you. For just... being you.” <3 And Castle apologizes to Beckett.

2x02 The Double Down: Alexis has her first heartbreak. Also the scene where Castle hears Martha and Alexis fighting and he’s worried that Martha is beating Alexis, so he rushes into the apartment only to find them rehearsing for a play lol

2x04 Fool me once: “There’s no one in the world that I trust more than I trust you” <3 Alexis has violin lessons in this episode and her teacher happens to be “a hottie”, so Castle goes into full protective mode and wants his background checked and all that which causes a fight between Castle and Alexis. Also, Beckett reads Heat Wave in the bathtub and later in the precinct bathroom where she checks out the sex scene lol.

2x05 When the bough breaks: Meredith “Cruella” Blake from The Parent Trap is in this one.

2x06 Vampire Weekend: It’s Castle in his Firefly outfit. “Yes, you can go [to the party]. But if anything happens that makes you feel uncomfortable, anything at all, you call me. I don’t care what it is. And there’ll be no punishments, no recriminations, nothing, I promise, so long as you just call.” <3 Also Castle’s evil laughter and then choking. When Alexis calls because Paige is drunk, he just goes “I’m on my way” and takes care of them <3 It’s just so great to see Castle this caring and responsible, you know. He’s this silly child all the time and now he’s actually responsible and a parent. “There’s nothing that you could do that would stop me from protecting you or supporting you.” I just love their relationship.

2x07 Famous Last Words: “Angel” <3 The lead singer of a band Alexis likes is killed. “He called her a ... [realizes Alexis is in the room] B-I-T-C-H” “She can spell, detective” greatest scene. The way Castle looks at her when she leaves is pure love. He loves his daughter so much, it’s beautiful. “Weren’t you opening for P!nk?” OPENING FOR PINK OH MY GOD. lol “what about Alexis? She’s perfect, she has no alibi” lol Castle, your suspecting your own daughter.

2x08 Kill The Messenger: It’s Ryan, Esposito and Castle on the couch with a teacup and a bunch of kittens ;D Martha signs up on “MyFace” and meets Chet. “Are you looking at porn?” “I use Ryan’s computer for that.” 

2x09 Love me dead: “You know you can tell me anything, right?” Castle is worried because Alexis is clearly hiding something from him. He got even more concerned when Alexis called Beckett asking for advice and still not talking to him. And Ryan and Esposito aren’t really helping either :D “Maybe she got kicked out of school.” “Or she’s doing drugs.” “M-hm, teen pregnancies are on the rise.” “Woah, you met my daughter. You know that she’s the closest thing to perfect as humanly possible.” <3 Turns out, Alexis only wanted to ask Beckett about an exchange program to France because Beckett had studied abroad. There’s also this scene I’ve seen as a reaction-gif a couple of times where Alexis says that she wants to study in Oxford and Castle goes “You know that’s in England, right” “yeah”.

2x10 One Man’s Treasure: “Big Castle likes to get in the way. I’m sure little Castle is a pleasure.” Alexis is volunteering at the precinct. “First days of preschool, I used to hide in the bushes to make sure she was alright”. “Fact Fiction” plays in this one <3 Alexis closes her “who does that book full of personal pictures belong to” case. The way that Castle looks at her and smiles is just pure pride and love.

2x13 Sucker Punch: The storyline of Beckett’s mother’s murder continues. We meet Beckett’s dad. “I have a hard job, Castle, and having you around makes it a little more fun.” Beckett finds the guy who killed her mother, she just doesn’t know who hired that person. And she has to shoot the guy to protect Castle. The scene in which she tries to get him back is heart breaking. Maybe you should’ve aimed for his shoulder. You weren’t that far apart and he wasn’t in movement, so...?

2x14 The Third Man: Castle ranks #9 as the hottest Bachelor’s in town or something. Alexis’ principal wants a date. And her German teacher Fräulein Sonnenberg (no one is called Fräulein in Germany anymore but we) wanted Alexis to tell Castle auf Deutsch “du hast Sexappeal” lol it’s too cute. Also, Alexis is kinda pissed and annoyed at all this. And when Castle realizes that he grins all over and goes “Oh you hate me a little bit right now, don’t you”. Castle to Alexis: “You’re number one on mine [my list]. Look, it’s my job to worry about you, not the other way round.” Castle’s tie looks slighty different in the restaurant, the color is different. Maybe it’s the light or maybe they messed up.

2x15 Suicide Squeeze: Castle’s father is addressed once again.

2x16 The mistress always spanks twice: We meet Ryan’s girlfriend Jenny <3

2x17 Tick Tick Tick /2x18 Boom: so intense, such a ride, such a thrill. Need I say more?

2x19 Wrapped up: Love the episode, it’s hilarious! Castle thinks he’s cursed because he looked at an ancient mummy. Some weird things happen to him (some of which can be explained because the team tampers with them, others remain unexplained). There’s a scene where the elevator stops and he’s afraid it’s gonna fall, so he lays on the ground while the doors open. I’ve seen this as a gif several times (with the #dead writing on it). When he explains the situation, there’s a random cop just pissing himself in the background, it’s hilarious when you watch him. Also, Castle asks Martha if she would look after Alexis if something happened to him. And later, he asks Beckett, too, because “she looks up to you” <3

2x20 The Late Shaft: The final scene is so adorable when Alexis returns from her five-day-trip and Castle hugs her and goes “my best girl, oh I missed you so much, i’m so glad you’re home”. This scene is so beautiful. The way he speaks and hugs her, it’s just so beautiful, so much love.

2x22 Food to die for: Alexis wants to go on a weekend trip with her friends, but she also has exams coming up and wants/needs to study for those. She feels bad about every decision she makes, so eventually she asks her dad to tell her to stay home and study. That scene is adorable. And then Castle is like “1,001 ways to distract someone who’s studying. We start by freezing ping-pong balls.” Ah I just love their relationship <3

2x23 Overkill: Castle is so jealous of that guy that’s been working with Beckett all the time. He’s always been jealous but it gets even worse in this episode. And at the end of the episode (Lifehouse’s Crash and Burn is playing), he watches Beckett and the guy kiss and it basically kills him. The look on his face, oh boy.

2x24 A Deadly Game: Ah, the episode is so frustrating. Castle and Beckett clearly care a lot about each other, yet they both mess up and don’t get it right. Beckett breaks up with her boyfriend and starts to talk to Castle, thanking him, telling him that she had a great time with him. And then Gina shows up and Castle says they are off to the Hamptons for the summer and it really sounds and looks like Castle and Gina are back together. And I - as a viewer - get so frustrated because Castle and Beckett can’t get their shit together. Man, how did everyone feel when the episode aired for the very first time, not knowing what would happen after the hiatus. Anyway. Alexis is off to a summer program by Princeton University and Castle is so over-protective and in ‘jealous dad-mode’ because the rooms are mixed-gender and Alexis already met with a boy that’s going to the program too. It’s super adorable how jealous and protective he is. And when Castle tells the boys at the precinct about their goodbye, he goes “it was really emotional, there were a lot of tears. ... Alexis was fine, by the way.” :D

#castle #abc castle #castle episodes #personal

[wolfpawn]

Once Bitten Twice Shy

Summary - Paige Winters is a writer who returns from meetings in the US to turn her books into a movie only to find her fiance in *HER* bed with another woman. Tom Hiddleston is due to begin his stint as Robert in Harold Pinter's Betrayal and realises that a good friend of his best friend's wife Sophie is the perfect woman to discuss his character's heartache with. The only issue is, their night of discussing the character turns to a simple one-night stand, that doesn't stay quite so simple. Due to other people's ideas, the pair allow themselves to be forced into a fake relationship which teaches them a lot about themselves and one another. Can Tom find something he always felt was missing and can Paige learn to trust another man after her past betrayal?

This is from my Lass_kicker profile on ao3. 

Paige sighed as the cab went through the streets of London. It was raining, surprise, surprise; it was March, after all, it was practically the default setting for Spring in England. It simply seemed all the more cold and wet as she had spent the previous two weeks in LA sorting the last of everything needed to turn her book series into a movie. They wanted her there for that, the production team had plans they wanted her to look over with them. The last book was due to be released before the film was completed and they wanted to know how to end it. So with NDA’s, quiet meetings and hard work, she had sorted everything. It was a long and tedious time but it would be worth it in the end, or so she told herself ad nauseam when she was suffering jetlag and repeating herself constantly to people.

She looked at the ring on her hand, the diamond gleaming in the streetlights as she passed them, causing her to smile. She thought of Derek as the car made its way closer to her home. He liked to relax for a period after cooking dinner and watch TV or play the PlayStation before going to bed early. He worked odd hours, part-time, a mix of days and overnights but it meant that she could focus on her books when he was gone and enjoy his presence when he was home. Her income meant he could work sporadically whilst going back to college to get a degree, something she had assisted in, wanting him to achieve the goals they had spoken of in their early courtship. With her book deal, she bought a beautiful two bedroomed home in Archway, a solid investment as the area had been cheap when she bought but had been on the up since. All this allowed them to maximise their home and work/study life as best they could when she suggested he move in with her. The wedding had been set back because she wanted to get the last book sorted but as she was on the home-straight for that, she had started paying for different things for the wedding; the dress, deposit for the reception, it was all coming together.

The car came to a halt outside the address she had given and seeing the dim lights of a lamp downstairs, she frowned. Clearly, Derek was on an overnight shift and had let the light come on automatically on a timer. She had hoped he would be home, with two weeks without him, she felt somewhat in want of her significant other, as she had hoped they could spend the evening in bed, getting reacquainted after their forced time apart. Sighing, she paid the cab driver, took her suitcase and dragged it up the steps. She went in and frowned when she was not greeted by the warning to deactivate the alarm, she threw her eyes up. More than once she had argued with Derek about putting on the alarm when leaving for safety reasons, and that was in the last calendar month alone. She put her keys in the bowl, locked the front door and dragged her bag to the utility room to put her clothes for a wash, she rather do it now and not face it the following morning. Weary, she contemplated just ordering a takeaway and going to bed soon after but knowing that she would appreciate it far more the next night watching TV, she instead went to the freezer and took out some lasagna she had frozen, just for convenience. She walked into the kitchen and placed it in the microwave, the appliance beeping as she pressed the different buttons before the hum of it working sung throughout the room. Deciding to treat herself, she turned and went to the glass cabinet and reached for a wineglass, pausing for a moment when she realised there were only two rows of glasses and not an incomplete three since she and Derek had caused the set to lose one the previous Christmas when they celebrated his asking her to marry him by being amorous on the sitting room couch. Frowning, she looked around and realised there were a few things she should have noticed when she came in.

Derek’s phone was charging on the countertop. That told her he was home but it was only eight in the evening, surely he had not crashed out at such an hour, she thought. She walked into the living room and her stomach clenched, her body temperature seemed to shoot up several degrees at once and she felt her hairs stand on her skin.

There were the two missing wine glasses from her cupboard, as well as a black coat from A/Wear she had seen on a mannequin only a month previous that she had thought to perhaps purchase herself, knowing that Spring in England was as likely to be cold as it was wet or dry or warm, she inhaled deeply, noting the shake in her breath as she did so. All of a sudden, the idea of wine or dinner didn’t seem so appetising. She took the two glasses and brought them into the kitchen, placing them by the sink. They had been a gift from her brother when she moved in. He had been there to help her that weekend, Derek had been out of town, and they sat back and admired their handy work with a bottle of wine in paper cups, both siblings laughing at the lack of glasses of any manner in the house, as a result, he went and bought her a set. There was never a time she looked at them without smiling at the memories they invoked with her and her brother, until now. They had two sets of glasses in the house, the cheaper ones and her favourite for special occasions, for Derek to use her good ones, that stung.

Looking at the microwave, still rotating her meal around, she decided to have a tea instead. She went and made it, slowly stirring as she thought of what was going through her mind. The clang of something hitting the floor above her caused her to be forced to say to herself what was occurring in her home at that moment. The sensation of dread grew within her as she did so but she remained where she was and continued to make her tea, noting that Derek didn’t even have the decency to get full-fat milk for her supposed return the following day like she had requested, in fact, there was nothing she had asked for him to get in the house and she very much doubted he had planned to rush out and get it in the morning, especially if his lady friend remained for the night, surely he would have been more concerned with organising everything for her return to prevent her getting suspicious. She had asked specifically would she order a Tesco delivery or something but no, he said he would get everything, yet here she was, without even a Viennese biscuit to have with her tea as her relationship crashed to Earth above her. There were a few more noises before she focused on the clink that occurred every time her teaspoon hit the side of her cup. In the end, even the sound of that caused her to feel irritated. With her tea in hand, she sat and she waited.

How long Paige sat there, she was not entirely sure. The microwave had declared that time was up and to retrieve her meal, the tea was half drunk, the rest cooling as she sat there, on the stool, facing the hallway, unsure of what she was even waiting for when the door upstairs opened and she heard footfalls go through the landing of her home before descending the stairs. Inhaling deeply, she prepared for the oncoming conflict. A moment later, a very startled looking woman wearing only a pair of panties and an open shirt belonging to Derek was looking at her. “Oh...I...Paige, right?”

Paige could only scoff at the woman knowing her name and acting so nonchalantly. “Yeah, Paige.” She confirmed coldly. “And you are?”

“Nicola, I’m Derek’s girlfriend. He told me all about you. He said that you were in flitting between France and Canada for work. Where in France are you based, I studied in Lyon.”

Paige had been prepared for a lot of different interactions with the woman that would be in bed with her fiancé, she was not prepared for this particular one though. “I...I’ve never been to France or Canada.”

Nicola looked at her in confusion. “I...why would Derek say otherwise? He has that picture of you two and your brother Phillip on his phone?”

“Phillip is his brother, yes. And I am sure the picture you are referencing was from his thirtieth, but…”

“Love, what are you up to down there?” Came Derek’s voice from where Paige suspected to be the bedroom door.

“I’m talking to your sister.”

“Sister?” She wanted to laugh at the sheer confusion in Derek’s voice at Nicola’s comment. A moment later, he descended the stairs and turned to see who she was referencing. Seeing Paige, he physically stepped backwards. “I…”

“I think you’ve been caught,” Paige completed the sentence for him. “And in spectacular fashion.”

“Paige…” He stepped forward towards the kitchen, wearing only a pair of boxers. “I can explain.”

“I very much doubt it.”

“Look, I know that this is not ideal for a first meeting but it’s not that bad really, is it? I mean, you’re around my age, you know how odd meeting family can be, surely, it could be worse if your Mum was here too,” Nicola asked, trying to defuse the situation.

Paige looked at the other woman, the one she loathed entirely as she awaiting Derek to come downstairs but at that moment, she realised that Nicola was genuinely ignorant as to the significance of the situation.

Derek seemed to realise also and stepped towards Nicola. “Why don’t you go upstairs for a moment while I deal with this, okay?”

“I think she deserves to know the truth too, Derek. Don’t make any more of a fool of her,” Paige suggested to him. She toyed with the ring on her hand before walking forward and handed it to him. “I think it is safe to say I don’t need this anymore. Hopefully, it will get you a deposit on a new place to live.”

“Oh, God.” It was at that moment that Nicola realised all was not as she had been made to think it was as she watched the ring go into Derek’s hand.

“Paige….” Derek walked towards her. “It was an accident.”

“I am not sure what constitutes an accident to you, Derek, but fucking another woman, having her believe she is your girlfriend while your fiancée is working on getting everything sorted so we could have a nice wedding is definitely not an accident in my eyes. There is no way what you did constitutes such.”

“You…” Nicola looked at Paige in shock.

“That picture you saw, of him, myself and Phillip, he lied. I assume he forgot to change his screensaver and came up with that story to placate any worries you may have had. I’m not his sister, I was his fiancée.” She looked at Derek. “Get your things, and get out of my home.”

“It’s my…”

“I bought it, the mortgage is in my name.” Her voice was sterile and even. “Get your things and get out of my home.”

“Paige…”

“Now, Derek.”

“But I can’t get everything now.”

“Then enough for the night then, I will have the rest outside the door for you at noon tomorrow. And don’t you dare waste time arguing, Mark’s on his way.”

Derek swallowed. Paige was slight enough at a mere five foot six but Mark was somewhat more sturdy built at six foot three and, as Paige often joked, the same in width. He had played rugby in school and could have gone professional but his passions were another path and he left it in school. He still worked out and was formidable looking. He had joked to Derek before that he would crush him if he hurt his sister, Derek did not want to test that threat. “Nicole.” He went to take the other woman’s arm but she pulled away from him.

“So what, you cheat on her, she says get out and you think I will take you? You lied to me.” Her hurt was more vocal than Paige’s. She turned and faced Paige, who was looking at her stoically. “I am so sorry, I swear, I never knew. He never said. If I had known...”

“You didn’t, I can’t blame you. I want to. I want to be angry with you but you didn’t cheat on me, he did. But thank you and I’m sorry he hurt you too.”

Nicola nodded slightly, startled at Paige’s consideration for her in all of it. “I...I better get dressed.” She turned and walked up the stairs leaving Derek and Paige alone.

“Paige…”

“I don’t want to hear it.” She stated. “I gave you everything I had, Derek, time, effort, me, money to help you achieve your goals, and you throw it all back in my face. How long?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I didn’t ask did it matter, I asked how long?”

“A couple of months.”

That stung. “Is she the only one?”

“Yes.” She stared at him analytically. “No.”

Paige nodded slightly. “I mean it, get what you need and get out. Noon tomorrow, your things will be outside, Mark will be inside here with me and I don’t want to hear or see you again.” She stated before shaking her head. “What did I do wrong, why?”

“You’re always so busy. Books, LA, movies, book tours, writing, you spend more time writing than with me.”

“It’s my job to write, Derek. This wasn’t news to you. I had ‘The Swords’ published when we met. We met because of it. You asked me how much work I did for my books before you even asked me out. I worked my writing around your work schedule, taking into account your overnights to do so.” He gave a slight glance to the side. “You didn’t work overnights, did you?” He said nothing. “You...that long?” She thought of the day he told her he was taking some night shifts at weekends so to assist him through his course financially over a year ago. She had been somewhat upset that it meant they would rarely have a weekend night together anymore, but she had accepted it as she thought that he had accepted her work schedule.

“I am too young to sit in on Friday nights watching documentaries and reading like some old fart.” He argued. “You’re too boring, even the sex is boring, you don’t even try to spice it up.”

His words felt like sharp daggers to the stomach, but Paige stayed strong, not wanting him to see the hurt. “Then why stay? You would have been far happier as a single man, why stay, why ask me to marry you?” He didn’t answer. In her heart, Paige knew. “I was just a financier to you, wasn’t I, an ATM? Use me to fund life and get your kicks elsewhere.” She huffed slightly. “Fine, bigger fool me.” She heard the sound of shoes upstairs. “I said no shoes upstairs, is there anything you respected while you acted as you did?” Again, no answer. “Unbelievable.”

Nicole descended the stairs looking shameful as Derek went up without a word. “I’m sorry, again. I never would have…”

“It’s not your fault, you don’t owe me an apology. The one who does has remained silent.” She indicated to the kettle. “Tea?”

“I…?” Nicola looked at her in bewilderment.

“It is too late for a bus and a cab will be a bit so how about some tea while Shitbag gets going and then we get you home safe and sound.”

“You really don’t hate me?”

“I hate what happened but I can’t hate you, it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know. You thought you were in a loving relationship too.”

“I thought it was weird, his work schedule, how we usually came to mine but it’s far smaller and I have a roommate. It’s clear now, he was avoiding us coming here to keep us away from you.”

“Most likely, yes. My schedule is messy at best.” Paige acknowledged as she boiled the kettle.

“How are you so calm? I feel like Hell.”

“I will probably break down crying when I am by myself or when my brother comes.”

“Does he live close by?”

“Oxford.”

“So he won’t be too long.”

“I will contact him when Derek is gone.”

“I thought you did already?”

“If he came while Derek was still here, I would be trying to prevent a guy nearly twice my size from murdering the man I just found out cheated on me, more than once. I don’t think I would be overly inclined to stop him.”

“Me either.” Nicola agreed.

The pair said very little as they heard the footsteps above them and the sound of different wardrobe doors and drawers slam closed.

“You’d swear you just said you found someone else and wanted him gone, not the other way around,” Nicola commented.

 “Yeah, mature, he is not being.” Paige agreed.

Not long after, Derek walked down the stairs, a suitcase in hand and looked at both women for a moment. “I…”

“We don’t care. Have a nice life, Derek.” Paige walked forward and opened her front door. “Mark is just getting some takeaway in Mario’s so I would be hurrying up if I were you. He’s not best pleased.”

“My PlayStation…”

“MY PlayStation. I bought it, my card is the one on the account, I bought the games. I am not giving you any more money. It was meant to be for my loving fiancé, you lost the right to anything I bought here. If you want it, you can buy it off me, a hundred and fifty, if not, fuck off.”

Derek said little else as he walked out the door of the house, but Paige was certain there was an utterance of the word “Bitch” as he did so but she left it go. She only wanted him to leave. When his cab beeped to inform him it was there, she closed the door, not even waiting for him to get into it.

“I will call mine now.” Nicola took out her phone.

 “I can drive you if you want. It’s not safe at this hour.” Paige offered.

“I have ruined your evening enough at this stage.”

“You ruined nothing, you never knew. Please, let me bring you home. I don’t like the idea of leaving anyone out alone. Give me a second to contact my brother, he can be on his way while I bring you.”

“Okay, sure. Thank you.” Nicola gave a weak smile.

Twenty minutes later and with a promise that Mark had his girlfriend Fiona with him and they were on their way, Paige indicated out into traffic again after leaving a grateful Nicola to inform her flatmate of her eventful evening and head back to her home, grateful that Fiona said that she would deal with Paige’s bedroom so she did not have to clean her bedsheets after everything.

Within the hour, Paige was in a hug from her brother who insisted on forcing her to eat. All the time she ate, she swore to herself she wouldn’t allow herself to be made a fool like that again.

#Once Bitten Twice Shy #Chapter One #tom hiddleston