#turns out teen pregnancy is really easy to avoid

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

The Road Less Traveled (Fellowship x Pregnant!Reader)

Synopsis: Left by a man who took you out of wedlock, you discover halfway through the Fellowship’s journey that you are, indeed, pregnant. Not wishing for you to face motherhood alone, the Fellowship conspires, regarding whom gets to marry you and help raise your child, leaving you with a tough choice.

This was not at all how you saw your life going—both the man leaving you for another woman, and finding out you were pregnant with his baby on a perilous quest, miles upon miles away from the nearest dwelling.

You had been madly in love with this man, unaware he had eyes for another. Your copulating love was taken out of wedlock, a choice you knew had its risks, but Brander had a charming way about him.

You never would have thought he’d leave you. However, one morning, Brander announced the conclusion of your relationship with another woman on his arm.

Heartbroken and enraged, you threw all his clothes from your shack, and took to a horse. Riding swiftly, you headed to the one place you knew hearts were healed; Rivendell.

Upon your arrival, a council of sorts was taking place. One thing led to another, as per usual in your life, and you found yourself on another journey—this time with a higher purpose, and nine other guys.

Things were difficult, but honestly relieving. The fresh air cleansed your soul, as did the healthy relationships you built up with the nine males—proving to you that they weren’t all bad, right on time before you could curse the entire species of XY chromosomes out forever.

However, this was as far as the fun went.

It started with a tiredness the Fellowship brushed off due to your inexperience, and then the lateness of your period. Next, early dawns were spent throwing up in the woods, with whomever was on night-watch holding your hair back, usually Aragorn, Legolas or Boromir.  

You wept slightly when a sparring match with Boromir resulted in a shield hitting your breasts, for they were very tender as of late. The final nail in the coffin was the snubbing of Sam’s usually delicious bacon making you hurl.

Gandalf had taken to speaking with you privately, and asked, in the politest manner possible, if he could assess your womb to find confirmation of another soul.

Legolas approached slowly, crouched down by your side, and spoke responsively in the most apologetic of voices.

“There is no need—I can hear their heartbeat…I am so sorry, Y/n.”

You broke down into tears quickly, and everyone soon knew your predicament that evening. You apologized over and over, and felt utterly mortified. How embarrassing.

They now knew the choice you had made out of wedlock, and were pregnant as a result—something highly frowned upon in human society, and many others in Middle-earth, for that matter. You would no doubt be branded as a “whore” upon your return to society.

You told them all about Brander that night, and opened up to them fully. Jaws were clenched, nervous glances were flashed, and brows were furrowed.

They now had an expectant, first-time mother in their midst, on their way to quite possibly the worst place in the world to take a pregnant woman. Adding onto this, their poor friend, whom they had grown quite close with, was in a horrible situation.

But perhaps it was one they could help with?

Driven by noble blood and true chivalry, the Fellowship started to discuss their options.  

“It’s just awful, what that ‘Brander’ fellow has done to her,” said Boromir, discreetly nodding over in your direction.

You were sat with your head in one hand on a log by the fire, face contorted in misery. Your cheeks and eyes, as well as your nose, were all pink, due to a long while of crying.

Sam sat on one side of you, and held your hand. He reassured you with bright words of soothing promises.

“Don’t worry, Miss Y/n! All will work out! You’ll see! You’re bringing a new soul into this world! That’s nothing to be ashamed of!” Sam would say.

Merry, Frodo and Pippin were on your other side, rubbing your back and holding your shoulder.

“He’s right!” they’d agree, nodding profusely. “You’ll see! This is a wonderful thing. You just can’t quite picture it yet, but you will!”

Gimli, Boromir, Aragorn and Legolas were all huddled in close, standing in a circle. They stood a little further off from the fire, but still caught its glow.

Gandalf was sat on a log himself, puffing away on a pipe. The affairs of human society were not his responsibility, but he offered guidance from a distance nonetheless. He already knew all would work out, but was the only one there oldest and wisest enough to realize so.

Legolas’ arms were folded over his chest, as were the three others’ he stood with. “She’ll be shamed wherever she goes, and her child will be considered a bastard. Truly awful…I feel compelled to help. What can we do?”

“Well, to avoid public slander,” Aragorn spoke up knowingly, “she’d have to be married.”

“Very well and all,” Gimli whispered back, “but were you perhaps not present when she said the scoundrel ran off with another filly?”

“He was not whom I was referencing,” Aragorn mentioned. He threw a studious glance in your direction, and spoke again. “She is a fine young lady, with a strong heart and homely nature. She would make a wonderful wife, and I feel it our duty as her friends to make sure she becomes so.”

“You mean for us to marry her?” Legolas asked, incredulously. His head lowered in shock as he spoke, and a brow arched.

The guys, save for Aragorn, who overlooked it all, glanced between each other tensely, unsure if the alarmed glint in their eyes was competition or fear.

Boromir was the first to speak up.

“I will do it, in a heartbeat!” he said. “You are right, Aragorn—she is a wonderful young lady, and deserves to be wed in time for her child. I will care for them both.”

“Well, now hold on a moment,” Legolas snapped, glaring across at Boromir. “Why do you get to marry her? I am much closer in age to her than you are…figuratively speaking, at least. I should be the one to marry her—we get along best.”

“You?” Gimli snorted. “You will outlive her in the blink of an eye.”

“Oh, and you won’t?” Legolas said back. “None of us implied romance anyways, Gimli. I’d merely be a lifelong friend and guardian for her and her child. I’m the most suited out of everyone here to provide for her—”

“Because you’re a prince?” Boromir interjected, narrowing his eyes.

“Not just because of that,” Legolas bit back, squaring up with Boromir slightly. “But what of it regardless? What does it matter how I provide for her? I plan on renouncing my title and making a life of my own anyways. I might not get the chance for a child of my own, and I can help Y/n raise hers.”

“She’s not some puppy, laddie,” Gimli snorted back. “You both want to store her away in a little cottage or unit somewhere drab. I can provide her with culture! Dwarven culture! Her little one deserves to grow up in grand halls and eat ripened meat!”

Aragorn looked between the unfolding drama, and soon raised a hand before you could become even more distressed. Fortunately, you hadn’t heard a thing of their hushed conversation.

“That is enough,” Aragorn said. “I’d offer to marry her myself, but…well, I do believe you three are better suited than me to provide a stable life for her. It is ultimately up to Y/n. All either three of you can do is offer your hand in marriage to her, and see what she says.”

Glares were thrown between the three potential suitors, as each wondered who’d be the first to turn around and run towards you.

As it turns out, all three turned on their heels at the same. They nearly tripped over one another. However, they stopped almost immediately, for someone on the other side already had the same idea.

“It is quite all right, Y/n,” Frodo said, down on one knee before you, and holding your hand. “The Shire will accept you, and I can just say I fell in love on the road and married you immediately. I have a big house now left all to myself, with many rooms. You can have one to yourself, as can your child. Bilbo did the same for me when I was young.”

You were crying again, but this time out of happiness. Your other hand was placed over your chest, as you smiled down at the kind hobbit with a wavering lower lip.

“Oh, Frodo, that is so incredibly kind, I can only say—”

“DON’T SAY ANYTHING!” Legolas shouted, rushing forwards. He nearly shoved Frodo out of the way, and took his place holding your hand swiftly.

“Y/n,” he began, sincerely, “I’ve always felt that you and I have had a…special bond since beginning this journey together. I can provide you with a cottage in the forest, and true protection. I’m an archer and an elf—your child will learn many life skills with me as their parental guardian. And, furthering this, after you’ve moved on from our world, your child will surely be left behind. I can ensure they are well-cared for up until their own departure!”

“Oh, Legolas, I don’t know what to...” you went to say, holding his hand with both of yours. You were truly starting to get overwhelmed with happiness and relief.

“Oh, shove it, pixie!” Gimli shouted from behind Legolas. He, too, stole the snarling elf’s place, chivalrously removing his helmet as he did so. “Lass, I know I may not be your usual type, or blonde, but I am asking for your hand as well. I can offer you so much in Dwarven society. The women are strong, and you will find ranks in them! Your child will be given an equal chance, no matter the gender, to be themselves! Life in the halls is a true marvel—”

“Enough, the both of you!” Boromir shouted next. He tugged Gimli by the beard and threw him away. “Y/n, you and I are both humans. I understand you and our shared culture better than anyone else here! Please, nothing would make me happier than to provide for you as my wife. Not to mention, the child will look most like me, racially-wise.”

The hobbits all looked between each other with shocked smiles, intrigued by the situation, and Gandalf and Aragon merely shook their heads.

Legolas grabbed hold of Boromir’s shoulder and stood him up. “Race has nothing to do with it! If we’re really going to narrow this down to looks, I am the tallest! That is highly desirable in a husband! Y/n and her child will live a wonderfully secure and safe life with me. You need to back off.”

“Why don’t you make me?” Boromir bit back.

Before a fight could break out between the two of them, Gimli hopped into the middle and added his own string of harsh words.

The three suitors of differing races soon began to bicker between themselves, leaving you sat on the log very stunned indeed.

However, after a long while of listening to them argue over who gets to marry you, you put up your hand and silenced them. Although, it took a good few shouts until they shut up completely and curiously blinked down at you.

“Boys. Boys! BOYS!” Once the attention was on you, you spoke again. “I am so incredibly flattered by your equal devotion, it has truly made me feel better about everything, but...do I not get a say in whom I marry out of everyone here?”

Legolas moved his body slightly, so he stood facing you straight. “Well, whom do you choose, my lady?”

Frodo had backed off entirely, but shared a lipped smile with you, ultimately letting you know the offer was still on the table regardless. Boromir, Gimli and Legolas all stared at you optimistically, leaning forwards as they waited for your reply.

Stumped by so many choices, and considering you didn’t even know this would be a part of your life plan up until five hours ago, you went with the smartest choice; waiting.

“These are all very early days…” you began. “I’m very overwhelmed by all the offers, and still getting used to the idea of motherhood, and now marriage—”

You took a calming breath.

“You’re all so sweet, and I truly appreciate your support, but…could I perhaps sit on it for a while, and return with an answer at a later time? This is a very big decision, as you can all imagine.”

They quickly agreed, and nodded their heads vehemently.

“Take all the time you need!” they said reassuringly, in one form or another.

That night, they all waved sweet “goodnights” over their shoulders to you, and even gave up their cloaks and packs to create what they deemed the perfect “mother’s nest” for you to sleep on.

It was all very sweet, and warmed your heart. However, although half the problem was solved, you were presented with another; who on earth were you going to choose to marry and raise your unborn child with?

Actually, the more you thought about it that night, as you fell asleep with nine friends protecting you as you slept in the middle, like a herd of animals keeping their mother-to-be safe, the more you realized you already knew exactly whom you wanted to live with.

#considering I’m turning 20 this year this is my little gift to myself congratulating on avoiding teen pregnancy #I made it lads #it was one of my biggest and most irrational fears as a kid #lotr x reader #lotrdaily #lotr movies #fellowship x reader #lord of the rings #the hobbit #elves #hobbit #legolas #Legolas x reader #Boromir x reader #frodo x reader #Gimli #lotr imagine #turns out teen pregnancy is really easy to avoid

[atlabeth]

10 things i hate about you part 1 - jj maybank x fem!cameron reader

PART 1 | MASTERLIST | PART 2

a/n: okay so i was not expecting this much attention when i posted the masterlist??? like i gained 30 followers and the masterlist got 200+ notes and i havent even posted any chapters lmao. so now im very intimidated bc i wanna do you guys proud

also! everyone goes to the same school in this to make things easier for me and because i can do what i want. alright lets get into it

warning(s): reader is a total bitch, kinda ooc sarah, some cursing and some unwelcome comments

wc: 5.1k

The beginning of the school year wasn’t something that anyone in the OBX really looked forward to. Living in a vacation spot was great in the summer because— well, you could do anything you wanted. You weren’t one to indulge in kook life, but even you could appreciate the liberty it gave you. But the return to the hellhole that was Kildare County was a death sentence to the freedom that seemed to be all the more fleeting, and it also meant a return to—

“Are you done yet?”

—that.

The banging on the bathroom door followed by your sister’s voice nearly caused you to poke your eye out with your mascara wand, and your concentration was the only thing that stopped you from shooting back with an already prepared retort. Once you were satisfied with your look — albeit taking a bit longer on purpose just to annoy Sarah — you tossed the bottle of mascara back into the drawer then threw the door open, ignoring your sister on your heels as you walked through the house to the kitchen.

“I am now,” you said as you picked up your keys, once again ignoring Sarah as you picked up your bag from the couch. “If you don’t like the way I do things, you can walk to school.”

“You don’t threaten to leave Wheezie at home,” she pointed out, slipping her shoes on and picking her own bag up at the same time.

“Wheezie is actually nice to me,” you countered, pointedly ignoring Sarah’s eye roll while you slipped on a jacket. “You’d better shape up or else she’s gonna get shotgun every time I drive you two.”

Sarah leaned against the table and crossed her arms. “What, so you get to be a complete bitch all the time because you’re the one with the keys?”

You gasped and pressed your hands to your heart, the whole sentiment dripping in sarcasm. “Oh my god, you’re finally starting to understand! Sarah, call Dad down. He needs to know about this breakthrough.”

She groaned and hightailed it towards the door. “Just get to the car so I can get away from you as soon as possible, okay?”

You cracked a small smile as she ran outside, a satisfied sigh following after as you filled up your water bottle. It was too easy.

~~~~~~~~

“So… you excited for junior year?”

Your effort at small talk as you backed out of the driveway was almost completely ignored by your sister, more focused on checking her makeup than you. But after a final swipe of lipstick, she shrugged.

“I guess. Mostly just excited to almost be done at this place. I am so sick of Dad constantly breathing down my neck with everything I do.”

“Yeah, well let me know when you manage to get out of that,” you murmured as you turned onto the main road. Your father was the epitome of a control freak. With an image to keep up and a fortune to maintain, there was never a moment where he wasn’t calling the shots on every part of your life. You tried to avoid as much of it as you could, but there was only so much you could do while still living under his roof.

Sarah raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry, you’re not the one who has her entire life dictated. I mean, part of the reason I want to graduate so badly is so I can finally get a boyfriend! What’s with that stupid rule anyways?”

Ah, yes. The rule. Keeping up the image of a perfect family meant no room for error, and teen pregnancy fell under the classification of error. Ward Cameron’s solution was the rule: no dating until graduation. It was technically meant for all three girls, but with the way things were, it was more directed at Sarah.

You were fine with it, but Sarah… not so much.

“I will never understand why you’re so desperate to get with one of these kooks!” you exclaimed. “They’re all assholes riding off of Daddy’s money, and they don’t care about you at all. Sarah, they are all like Rafe. Do you really want to get with someone like your brother?”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “First of all, you are so dramatic! Second, that is actually disgusting. Maybe you would understand if you actually gave someone a chance instead of spouting your bullshit every time.”

“You only think it’s bullshit because you’re in as deep as they are,” you countered. “If you actually listened to me for once—”

Sarah groaned and turned the music up, apparently not interested in listening at all as she hit her head against the back of the seat and stared longingly out the window. “Keep this up and I might actually start walking to school,” she muttered.

“You say that like it’s a threat,” you retorted. “Besides, if you hate this so much, then you can catch a ride with any of your other friends.” You took your voice up an octave in a mockery of her own. “The ones that are so good to you!”

“Y’know, you have Cameron genes too!” she said, frustrated. “If you could, oh, I don’t know— actually be a normal human being for once, you would have just as many at your feet! Guys don’t…” she gestured at you. “Guys don’t like this kinda thing.”

You huffed a dry laugh. “Sarah, the day that I change myself for any man on this island is the day that I die. You know, the fact that you even say that is a sign of—”

Sarah groaned and put her head in her hands. “Oh my god, I’m sorry I brought it up! And look, one of my friends is over there! I can walk the rest of the way with him. Now, please let me out.”

“It’s a sign of the patriarchy,” you finished despite her interruption. You continued to talk as you checked your mirrors and pulled to the curb, even though Sarah was already gathering her things. “They only want one thing, and when you can’t give it to them anymore they leave! Every guy on this island is a tool and— HEY, ASSHOLE! STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!”

She slammed the door shut just as you got the last part out, earning a glare and a middle finger from Sarah which you returned with a mocking smile. If everyone was as scared of you as she said they were, then hopefully that was enough to get whoever that guy was off your back.

Because whenever someone wanted to get with Sarah, they always tried to sidle up to you as well for some reason. It was exhausting, and it was part of why you had tried so hard to earn the title of reprehensible bitch.

And hey — it had worked.

But as you pulled back onto the road, you knew one thing: you couldn’t wait to get off of this fucking island.

~~~~~~~~

Sarah had to hold in another groan as she all but ran from the car to the sidewalk. She couldn’t help the small smile though as laughter drifted through the air, courtesy of the friend that had gotten her out of that lecture.

“Hey, John B.” She greeted him with a wave and the two of them quickly fell into step together. “Please tell me you didn’t hear any of that.”

He chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “You mean your sister going insane on you? Yeah, I heard a bit.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Trust me, that’s not even close to the worst. She has got some serious issues. She was all popular and shit freshman year, but it’s like she became more of the Wicked Witch as she went through high school.”

John B shrugged. “She can’t be that bad, can she? I mean, aren’t older sisters supposed to look after their siblings?”

Sarah snorted. “Tell that to her. She’s too busy trying to ‘topple the patriarchy’ or whatever to actually care about us. Between securing valedictorian and trying to claim the title of ‘biggest bitch in the OBX’, it’s a miracle she has any time to do anything else.”

“But enough about my sister!” Sarah bumped shoulders with John B as a mischievous grin spread across her lips. “I… really enjoyed the time we spent together these past few weeks. It really sucks that school gets to interrupt it all.”

John B really hoped that she couldn’t see the way that he was blushing as a smile of his own grew. “Oh, I uh— I did too—”

In the worst luck possible, John B wasn’t even able to save himself from the stammering mess he had backed himself into when a voice he really could’ve gone without hearing made himself known.

“Hey, Sarah!”

He was almost thankful that Sarah turned away to greet the newcomer as he wasn’t able to hide his visible distaste. In a way, this made sense. Because why wouldn’t Topper Thornton show up just when things between him and Sarah were actually going well?

“Topper!”

He especially hated the way that Sarah said his name — it was so happy. Too happy. John B didn’t consider himself a jealous person, but guys like Topper always brought out the worst in him.

“Good to see you, good to see you…” He trailed off as he finally seemed to notice John B, and the two boys shared a look that Sarah was oblivious to. “Why are you walking to school with this pogue?”

“He has a name,” Sarah said pointedly. “I was walking to school with John B because my sister is impossible to be around for more than five minutes. He’s really my savior, if anything.”

Topper rolled his eyes and slung his arm around her shoulder. “I’ll be your savior any day, babe. Thanks for the warm up Jack, but I can take her the rest of the way.”

Their contest of staring daggers at each other was broken when Sarah stood up on her toes and pecked John B on the cheek, the sentiment enough to melt his icy expression towards Topper. “I’ll see you later, John B?” she asked with a smile.

“Uh— yeah. Of course.” He offered a smile of his own and Sarah nodded before turning back to Topper, and before John B knew it, the girl of his dreams was walking away with another man.

He was in the middle of thinking of ways to get around his kook problem when another voice, this one far more welcome, interrupted his thoughts.

“Dude, did you just walk to school with Sarah Cameron?” Pope asked, slightly baffled.

John B’s gaze didn’t waver as she got further away, and when she turned around for a second and waved he returned the gesture with a small one of his own. “Uh… yeah. I did.”

Kie looked wholly unamused as she walked up next to the two boys. “Are you serious? John B, you know you have no chance with her, right?”

“Kie, you weren’t there. She’s not like other kooks, you know that.” He still had a starry gleam in his eye as he turned back to them. “Besides, she— she kissed me on the cheek before she went off with Topper! And we hung out for like, three weeks before school started. She snuck out for me. Have you heard of her doing that for anyone else? She likes me, guys. I know it.”

“Did you already forget about the part where she walked off with Topper?” Kiara asked.

“I think he also forgot the part where Sarah Cameron doesn’t date,” Pope said dryly. “JB, it’s the first day back. You’re shooting too far, man.”

“She probably just hangs out with kooks to keep up appearances!” John B defended. “And that dating thing— whatever. We can just work around it. I’m telling you guys — she is into me.”

Kiara sighed. “Where’s JJ when you need him? He’s gotta knock some sense into you.”

“I heard he’s already in the principal’s office,” Pope muttered. The bell went off right as the words left his mouth and he started walking backwards towards the school. “And we gotta get to class before we join him.”

Kiara stood on her toes and ruffled John B’s hair, cracking a smile to let him know she was (mostly) joking with their conversation. “Get that head out of the clouds, man. I know Sarah Cameron better than you do, and I promise — you’re better off not trying to go after her.”

John B let out a loose sigh and shook his head as they caught up to Pope. “Agree to disagree.”

Pope shrugged. “Hey, man. If you think you have a chance, I heard that she’s looking for a French tutor. She almost failed out sophomore year, so you’d probably be able to get some good money for helping her out. But, uh… Didn’t you almost fail out of French sophomore year too?”

John B patted his friend on the back. “Pope, my good man, it is never too late to learn!”

~~~~~~~~

The first day went as well as you thought it would.

On the bright side, almost everyone avoided you. The easiest way to avoid drama was to never be involved in the first place, and earning the brand of “tempestuous bitch” was one of the best ways to do it. You were everything that people thought your sister was — a complete bitch with zero tolerance for everyone and anyone — and that was how you liked it.

Everything else was on the flip side. After being sent to the office in first block for a bullshit reason and dealing with the Kildare assholes unwise enough to try and talk to you for the rest of the day, you were more than ready to get home and detox from the hell of public school. But the second you and Sarah stepped into the parking lot, a red convertible pulled up causing your almost instinctive eye roll.

Topper slowed to a stop and gave you that little smirk that made you want to punch his lights out. “Hey, your little Rambo look is out, Cameron. Didn’t you read last month’s Cosmo?”

You scoffed. “Clever. Now, run along!”

“I wasn’t done yet,” he stated, his gaze drifting from you to Sarah. “Can I interest you in a ride?”

You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing, genuinely thinking it was a joke, but as Sarah grinned and opened the passenger door your amusement turned to shock. “Oh my god, you’re actually going with this dick?”

Sarah shrugged, slightly ambivalent as she set her bag on the floor. “I’m sorry that I actually want to ride with someone who actually appreciates me!”

Topper gave you that stupid smirk again and shrugged as he started to pull away. “Can’t even keep your sister? Ouch.”

“Take your head out of your ass before you drive, Thornton!” you yelled as the car sped off, his low blow drawing more anger out of you than you wanted. You huffed and rolled your eyes, trying to push it out of your mind as you made your way to your own car. You would never understand what your sister saw in that prick, but… it wouldn’t be the first time a Cameron had made that mistake.

You grimaced. Just thinking about it was enough to make you gag and only strengthened your desire to get out of this place.

After backing out of your spot you started to leave the parking lot, but you nearly hit some blonde idiot as they decided to run across the parking lot right in front of your car. “You have eyes, dumbass!” you yelled out your window after slamming on the breaks. “Use them!”

You let out an exasperated sigh as you continued to drive. Graduation couldn’t come soon enough.

~~~~~~~~

Your pleasant night of reading and nothing else was interrupted almost immediately by your father coming into the living room, and by the way he called your name you could only assume it was more useless mail. As he walked over to your armchair and rifled through the various envelopes, he glanced at you. “Make anyone cry today?”

You chuckled. “Unfortunately, no. But it is only 4:30.”

His sigh had a hint of amusement in it, but his small smile quickly faded as he handed a letter to you. “This one says ‘UCLA’?”

“Oh my god!” You took the envelope from him and ripped it open as quickly as possible, and as you jumped up from your chair and screamed Sarah came running into the room. “Oh my god, I got it!”

“What are you screaming for?” she asked, annoyed. “Are you dying?”

“No, I got in!” You unfolded the letter completely and held it up for your sister and father to see. “I got into UCLA!”

“Wait, wait—” Ward held up a hand that you almost completely ignored. “UCLA is on the other side of the country. I didn’t even know you applied there— what happened to staying close, working in the family business?”

“That was what you wanted me to do,” you muttered. “This is what I want to do. Moving across the country sounds great, Dad.”

“So what?” he scoffed. “Are you just going to pack up and leave, just like that?”

“Hopefully,” Sarah said with a fake smile.

You raised your eyebrows. If she wanted to play this game, you would too. “Why don’t you ask Sarah who took her home today?”

“Hey, do not change the—” He frowned and turned to Sarah. “Who drove you home?”

Sarah laughed mirthlessly and glared daggers at you while she spoke. “Dad, it was just a boy—”

“Who is a flaming imbecile,” you added helpfully.

“It was just a boy,” she started again louder, the daggers in her eyes becoming sharper. “And I think he’s going to ask me—”

“Oh god,” Ward groaned. “I think we all know what he’s going to ask you, and you know what the answer’s going to be.”

“Come on, Dad!” Sarah complained as she threw herself onto the sofa. “I am the only girl in school that doesn’t date — do you know how embarrassing that is?”

“You’re not the only one,” he said with a glance at you. “Your sister doesn’t date.”

“And I don’t intend to,” you said pointedly. “Have you seen the unwashed miscreants that go to that school?”

Sarah’s laugh this time was more of a breathy show of disbelief. “You are actually insane.”

Ward clapped and stopped the arguing between you two before it could start. “Alright! I think I know how to solve this. The old rule is out. The new rule — Sarah can date… but only when she does.” He pointed at you.

Your self-satisfied smile appeared just as Sarah hopped up from the couch. “Are— are you kidding me? She is a literal nightmare; what if she never dates?”

Ward shrugged. “Then you’ll never date. Ooh, I like that.” His phone buzzed and he pulled it out, putting the device up to his ear as he started a call. “I’m sorry, I have to go. We’ll talk about UCLA later!”

You rolled your eyes and picked up your book as you started walking towards the stairs. “Fine.”

“Dad, you can’t be serious!” Sarah stormed after him but he just held up his hand as he went towards the front door.

“Not now, Sarah. This is work.” As he picked up his jacket and walked out the door, her rage was turned on you.

“Can’t you just pick some random kook to go out with so I can go on one date?”

You shook your head, putting your hand to your heart in fake sympathy. “I’m so sorry that you’ll never get to experience Topper Thornton in all of his misery.”

Sarah scoffed and walked away, no doubt to hate you some more on her own. “You suck.”

You rolled your eyes and took your voice up in a mockery of hers. “‘You suck.’”

~~~~~~~~

John B flipped through his French textbook, muttering words under his breath as he tried to make them stick but only really succeeding in wondering why it had to be French. Sarah Cameron couldn’t really need help with surfing, or history, or even Spanish, which he took for two years in middle school. No, it had to be French.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when someone sat across from him, and he was greeted by the smile of the subject of his imagination.

“Hey,” Sarah said with a smile as she flipped her own book open. “Listen, I wish this could last longer but this has gotta be quick. I gotta make it home for this stupid business opening thing that my dad has to do or something—”

“Don’t worry,” John B reassured with a smile of his own. “We can just get started with pronunciations.”

She huffed. “Yay. My favorite.”

“I mean..” he shrugged as she looked up at him. “There is another way. We don’t have to really… speak French. I heard that The Wreck was having a French special Saturday night, and I was thinking that we could go?”

Sarah chuckled, but not in a way that made him feel embarrassed or like he had messed up. “Are you asking me out?”

He gave her a wry smile. “I guess you could say that. And— I know about your dad’s rule, but I figured since it’s for French, we could get around that.”

Her eyes lit up and she placed her hand on top of his. “Actually, my dad just came up with a new rule! I can date if my sister does!”

His eyes lit up. “Oh, great! Do you like surfing, because I can—”

She stopped him with another sigh. “You heard what my sister was like yesterday, John B. It’s not going to be that easy — she sucks.”

“Oh, yeah…” He let out a loose exhale. “I noticed that when she called me an asshole. Why is she like that?”

Sarah shrugged. “I have no idea. She used to be super popular freshman year, but then it’s like she just got tired of it. And now she makes everyone around her miserable with her special brand of bitchiness because she is literally incapable of interacting with another human being without insulting them.”

“I mean… if all you need to get a date is for someone to go out with her first, I’m sure I could find someone to get with her.”

Her eyes softened and she intertwined her fingers with his. “You would do that for me?”

“Yeah! Of course!” He swallowed when he realized how quickly he had exclaimed it and tried to be nonchalant. “I mean… Yeah. Sure.”

“Do you really think you can find someone, though?” she sighed. “My sister is extreme. You think you can find someone to match her?”

John B bit his lip as the gears started to turn in his head. There was only one person he knew that could go against a girl like Sarah Cameron’s sister, and he had no idea if he would even want to.

“Yeah!” It was a bit forced, but he hoped it was convincing enough. “Yeah. I got this, Sarah.”

~~~~~~~~

“So let me get this straight — you ended up in the guidance counselor’s office on the first day after starting a fight on school grounds, and then you almost got hit by some chick in the parking lot at the end of the day?” John B chuckled as he took two beers out of the fridge and threw one to JJ. “Man, that is not a good start to the year.”

He grinned and shrugged, taking a sip of his beer after cracking it open. “What can I say? I have a flair for dramatics.” He flopped onto the couch and glanced at his friend. “Did yours go any better?”

John B set his beer on the kitchen table and switched it for a tennis ball that he started to throw at the wall. His expression brightened almost immediately, a grin of his own forming. “Oh, man — you don’t even know how good it was. I just… I need to ask you something. You know Sarah Cameron, right?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“So you know her older sister too?”

This time, he snorted. “Yeah. She’s the biggest bitch in the OBX — I’m pretty sure she was the one in the parking lot yesterday. What about it?”

John B glanced at his friend as he threw the tennis ball at the wall again, letting the silence between them linger for just a moment too long before he began again. “...I need you to get a date with her.”

It was a good thing the carpets in the living room were already shitty, because the beer that ended up on the floor after JJ spit it out would’ve ruined them. He gave John B an incredulous look as he wiped his mouth. “Dude, what?”

“I’m not crazy, I promise! I just—” A laugh slipped out as he ran his hand through his hair. “There is something going on between Sarah and I, man, I know it. I asked her out today during our tutoring thing, but her dad’s got this new stupid rule where she can’t date until her older sister does.”

JJ’s gaze didn’t waver as he tried to process it all. “Okay, first of all — you’re macking Sarah Cameron? Dude, that is like asking for trouble! If anyone finds out, there’s about ten guys that’ll kill you on the spot. And second— you think I can get a date with her sister? JB, she is the worst. Are you sure you’re good? Because this idea is as bad as she is.”

John B hung his head back as he turned to JJ, tilting his head as he stared at his friends. “I know all of that, trust me. But she’s worth it, man. I have never felt the way that I do with Sarah, and until her sister’s down I can’t even get close to her without her dad trying to murder me. You— you want me to be happy, right?”

“You are not guilt-tripping me right now,” JJ groaned. “Do you know what you’re asking me to do? She’s a kook, man! And not just a kook, she is like, the kook. People say that she’s worse than her brother, and he’s coked up constantly.”

“JJ, please. I— I will pay you.” John B threw the tennis ball to the ground and pulled his wallet out, causing JJ to laugh as he rifled through it.

“With what money, bro? You’re off just as bad as me. Besides, I’m not making you pay me, because I’m not doing this.”

“She can’t be that bad, can she?” John B threw his wallet on the counter and leaned against it, desperate eyes staring into his friend’s. “You’ve fucked girls worse than her, I know it.”

“Yeah, fucked. I can handle one night stands with girls like that, but man— you’re asking me to date her. Take her out and shit.” He knocked back the rest of his beer and shook his head. “Even if I wanted to, she would reject me quicker than I could blink. You’d probably have better luck trying to get one of those kook assholes to do it.”

“Wait. That— that could actually work,” he said, talking with his hands as he got more excited. “I mean, not taking out her sister, but we can definitely use them! Topper Thornton likes Sarah too— that dude’s an asshole, but he is an idiot and he is loaded! You want money? I can definitely trick him into paying you for this.”

And at that, JJ actually laughed out loud. “John B, that’s a terrible fucking idea. I don’t think Topper and I have ever had a conversation where our fists didn’t do most of the talking. Besides, how would you even get him to do it?”

“You don’t have to do the talking! I can do it, or I can get Pope to do it—” JJ raised his eyebrows. “—I will do it, and he won’t beat me up because he cares more about getting Sarah than throwing a few punches. It— it’s easy. I just tell him that in return for clearing the path, he leaves us alone for the school year. And then he’ll give you a fuck ton of cash to ask out a super hot girl, you’ll do it because you’re the best, and I will get the girl of my dreams. It is the perfect plan, JJ!”

And with that, he couldn’t even stop his jaw from dropping slightly. JJ wanted to tell him that, no, it was actually a horrible plan, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It had been ages since he had last seen John B this happy, especially after what had happened with his dad. And if all it cost to keep him like this was going out with some girl…

JJ pushed himself up and stared at the ground for a moment before looking at John B. “You really like her, huh?”

John B nodded. “This is fairytale levels of connection, man.”

He breathed in deeply and let out a loose exhale, nodding as he came to a reluctant conclusion. “...Okay. One date, after you get the money from that asshole.”

John B jumped up from the counter, far too excited for the promise of one, possibly not even successful date, but too into the illusion of success to care. “Yes! Thank you so much, man. You’re my favorite person from now and forever.”

JJ snorted and got up from the sofa himself, dropping the empty can on the counter and turning on his way to the door to face John B. “Yeah, I know. And as fun as signing my life away has been, I gotta get out of here before I regret every decision I’ve ever made. Also, I already have work in some of my classes and I have to at least fool my teachers into thinking I’m gonna try this year.”

It was like the grin on John B’s face was stuck there, the high from JJ’s agreement not fading anytime soon. “Yeah— yeah, whatever man. Do whatever you gotta do. I will get you that money!”

JJ rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop his own smile as he left, holding his hand up in parting. “Don’t make me regret this!”

-

this chapter's road rage inspired more by my own frustration in my school parking lot than the movie lmao. no one knows how to drive </3

perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77 @simonsbluee

series tags: @pogueslandia @maybankbby @gabiatthedisco @the-romanian-is-bae @obx-pogues-4-life @oliviajaegerswhore @chaoticrichie @its-simply-fanfiction @80strashbag @sinnerluh

#jj maybank x reader #jj maybank #obx #outer banks #obx fic #jj maybank fic #jj x reader #jj maybank fluff #outer banks x reader #obx x reader #sadie writes

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hi! It's an au twilight question.

What if Edward and Bella did the nasty in early New moon. Then the party happens and the Cullens leave. Bella discovers she's pregnant with Renesmee. What do you think what would happen?

A very interesting question, anon. One that will go very interesting places, I'm sure.

That said, as usual, because I'm a completionist, we have to go through the "why no canon?" routine. Bear with me, I simply must.

Why Didn't Edward and Bella Do the Nasty Pre-Breaking Dawn?

For all that Edward is, for all his... questionable morals and sexual fixations, he does have a moral code he strictly holds himself to.

Edward is adamantly against having sex with Bella in terror of the very real possibility that he will murder her in the act. He's very clear about this, he didn't think he could do it, at all, and only his sheer desperation that Bella never be turned, his desire to marry Bella, as well as Alice's thumbs up convinced him to do it.

If Bella was a reasonable person then she would have agreed as well. Sex with Edward, while she's human, is a bad idea. However, Bella never really seems to clue in on what vampires even are so I think the Man of Steel on Woman of Kleenex aspect is lost on her.

Had Alice not given the green light, I imagine Edward would have gone back to the drawing board and ended up either here or here. Bella turning is the worst possible outcome and Edward will risk almost anything, even Bella's death, to see it avoided.

But that doesn't mean it's an action he takes lightly.

He suggests pimping Bella out to Jake before he suggests sleeping with her himself. For Edward, this is a last resort.

More, Edward is a man of his time.

Edward was from an upper class family and, more to the point, still holds himself to the standards of the society he knew when human (much to Bella's amusement).

Edward wistfully talks about courting Bella, how he would have courted her had he been a true man in the time period he was familiar with, and why marriage to him is so very important.

That Edward doesn't seek out the approval of Charlie, Bella's father, is a hilarious aside to me. Edward's all about chivalry until all those old society standards get in his way.

What do you mean a gentleman doesn't sneak into a lady's apartments in the middle of the night to watch her slumber unawares?!

Regardless, marriage is extremely important to Edward, especially in the context of sex.

Edward will absolutely not have sex with a woman who is not first his wife. He also will not marry a girl that society defines as underage, he will wait until Bella's legal and probably until she finishes her primary schooling.

This means Edward was never likely to have sex with her before graduation and certainly not before her eighteenth birthday.

Which, at the earliest, puts her past the New Moon birthday bash.

Edward and Bella Do the Do Anyway

But let's pretend they do it anyway.

I'd say the most likely scenario is after the birthday disaster. This is it, Edward knows he is leaving Bella forever, if he is truly noble then he will never see her again.

Certainly, he will never interact with her nor hold her in his arms. To Edward, this is essentially his last true night on Earth.

So rather than pull a partial D.E.N.N.I.S. system, Edward pulls the full D.E.N.N.I.S. system, he initiates the "I" he was previously missing, "Inspire Hope". Or, in this case, get laid for the first and only time in his life.

He sneaks in through her window. They make beautiful, passionate, tepid love so Edward does not crush her in the act, and as she sleeps blissfully in the aftermath he sneaks back out the window to never be seen again.

(It takes Bella a week to admit that Edward just hit and run. The Cullens aren't coming back.)

However, because Edward didn't actually point blank tell her what was happening, rather than hit her New Moon stage of depression, Bella's instead in denial.

The Cullens are coming back. What, Carlisle has a new job? No, that can't be right, they're coming back. Alice would never leave her without a word. Edward would never leave her without a word.

Jessica pats Bella on the back consolingly and is secretly glad that it's not her. She might have been dumped by Edward Cullen, but at least he didn't humiliate her the way he did Bella Swan.

Leaving without a single word, yikes.

Two weeks go by then Bella gets the flu.

In a single day, she's unable to keep down anything. Huh, that's weird. Very quickly, Bella has her tampon epiphany. Bella is not a virgin, she had sex with Edward, she's late, and she appears to have a baby bump.

Bella is carrying Edward's child.

There is no question of aborting the child. This is Edward's child, the only piece she has left of him, even without Renesmee's gift it's ride or die. Bella is delivering this child even if it kills her.

However, she has some immediate issues.

First, she's visibly pregnant, it's been only two weeks. That's not supposed to happen. More, Charlie is bound to notice sooner rather than later, Bella would like to avoid that, the stigma of teen pregnancy, as well as the inhuman complications that are sure to come along.

Second, there's inhuman complications. Bella can't just go to an OBGYN, not even a town over. She's carrying something half human, a doctor will poke around and find that out, and then Bella's blowing the secret.

Bella knows vaguely of the Volturi at this point, but not the severity of the law, it's more that she promised Edward she would never tell a soul.

Plus, a human doctor wouldn't be able to help anyway.

That leaves vampires.

Bella tries to call/email the Cullens. However, thanks to Edward, all their numbers are disconnected and all their emails no longer exist. Her "Alice, help, I'm pregannant" messages are sent to a void.

(Alice, meanwhile, thinks she's finally successful in blocking visions of Bella. At least Edward will be off her back. Without the cliff diving and Jake, Alice does not assume Bella has died/committed suicide.)

A brief internet survey also yields Bella no results, but it does get her a lot of vampire porn. Thanks internet.

Bella... starts to get worried.

She's getting more and more pregnant in a matter of days, Charlie is starting to notice that she can't keep anything down, and the Cullens aren't taking her phone calls.

Then, Bella has it, she remembers that weird baroque painting Carlisle had of him and those Italian vampire dudes: the Volturi. Conveniently named after the city they live in, Volterra, Italy.

Bella debates her options.

Edward told her that these are the guys who make sure that humans who know the secret disappear. Well, Bella is a human who knows the secret, that's bad. Also bad is that they eat people, Bella is a person.

On the other hand, Edward implied these guys are civilized and friends of Carlisle. That's... good? Bella isn't sure she's on good terms with the Cullens, given the whole abrupt leaving thing, but maybe they don't have to know that.

Bella debates with herself, tries to look up the Denali, and only finds the National Park. She has no idea where these guys even live, or what they even look like besides "blonde hot vampire", and she's short on time. Plus, they are close with the Cullens, so the Cullens probably did tell them "Ew, Bella, No Gross, Do Not Want".

Because the Cullens all hate her now.

Bella has some money saved up, and this is probably a one way trip, and if she doesn't go then... well, it's not looking good. Bella musters up her courage, tells Charlie some outrageous fib to explain why she's disappearing off the face of the planet, and books a flight to Rome, then Pisa, then a bus ride to Volterra.

Bella subsists completely on blue gateorade, this doesn't go well, and she vomits blue in the parking lot.

Regardless, she makes it, huzzah she is in Volterra. It's sunny out and there are no vampires. Bella wanders around the city and looks for the most vampire building she can find.

Luckily, she happens to be right, and it's the very central castle. Well done, Bella.

Bella walks in and spots a vampire. She also spots a receptionist, Bella is very confused. Never the less, Bella says the magic words, "I'm a... friend of Carlisle Cullen?"

Even though Bella doesn't have Aro's name (or any of the other Volturi for that matter), Carlisle's name does the trick. Anyone who works for Aro knows that name.

Color Aro intrigued, he will meet this pregnant woman! (Caius, meanwhile, votes that they eat her immediately out of spite.)

Well, Aro touches her hand and lo and behold she's scarily gifted. And she knows Carlisle, what a great day to be Aro.

Aro explains that everything's totally fine with her knowing the secret, it just means they have to turn her eventually, after she gives birth of course.

Bella stares at him numbly and wonders why Edward made this such a big deal if it was that easy.

Aro insists Bella start from the beginning, as in the very beginning of her life. This is weird, but Bella complies.

An hour later they get to the interesting part: Bella meets Carlisle (and Edward Cullen, Aro guesses). Aro gets to hear the whole, sordid, ridiculous tale of Bella and Edward's romance including the part where he fucked her and ran off into the night.

Aro is stunned.

He first apologizes for the Cullens behavior, they should absolutely not have abandoned her, and not turning her was completely irresponsible (what the hell was Carlisle thinking?)

He then gives the bad news, he... has never heard of anything like this.

You see, normal vampires don't have sex with humans. It isn't done.

Also, there's this thing called Immortal Children (Edward tell you about that, no? Well, he probably thought it wasn't relevant). That thing your carrying might not be a child capable of growth but an insatiable monster.

Or it could be the alien from Aliens.

There's no way to tell, really.

BUT NO NEED TO WORRY, BELLA, THEY WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.

Aro promises Bella his protection and a period of observation for the child. Bella's not sure she likes that observation part, but this seems like a pretty sweet deal otherwise.

As for what to do, well, Aro has to call in the foremost vampire medical expert. Sorry, Bella, but there's only one man for the job.

Aro sends out Demetri to find Carlisle.

Demetri shows up on Carlisle's doorstep, "Carlisle, old friend, Aro has need of you. Your son knocked up a human girl."

Carlisle blinks, blinks again, then does a thousand yard stare. My God.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Edward is already on Victoria's tail. Carlisle tries to call him, to no avail, Edward isn't taking his phone calls.

Alice and Jasper are already on their trip to hunt down Alice's past. Plus, given the Volturi, they'd be unlikely to come anyway. Carlisle sends them a message.

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett travel to Volterra to clean up Edward's mess.

And sure enough, there's Bella, very pregnant with a child that is very much not human. Carlisle dies inside, Rosalie's on a warpath that Edward would abandon his pregnant girlfriend to the point where the only place she could turn was human drinking vampires.

Rosalie takes it upon herself to leave Edward the world's angriest voice messages until he returns her phone calls.

Aro's delighted to see Carlisle again. Even if he does have a wife now. Also, Aro claims finders keepers for Bella, Carlisle's not happy about this and less happy that Aro points out that if Edward cared so much he wouldn't be absent right now, would he?

They figure out the blood drinking thing, Carlisle desperately raids a hospital to prevent Bella from being fed the leftovers of the Volturi victims. This likely doesn't work out for him.

At the last possible moment, Edward finally picks up his phone. He learns that all he's tried to accomplish failed spectacularly. Bella is pregnant with his demon child, is literally drinking blood, and is in Vampire HQ with the leader insisting she will be turned immediately after the C-section.

Edward races to Volterra and strides into the room demanding Bella be aborted and remain human.

Aro stares.

Carlisle awkwardly explains that Bella's too far along, it's too late now even if they wanted to, more she adamantly doesn't want to abort and never did.

As for Bella being human... Bella pipes in that she's cool on becoming the vampire part. Aro's a great guy. She then races to embrace Edward, he's come back, after all this time. And he's going to be a father, isn't that wonderful?

Edward loses his mind.

And because this is Edward, I have no idea what he'll do, only it'll be utter madness. This is my best guess.

To be a little more serious, he probably tries to abort the child anyway, he mercy kills Bella and the child, or Renesmee manages to get through to him.

Given canon, it's likely the latter. Bella is convinced that her and Edward's relationship is perfect.

Aro has no idea what to think of any of this.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #bella swan #edward cullen #edward/bella #anti edward/bella #carlisle cullen #the volturi #aro #caius #demetri #rosalie hale #alice cullen #the cullens #the denali #meta #headcanon #opinion

[yaoshifollower]

Eris (demon's daughter) Chapter 3

A bunch of different perspectives. New questions and some answers.

Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Tagglist: @liquid-luck-00 @moonlightstar64

Be aware of your own mind. Your consciousness can and will play tricks, so be careful.

Human mind is fluid. Our memories aren't set in stone but in sand. The lines and finer details blur every time we try to remember something important.

Human mind is the most curious thing. The organised chaos of it still fascinates philosophers and scientists. What is our mind if not a cabinet filled with carefully placed memories? We don't know how our mind decides what we should remember or forget, but we know that strong emotions play an important part in that decision.

Humans tend to forget bad things. They don't disappear completely, but stay in the background. This is the reason nostalgia exists and our past may seem better than present.

It didn't happen to Marinette, right? She was sure of it and her nightmares just proved her right. But she forgot the most important rule: don't take everything at the face value.

***

"You did good, my child," Marinette was still tired after avenging her death (killing them was forbidden, but injuring - not) and didn't comprehend praise in her father's words. "I can answer any question. But only one."

Marinette tilted her head in confusion. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but why? I don't think I did anything to deserve this." Ra's lips lifts up in something akin to a smile. Her words meant his plan was working.

"You showed great strength when fighting. I've heard it took them half an hour to take you down. You are my daughter and you can't forget this," Ra's stopped to let his words sink in. "What is your question?"

"Who was my mother?" The predictability of her question almost makes him laugh out loud. He had expected something better from her. Like, "why don't my assailants have the injuries I've inflicted on them?".

"She was an assassin known as Madame Cheng. A formidable opponent and a strong spirit. She died after giving birth to you. It was a hard pregnancy," Ra's can see a flash of guilt in the girl's eyes. 

"Thank you for this information, father. I will treasure it forever."

The girl slowly leaves the room and Ra's congratulates himself on completing the first part of his plan successfully. 

***

Pale moonlight illuminated a bedroom. The room is completely silent save for soft sounds of breathing. Only two people are there, a man and a woman.

The woman lays on a pristine silk, white cloth barely covering her naked body. Hickies and bruises bloom everywhere like colourful flowers. Her midnight black hair barely reaching her shoulders is splattered across a pillow. Her skin seems to be glowing because of the whiteness of the bed linen. Beads of sweat on her toned arms and legs are highlighted by the moonlight.

The man is sitting near her, leaning on a headboard. His skin is several tones darker than the woman's. He also much older than her. There's white hair in his carefully groomed beard. He's physically fit and strong. He's sitting there completely lost in thoughts. New ideas, new strategies, new plans. The demon's head never rests, after all. He thinks how defenceless the woman next to him is and it makes his blood boil. 

His musings are interrupted by a small feather like touch on his hip. The man doesn't look at the woman, just lets down his hand and tangles it in her hair. It doesn't satisfy her so she seductively slowly raises on her hands to meet the man's eyes. Her smile is small and teasing and it makes the man huff in annoyance.

"Was everything to your liking, oh Great One?" her voice is filled with mirth and there's a strange gleam in her eyes that the man can't identify. 

After several minutes of silent stares the man sighs and decides to humour his lover. He moves his hands to her side gripping hard enough to leave bruises. But the woman doesn't seem to mind. Her small sighs hint that she even enjoys that.

"It certainly was, Madame Cheng," his voice drops slightly at the end of the sentence and it makes the woman giggle like a schoolgirl. Seeing her like that made it hard to remember she was one of the most skilled assassins in the world. Only her stature and white webs of scars reminded him of her lifestyle.

"Why wouldn't you use my name, beloved? We've been married for a year and you still use my alias," Madame Cheng is a formidable woman and she doesn't pout. No, sir, you're just seeing things.

"It's a name you've chosen and made for yourself. Your name was given to you by your parents," he stops mid sentence to change their position. Now he was on the top. "And you killed everyone who knew it to ensure nobody will ever know it. Only people you trust can use it."

"Marriage is supposed to be a sign of trust. I met you almost twelve years ago. I trust you not to kill me every night we spend together. I know you can kill me without any weapon and I know you always have a dagger with you. I… I like my name and would like you to use it. Please."

There's a dangerous gleam in the man's eyes and she needs several moments to stop shivering. That's what she gets for forgetting who her lover is but it was so easy. "I will use your name after you give birth to a boy."

His words leave a bad aftertaste in her mouth and even the man's hard kisses can't erase it. "It won't last. His gentleness won't last." Marrying the Demon's head may be her fall but she will mourn herself later. Now, she's losing herself in lust and please. She tries to not think that some parts of her won't return.

***

Talia remembers Madame Cheng clearly. She always admired the woman who became a mother figure to her.

Madame Cheng was more intelligent than most people gave her credit for and she knew Ra's al Ghul better than she let on. Talia compared her to an actress because she acted so different in front of her husband. Only in the privacy of Talia's room did she let down her walls. It made Talia feel special.

Madame Cheng was smart and she knew what kind of man Ra's al Ghul was and what he wanted from her, so she acted accordingly. She could read his mood perfectly. She gave him what he wanted because her survival and well being depended on it.

That's why Madame Cheng was preparing for the worst after she found out that she had given birth to a girl.

"But you can have more children!" Talia tried to argue. The woman laughed bitterly and shook her head. Her laugh slowly morphed into tears.

Talia didn't know what to make of her reaction. Sure, father wasn't satisfied when he heard that Madame Cheng had given birth to a girl, but he loved her. He would give her another chance, right?

"Childbirth was hard for me. I didn't get help fast enough and there were...some consequences. I can't have children anymore," she patiently explained.

"What are you preparing for?" Talia asked, feeling tears in her eyes. "He won't kill you! He loves you."

Madame Cheng sighed and took a breath to calm down. She got down on her knees and looked straight into Talia's eyes.

"Your father, my husband doesn't love me and...never did. It took me some time to understand that, ya amar. I was too naïve and blinded with his affectionate words. I thought I was special," Madame Cheng chuckled at that thought.

"Was it a marriage of convenience to him then?" Talia didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand, she knew that their union was beneficial to the League. Their child would be strong and healthy, a perfect heir. Everything would be perfect. It would be if Madame Cheng gave birth to a boy. And that was what made everything so confusing. Talia loved and adored Madame Cheng and she didn't know what she would when the woman died.

"Yes," the answer is barely a whisper but still so loud in the complete silence of the room.

"So you are just giving up?" Anger was swirling in her veins and Talia couldn't, didn't know how to get rid of it. "We can fake your death, create a false identity. There must be a way!"

Madame Cheng just shook her head and embraced the girl as tight as she could without hurting her. "Ra's will do everything to find me. He won't be satisfied until he sees my corpse," Madame Cheng noticed Talia's questioning look and continued: "He knows we're close and he doesn't want a stray element influencing his heir."

"What can I do for you?" Talia whispered brokenly.

"Talia, look at me. Talia, please, look at me," when the teen didn't move to meet her eyes Madame Cheng softly turned her head. "I know you're sad and angry but turning away from me isn't a solution. You won't get any closure if you continue avoiding confronting your feelings. They will always stay with you like invisible baggage."

"Would he really kill you because you can't give him an heir?" Talia knew she was grasping at straws but she couldn't stop. 

"He refused to call me by my name until I gave birth to a boy. I should have known how little I mean to him. And I won't be useful for a very long time. And the League doesn't condone and," she explained. "Can you promise me something?"

"Everything!"

"There's no need for that, ya amar. Promise to me you will be safe. Promise to me you will protect Marinette and yourself. Promise to be a better person and mother than your father or me. Promise me you will leave one day. Promise me you will be happy. And that's all I want."

"I promise, I promise, Madame Cheng," and in that vulnerable moment for both of them Talia never felt more confident in something. It was time to make an escape plan. 

Almost a year after that conversation Madame Cheng was sent to Bialiya. The mission should have been easy to a professional like Madame Cheng. And it would be if the woman were healthier. 

It didn't matter how much Talia begged her father to resurrect Madame Cheng. He didn't even bother to find her body for a proper burial!

Talia wanted nothing more than to cry in her bedroom for days straight. And why wouldn't she? The only person who had genuinely cared for her was dead. Unfortunately, mourning Madame Cheng so openly wasn't on option. First of all, she would show her weakness. And secondly, she had a sixteen months old Marinette. The baby couldn't even cry to mourn her own mother. She simply didn't understand what had happened to her.

That day Talia promised to herself dhe would teach Marinette everything Madame Cheng had taught her. She would never come close Madame Cheng but the baby deserved some love. Even if only from her older sister.

***

Emilie Agreste was a strong and independent woman. She didn't need her husband to approve her choices. If she wanted to spend time with Amira, she would do exactly that, Gabriel!

"She was sent to kill me, Emilie. She's an assassin. Butterfly is the only reason I am alive. You can't let your guard down. She will use your kind heart for her own gain," Gabriel explained his point of view.

"She. Is. A. Child! A child that doesn't know anything better. It wasn't her choice. I'm sure her parents did that for her," Emilie's heart bled every time she thought about the amount of trainings the girl had to go through. "And you can't stop me. I will go to her right now!"

Emilie turned away, her dress flaring dramatically after her. She grabbed the door handle, but the doors didn't open. Emilie could feel how she was and could hear Gabriel's exasperated sigh. "Oh great, because pushing doors you have to push to open is very dramatic," Emilie softly murmured to herself.

After capturing Amira they left her in an old bedroom. Gabriel made sure she couldn't open windows without alerting them and activating security before leaving her alone.

Emilie thought that the room was beautiful but wasn't sure Amira had the same opinion on it.

When she arrived Amira was laying on the bed, completely free from bounds. The girl looked bored but Emilie could see how tense she was.

"How are you, Amira? I came here to help you," now the girl was suspicious. Her tenseness was more obvious and Emilie silently berated herself for such poor choice of words.

"I know it wasn't your choice to become an assassin. I want to give you a little bit of love, Amira."

When the silence became too much to bear Emilie decided to continue talking. Even if it meant talking to herself. She told Amira stories about her family and how much she loved them. How Gabriel could be so annoying! And how talented Adrien was.

Amira slowly leaned away and laid on the bed. "Are you tired?" asked her Emilie but the girl just nodded. "I will let you have some rest."

The girl just silently hugged her. Emilie counted it as a victory. She slowly left the room activating security once again. 

"Did you check your pockets?" Gabriel's voice made her jump from surprise. Emilie nodded in denial and silently checked her pockets. Nothing was missing, except...for her phone. "Judging from your face that girl has stolen your phone."

Emilie felt so heartbroken she couldn't answer. It must have shown on her face because Gabriel softened. "I will go and take back your phone, love. After that I'll make you a cup of tea."

Emilie didn't notice anything. She didn't notice when her husband returned with her phone. She couldn't recall how they had ended up in their kitchen. Emilie couldn't remember how she had got a cup of tea.

"I don't blame her," she whispered so softly that Gabriel wasn't sure he had heard hee right. "I don't blame her for trying to escape. She doesn't know us. Why would she want to stay here?"

Gabriel just resignedly sighed. His wife was being too kind to that brat. He decided to not comment but his silence made Emilie more confident.

"Yes, I won't give up on her. I will do everything to deserve her trust," Gabriel could see fire in his wife's eyes. The very one he fell for years ago. Only now it wasn't directed at him but the brat that tried to kill him. It made him older and wearier. 

"I know you will get through her shell," Gabriel didn't believe in that. He knew the girl would attack Emilie if she hadn't seen his butterfly. He knew she knew what he had wanted to say.

***

Talia knew she was a bad older sister. A good sister wouldn't sit idly and drink tea while her little sibling was suffering! And Talia couldn't even do anything to help her (she checked three times before giving up).

"Why would you do that? Why?" Talia asked herself. "Was I not…"

But then she clearly heard Madame Cheng's voice in her head: "We both want her to be happy. You have to be honest with yourself. Are you angry because she left or are you hurt because she didn't take you with her?"

No matter how much she tried Talia couldn't answer that question. If she did, it would open a can of worms. She would have to answer more questions. Who did she love more? Her father or her sister? What did she value more?

But it didn't matter right now. Talia will be there for Marinette. She will protect her baby sister.

***

Sometimes Emilie Agreste was a mystery even to her own son. Nobody explained to him why she had spent so much time in one of the bedrooms. Adrien didn't know why she was so sad after she had stopped visiting that room. 

Every answer he got was too vague. "I'm mourning missed opportunities, my heart."

Adrien tried to not think that it was about a girl he had seen once in family's gardens. Her appearance blurred in his mind with time but he could remember midnight black hair and sky blue eyes. Adrien could admit she was pretty but he hated the fact that his parents refused to tell him anything about her. 

After Adrien understood that his questioning wouldn't give him any answers he decided to move on. It was quite easy. His mother disappeared not so long after his decision to stop pestering them about the girl in the garden. His father closed himself in his office and Adrien had to make an appointment to see him.

Adrien didn't understand why meeting Eris had brought back memories about the garden girl. 

"Why are you calling yourself Eris?" Adrien blurted out. In his defense it wasn't every day that he met superheroes.

"Eris is a greek goddess of discord. I wield the Miraculous of Destruction. I thought it was a fitting name," Eris sighed and tiredly rubbed her forehead. "One day I will make an official statement regarding my alias. Everyone asking why like they are banned from Google. Annoying."

"I'm sorry, Miss. I didn't know what to say," Adrien was really sorry. He knew how annoying it was to repeat things. He wanted to ask her about being a hero. He would ask "how does it feel to fly in the sky" and "how does it feel to be free". But Adrien is a perfect boy and perfect boys don't ask such questions. His words about freedom could be used against Gabriel. 

#maribat #future dickinette #angst #i love hurting characters #referenced character death #eris (the demon's daughter)

[jobrookekarev]

I Remember it All Too Well Chapter 6

Chapter Six of Six: You'd Come Back to Me

Words: 19,500

Chapter Summary: After hooking up at the wedding, Jo realizes she's pregnant. Jo decides to take a leap of faith and the two of them agree to meet each other's kids, now Jo and Alex with their three, soon to be four kids, try and make it work as a family.

Story Summary: Alex knew from the moment he signed the divorce papers that leaving Jo and Seattle was the worst mistake of his life. As Alex works his way back to Seattle, he sees Jo again four times before she allows him back into her life. Or the four times Alex saw Jo after their divorce, and the one time they finally got back together with her, plus a soft epilogue.

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson.

Characters: Jo Wilson, Alex Karev, Eli Stevens, Alexis Stevens, Meredith Grey and Atticus Lincoln.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences.

Additional Tags: Regret, Longing, Pining, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pregnancy, Birth, and a Baby.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

AN: Okay so this is probably a lot longer than it should have been and includes a lot of scenes that aren't really necessary, but I'm going to keep them in there because they're light-hearted and fun and I enjoyed writing them so I hope you enjoy reading them!

……………………………………………………………………

Jo hoisted Asher higher on her hip as she and Meredith walked into the hospital. She wanted to enjoy holding him for as long as possible as she would soon have to balance two babies. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she would have two kids. Things seemed to be going so fast, despite how she had nine months before the new baby would be in her arms. 

When she became a foster mom, it took months of planning, home studies, and training, but the day she said yes to Asher she had him in her arms by the end of the day. She went from zero to one kid in a day and she hoped that the nine months would give her more time to get used to going from one to two kids, that wasn't the only thing she was worried about.

“So,” Meredith said, trailing off as she tested the waters and looked over at her.

Jo let out a sigh and just looked straight ahead. She knew she couldn't avoid Meredith forever, but she would for now. As they walked over to the daycare, the only one who seemed oblivious to the tension between them was Asher. He happily babbled as he chewed on the ear of the Mariners moose that Link had given him. 

“Look I know that it’s none of my business,” Meredith said with a shrug.

“You're right. It’s none of your business,” Jo said cutting her off.

“But you told me for a reason.”

“Yeah, because I'm still kind of freaking out about it,” Jo said as she paused in the middle of the empty hallway and turned to look over at Meredith. “It’s going to wrack everything. We didn't plan this. It's not like we got back together and decided to have another kid. It just happened and now all our plans to take it slow have gone out the window.”

“I know that this is a shock to you and that you're still trying to process it and I want to help you, but I won’t know how unless you talk to me,” Meredith said reaching out and putting her hands on Jo’s shoulders. “Do I need to do something like yell at Alex for knocking you up or just be there for you at your exam with Carina? I can do either of those or both, I just need you to tell me what to do.”

“I know it takes two, but honestly I think I might yell at Alex myself,” Jo said with a slight smile as she shook her head and moved her hand to Asher's back as he tried to wiggle out of her arms. 

“Well, for starters are you keeping it?”

“Yes,” Jo said without hesitating. 

It was the one thing she was sure of. She was ready for a second kid even if it was unexpected. She always thought she’d adopt or start fostering again as Asher got older so he could have some siblings. She was ready for a second kid even if this wasn't how she saw it coming into being. 

“Okay,” Meredith said, but Jo cut her off.

“It's just that things between Alex and I are good right now and adding another kid to the mix is going to push us to move in together and meet each other's kids, and I don't know if I'm ready for that. I don't know if Alex is ready for that. I love him and I want to be with him, but he hasn't even met Asher yet, and what if Asher hates him, what if the twins hate me,” Jo said as she nearly cried and bit her lip to hold back the tears as she looked away. 

“Jo, I know that you're scared, but if you give it a chance, I'm sure that Asher is going to love Alex. There's not a kid in the world that has met Alex Karev and doesn't like him at least a little bit. And the twins are so sweet and they're so much like Alex. You've already got one Karev head over heels in love with you, I'm sure the twins will love you too. I know you'll put in the effort to get to know them and spend time with them and they’ll appreciate that.”

“But you don't know that Meredith,” Jo said with a sigh.

“And you won't know that either until you meet them.” Meredith stressed, rubbing her hand up and down Jo’s arm. “If I've learned anything in the past year it's that Alex Karev truly loves you, and he is going to love Asher too.”

“It's not just that, I mean it is but,” Jo sighed as she shook her head. She pulled Asher closer as she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his, it helped calm her before she spoke again. “I know that as soon as Alex finds out about the baby, he’s going to jump all in. I know he’s going to be there for us, but I don’t want him to do it just because of the baby. I want him to stay with me because he loves me and he wants to commit himself to me, not just because we have a child. I don't want to string him along like Izzie did or to make him feel like he has to stay with me out of obligation.”

“You, Jo Wilson, are not Izzie Stevens that's for sure,” Meredith giggled and put a hand over her mouth

“I sure hope not,” Jo rolled her eyes as she moved to walk away again before Meredith grabbed her arm. 

“No Jo wait, it's not that. It's just that, Alex loves you. Before you two started dating again he came to me in a panic, because he didn't want to screw things up with you again. He wants to be there for you and he's taking things slow because he wants to make sure that you're comfortable. He’s going to be there for you because he loves you. Alex isn’t going to go anywhere, he’s all in, Jo. With you and this baby, and Asher too, just give him the chance.”

“I know. Over the past month I’ve realized that Alex is in this for the long haul, but I knew that Alex would never make the choice to willingly walk away from me again, regardless of this baby, but I still need to know that things will work with Alex and Asher and the twins two,” Jo said, with a nod as she reached out and squeezed Meredith’s hand. 

“Okay so meet them,” Meredith said as if it was that easy.

“Fine,” Jo relented as she rolled her eyes, but knew that Meredith was pushing her in the right direction.

Meredith’s only response was a nod and a small smile as they continued their walk to the daycare. Jo was grateful to have Meredith’s support in this. The two of them had become so close since Alex left. She knew that regardless of whether she had Alex, she and her children would be okay because they had Meredith. Meredith had helped her so much when she adopted Asher and throughout the process of her divorce with Alex. She had always been there for Jo with whatever she needed and she knew that wouldn’t stop now. 

Jo had always wondered what it would have been like to have a big sister and now that she had Meredith she didn't have to wonder. It was one of the reasons why she told Meredith she was pregnant and not anyone else. Link would just be overprotective and would definitely go after Alex. Whereas Levi would have no idea what to do or say and both boys would hover over her. However, Meredith had ushered her in the right direction and would be there for her regardless and that was what Jo needed right now. 

“But you are going to tell Alex about the baby?” Meredith asked looking over at Jo apprehensively.

“Of course I'm going to tell Alex, I'm not going to keep him from his child. I just need a few more days to process everything,” Jo said, she knew she could never keep her baby from Alex. He was such a good dad and he was everything she wanted for her child.

“I just had to ask,” Meredith said, putting up her hands before she looked over at Jo with a slight smile. “Also partly because I was wondering if I could be in on the surprise, There's a lot of cute ways to do it too.”

“Meredith.”

“I know, I know, you're so overwhelmed and you need to process the fact that you're pregnant before you can even think of telling Alex. I'm just saying there are some really cute ideas out there. I gave Derek a t-shirt that said world's best big sister. I mean I stole the idea from April, but it was pretty cute.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Jo shook her head as she walked towards the daycare. She quickly got Asher checked in and said her usual goodbye to him before she and Meredith went up to the lounge and got changed into their scrubs.

“Hey Jo,” Meredith said, grabbing Jo’s arm before she left. “Whatever you need, let me know and I’ll help you.”

“Thank you Mere,” Jo said, giving her a smile. “My appointment to confirm the pregnancy with Carina is at 10 a.m. and I’d really appreciate it if you could be there.”

“10 a.m. I'll be there,” Meredith said, giving her a smile before she left. 

……………………………………………………………………

Alex felt like he was home. Ever since he returned to Seattle a few months ago he felt like he was still on the outside. Everyone at the hospital seemed to take their cue from Jo on how to act around him, but now that they were together again everyone seemed to warm back up to him. He was finally settling back in and was getting to know the new residents and other staff while working with Hayes. These days Alex felt like he and his kids were part of the family again. 

Things with him and Jo were good too. They were dating and seeing each other regularly, although they hadn't introduced their kids yet. Things between them felt like they did before their divorce. Alex would catch Jo smiling at him across the hallways of the hospital. He would wrap his arms around her waist and kiss her as if he'd never left her side. Things were good, regardless, they were still taking things slow. Alex knew that Jo was still hesitant, but they were good and he was happy.

“You complete and utter asshole, Alex Karev,” Meredith said appearing out of nowhere and slapping his arm as she glared at him. 

“What'd I do?” Alex asked quickly, running through a mental list of things he had done in the past few hours since they talked last night.

“I thought you and Jo were taking it slow,” Meredith asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

“We are.”

“But you're sleeping together?” 

“We've only done it a couple of times and it's none of your business,” Alex insisted, despite how Meredith scoffed and shook her head.

Her mouth scrunched up like she wanted to continue to yell at him, but she paused as a few of the nurses passed by them in the halls. Alex crossed his arms as he took in Meredith's expression. She knew they were dating and he didn't understand why the fact that they were sleeping together caused so much trouble. 

“It's my business if you end up hurting her again Alex,” Meredith lowered her voice to a whisper, despite her anger.

“I'm not going to hurt her again,” Alex insisted as he looked at Meredith. “I swear to God Mere, I'm never going to do anything to intentionally hurt Jo again. I screwed up with her once and I'm never gonna do it again.”

“I know,” Meredith sighed, as her eyes softened and her anger faded away. “It's just, things happen and you don't expect them. I just….”

Alex watched Meredith avoid his gaze after she tailed off. “Just what?” 

“Just, just go check on Jo, she’s got the flu or something. I was just with her and Carina and she was continually throwing up, but she refuses to go home. Can you get her to at least take a nap in an on-call room or something,” Meredith said before she quickly walked away.

Alex scrunched up his eyebrows and his lips turned down as he watched her go. He couldn’t figure out why Meredith was being so weird today. Given the conversation they just had he decided to do as he was told and go see Jo. Alex quickly finished up with his patients, before he walked down the hall to the maternity ward. 

The sight that greeted him was all too familiar as Jo and Carina talked at the nurse’s station. Carina stood above her with her arms crossed as she looked down at Jo who was sitting in a chair with her head resting on her arm.

“Hey,” Alex said, stopping at the counter as Jo greeted him with a sleepy smile that quickly disappeared as she rubbed her head. 

“Buongiorno Dr. Karev,” Carina said, before she continued in Italian, gesturing to him and carrying on as if he understood a word she said. Alex looked between Carina and Jo for a second before Jo caught on and smiled. 

“I think we forgot to switch back to English,” Jo said as she reached out to him. 

“Yeah, and since when do you speak Italian?” Alex asked as he sat down in the chair next to her before putting an arm around her shoulders. He didn’t think twice about leaning over to kiss her forehead, as whatever she was sick with he probably already had. 

“Carina would just say stuff to me in Italian when I was first working with her and so I started looking it up. Eventually I just actively tried to learn the language and so now I speak Italian.”

“It was very impressive how quickly she picked it up,” Carina said with a nod and a little smile that told of how proud she was of Jo. “Everything I throw at her she just seems to suck up like SpongeBob.”

“Like a sponge, SpongeBob is a kid’s cartoon character.”

“Ah yes, and Josephine is helping me with the English slang.” 

“Dr. Wilson, your patient is here in exam room two,” one of the nurses said as they handed Jo the chart. 

Jo let out a sigh as her smile faded. She looked over the charts and Alex could tell how tired she was. He looked up at Carina and could tell she was thinking the same thing. 

“Are you doing okay?” Alex asked, rubbing her shoulders and pulling her closer.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jo said, despite how she leaned against him and closed her eyes.

“She has been lethargic and nauseous all morning, perhaps you can convince her to let me send her home. I can take care of your appointments today and I will call you in if any of your patients go into labor,” Carina said as she tilted her head with a look of concern.

“I told you I'm fine and I need to learn how to work through this anyway,” Jo insisted glaring at both of them despite how Alex had only asked.

Alex watched Jo for a moment. She had one hand on her forehead and the other on her abdomen as she rubbed her belly like she always did when she felt nauseous. She looked tired and weary and Alex could see why everyone was so concerned. 

Suddenly she got that look on her face. It was the one she always got when she was about to vomit. Alex had long since memorized that face and developed the instinct to grab the nearest bowl. He looked around frantically before he spotted a bin on one of the nurse’s carts and ran over to grab it before he shoved it under Jo’s chin just as she leaned forward and threw up. 

“Okay, that's it. I am sending you home,” Carina said, gesturing to the sight of Jo before her.

“Carina's right, Jo. You're clearly not feeling good, you should go home,” Alex said as he put the bowl down and rubbed Jo’s back.

“No, I'm not going home just because I puked, it's just something I ate,” Jo said as she continued to protest, although Alex didn't know why she was putting up such a fight this time around. 

Usually, whenever she got sick in the past, she would always come over to him and wrap her arms around his waist and tuck her head under his chin. Even if it was just her nervous stomach, they would at least go to an on-call room and rest for a few minutes together. Jo knew her body and usually, she didn't push herself so hard. 

“I am not sending you home just because of your morning… your vomit,” Carina said she struggled to use the correct terminology. “I am sending you home because you've been like this all morning. You have barely been able to take care of yourself let alone your patients.”

“But I have a C-section scheduled for this afternoon. My patient has already checked in, you know how nervous she is and for the past eight months I’ve worked to gain her trust. she doesn’t trust any other doctor, you know this,” Jo said despite how she sighed with a look of defeat as she leaned against Alex. 

“Why don't you and I go find an on-call room and you can take a nap,” Alex suggested as he continued to rub his hand up and down her back. “If you're not feeling better after that then, I'll take you home.”

“I hate this, I hate feeling like I can't do anything,” Jo said as she put a hand over her face and tears collected in her eyes. 

“I know my bambino,” Carina said kneeling down and putting her hand on Jo’s knee. Alex remembered how Jo had told him about the affectionate nickname Carina had started using for her when she took Jo under her wing for her OB/GYN training. “Your sickness is at its peak around this time, but it will get better soon.”

Jo nodded and turned her head to sob into his shoulder as he held her. Alex wasn't sure if it was the English barrier or what but something in the way Carina had said it, Alex got the feeling that there was something else going on. Although Jo was clearly not in any state to tell him what was going on.

“Come on,” Alex said, as he helped Jo get up from her seat and slowly walked over to the on-call room. 

Jo’s sobs fizzled out as she let herself be led away and Alex wrapped his arms around her waist as they walked down the hall. He found the nearest on-call room and opened the door to see that it was empty. Alex led Jo over to one of the beds and pulled back the blankets before she sat down. He kneeled down to take off her shoes and pulled the blankets back over her when she laid down. 

“Will you stay for a little while?” Jo asked her hand lingering on his scrub top as her fingers dug into the fabric.

“Of course,” Alex said, getting in next to her and wrapping one arm around her shoulders as she laid her head on his chest. 

Jo quickly fell asleep and Alex continued to trace his fingers up and down her back. He tried to think about what was going on with her, but his mind drew a blank as his only conclusion was the flu. He would have stayed with her until she woke up, but he got paged and had to go. Before he left, Alex wrote a quick note saying he'd meet her for lunch. 

As he leaned down to kiss her forehead, he brushed away the little hairs that stuck to her skin and noticed how sticky with sweat her skin was. She wasn’t running a fever, but she was warm, so he thought it was just because she was sick. Alex brushed the hairs away before he kissed her forehead and readjusted the blankets around her.

After he answered his page he went and found Meredith finishing up with a patient in a trauma room. “Hey is something going on with Jo, I know she’s not feeling well but this seems different?”

Meredith had her back turned to him and she paused for a moment before she shrugged and stripped off her gloves. “I don't know, you’d have to ask her?”

Alex put his hands on his hips and just glared at her. Everybody was being so weird about what was going on with Jo and he couldn't figure out why. He knew she was sick, but... 

Then it struck him. The vomiting, the fatigue, the sweaty skin, and the crying. The way Meredith yelled at him in the hallway and the way Carina gently talked to Jo. 

“Oh my God,” Alex said as he put a hand over his mouth. “Is Jo pregnant?” 

Meredith gave him a slight smile that told him that it was true. Alex reached back to the empty stool and sat down as he processed the information. A million things were running through his head, excitement, joy, fear, terror. It was all happening so quickly and they were trying to take things slow. They haven’t even met each other’s kids yet and now they were throwing a whole new baby into the mix. Sure they had nine months to get ready, but nine months wasn’t very long in the grand scheme of things. 

Alex didn’t even know how Jo felt about it. Things were going back to the way they used to be before their divorce, but he knew how Jo was still hesitant to trust him again. He had no idea how to even broach the subject with her and no idea what he would say. Alex wanted to let her know that he was all in and that he would do whatever she needed him to. He wanted her to know that she and their baby would have him for the rest of his life, but he didn't know how to put it into actions that would prove to her that he was there to stay. 

“What do I do Mere, what do I do,” Alex asked if he shook his head and looked over at her.

Meredith gave him a sympathetic smile as she came over and put her hands on his shoulders, giving them a slight squeeze. “Right now, I'd say that you just be there for her. Continue to take things slow like you already are, but other than that, I really don't know. What I do know is that Jo is ready to trust you again, but she’s still trying to process the fact that she’s pregnant, just like you are. Just give her a little time and I know that this is all going to work out.”

“Thank you,” Alex said, as he let out a deep breath. He knew Meredith was right and he'd make sure that he was there for Jo with whatever she needed.

……………………………………………………………………

A few days later, Jo stared at the packed lunch she had made as she sat in the lounge with Meredith, Link, Amelia, and Maggie. She had packed leftover chicken and rice from the night before, along with some broccoli and carrots, but staring at it now it looked entirely unappetizing. Jo considered venturing down to the cafeteria, but she didn't want to do that either as it was filled with too many smells that turned her stomach. So while everyone talked and ate their lunch, Jo just stared at her container of rice and chicken. Until someone placed a bowl of instant mac and cheese in front of her. 

“Here,” Alex said, pushing it towards her. “I know you’re still sick, so I figured that was the only thing you would want to eat.”

Jo could feel the tears well up in her eyes as she looked down at the mac and cheese. He was right, it was the only thing that she wanted to eat. Whenever she got sick the only thing she wanted to eat was mac and cheese and Alex would go out of his way to make it for her. It was the little things like this that made her forget that they had ever been apart. They were still so in-sync and the thoughtfulness of the gesture brought tears to her eyes, which she blamed on her hormones.

“You okay,” Alex asked, his eyes full of concern as Jo looked up as he sat next to her.

“I love that you made me mac and cheese,” Jo said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

“I know,” Alex said, he whispered in her ear as he scooted closer and put his arm around her.

Jo pulled back after a moment but continued to lean against him. Alex had his own tray of food from the cafeteria and kept his arm around her waist as they ate. Link got up from his place next to Amelia and moved over to sit next to them, glaring at Alex before Jo kicked him under the table. Jo loved that Link looked out for her, but she had forgiven Alex. Although she knew that Link was still worried, it was getting to be a little much.

“Jo are you sure you're doing okay? I heard you threw up again this morning. You’re not still sick are you?” Link asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Jo said, taking a deep breath as she continued to eat her mac and cheese. 

She wasn't surprised that she had become part of the hospital gossip, no one did anything in this hospital without the nurses knowing about it and they usually spread it around like wildfire.

“Are you sure?” Link asked, looking over at her again and raising an eyebrow.

“If she says she's fine, then she's fine, leave her be,” Meredith insisted, giving Link a look.

“Okay, fine,” Link said, putting his hands up and backing off, but stayed seated next to her.

Jo smiled as she looked over at Alex. He returned her smile with one of his own and moved his hand to rub up and down her back. His eyes crinkled as he smiled and she could pick out the gray hairs in his stubble. She had always liked him with a little bit of facial hair, just enough to tickle her cheeks when he kissed her. 

Jo subconsciously put her hand on her stomach where their baby was growing inside her. 

“You're in love with him again aren't you,” Link said he leaned over to whisper to her. 

Jo turned her head to look at Link again before looking back at Alex. She didn't need to tell him her answer, he already knew it was true. Jo was in love with Alex Karev.

Lunch ended and Alex walked her back to work like he used to do when they were married and he had taken up the habit again now that they were back together. Jo twisted her fingers and looked down at her empty hands. She used to twist her wedding band around and she missed the feeling of the rings on her fingers. They stopped just outside the doors to the L&D floor and Alex was about to go in, but Jo reached out and grabbed his hand. 

Jo turned to look at him and her lips were parted as the question was on the tip of her tongue. She had wanted to come right out and say it, but the words died on her tongue, the second she thought them. Jo wanted them all to be a family, so he decided that was what he would offer.

“I want you to meet Asher,” Jo said, suddenly blurting it out. Jo looked over at him with her lips slightly parted as she just stared at him before she continued. “I'm ready for you to meet him. It's not just us anymore, we have kids and if we're not in it together with our kids then you and I can never work and I want us to work Alex. I love you so much and I want you to be a part of my son's life. And I'm not asking you to be Asher's father, I just want you to be a part of both of our lives, mine and my son’s. I understand if you're not ready for me to meet the twins, but I want you to meet my son.”

“Of course I want to meet Asher,” Alex said as a smile spread across his face and she could see the excitement light up in his eyes. “Truth be told I've been thinking about introducing you to Eli and Alexis as well. A few nights ago Alexis was telling me about how her teacher is getting married and she wanted to know why I wasn't married. The conversation turned to why I didn't have a girlfriend and I didn't want to lie to them, so I told them about you. I kind of turned our story into a fairy tale about how we met and fell in love and how we found our way back to each other. I know they would love to meet the princess of my stories.”

Jo couldn't help but smile and blush at the thought of being the princess in Alex's fairy tale stories, especially as he used the nickname he had for her. 

“Maybe, we can have a playdate or something and let them meet each other too. I want them to get to know each other. I mean, I'm not sure how two seven-year-olds and a fourteen-month-old are going to get along, but we can try,” Jo said, as she shared Alex’s smile and excitement. 

“Why don't you and Asher come over to my place. I have the twins with me this weekend, so maybe Saturday around noon,” Alex said, with a shrug, trying to seem nonchalant, despite his wide smile.

He seemed so delighted at the thought of meeting Asher and Jo was happy to meet the twins as well. She dared to dream that they could all be a family and she loved the idea of Asher having siblings apart from the new baby.

“That sounds great, but how well is your place baby proofed?” Jo asked as she bit her lip. 

……………………………………………………………………

Alex rattled the baby gate only for it to shift out of place again as he let out a sigh. When he got the baby gate out of the box he didn't think it could be this complicated. In all his time working with kids he had never set up a baby gate. Things were mostly baby proved around the hospital and he never needed to baby proof things with the twins. He missed the baby stage with them. Now he was getting a chance to be a part of his kid's life from the very beginning and he was determined to do it right. He hoped that by showing Jo that he was all in with her and with her son that she would be willing to open up and tell him that she was pregnant. 

Alex finally got the baby gate in place and looked around the downstairs of his house. He had put baby proof knob covers on all of the doors and locks on all the kitchen cabinets, as well as outlet covers, and corner covers on the sharp furniture. He had also put away anything that he thought Asher could potentially get into trouble with. According to Jo, Asher had recently started running instead of walking and was getting into anything and everything his little feet could carry him to. Alex couldn't help but smile at the thought of Jo chasing after the little boy. 

When he moved back to Seattle he had searched for the perfect home and eventually settled on a house in Queen Anne. It was only a few blocks away from Meredith’s place. It had four bedrooms, with a study downstairs that he figured he could turn into a bedroom for one of the twins when they were older. Alex wasn't sure why he bought such a big house when he first saw it. He couldn’t explain it, but something told him that he would need the extra space. Now he knew that the extra bedroom would be for Asher and the baby's nursery. That is if Jo wanted to move in with him. Alex wanted to ask Jo to move in with him as soon as possible, but he didn't want to push her or the kids to be together before they were ready. 

Alex looked up at the clock, it was almost noon and Jo would be here soon. Unfortunately, Izzie was running late and hadn't dropped off the kids yet. Alex wasn't ready for Jo and Izzie to meet and he had no idea what he would do if they showed up at the same time. There was a knock on the door and Alex looked up. Alex was worried about whether it would be Jo or Izzie or both as he went over to open the door.

“Hey,” Alex said when he swung open the door to see that it was just Izzie and the twins and he crouched down to open his arms to Alexis and Eli as they ran to him. “I missed you too.”

“We missed you too Daddy,” Alexis said as Alex leaned down to kiss her forehead before kissing Eli’s forehead as well.

Even though it was just a week-long separation and they had been doing it for a while, Alex would never get used to the feeling of being away from his kids. He missed them so much when they were gone. Alex hated that he was only a part of their life half the time, but his decision to separate from Izzie was for the best. 

“Alright, you two go put your stuff away and get cleaned up,” Alex said, standing up again. “We have that play date remember and they're going to be here really soon.”

“Okay,” Alexis said, as both of them ran off and Alex waited until they were out of earshot to address Izzie.

“You're late,” Alex said as he glared at her.

“I know, I'm sorry, it's just traffic on the way back up was crazy and you know how it is,” Izzie said as she tried to brush him off. 

“I told you how important this was Izzie and I told you not to be late,” Alex said as he tried to keep from yelling. He didn't want to fight with her in front of the kids. 

“I'm sorry Alex,” Izzie said, getting defensive and crossing her arms. “But traffic really was crazy and we tried to leave on time, but you know how it is trying to get them out the door.”

“Whatever, just say goodbye to the kids and then leave,” Alex said as he glanced back to the empty living room and heard the kids rummaging around upstairs. 

“Why? I think I have every right to meet the person who's going to be around my kids half the time,” Izzie insisted as she glared back at him.

“We've been over this,” Alex said, trying not to let his anger get the best of them as he suddenly realized why Izzie was late. “I told you about Jo as a courtesy, but you don't get to dictate what I do and who the kids meet when they're on my time. Jo is a part of my life and I want her to get to know the twins before she meets you. If you want to meet Jo, I'll give her your number and you two can work it out, just not today.”

“I want to meet her today, Alex,” Izzie said, cutting him off.

“That's not going to happen, Izzie,” Alex said, raising his voice.

“Daddy, Alexis won't let me have the blue cup,” Eli said, running over to them and tugging on Alex's shirt to get his attention. 

Alex froze and he could see Izzie’s eyes go wide as they realized Eli had probably heard the whole thing. The last thing either of them wanted was for the twins to hear them fighting. They had both grown up around that and it was the last thing they wanted for their kids.

Alex put on a smile and tried to let his anger go before he turned around to talk to his son. “Do you know what Bud? I was at the store yesterday and I picked up an extra blue cup and it should be in the dishwasher. We can go get it after you say goodbye to your Mom, okay. Alexis come say goodbye to your Mom.” 

“Okay, bye Mommy I'll miss you,” Eli said running forward and wrapping his arms around Izzie's waist as he hugged her. 

“I’ll miss you too buddy,” Izzie said, leading down to hug Eli and planting a kiss on his head. 

Alexis came running and almost bowled into Izzie as she wrapped her arms around her waist as well. “Can't you stay longer, Mommy? You said you would?”

“Yeah, I thought you said you were staying for lunch?” Eli piped up as well.

“I said that I might stay for lunch if your Daddy said it was okay, but I don't think it is,” Izzie said, as she looked at Alex as he rubbed his forehead. 

“Daddy, can't Mommy stay?” Alexis asked as both of them turned to look at him with identical puppy-dog eyes. 

Alex sighed again as he crouched down to talk to them. He hated that Izzie made him the bad guy in these situations. She would make promises to them for things she couldn't keep and then make him be the one to say no. 

“I would love for Mommy to stay for lunch,” Alex said as he took one of each of the twin’s hands. “But you guys know that we have the playdate and it's very important to Daddy that you guys meet Jo and Asher because guess what?”

“What?” They both asked as their puppy-dog eyes turned into intrigued looks. 

“Do you remember the stories I told you about my princess who lived in her chariot and grew up to help the queen of general surgery with her mini-liver mice?” Alex said as he smiled and he could see them start to get excited.

“Uh-huh,” Alexis nodded eagerly, she was the number one fan of his princess bedtime stories.

“Well, you know that some of these stories are based on real life and I told you about my girlfriend Jo, and her son Asher, the princess, and the little prince. They're coming to play with you today, I told Jo all about you two and she’s so excited to meet you both!” Alex said, with a smile as he shared their look of excitement.

Ever since he moved to Kansas he had told them bedtime stories. There were about some of his and Jo's adventures at the hospital spun into fairy tales of princesses and knights.

“Jo’s real!” Alexis said, her eyes growing wide. “I thought you made her up so you wouldn't be sad when we were at Mommy’s house.”

“Of course Jo is real. I do hang out with other people when you're not here Alexis,” Alex said, deeply offended that his kids would think so little of him, but Alexis only shrugged. 

“But she’s coming to meet us. She wants to play with us?” Eli asked still doubting his father's words.

“Yes she's very real and she’s coming to meet you two, so I need you guys to get ready for the playdate and unfortunately that means Mommy can't stay today. I promise we will have her over for lunch another time though, yeah.” 

“Okay,” Alexis still smiling at the thought of meeting Jo.

“Is that okay with you buddy,” Alex said as he looking at his son who was still hesitant.

“Yeah, okay but I’ll miss Mommy,” Eli said, his smile falling a little, between the two of them, Eli was the one with the most separation anxiety.

Alex looked back up at Izzie who didn't seem happy, but had plastered on a smile when both of the twins turned around to hug her goodbye.

“I'm going to miss you guys so much,” Izzie said hugging both of them and kissing their heads again. 

“We’ll miss you too mommy,” Alexis said, as they snuggled into her arms. 

The twins were getting a little more used to the transition between the two households. Especially since Izzie had decided to move back to Seattle meaning there wasn't a plane ride between them, but it didn't help when Izzie dragged out the goodbyes and acted like it was the worst thing in the world. 

Eventually, Izzie stood up and let go of the twins. “Well, I guess I'll go then.”

“Have a good drive back,” Alex said with a forced smile as he waved to her. 

Izzie smiled although her eyes glared at him before she turned around. Yet both of them froze as they saw Jo standing in the walkway with Asher on her hip. Alex hadn't even heard her car pull up and Jo just stood there staring at them like a deer in the headlights. Jo looked between Alex and Izzie and the twins before she looked back at Asher as he wiggled in her arms. She adjusted her grip on him before she plastered on a smile and walked up to them. Izzie turned and smirked at Alex before he glared at her. 

“Be nice,” Alex whispered to her, hoping that she would at least be polite for the sake of the kids.

“Hey, Alex.” Jo seemed relaxed as she walked up the steps onto the porch. “And you must be Izzie, it's so nice to finally meet you.”

It was a lie and he knew it as Jo had said before that she wasn't wild about the prospect of meeting Izzie. Jo had always been a good liar, he remembered how she lied about her twenty seven fireplaces back when she was an intern. He had fallen for the lie back then, but after years together Alex could tell when Jo was lying. He could tell when her smile faltered for a second and how her eyes didn't share her happiness.

“And you must be Jo. It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you from Alex,” Izzie said as she held out her hand to Jo who gave her a friendly shake. 

“And who is this handsome little fellow,” Izzie asked, smiling at Asher as he hid his head in Jo's shoulder. 

“This is my son Asher,” Jo said, putting a protective hand over his back. “And this must be Alexis and Eli.”

Alex looks down at Alexis and Eli as they watch Jo and Asher. Eli smiled and gave a shy wave as Alexis tugged on Alex’s hand before she looked up at him with big eyes.

“Daddy she is real and she looks like a princess,” Alexis whispered up to him, although it was loud enough for all of them to hear.

“Yeah that's why her nickname used to be princess, but she never really liked it when I called her that,” Alex said as he looked up to see a real smile on Jo’s cheeks as a blush appeared alongside it. 

“I don't suppose you told them your nickname, evil spawn, or do I need to call Cristina and have her tell them that story,” Jo teased and suddenly it was as if Izzie wasn't there as Alex smiled at her. 

He was so happy that she was there and he couldn't help but stare. His eyes lingered over her before he looked down at her stomach. Her grey shirt and jacket were draped loosely over her middle so he could see anything. Alex had tried to estimate the date of when it could have happened and how far along she was. By his estimates, she was between six or eight weeks and wouldn't be showing, but he couldn’t wait for physical proof of her pregnancy. 

“You know Cristina?” Izzie asked, looking between Jo and Alex with one raised eyebrow as her smile fell.

“Yes, we all worked together at the hospital,” Jo said, turning to talk to Izzie. “We kind of keep in touch, but mostly through Meredith as she and Cristina are constantly texting and calling each other.” 

“Did you used to work with my Mommy and Daddy at the hospital,” Eli said standing up on his toes as he looked up at Jo. 

“I never worked with your Mommy, but I did work with your Daddy a lot, and your guys’ Auntie Mere,” Jo said as she smiled over at Eli before she looked up at Alex. “And as I'm sure you know, your Daddy is an amazing doctor.”

“You know Meredith too, wow I guess you must know everybody,” Izzie sneered with a tight lipped smile.

“Pretty much, but Meredith in particular. She was my teacher when I was a resident,” Jo said, standing taller and even Asher peeked out from her shoulder. “We worked together on the mini livers and on the abdominal wall transplant that won her the Catherine Fox award.”

“Oh that's funny I read the paper Meredith published for the JSA, but I didn't see your name on it,” Izzie said, narrowing her eyes at Jo.

“There were some extenuating circumstances,” Alex said, stepping towards Jo as if his physical presence could protect her from Izzie digging up Jo’s past and the pain Paul had caused. “Meredith could only have her name on the paper and Jo politely stepped aside, but she and Meredith have been working on that project together since the beginning.”

Jo smiled and took a deep breath as she reached out to put a hand on his arm. “Why don't we all go inside.” 

“That sounds great,” Alex said, putting his hand on Jo's back as she relaxed into his touch. “Kids say goodbye to Mommy.”

“Bye-bye,” Asher said, waving his hand at Izzie.

The twins said goodbye and Izzie grumbled but bit her tongue and by some miracle left without further issue. Now here he was, with Jo and Asher, in his house with his kids, as they all met each other.

“Alexis, Eli, this is Jo and her little boy, Asher.”

“Hello,” Eli said with a wave.

“Hi,” Alexis said as she continued to stare at Jo in awe.

“Hello,” Jo said with a bright smile as she set Asher on the floor and crouched down to hold on to him as he stood up. “We're very excited to play with you today. Asher, can you say hi?”

“Hi,” Asher said in the cutest voice as he gave a brief wave before he turned around and wrapped his arms around Jo’s neck. 

“I think he's still a little tired. He just got up from his nap,” Jo explained as she picked him up again and he buried his head in her shoulder.

“That's okay, Daddy told us all about babies and he said they need a lot of sleep. He also told us about you too, and that he loves you. Do you love our Daddy?” Alexis said with a very serious face as if it was the most important question in the world.

Jo let out a little laugh and looked away as her cheeks turned pink again before she smiled and looked back at Alexis.

“I do love your Daddy very much,” Jo said as she looked up at Alex before glancing back at Alexis. 

“Good,” Alexis said with a nod as Alex let out a breath of relief. 

“Why don't you guys get out the new train set and show Asher?”

“Yeah,” Alexis said, reaching out to take Jo's hand as she pulled her over to the rug in the living room where Alex had left out the bin of wooden trains. “We've got a whole zoo train set and there’s even one with water in it that's got an octopus.”

Jo briefly smiled at Alex before she let Alexis pull her over to the rug and sat down with Asher in her lap.

“What do you think, Eli?” Alex asked, looking down at Eli who watched Jo and Alexis get out the trains.

“She’s nice and Asher’s cute even if he is a baby,” Eli said as he watched them. Alex had no idea where the observant side of his son came from. Both he and Izzie were rather bold, but Eli was always quietly watching everyone and taking things in.

“Should we go play with them?” Alex prompted as he put a hand on Eli's back. 

“Yeah,” Eli said, taking a step forward and going to sit next to Alexis on the rug as she handed him some track pieces.

Before he knew it, the five of them were playing together and they had a web of train tracks that spanned the length of the living room. All three kids quickly warmed up to each other and Alex was relieved at how Alexis and Eli didn't seem bothered by Asher as he would grab things out of place and put them in his mouth. Jo quickly traded them out for a pacifier which kept him from putting stuff in his mouth again, but he still grabbed things like any baby would. The twins quickly learned that they could hand him something else to get back what they wanted. They all built the tracks around where he sat on the rug and made a game of delivering things to him on the trains. 

The twins quickly warmed up to Jo as well. Alexis came to sit next to her and Eli followed his sister’s lead as the three of them built a train station out of Lincoln Logs. It warmed Alex’s heart to see Jo and the twins interact. It was everything he ever dreamed of after he first met his kids and there was a part of him that grieved that he could have made this a reality sooner. Yet, he was happy that he was doing this now.

With Jo’s attention on Alexis, Asher took the opportunity to slip away and Alex quickly got up and followed him. Alex watched the baby tottle over to the baby gate he had just set up. It was a good thing that he tested the baby gate earlier as Asher quickly grabbed onto it and gave it a shake. 

“Hey buddy,” Alex said, crouching down in front of Asher. “Let's go back to the trains yeah?”

Alex held out his hands to Asher who looked at him for a second, deciding whether he should let Alex pick him up. He held his breath for a moment before Asher turned, letting go of the gate, and reached out his hands to Alex who quickly scooped him up. 

Alex tickled Asher as he laughed and he moved to hold Asher out in front of him. He pretended to fly them around the room as the boy shrieked and laughed. It was such a wonderful sound and it reminded him so much of Jo’s laughter. Alex could feel himself falling in love with the baby boy as they took an extra circle around the room. Alex finally plopped down on the carpet with Asher who seemed content to sit with him as he picked up a train. 

Alex looked up and caught Jo staring, her smile was so big and happy as she watched them. She scooted to sit next to him and Alex put his arm around her waist as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. He wasn't sure how much PDA he wanted to show in front of the kids, but none of them seemed to care as they kept on playing. Alex looked into Jo's eyes again as she tilted her head to look at him. He stared into her eyes and got lost in her golden gaze. This was everything he could have ever dreamed of, his kids and Asher playing in the living room with the woman he loved, Jo, in his arms.

“Daddy, can we have something to eat?” Alexis said, interrupting them.

“Yeah sure,” Alex said as he tore his eyes away from Jo to glance at Alexis. “What do you want?”

“Do you have goldfish?” Eli asked knowing that Alex did have goldfish.

“Fishy fishy,” Asher said as well as all three kids looked up at him with hungry eyes. 

“Alright, I guess it’s goldfish for lunch, but I'm going to make some apple slices and peanut butter sandwiches with it,” Alex said as he got up and put Asher next to Eli.

“Why don't I help you and we can talk,” Jo said, getting up as well and Alex looked back as she followed him into the kitchen.

Alex could feel his heart beating in his chest and he wondered if this was the moment Jo would choose to tell him. 

“I got a high chair for Asher,” Alex said, pulling it out at the corner and up to the table.

“You didn't have to go out of your way to buy one, I've got the travel chair in my car,” Jo said, gesturing in the direction of her car parked outside.

“I wanted to. I want to be all the way in with you and Asher, and that means having everything that you need for him when you guys come over. I got diapers and wipes stocked up, and I set up a little changing station and a pack and play set upstairs in the spare bedroom. Although I wasn't sure of his size so I just guessed that it was size three.”

Alex stood behind the high chair and with both of his hands still on it. He knew that it wasn't just for Asher, but that they could use everything for the new baby as well. However, he kept himself from saying that part. He just wanted to show Jo that he was all in and that his house could be their house.

“Yeah, size three, thank you, I really appreciate that,” Jo said looking at him with a soft smile, they stared at each other again for a moment before Jo went over to Asher's diaper bag by the door and came back with a teal silicone plate. “I was sort of thinking the same thing. Since I'm still living with Meredith and you know how crazy her place can be sometimes, so would it be okay if we just hang out here when we get together. I brought a few extra things and I thought maybe I could keep them here?”

“Yeah, that’d be great, I’d love to have you guys here as much as you want and you can bring over whatever you need. You could move in if you wanted to?” Alex said but immediately regretted it as he watched Jo’s eyes grow wide. “You don't have to or anything and I know that with the kids, we should let them get to know each other before we try and combine our families, just never mind, forget I asked.”

“Alex it's okay, really. I thought about it too,” Jo said before she looked down at the plate in her hands. “But you're right we should take things slow with the kids and let them get used to each other first, but then maybe we could give it a try.”

“I'd like that, there are two extra rooms upstairs so maybe in the next couple of months if things go well you could move in with me?” Alex offered with a shrug as Jo smiled.

“Yeah, that sounds good, maybe in less than a couple of months though,” Jo said, as she looked over at him with a kind of longing that he knew all too well. “I miss sleeping next to you.”

“Me too,” Alex said as he stared at Jo, her skin glowed from the pregnancy and suddenly he imagined what it would look like when she was further along with her round belly or even when she had their baby in her arms. 

He could imagine what it would be like in a few months when they lived together, Jo would hold their baby and sit at the table as they ate together, with their three kids around them. He would sit next to her and have his arm around her shoulders as he talked with Eli, Alexis, and Asher about what they wanted to do that afternoon. He wanted them to all be a happy family together. He wanted it all right now and he hated that he had to wait for it to happen. However, Jo was right they needed to take things slow for the kid’s sake and he knew the wait would be worth it. She smirked as she caught him staring and came over to pull him out of his daydream with a quick peck to his lips.

“I also got something for the twins, to help with the adjustment,” Jo said as she went back to the diaper bag and grabbed out a book before handing it to Alex. 

It was a children's book titled ‘You're Getting a Baby Brother!’ Alex smiled as he flipped through the pages. The story detailed what it was like to live with a baby brother and Alex thought it was fitting, especially considering that if they were going to be a family it would include Asher as well as the baby Jo was pregnant with.

“This is great. I'm sure the kids will love it and it'll help them get used to Asher, although he's not a baby anymore,” Alex smirked as he smiled over at Jo and he couldn't help the way his eyes trailed down as he stared at her stomach.

Jo caught his eyes and sighed as she shook her head with a smile. “You know, don't you?” 

“Know what?” Alex said, looking back up at her as he played along, waiting for her to say it.

“You know that I'm pregnant,” Jo said, raising an eyebrow and waiting for him to deny it and knowing that he wouldn't.

“It wasn't really that hard to figure out,” Alex said with a wide smile, he was absolutely giddy at the thought of having a new baby with Jo. 

Alex put the book on the counter and reached out to her. Jo allowed him to place one hand on her stomach as they both stared down at her belly. He knew that she still wouldn't be showing for a while, yet he was still disappointed when her stomach felt the same as it always did. 

“I’m only eight weeks, so I’m not showing yet,” Jo said as if she was reading his mind as she placed her hand over his and they both looked down at her belly. “I've had Carina check me just to be sure. She did a full exam and work up and everything’s fine, but I haven’t scheduled the ultrasound. I wanted to wait until after I told you so you could come too.”

“You want me there for the ultrasound?” Alex asked, looking up at her again.

“Of course I do. I want you there for all of it Alex. I want you to be a father to our baby,” Jo said as she squeezed his hand. 

Alex was so relieved that even after everything he put her through, Jo was willing to allow him to be in their child's life. He thought that she would still be hesitant because he had left once before and he didn’t think that she wouldn't trust him again so easily. After breaking her heart he knew it wouldn't be so easy for her to trust him again, but he was so thankful that she was giving him his chance.

“I promise you Jo, I'm not going anywhere and I know that I said that to you before and that I broke that promise as well, but I made that mistake once and I'm not going to do it again,” Alex said as he looked down at their hands still on top of each other on her belly and he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his forehead against hers. “And I'm going to stay with you because I am so absolutely in love with you Jo. I went crazy without you and I'd be crazy to leave you again. I want this life, this love, this family with you. It was always supposed to be with you Jo, and I'm not going to walk away from that now.”

“I know,” Jo said with a nod. “Since you came back you've proven to me, not just with your words but with your actions. This afternoon alone, with everything that you've gotten for me, for my child, and for our new baby. You bought a high chair,” Jo said, pulling back a little bit to gesture to the high chair next to them. “And you chose me over Izzie. You stepped in when she asked why I wasn't in the magazine article. You protected me rather than explaining to her why I withdrew my name. You chose me and my family. You’ve shown me that you're not going anywhere, but they're still a part of me that says you could still up and walk away from me again because of how easily you did it the first time.” 

Alex looked down at her belly again. He knew in his heart that he would never walk away from her again and not just because of their child, but Alex knew that there wasn’t anything he could do to make Jo trust him. She had to trust him on her own and he knew how hard that would be for her.

“But I'm willing to trust you and be all in with you,” Jo said as he looked up in shock and stared at her. “I can't let my fears hold me back from loving you and having a family with you. I can trust you again. I can trust you not to leave me again, and not just because I know you would never abandon your child and since I'm carrying one of them for the next eight months or so, I know you’re not going anywhere and I trust you not to leave again. You're here right now and I’m willing to be all in with you because I want to be happy with you, and right now you make me so happy, with everything you do for me.” 

Alex let out a sigh of relief. The one thing he had been working for since he got back was to regain her trust. He was so excited and happy and wonderfully in love with her. “I love you so much Jo and I want to have a permanent family with you too. I want you to be a part of the twin’s lives as they grow up and I want you to be a part of my life again. I want to be a part of Asher's life too, we're going to be a family, all five of us well, soon to be six.”

“I want us all to be a family too,” Jo whispered, as he closed his eyes for a second and Jo relaxed into his touch. “I want you to be a permanent part of both of my children’s lives and I want to be a part of your kid’s lives in whatever role they’ll have for me. I want my children to know their siblings.”

Jo paused to look over and watched all of the kids play as Alex followed her gaze. He smiled as he watched Eli hand Asher the train that he was holding. Asher of course immediately put it into his mouth and Eli just laughed. Alexis reached over and spoke to Asher so kindly as she handed him, his pacifier instead. All three of the kids just clicked together as if it was meant to be.

“This afternoon when I watched you fly Asher around the room and I knew that you are all in with both of my kids,” Jo said as they looked back at each other and he stared into her eyes. “It makes me fall in love with you even more and I do love you, Alex.” 

Alex pulled back to look at her. She looked back at him with her lips parted as their words hung between them. He knew that it wasn’t easy for her to say even the first time around. They had been together for two years before she had truly said it. He never needed to hear it, but he knew that by her saying she loved him now, that it was her signal to him that she was all in. 

“I love you too,” Alex said, pulling back before he quickly leaned in and kissed her again.

Jo giggled against his lips before she pulled back. “Wait so, how long have you known I was pregnant?” 

“I've known since, well since the day you threw up at the nurse’s station and then I put you down for a nap in the on-call room,” Alex said with a knowing smile, teasing her just a little bit.

“You put me down for a nap? Is that what happened?”Jo asked with a little laugh as she put a hand on his chest.

“Well you did kind of need one and you were protesting like a little kid.”

Jo let out a laugh and smiled as she shook her head. She looked back at the kids and Alex held her as they watched them play in the living room. They all seemed to be enjoying each other's company and completely oblivious to their parents. Eli and Alexis showed Asher how to put the train on the tracks and press the button so it would go around on its own. It warmed his heart to see the three of them getting along.

“We're having a baby,” Alex whispered in her ear.

“We are,” Jo said with a wide and happy smile, and Alex leaned in and kissed her again because if he didn't, he felt like he’d burst with joy.

They couldn't seem to contain their excitement as they laughed and smiled and kissed. Alex pulled her in and Jo moaned against his lips. Alex felt like he was floating on air. This was everything they wanted and more. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in. He kissed her with every ounce of love he had poured into his lips as he held her close. Jo moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their kiss was tender and sweet and he could feel Jo melt against him. 

“Eww Daddy, what are you doing?” Eli asked as they parted to see all the kids staring at them. Eli had a grossed out look on his face, but Alexis smiled, while Asher just looked up at them.

“I'm kissing Jo is that okay?” Alex asked them as Jo moved back so she wasn’t pressed up against him, but still let him hold her waist.

“Un-huh,” Alexis immediately nodded excitedly. “Jo is your princess and you kiss princesses.”

“No,” Eli replied, shaking his head. “Kissing is gross.”

“Mama,” Asher babbled, as he got up and walked over to them, pulling on Jo’s pant leg and demanding to be held.

Jo smiled as she reached down to pick him up. As soon as she did, Asher laid a kiss on her lips before looking at Alex and giving him the stink eye. He clearly wasn’t happy that he was no longer the only man in Jo’s life.

Jo scoffed at Asher's look and Alex raised his eyebrow at him before leaning in and tickling Asher’s sides and his frown disappeared as he shrieked and laughed. 

“All right well we'll try to keep the kissing to a minimum of grossness, but would you guys be okay with Jo and Asher being over a lot more going forward?” Alex asked as he looked over at the twins. 

“Yeah, I like Asher and Jo’s nice too,” Alexis said with a nod that Eli quickly shared.

“Sounds good to me,” Jo said, looking over at him and smiling at Alex before Asher tried to wiggle out of her arms and Jo put him down so he could go back to his play. 

“We're going to be a family,” Jo said as she put one hand on her belly, reality seemingly sinking in.

“I think we already are,” Alex said with a nod before he leaned in and kissed her cheek. She smiled and leaned against him as they watched their children play before Eli and Alexis complained about the lack of goldfish. They quickly finished lunch before calling the kids over. They all sat around the kitchen island talking and eating as Alex looked up and caught Jo’s eyes. She smiled at him as he reached out to put a hand over her belly. They were a family and it was everything he had ever dreamed.

……………………………………………………………………

The last few months of Jo's pregnancy seemed to fly by and all three kids were slowly getting used to the prospect of the new baby. Eli, Alexis, and Asher all seem to adapt rather quickly to the new family situation and Jo and Asher moved into Alex’s house when Jo was five months along. Asher had come to love Alexis and Eli and looked up to his big siblings. Asher also loved Alex as well and the day that Asher looked up at him and called him Dada, Jo and Alex's hearts melted. The five soon-to-be six of them were a family and Jo thanked whoever was in charge of the universe for this wonderful family she had been given.

Before they knew it, It was the first BBQ of the season and two days past Jo’s due date. Jo lounged on a deck chair with Alexis laying beside her. Alexis pressed her ear against Jo’s round belly listening to the baby move and kick inside of her. She was whispering secret things to the baby that even Jo didn't catch as she ran her fingers through Alexis’ long blonde hair. 

Meredith was hosting a Backyard BBQ with most of their friends in attendance. Eli, Asher, Alex, and Link were playing soccer in the yard with Scout, and a few of the other kids. Meredith was talking with Amelia and Maggie, as Heyes and Richard barbecued the stakes and other food. Bailey and Ben were talking with Jackson and April while a few of the others lingered around the yard and watched the kids play. 

“Thanks,” Jo said, as Meredith came over and handed her a drink, a lemonade. The most exciting thing Jo was allowed to have.

“Has she moved at all?” Meredith asked, looking down at Alexis as she sat next to them.

“Nope,” Jo said, with a smile as she brushed Alexis’ hair away from where it had fallen in her face. 

Alexis was so excited for the new baby and couldn’t wait to meet them. Eli still wasn't quite as sure about it but said he wanted to see the baby after they were born. Whereas Asher was just mad that Jo's big belly was preventing him from sitting on her lap.

In the past seven months, Jo had gotten to know Eli and Alexis and had grown to love them as if they were her own. They were both so much like Alex, stubborn and caring, but they were also sweet and kind. One of the things that made her fall in love with them was the way Eli and Alexis loved Asher. They were the best big siblings to him that she could ever ask for. They were patient with the toddler and always took the time to make room for him in their play.

Eli would try to teach Asher everything he was learning while he did his homework and Asher was constantly learning new phrases from his big brother. Alexis would play dress-up with Asher and all three of the kids had the cutest little theater performances. Asher was always happy to let his big sister dress him up and they rocked the princess dresses together. Asher was the first person they hugged when she and Alex picked them up from Izzie’s and always talked about how they loved to have a little brother. 

“Are you asking if they’re ready to come out and play with you already?” Meredith asked Alexis.

“No,” Alexis said, not taking her head off of Jo’s belly. “Mommy Jo said they’ll come when they’re ready.”

The twins had recently started calling her Mommy Jo. Although Izzie hadn't been happy about it, Jo was over the moon. She loved Alexis and Eli as if they were her own and she felt honored that they saw her as one of their moms. 

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Jo said, rubbing her side as she had another Braxton Hicks contraction. 

They had started coming frequently in the last few months, and she had a few the last couple of hours, but nothing consistent or particularly painful. Meredith eyed her as Jo breathed out, but didn't say anything. She just grabbed Jo's hand and let her squeeze her hand until it passed.

“Oh, then what were you telling them?” Meredith asked, after Jo let go of her hand and she leaned over to try and engage Alexis in conversation.

“It's a secret!” Alexis insisted picking up her head and putting her finger to her lips and shushing them, before returning to her spot on Jo's belly and continuing to whisper to the baby.

Jo and Meredith exchanged a look before they both laughed. They talked for a little while and Jo leaned back to enjoy the first sun of the spring, but that didn't last long as she had to pee. Jo always had to pee. 

“Sorry Alexis, I gotta get up,” Jo said as Alexis picked up her head and Jo shifted to sit up and turn to put her feet on the deck.

Meredith came around to help her up as Jo couldn’t get up without help these days. That was definitely something she was looking forward to doing again after she gave birth. As soon as she stood up she had another Braxton Hicks and put one hand on her belly as she gripped Meredith’s arm. 

“Another Braxton Hicks?” Alexis asked as she picked up Jo’s phone and reset the timer they had.

“Yeah...” Jo stopped to groan as it was a particularly strong one. Meredith moved to hold her up, her hand going to rub Jo’s back. 

She breathed through the pain and it soon passed. Jo stood up straighter and let go of Meredith to put her hands on her back. She looked over at Alex who was still playing soccer and was relieved that he hadn’t seen her doubled over in pain.

“I’m fine. It’s just another Braxton Hick,” Jo said, ignoring Meredith’s look of concern. 

“It looked like a contraction to me,” Meredith said with a smirk. 

“It’s just another Braxton Hick,” Jo insisted, rubbing her belly.

“Oh really, Alexis?” Meredith asked, turning to look at her. “How far apart are your Mommy Jo’s Braxton Hicks contraction?”

“Umm, about ten minutes or so?” Alexis said, holding up the phone timer that they had set as she scrunched up her eyebrows up in such a way that was so cute that it was hard for Jo to be mad at her for snitching.

By the time Jo had become pregnant, she had been an OB/GYN for almost a year and by now she had delivered over two hundred babies. She knew what labor looked like and she noticed when the contractions started getting stronger earlier that afternoon. Jo had been tracking her Braxton Hick contraction for a few hours, but she still wasn't in active labor and was comfortable relaxing on the deck chair as she labored.

“Okay, so I'm in labor,” Jo whispered to Meredith as she rubbed her back. “And before you ask, yes they last for a minute, but they're still ten minutes apart which means we can't even think about going to the hospital yet, and I just wanted to labor in peace without you or Alex hovering.”

“Jo, you should at least let me or Alex check your cervix, especially if your contractions are this close!” Meredith insisted as Jo rolled her eyes.

“I’m a board-certified OB/GYN, I’m perfectly capable of checking my own cervix. Which I will, but right now I have to pee,” Jo whisper yelled before she waddled off to the bathroom.

She stayed in the bathroom a little longer than necessary, she knew the second she returned to the backyard Meredith and Alex would hover over her. Meredith was right, she was several centimeters dilated which meant they should probably head to the hospital, but Jo wanted a moment to collect herself before everyone around her started panicking. Jo was no stranger to painful experiences and she preferred to handle them on her own.

“Hey Jo, you alright?” Link called out to her as he knocked on the door. 

Jo groaned and swung open the door intent on telling him to leave her alone, but suddenly gasped as she felt a gush of liquid trickle down her legs. Jo was embarrassed to admit that she had peed her pants once or twice, but she knew the moment it happened that this wasn’t her bladder. As Jo looked up at Link, her expression must have conveyed her situation. 

“Your water broke. You’re in labor.” Link said eyes wide as he froze.

Jo nodded as she felt another contraction start. Suddenly it was all so very real and she was in a lot of pain as she gripped the door frame. She needed Alex. However, she couldn't speak as the contraction continued. Thankfully, Link was there for her and put his hands on her lower back offering counter-pressure. Jo sighed in relief as soon as her contraction passed and Link put his arm around her. 

“No, get Alex,” Jo insisted as Link nodded, but helped her walk over to the living room so she could sit down before he left. 

As Link left, Jo finally had the peace and quiet she wanted earlier, but all she could think about was how much she needed Alex. She put her hand on her belly, She hadn't felt the baby move in a while, and she missed the feeling of her baby kicking her, but she knew she would soon hold them in her arms. 

“Ready to meet us, honey?” Jo asked and the baby responded with one strong kick giving Jo her answer. “Yeah, us too.”

“Jo?” Alex called out as he ran over to her, trying to hide the panic in his voice. 

“Hey, I hope you're ready to meet them because they’re coming,” Jo said, smiling up at Alex as he came to kneel in front of her.

Alex laughed, but Jo knew it just meant that he was nervous. “Yes I know, Meredith and Link are getting the kids sorted, and then we’re going to head to the hospital as soon as Mere gets the car for us.”

“Oh god,” Jo moaned as another contracting hit. They were closer together and stronger now that her water had broken.

Alex had a look of pure panic as she grabbed his hand. Seeing him panic made Jo frustrated. She was in so much pain and she needed Alex to comfort her. It took him a moment, but Alex wrapped his arms around her waist as Jo leaned in and buried her head in his shoulder. He took both of Jo's hands and leaned in close as he instructed Jo on how to breathe.

“You can do this, Jo,” Alex said with a nod as he looked into her eyes and that was exactly what Jo needed to hear.

“Okay, Link and Amelia are going to watch the kids like you planned, we’ve got the car seats moved out of your car, and we’re ready to go,” Meredith said walking into the room. “Were you able to check how much you were dilated before your water broke?”

“I’m only 4cm, which means it could be hours!” Jo whined as she leaned back against Alex. 

“I know, that’s why we’re going to the hospital so you can get settled and you rest for a few more hours before you have to push,” Meredith said, reaching down to help her up. “Come on, let's get in the car before you have another contraction.” 

……………………………………………………………………

It took several hours for Jo's labor to progress and after a few hours, she asked for an epidural. Jo had gone back and forth initially about whether she wanted one, but was happy she got it, as it allowed her some to rest and even sleep before she had to push. Alex had been at her side the entire time, he had one arm wrapped around her shoulders and held her hand, while Meredith was on the other side holding her other hand. Link would have been there as well, but Jo loved him like a brother in that she didn't want her brother to see her naked and pushing out a baby. Besides Link was one of the only people Jo truly trusted with Asher overnight.

After twenty minutes of pushing their baby girl came into the world with a set of lungs that alerted the whole OB floor to her arrival. The second Carina put their daughter on her chest Jo just stared down at her in amazement. She was so perfect. She had round cheeks and thick tufts of dark hair. Jo cooed and gently brushed the tuffs of thick brown hair, she had so much hair. The baby stretched out her legs on Jo’s chest kicking her from the outside now before she curled back up into a tiny little ball. She continued to scream as Alex cut the cord, but calmed down as Jo rubbed her hand up and down her daughter's back before Meredith put a blanket over both of them.

Jo glanced back at Alex as he choked out a cry and he reached out to hold one of their daughter’s hands, letting the newborn’s hand wrap around his big finger. Jo held her closer as the baby looked up at them with big eyes that seemed to look straight into their souls. 

“Hello,” Jo whispered to her. “I’m your Mommy and this is your Daddy and your Auntie Mere and we're so happy to meet you.” 

The baby seemed content as Jo spoke to her and Jo closed her eyes as silent happy tears fell down her cheeks. Alex took a moment to comfort her, leaning over to kiss her forehead and squeeze her shoulders.

“You're so amazing, I know it was hard, but you did so good Jo,” Alex whispered in her ear before he kissed her cheek. 

Carina let them settle, taking quick measurements and checking the baby over while she was on Jo’s chest. When she was done Jo looked up at Alex.

“You ready to hold her?” Jo asked before she transferred their daughter into his arms. 

Alex held his daughter for the first time and seemed completely in love with her as he just stared down at her. He had never gotten the opportunity to be with the twins as newborns and Jo knew how much that meant to him. Jo turned her head and looked at Meredith. 

“Well done Jo, and congratulations on your baby girl,” Meredith said as she smiled at Jo and squeezed her hand. 

Jo relaxed back in bed as Carina finished cleaning her up. Alex finally looked over at Jo as she gave him a tired smile catching his eyes. 

“Thank you,” Alex said looking down at her as he moved to sit on the bed as Meredith let go of her hand for the first time and let them have a moment alone.

“For giving birth, you better be thankful,” Jo said as she teased him with a light smile and reached out to adjust the blanket around their daughter. 

“For telling me that you were pregnant, for letting me be a part of our daughter's life from the very beginning, for trusting me, for letting me be a part of your life and Asher’s life,” Alex said if he looked between his daughter and the woman he loved. “I didn't have that with Eli and Alexis but you let me have that with her and I will forever be grateful Jo.” 

“I never would have kept her from you Alex,” Jo said as she reached out and Alex took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “But you're still welcome.”

They exchanged a smile before they looked down at their daughter again. Jo reached out and ran her finger over their baby’s cheek as she turned her head towards Jo. They were both completely in love with their new daughter as they got to know her.

Alex gave her back to Jo after a few minutes and Jo held her daughter for as long as possible, but she quickly grew tired from her long labor. Jo barely even protested when Alex lifted the baby off of her chest and pulled the blanket up to tuck her in. 

“Don't name her until after I wake up,” Jo mumbled half asleep already.

“I promise I won't name her until after you wake up,” Alex said leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Despite how cool of a middle name princess would be.”

“Our daughter's middle name is not gonna be princess,” Jo insisted, not bothering to open her eyes to argue with him.

“But it would be so cool and no one would even notice,” Alex insisted, his voice full of excitement.

Jo groaned as she opened her eyes and looked over at Meredith. “Please don’t let him name our daughter princess.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold the birth certificate hostage until you wake up,” Meredith said with a smirk.

“Thank you, Meredith,” Jo said, closing her eyes again and melting into the bed. “You’re a good friend.”

“I thought you were supposed to be on my side, you’re my person,” Alex argued, although he had the decency to whisper.

“I am your person and as your person, I can't let you name your daughter princess,” Meredith insisted, whispering a little lower Alex but still audible for Jo to hear.

“Shut up or get out,” Jo said, throwing her hand out and hitting Alex’s arm.

“Ow, sorry, shutting up,” Alex said as Meredith giggled, but they remained quiet as promised and Jo drifted off to sleep. 

She slept for a few hours before the baby woke her up to feed. Jo had opted to try and breastfeed, and Carina came back in to help her and the baby get a good latch and soon her daughter was happily suckling at her breast. Several of the nurses and other staff, including Bailey, also stopped by and cooed over the baby. When She left, Bailey remarked that she couldn't wait to see the baby again and it warmed Jo's heart to know that her daughter would grow up surrounded by a whole hospital that loved her.

“Okay, here's the birth certificate paperwork,” Carina said, as she left everything on the table next to Jo’s bed. 

“And the other paperwork when you're ready,” Meredith said, giving her a wink.

“Why don't you get started on that,” Jo said, staring down at the little girl that was adorably milk drunk in her arms. She was so in love with her baby and she could barely take her eyes off of her, plus she had one last surprise for Alex and she didn't want her smile giving it away. 

“Yeah okay,” Alex said, although he didn't take his eyes off of the baby and continued to rub his finger over her little hand where it was still wrapped around his finger. 

Alex finally tore his eyes away from their baby to glance over the papers in front of him, before he began to fill it all out. Carina had already put down the time and their baby girl's weight and height so Alex filled out the parental information, leaving the name for last. 

“So are we settled on the name Princess Edith Josephine?” Alex asked looking over at her. 

“Just Edith Josephine, yes, I think we are,” Jo said as she reached out to capture Edith’s now free hand.

“Edith,” Meredith said with a smile as she reached out to capture the baby’s hand. “Derek had two babies named after him, but both of them go by other names. I have a baby named after me that will go by my name.”

“Derek's not here Mere, you can stop competing with him,” Alex said, not even bothering to look up.

“Just because he's dead doesn't mean I can't compete with him a little bit,” Meredith insisted with a smile as she rubbed her thumb on the back of Edith's hand.

“In that case, we’ll change her name to our second choice of Cristina Stephanie,” Alex said looking up from the paperwork to glare at Meredith.

“Alright, I'm shutting up, only because Christina Stephanie is too much of a mouthful,” Meredith said, rolling her eyes. 

“Thank you,” Alex said sarcastically.

Jo smiled as she looked down at Edith again, who let out a yawn that was so adorable and Jo sighed and melted at how darling she was. They had considered naming her after a number of their friends, but they had settled on Meredith because if it wasn't for her their baby girl wouldn't exist. 

After Alex left, Jo probably would have moved away, but Meredith had been there for her and encouraged her to stay. When Alex came back, she was the first person to encourage each of them to talk to each other. Looking back now they both realized how Meredith had orchestrated their meet up at the wedding. She had conveniently left her purse downstairs while working with Link and made sure that their kids were taken care of so they could have the alone time that led to the creation of their baby girl. She was the reason that their little girl existed and had two parents who were together, and it felt only right that Edith shared Meredith's name. 

“I guess I can settle on Edith Josephine Wilson, Edith after Meredith, Josephine after you, because it's only fair since Alexis is named after me, and then your last name because we're not married,” Alex said as he picked up the pen.

“No, Edith Josephine Karev,” Jo said as she smiled down at Edith.

“Karev?” Alex asked, a little hesitant as Jo finally looked up at him.

“Yeah,” Jo said, the last name was the one thing they hadn’t discussed, but Jo had always known that her baby would be a Karev. “She's a Karev and I want to be a Karev again too, I want to marry you again and I love you. I miss having the last name of someone I love and I want my kids to have your last name too.”

Alex smiled so big and wide as he just stared at her so in love. “Of course I'll marry you again. I'll marry you right now if you want me to. Jo you've made me the happiest man in the world.”

“Well Alexis has already said that she'll kill us if she's not the flower girl at our wedding so maybe we should hold off,” Jo said with a smile, she was eager to be married again as well.

“Why don't I go get them now? It's not too late, and I'm sure they'll be waiting up in anticipation anyway,” Meredith said as she got up to leave, but not before she held Edith and cooed at her namesake, before handing her back to Jo.

Jo loved having Meredith around but she was also happy to have this moment alone just the two, well three of them. Especially with what she had planned for Alex to see.

“There's one other person I want to have your last name as well. Look under the birth certificate paperwork,” Jo said as she blushed and looked down at Edith again, biting her lip as she tried to wait for the big reveal she had planned.

She looked up again as she heard the shuffle of the papers to see Alex pulling out the adoption papers for Asher. His jaw dropped as he read over the papers, looking up at her before looking back down to read them again. 

“Is this real? You want this? You want me to be Asher’s Dad?” Alex asked in disbelief as he stared at her.

“He calls you Daddy, and it’s not just because he hears it from Alexis and Eli, every time he says it, he means it. He loves you so much Alex, you're a father to him and I love that you love him too. He's yours in every way, but name and so I want you to adopt our son. I want him to be both of ours.” 

Jo could feel the tears start to collect in her eyes as she spoke and she could see Alex getting teary eyed as well. He slowly made his way over to her, sinking into the chair next to her. Alex reached out and took her free hand giving it a squeeze before he leaned in to kiss her, giving her his answer in his lips. When he pulled back he kissed her forehead before he sat back down in the chair.

“I would be honored to adopt Asher and to be his father,” Alex said, getting choked up as he leaned in to kiss her again. Then he smiled and reached over to grab something from her hospital bag. It was a stack of documents all too similar to the one she had handed to him. “And I want you to be a legal guardian to Alexis and Eli. They call mom, you’re a parent to them and they look up to you. Nothing makes me happier than seeing you love them as much as I do. I talked it over with Izzie and we agreed that if anything happens, you need to be able to take care of them and have legal custody too.”

“Okay.” It was the only thing she could say as she nodded and the tears finally fell from her eyes. Alex reached out to grab her a tissue and Jo just smiled because she was so happy. In that moment her family was complete. 

……………………………………………………………………

Jo let out a breath as she looked over at the door before she looked back at Edith as she slept peacefully in Jo’s arms. Meredith had texted and said that she was on her way up with the kids and Jo and Alex were quietly waiting for them. 

“Relax Jo, take a deep breath,” Alex said, reaching out and putting a hand on her leg as he rubbed her knee. “They're gonna love her.”

“Alexis for sure, you saw how she clung to my belly, she’s never gonna want to be apart from her, but Eli and Asher. I don’t know. Eli still isn’t used to sharing things with Asher and Asher is so clingy. He's going to hate that I can't hold him 24/7 anymore,” Jo said as she stared down and Edith who was completely oblivious to the chaos her siblings were about to rain down on her.

“Okay, Yes Alexis is going to love her and probably steal her away from us half the time. But Eli is slowly getting used to having a younger brother and having Asher follow him around and it's not like Edith is going to be taking anything from him anytime soon. And Asher is so busy chasing the twins around half the time and I’ll take Edith so you guys can still have your nightly cuddles before he goes to bed. We've spent the past nine months getting ready for this, we can do it Jo.” 

“Okay, you're way too calm for this where's my grumpy Alex,” Jo demanded looking over at Alex as he laughed and she smiled before letting out a breath. 

There was a knock at the door and Jo looked to where she knew Meredith was waiting for them. She took a deep breath into her nose and out through her mouth cradling Edith just a little closer to her. Jo adjusted the hat on her head, it was just small enough for the regular baby hats and a little bit of her brown hair she had peeked out.

“Ready?” Alex asked, squeezing her knee.

“Yes,” Jo said, looking down at Edith before she reached out and grabbed Alex's hand.

“Okay come in,” Alex said as the door opened to reveal Meredith holding Asher with Alexis and Eli walking in front of her.

“Hi guys.” Alex smiled as the kids came over, a little hesitant, and Alex beckoned them to come closer. 

Alex wrapped his arms around Alexis and Eli as Meredith stood next to them. All three of the kids seemed hesitant to come closer and Jo tilted her arms so they could see the baby. 

“You guys have a sister,” Alex whispered, giving the twins a little squeeze. “Her name is Edith.”

“She's all wrinkly,” Eli said, scrunching up his eyebrows while Alexis just looked at her in awe.

“Mama, I miss you,” Asher said, not caring about the baby at all and reaching out to her although Meredith kept her grip on him. 

“I miss you too, but I had your sister, see,” Jo said with a smile, as she pulled the blanket back so he could see Edith. Asher tilted his head and stared at her, but looked back up at Jo after a moment.

“I have a sister,” Alexis said looking up at them wide-eyed before she promptly dissolved into tears. 

“Oh sweetie,” Jo said, reaching out to her as Alex tried to comfort her, but Alexis crawled up onto Jo's bed.

Jo was surprised that Alexis chose to curl up in her arms rather than seeking comfort from Alex, but just held her as Alexis tucked herself against her side. Jo kissed her head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as Alexis continued to cry. She seemed completely overwhelmed and Jo just rubbed her hand up and down her arm.

“Do you want to hold her?” Jo said as she leaned into Alexis and whispered to her.

Alexis just nodded as she continued to cry as Jo shifted Edith into her lap. Jo wrapped her arms around Alexis and Edith as Alexis held her sister. As she looked down at Edith who was still sleeping, Alexis’ cries slowed to a stop. 

“She's so tiny,” Alexis whispered as Edith moved in her sleep and one of her arms slipped out from the loose swaddle and Alexis reached out to hold her hand. “But your belly was so big.”

Jo glared at Alex and Meredith as they both laughed. “Well my belly held a lot more than just the baby, remember there was water in there too that kept her cushioned and the placenta that fed her.”

Alexis just shrugged as she rubbed her thumb over Edith's hand and became completely engrossed in her little sister. “Hi Edith, I'm your big sister, I love you.”

Jo couldn't stop the tears that collected in her eyes and she took a moment to glance over at Alex who just smiled at Alexis and Edith. Jo had never had a big family even with Asher, it was just the two of them, but now she had this huge family with Alexis and Eli. Her kids had two siblings who loved them so much and would look out for them as they grew up.

“Can I hold her?” Eli asked in his small little voice that Jo barely caught. 

“Yeah Bud, let's sit back and you can hold her,” Alex said as he traded places with Eli so he could sit in the chair. 

Alexis gave Edith a little hug goodbye before Alex lifted her off of Alexis’ lap and set her into Eli's arms. Eli was a little awkward at first and seemed to freeze as she was placed in his arms, but Alex showed him how to hold her and Eli just stared down at Edith.

“Hi,” Eli said to her a little unsure as Edith opened her eyes and stared up at him. The brother and sister seem to stare at each other and eventually, Eli smiled. 

“Can I have her back?” Alexis asked, watching Edith and Eli intently as everyone just laughed.

“You can have her back in a minute, you've got to share her remember,” Jo said, hugging Alexis close before looking up at Meredith and motioning for her to give her Asher. Jo held her first baby as he snuggled closer to her and Jo sat him on her left side before she wrapped her arms around both of her kids, Asher and Alexis. “What do you think of the baby Asher?”

Asher stared intently over at Eli and Edith and looked back at Jo before looking back at Edith and Eli and pointing. “Baby sissy.” 

“Yeah that's right, that is your baby sister,” Jo said as Asher looked back at Eli and Edith staring intently at them. “Eli are you done? Can Daddy bring her over so Asher can see her?”

“I want to hold her longer,” Eli said, looking up at Jo for the first time since Alex placed Edith in his arms.

“I promise, you can hold her later,” Alex said as he lifted Edith from Eli's arms. “You've got your whole life to hold her, let's let her and Asher meet.”

Alex paused when he looked at Jo as she had one arm around Alexis and the other around Asher, so he sat down on the bed and moved the blanket so Asher could see. Jo watched her son take in the new baby. One of her fears throughout this pregnancy was that Asher wouldn't adjust well to being a big brother. He took to being a little sibling with the twins so well, but when they weren't there he got one hundred percent of Jo and Alex’s attention. He loved being the center of their attention and Jo wasn't sure how he was going to act with Edith around. 

Asher stared at Edith as Alexis crawled over to Alex. With Alexis freeing up her other arm Alex moved Edith into Jo’s free arm. She had a moment of panic as she held both of her babies. It felt so overwhelming to have both of them at the same time, but she quickly got used to it. Edith stared up at her for a moment before closing her eyes again and Asher leaned forward to look at the baby as Jo held them. 

“What do you think, Mommy?” Alex asked, looking at Jo with a smile. He had one arm around Alexis with him on the bed and the other around Eli as he leaned against him. “We've got two little ones now and two big ones?”

“I think it’s perfect,” Eli said as he leaned into Alex's side. “We've got two girls and two boys and two A names and two E names.”

“Yeah, I think it's pretty perfect two,” Jo agreed with Eli looking up as she caught the way Alex's eyes sparkled. He smiled as he leaned forward to kiss her lips and Jo smiled against his kiss. 

……………………………………………………………………

If Jo thought going from one kid to three was hard, going from three to four was absolute chaos, but some days were calmer than others and lazy Sunday mornings were the best. Edith was now two months old and it was waffle Sunday at the Karev house. The first Waffle Sunday since Jo and Asher were officially made Karevs at a joint adoption and Wedding ceremony. The only person who was not in their pajamas was Edith because she had spit up on them, but the rest of them lounged around the living room with cartoons playing in the background.

Jo leaned against the couch with Edith as she set the baby on the rug and grabbed the pair of jingly keys and held them in front of her. Asher took the opportunity of her free arms to crawl into them and Jo hugged her boy and planted a kiss on his cheek. Alexis came to sit next to Edith and immediately picked her up.

“Alexis, she’s doing tummy time, you can hold her in a second,” Jo said lightheartedly although she made no move to take Edith from Alexis. 

“But Mommy Jo she wants to play with me,” Alexis said, giving her a smile she knew Jo wouldn't refuse before she looked down at Edith and cooed at her.

Asher reached out from his place on Jo's lap to hold Edith’s hand. Of all the kids, she was worried most about how Asher would adjust to Edith, but he loved his little sister and always wanted to just be near her. Edith held onto her brother's fingers and stared up at him until Alexis caught her attention with the toy keys again. 

“I hold her hand,” Asher said looking up at Jo.

“I see you are holding her hand,” Jo said with a smile. 

Eli crawled over and laid down on the couch as he grabbed one of the many toys laying around and held it above Edith. Asher grabbed for the toy and Eli laughed as he let him have it and Asher got off of her lap and crawled up next to Eli. Jo looked over at Alex who was busy in the kitchen making the waffles. With the kids occupied, Jo went over to the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder enjoying the feeling of him in her arms.

“Are you getting hungry Mrs. Karev,” Alex asked as he got the last waffle out of the waffle iron and put it on a plate.

“That's Dr. Karev to you,” Jo said, swatting his ass before he tilted his head to quickly kiss her. 

“Hey, you think we could sneak away for a little alone time?” Alex asked, he turned around and grabbed her hips pulling them against him as he leaned in to kiss her.

Jo looked back at all the kids as they were occupied in the living room. Alexis had put Edith back on the floor and was holding the keys above her head as she reached for them, while Asher and Eli were completely engrossed in the TV show and had scooted close to cuddle together. 

“I'd say we got about five minutes until someone gets hungry, but I think we should make it work,” Jo said as she wrapped her arms around Alex's neck and tilted her head to kiss him.

Both of them quickly snuck off down the hall getting just as far as the door to the study. Alex kissed his way down her neck and Jo tried not to moan. She fumbled for the doorknob and just as she was about to open it and push Alex inside Eli called out to them.

“Daddy, Mommy Jo, I'm hungry, are the waffles ready?” 

Of course, this set off a cry of replies from Asher and Alexis also demanding waffles, and on top of that Edith started crying as well. Jo knew she would be hungry as she hadn't eaten since 5 am that morning when Alex got up with her. 

“Okay guys, go wash your hands and sit at the table and we’ll be there in just a second,” Alex said with a sigh as he leaned his forehead against Jo’s.

“We were so close,” Jo said with a sigh as she shook her head. 

“Do you want to serve the waffles or calm the baby?” Alex asked, wrapping his arm around her waist as they both walked down the hall into the living room. 

“I'll take Edith, she's probably hungry,” Jo said, walking over to where she and Alexis were still lying on the rug.

“She's also stinky,” Alexis said, while turning her head away and wrinkling her nose.

“On second thought you can take her,” Jo said, picking Edith up and handing her off to Alex before quickly walking away. 

“Why do I always get stuck with diaper duty?” Alex asked as he moved to cradle Edith and gently swayed as she fussed.

“Because I was pregnant with her for nine long months during which I took care of her 24/7. Then I was in labor with her for over nine hours and I pushed her very big head out of my vagina, so I’d say you owed me a lifetime of diaper changes,” Jo said, setting him with a look. 

“Mommy's always going to hold that one over me isn't she?” Alex asked Edith as he grabbed the diapers and wipes from the basket they had in the living room. The changing station had long since moved to the side of the couch easily in reach.

“Daddy you should be grateful. Mommy Jo sacrificed a lot to have Edith,” Eli piped up as he ran up to the counter to help Jo with the waffles. 

“Thank you Eli,” Jo said as she put her arm around his shoulders and gave him a quick hug before popping a Waffle on a plate and handing it to him. 

“Mommy Jo when are you and Daddy going to have another baby?” Alexis asked as Jo gave her a plate.

“We're done having babies Alexis, I think our family is perfect just the way it is,” Jo said leaning down and swiping Alexis’ nose as she giggled.

“Yeah, but I want another one,” Alexis insisted as she sat down next to Eli.

“No babies,” Asher said as he came over and Jo lifted him up onto her hip before she grabbed the stack of waffles and walked over to the table. 

“How about we get you a doll Alexis?” Jo asked as she sat down and put Asher in the highchair. 

“Can it be one of those ones that looks really real and cries and eats and stuff,” Alexis asked with excitement. “Ellis and I found one online and it looks so real.”

“If Alexis gets a real baby doll can I get a real oven,” Eli said from where he was shoving his waffle into his mouth.

“We have an oven, buddy,” Alex said, coming back in with Edith and sitting there next to Jo, before handing her the baby. “I think she’s hungry, she keeps trying to eat my shirt.”

Jo laughed as she saw the drool stain on Alex's shirt. She got Edith settled before she lifted up her shirt and pulled out her breast before quickly getting Edith latch on.

“Daddy we've lived here for almost a year and you and Mommy Jo have never once used that oven. I don't think it's even real,” Eli insisted gesturing to the oven and Jo couldn't help but laugh. 

“Okay, listen the oven does work and I'll prove it to you. This afternoon you and I are going to use the oven, what do you want to make?” Alex said, pointing his fork at Eli before he grabbed a piece of waffle and held it out for Jo to eat since she had her hands full. 

Eli took a moment to think and he got this adorable little serious face as the breakfast table quieted down as they all waited for his response. 

“I want to make a cake,” Eli decided with a nod.

“I want cake,” Asher said, his eyes lighting up as he smiled.

“Alright, cake it is,” Alex said with a smile. “We can go to the store and get the ingredients after breakfast.”

“Alex, are you really going to cook a cake from scratch?” Jo asked as Alex fed her another piece of waffle. “Do we even have cake pans?”

“No we’re going to go to the store and get a boxed cake mix which can't be that hard to make,” Alex said before taking a bite of his own waffle. 

“Chocolate cake?” Asher asked, getting excited as he bounced in his seat.

“Oh, can we get sprinkles?” Alexis asked, talking with her mouthful.

“Chocolate does sound really good,” Jo added, before looking down and Edith. “You want cake too, don't you baby. Yes, yummy cake milk from Mommy.” 

“Alright, we’ll go and get chocolate cake with sprinkles that everybody can enjoy,” Alex said, as he leaned over to smile down at Edith from where she still nursed at Jo's breast and reached out to grab her fingers as she waved her arm up at him.

Jo looked down at Edith and watched her baby happily eat for a few minutes before she looked up and watched the rest of her family. Eli went on about how he would decorate the cake while Asher got more excited and actively bounced in his high chair. Alexis asked if they could add some flowers and Alex of course happily gave in to all of it. 

It wasn't anything special, just a normal Friday at the house with all of the kids, but Jo was so happy. Jo had once imagined what it would have been like if she and Alex had never divorced and had made things work with the twins together. If they had they might not have had Edith and they certainly wouldn't have had Asher. Despite all of the pain, she and Alex had somehow found their way back to each other and created this wonderful family together. 

She looked over at Alex and reached her hand out to him, he captured her outstretched hand and gave it a squeeze. Jo tugged on his hand as a silent signal to him and Alex smiled as he leaned forward and kissed her lips. Jo smiled against him as his beard tickled her cheeks. 

“Was that for anything in particular,” Alex opened his eyes and pulled back just a little bit so he could look at her with a soft smile.

“It was just because I can and because I love you,” Jo said, stealing another kiss before she pulled back.

“I love you too,” Alex said, as he put his arm around her shoulders and scooted closer to her.

This family, this life she had with Alex, didn't start out perfectly, but somehow they worked it out and now they had this beautiful family together.

#alex karev #jolex #grey's anatomy #otp: home and heart #eli stevens #alexis stevens #meredith grey #atticus lincoln #my fanfiction #my writing #my work #IRIATW #jo wilson

[oh-for-fic-sake]

My Mothers Recipe Book

You see your bosses true colours and quit.

Masterlist

warnings:swearing

A/n: so here is my next Bruce Wayne one shot hope you like it xxx

Taglist: @125bluemachine125​

My Mothers Recipe Book

Alfred sighed walking into the master bedroom tray carrying two large coffees and a few sheets of paper printed from the computer. He was not looking forward to this. Not one bit he had managed to keep the boys quiet about it for the time being but now was the time, there had been...articles online from uncredited news outlets which he knew both you and Bruce avoided with a passion things could be said online which couldn't be printed, cruel and vicious things. But this time they had slipped up big time and he had a name. There had been personal things mentioned in these articles, things that only someone close to you would know at first this online tabloids scoop had been harmless or coincidence, stating the area where you grew up, school you went to and your previous apartment then it became more personal silly things at first, favorite brands, hangouts previous jobs and qualifications and where you work now that caused a few problems now you had to be picked up after shifts by either him Bruce or Dick. you'd mentioned that it had become worse somehow they knew where you were most of the time when you were out on your own places become overrun with the paparazzi having to be picked up by Dick from your favorite take away joint a few days ago when out of nowhere there was camera's everywhere then the next day horrid articles over your nonexistent weight gain and the 'cravings' for the pregnancy that also didn't exist. But this....this was worse probably the worst article to come out, it was an article on how your parents died and how you took on Jack... Going in to detail on how you 'blamed superman' for their death, which could blow up in everyone's face. Alfred was livid but vindicated this time their source was named accidentally he had managed to print it off before it was corrected, a statement was already being circulated that this was fake news, you did not blame anyone for the death of your parents and this was the doing of a vicious woman trying to cause you trouble. Thankfully Clark had got wind of it and was already working on something to help. But Alfred will not be settled until everything was cleared up in the courts. Sighing he opened the door to the master bedroom you was curled up in bed tears streaking your face Bruce was trying to comfort you but Alfred could tell he was furious.

"I suppose you have seen it? then I am already on it I've taken the liberty to have a statement sent out that you don't blame anyone for their passing, Mr Kent is also already working on something to show the truth." Bruce nodded stiffly you just sniffed rubbing your eyes making Alfred  gripped the tray tighter this was not going to be easy to say.

"Who? WHO WOULD DO THIS?" you threw the tablet down on the bed Bruce tried to calm you down

"We will find out who sweets I promise-" Alfred crossed the room placing the tray down then lifted the paper

"It was your boss Y/n" you and Bruce snapped your gazes to the Englishman

"What- How do you know?"

“She was named as their source then it quickly changed I managed to print it off before it was changed tho...I have been watching these articles, Damien and Jack found them just after your kidnapping at first it was harmless but then it got more and more personal here see for your self this is the first one they put up before they corrected it" you took the paper from him with a shaky hand glaring there in black and white was your bosses name as there close source.

"Why would she do this? you know what don't answer that I'm going to work" you strode past the two men Bruce followed you over to the dresser.

"Sweets we can handle this-" you turned abruptly to him making him flinch when he saw your face you was seething

"I know that I'm going in to talk just talk  and there is something there that I need t pick up before anything happens nothing more I promise"

"I can come with you-"

"Bruce honey you have to be at the tower today I will be fine....okay I will be calm but shes done a lot of damage here, I'm getting death threats on twitter! she doesn't get to breeze through this no fucking way shes going to look me in the eye and tell me why!" Bruce nodded knowing that you wasn't going to let this go.

"Alfred can take you....take Tim just in case" you nodded pulling your pajama top off ignoring the way Alfred shielded his eyes with the article just in time making Bruce scoff

"Tim why whats he gonna do?....oh yeah I forgot" you quickly slipped on a black pair of leggings and oversized sweater and left the room calling for Tim to get his ass out of bed.

"I will look after her sir and I will have eyes on the whole thing" Bruce nodded"Thank you Alfred I know you will take care of us you always have" Alfred smiled at him leaving the room with your coffee taking to the kitchen. twenty minuets after Bruce left you was in the back of the rolls Royce sitting wound up Damien was as stiff as a board next to you Jack had tagged along to looking just as angry fists clenched, Tim was supposed to come but once Damien heard what had happens he had....insisted Tim tried to reason with him but...apparently when it come down to it Damien is the one in the family not to fuck with as Tim had backed down pretty fast and by pretty fast you meant as soon as he looked into the younger boys eyes.

"Boys please relax your making me nervous, we are just going to talk I want answers"

"That’s such a bitch thing to do tho, to bring mom and dad into it..." you looked to jack he was as sad as he was angry it made you worse...you were out for blood today no one fucks with your family. Damien was worrying you, he was quiet calm and you could feel waves of....well you didn't know what it was but it was making you want to run ad hide from him yourself, killer instinct or just pure unadulterated wrath and violence coiled tight in the small teen your blood would have run cold if you hadn't been so angry yourself.

"Dami? you alright there bud?" he turned stiffly his eyes said it all he was not alright he was pissed biting at the bit to fuck this woman up. Shit. you didn't have all the details but you know Damien was raised to be , well putting it bluntly a killer and from little bite you heard he was pretty good at it.

"I'm fine, this woman how long have you worked for her?"

"Shit its gotta be five years nearly six" Damien nodded then looked back out of the window you was here her car was out the front. you took a deep breath seeing the barrage cameras out the front all of them held one of the cafes takeaway cups in hand.

"Would you like me to pull around the side?"

"No I am not afraid, I wont let her see me run its time to grow up...If I want to be with Bruce this is what it means,I have to let them know me and I will stand on my own two feet" Alfred faltered stopping the car you cleared your face and before the butler had a chance to get out to open the door you were out of the car Damien and Jack close behind the Alfred who tried pushing to catch up as the paps smothered you. You bit your lip moving forward willing them all away as it got to much then Damien locked his hand in yours squeezing Jack held your arm, you locked eyes with them and smiled you wasn't alone. With a deep breath you turned around abruptly holding your head high and spoke clearly to the manic reporters who was shouting questions waving and yelling to get your attention.

"EXCUSE ME! that's better I apologize for shouting like that, I just wanted to get your attention, I promise to answer all your questions in a few moments but I've left something important at work and would appreciate you allowing me to pick it up first if that's okay with you" You felt a burst of confidence when you managed to get their attention quieting them one man scoffed

"What are you going to get?"

"My mothers recipe book" they all looked stumped a ripple of whispers surrounded you all

"How do we know you'll come back out?" you blinked looking at the other man who had asked and then nodded to the car

"My rides out here I wont be getting far without it" they all quieted down nodding letting you pass. Alfred stood a little stumped the confidence you had used he hadn't seen before he quickly jogged to catch up behind you entering the cafe. as you made your way in you headed straight for the kitchen Alfred lingered by the door making sure the small hidden camera in his jacket had a clear shot of what was going to happen in the small kitchen. as you walked in you noted that your boss was milling about the kitchen you smiled like nothing was wrong and walked over to where your mothers hand written recipe book was and tucked it into your bag .

"Y/n where are you going with that?" you faced her smiling

"Oh Damien likes the blue berry marzipan muffins so going to try and convert it into pancakes that way Alfred technically whine about muffins for breakfast." you said motioning to Damien who looked at you confused but nodded anyway you winked at him, then handed your bag to Jack who was standing behind Alfred.

"Ooh they would be good tell me how they turn out and we could do them here" you laughed a little at the woman, she had no idea

"I might just do that, tag you in twitter or face book...Bruce was talking about me getting my own shop around here after I made some at home" she looked at you from the top of her eyes 

"Oh really?" you laughed and leaned forward

"Yeah but you know me no head for business...but I have got a head for other things you know I'm an overthinker its quite good actually I can figure things out pretty quick" sensing something was wrong she gulped and stopped doing the order forms leaning on the counter

"Is everything okay?" you moved a little and leaned back crossing your arms letting you smile fall into what must have been a nasty face as she swallowed

"I don't know how about you tell me" she laughed nervously trying to wave you off

"What do you mean whats happ-"

"Why did you do it?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much did they pay you? I hope it was a lot." you said looking around the kitchen slowly as if really seeing it for the first time, falling apart tiles, a tap that leaks, flickering light and dirty grout could do with being ripped out and starting again.

"Do what?"

"You know what? that articles online I know it was you" she laughed shaking her head

"I haven't done any articles I think your getting a little big headed aren't you? not everyone cares about you, " you nodded slyly

"They didn't tell you did they? you were named yesterday in the one about my Parents" the color drained from her face and she stuttered.

"Wh-what?! they said they wouldn't do that!" you stood tall smirking at her the smug feeling didn't last long as you realized this woman who had been like a second mum to you had betrayed you, literally put a price tag on your trust and sold it.

"So you have been giving out information about me...gossiping about me to the tabloids..Why Why would you do that?" she had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry, they offered money for an interview when I was seen at the Restaurant with you...At first it was harmless and I thought I could ramp up business if I let people know where you worked...it escalated from there" you closed your eyes trying to calm yourself down Damien growled loud at the woman but you placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him back a little.

"Escalated your damn right it escalated You gave out my old address! what if me and Jack was still there and better yet why was you telling them where I was? they followed me for days! and rumors of pregnancies?" She flinched going to walk around the center island in the kitchen making to hug you but you took a step back, eyes searching hers for remorse but all you saw was the panic of a woman caught out.

"Do you know I had to talk Bruce down from that one he wasn't even angry that he was the last to know! he was over the moon that we might have a child on the way and I had to break his heart and sit him down in our room and explain to him I wasn't pregnant that it was a lie! only to find out it had come from one of my closest friend's. Do you know what its like to do something like that to someone you love? to upset them like that he was crushed ...And if that wasn't enough you had to bring up my parents! you didn't even know them and you know how I feel about the whole thing and about superman!" she shook her head

"I know you don't blame him for their death, I never said you did I swear I just said that you still found it hard without them here, that you wished they were here to see jack grow up that's all I swear" you shook your head.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe you...these five years how much was it worth? you put a price on my trust..." she ran a hand threw her hair huffing anxiously

"I'm sorry I never meant for it to go this far...I needed the money" you laughed "You needed the money nearly eleven hundred a day goes in that till and you needed the money? sorry if I don't buy that." she got defensive looking you up and down

"Well its not like you would understand" you shook your head

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well we can’t all be sugar babies like you? I've got bills to pay you know rent , tax water that kind of stuff you going to tell me if someone wanted a few comments from you for a few thousands dollars you wouldn't do it" you clenched your jaw, Damien growled at the woman trying so hard not to pounce her.

"No I wouldn't have because we were friends!....Is that what you think of me? a sugar baby?"

"Well that seems to be your claim to fame doesn't it? fucking a billionaire then suddenly you've been given everything? the poor orphan girl who heroically took on her brat brother, one night on your back and your set for life. House,money boyfriend rewards for loosing your dignity no class at all!" you froze that hurt, the venom and spite in her words

"No class...It would seem I have more then you. I haven't ever done anything to you, so all this came from what jealousy? having the paparazzi follow me spreading rumors? for what a few more coffee sales and a bit of revenge? because I got everything you'll never have, A Family and someone to share my life with.... That’s very sad" you moved to got to the door  she smiled nastily no point in her continuing with the nice girl act now she had shown her true colors. "you know your not famous? walking around like you are but your not" you smiled widely at her leaning in.

"No I'm not truly famous...but I'm more famous then you, I quit by the way and I do hope you have money for a lawyer because this is slander and invasion of privacy"

"You've got no proof it was me." she said snidely

"Oh but I have, a recorded confession smile your on camera" she froze knowing she was utterly fucked you smiled and leaned in to her ear.

"I am going to sit back and watch you fall, you tired to destroy me and my new life and failed but most of all you hurt the ones I love so now I am going to destroy yours, I’m going to take you to the cleaners, your going to lose everything" she gasped no one fucked with your family she hurt you but more importantly she hurt Jack and Bruce and she was gonna have to have deep pockets to settle this one cos you was out for blood. You did one final sweep of the kitchen wanting to rub salt in the wound.

"You know...I always liked this place...Think I will buy it once you go bankrupt after our court battle" she stood there mouth agape as you turned walking through the door. Jack and Alfred was let you pass then quicker than you could register you heard a loud shout turning you saw her charge at you making to attack you but Damien was to quick for her capturing her throwing her back you winced hearing her back hit the metal counter in the kitchen

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" you all froze as he shouted not knowing what to do Alfred nodded his head in Damien direction.Get him out. you placed a hand on his shoulder he panted shaking he was angry very angry then looked at you

"Dami, thank you but we have to go now okay? come on Dami go to the car for me please"

"Are you hurt Ummi?" you shook your head not understand what he called you, or why Alfred had gasped so loud at it but didn't care all you wanted was to calm him down and get him out of here.

"No honey you stopped her before she could get to me"

"A-are you mad?" you smiled at him shaking your head again

"Of course not, you protected me just like you said you would now come on out to the car that's enough excitement for one day"and you looked at Alfred he knew what you was asking and nodded he had caught that on film thank fuck.

"She isn't your mother you little brat!" you somehow managed to pull Damien from the kitchen behind you.

"Shut your fucking mouth!!" you you shouted at her livid ushered the others out taking a few breaths as you walked out into the crowd.

"Boys in the car, Jack you got my bag still?" he nodded but Damien was quiet as you pushed him thought the crowd stopping half way taking a deep breath this had to be done, you had to get used to the public side, dick had said something the other day making you stop and think, if you don't interact with these people then you cant ever prove them wrong, you wont be able to ever stand up for yourself and that's what you had to do.You cant let Bruce do this for you all the time, not anymore.

"I'm going to make a statement are you all ready?" most nodded getting cameras ready for pictures and holding out recorders.

"I'm am sure you have all been listening and reading to recent rumors circulating about me in recent weeks. I have been following these myself tho had to be discreet about it, you see these rumors have been started by someone I was close to and I wanted to try and find out who, this is why I have been quiet about it.Last night there was a typo in the article about my parents passing nameing and shameing this woman,she has been handing out details of my personal life, selling my information and been telling lies one of which cause heartache for both myself and my family and has caused many problems for me in the past weeks telling online papers and paparazzi my location anytime she knew. this is a woman who I considered a dear friend and who I have worked for for the past five nearly six years I came here today to confront her, she has admitted to me today about her behavior and revealed to me and my family today that it was done out of spite and jealousy and also thought she would make more money if customers knew I worked here and would come in to try and get a glimpse of Bruce in the cafe. Today I quit my job here and over the next few days will take action threw the courts. I don't not blame anyone for the death of my parents at all, they heard the threat the world was given just like the rest of us but still chose to got to metropolis for their anniversary, they ignored the warnings and paid for it with there lives they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. And no I am not and have not ever been pregnant, this particular lie of hers caused myself and Bruce a lot of heartache which I can not forgive her for, The address she gave out as my residence is not my home any longer I moved nearly six weeks ago so please stop going there I'm assuming the new tenants would like a rest, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to end these things but I just wanted to clear the air and explain to you exactly what was happening" there was a few chuckles echoing across the crowd person shouted out

"So do you Hate superman or not?" you laughed

"No of course I don't, he has done a lot for us even saved myself once a long time ago and I am forever great full to him for that, I am only sad that he has been dragged into this woman's lies and I can only apologize for that I'm sure he has more important things to worry about.Now if that's all I'd like to get going...Its a bit chilly out here and I'm sure the boys are getting board in the car." you turned and headed to the car and amazingly enough they let you, opting to take photos of the cafe you smiled smugly as Alfred pulled away speaking

"Well she wanted fame now she has it" Jack laughed

"Yes something like that....was that alright? I've not done it before on my own...Oh my god what if Bruce is mad? do you think he will be mad I did that? What if I said to much or not enough or-"

"It was perfect miss Y/n you explained yourself with dignity and respect, you were straight to the point and covered everything Bruce wont be mad if anything I think he will be extremely proud of you for handling it the way you did." you sighed and slumped

"Oh thank god all I was thinking was 'be like Bruce, be like Clark, be like Bruce, be like Clark" Alfred through his head back a little laughing and Damian shuffled closer looking down fiddling with his fingers

"You okay there Dami?" you watched Alfred tilt the rear view mirror

"I-I'm sorry I called you mother...and Ummi it wont happen again" you sighed dragging him towards you.

"Hey,Look Damien Your father and I are really serious you know that right?" he nodded slowly waiting for you to rant at him.

"And Because we are serious ...we have already spoke about you boys and this...Mother issue, I would be delighted if you called me mother or mom or u-ummi? but you don't have to...But if you do then I would be so happy, so so happy. But as far as I'm concerned we are a family already either way so you call me what you like okay? and that goes for your brothers to." you watched as Damian's face lit up he looked so young.

"R-Really you don't mind?" you shook your head pulling him in for a hug. Once you all got home you moved everyone into the kitchen and started mixing batter for muffins using your mothers cook book

"Are you really going to make me some blueberry and marzipan muffins?" you nodded to Damian

"Absolutely you liked em right?" he smiled nodding sitting at the counter watching you and Alfred zigzag across the kitchen like a well oiled machine the boys including Tim and Jason sat watching nibbling on the left over marzipan.

"Tim flick threw that book and find coffee walnut muffins" you called out as you placed the current batch of muffins in the oven Tim was quick to take the book from the side and look for the recipe.

"Coffee walnut? that's different for a muffin?" Alfred asked you smiled nodding

"Yep when mum found a flavor combo she liked we had all sorts of it thought Tim would like it... that book there is every Cooke family recipe its why I had to get it quick before all this kicked off" Jason peeked over Tim's shoulder.

"All that fuss for a book?" Jack smiled slyly

"Yeah but more then that...everything in the cafe was mum’s recipes, all the baking anyway without that book they don't have nothing they never made copies, can't make nothing that's why when we took it she asked for it back, she probably hasn't even realized yet. My sister is a bitch never ever piss her off y/n has destroyed her business with out lifting a finger!" they all gasped then laughed loud.

"Holy shit! you go girl!" Jason high fived you making you giggle

"I see now why dad calls you mama bear your scary" you frowned

"He still calls me that?" they all nodded humming you blushed you didn't know that, you looked up as Bruce came through the door dropping his coat on the floor pushing past everyone you frowned thinking something was wrong until he swooped you up into a long kiss pressing you against the counter making you moan the boys cringed and left the kitchen fast.

"EWW THEIR GONNA DO IT NEAR THE MUFFINS!!" you laughed pulling away

"And what was that for Mr Wayne?" Alfred cleared his throat moving to mix the new batter

"Saw the footage then sir? I told you to wait until later to view it we all know you cant help yourself when she gets... what was it again Mama bear?" you whined throwing a tea towel at Alfred making him smirk

"Yes Alfred I did and I'm afraid I'm going to steal her away its urgent" he said a smile in his voice you sighed

"Urgent huh?" he smiled hoisting you up onto his hips making you gasp feeling him grind his erection onto your core

"Oh yes very urgent, urgent enough in fact that I had to cancel the rest of my meetings and probably have a few speeding tickets in the post" you laughed loud at him

"Oh my god!" he quickly spun around making his way to the stairs

"FOR FUCK SAKE PICK A ROOM AND FUCK!!! STOP WANDERING AROUND!!JACK TELL YOUR SISTER"

"FUCK OFF TELLING MY SISTER YOU TELL YOU DAD HE'S THE ONE RUNNING IN WITH A BONER TIM!"

"STOP FUCKING YELLING!!" you rolled your eyes as they continued shouting and screaming at one another.

"You gonna parent them or no?" Bruce shook his head wincing as Jason screeched indicating that someone had hit/pushed/jumped on him

"A little preoccupied Sweets maybe after I've sorted you out....Besides Alfred wont let them kill each other" you laughed as he made it to the top of the stairs and rounded the corner hearing Tim's scream of

"FINALLY OI! THEIR OUT THE KITCHEN QUICK!" and multiple footsteps running back to the kitchen where the baking was happening .

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x y/n #bruce wayne imagine #batman x y/n #batman x reader #batman imagine #dc x reader #dc x you #dc x y/n #dc imagine

[lyrazehedgieboiii]

Sonic AU (One-shot~)

This was inspired by Sonic AU, a story that I wrote before this. The next thing I post (that’s not a reblog or art), will be the first chapter to a story I’m writing.

     “You know it, Rouge. While the boys have their little ‘guy time,’ we can go shopping! Oh, Eliza just started crying, see you later!” Amy hung up on her phone call with Rouge. They were going to go shopping, along with Cream. Amy wasn’t really a fan of shopping, but she desperately wanted to hang out with her friends without Sonic acting all fussy. They had seven children, but by the way Sonic acted, you could say she had to take of eight. She walked over to a light pink crib, and looked inside. Curious emerald eyes were looking up at her, little beads of tears lining the bottom of the child’s eyes.

      “There’s my gorgeous little hedgie! Oh look at your precious little eyes! They’re so cute! They look just like your daddy’s!” All she got in response to her coos was a squeak, which made Amy fawn even more. “Why are you so cute?! I just want to gobble up your tiny little cheeks!” 

        “Ames, maybe check what’s wrong first, then fangirl over how cute Sonic the Hedgehog’s children are?” Amy looked up to see her husband leaning against the doorframe. The little shit had a smug look on his face.

         “They aren’t just cute because they’re your children, Sonic.” Amy smirked back at him. She picked up her sky-blue baby out of the crib, and placed her on a little quilt on her back. She went to wear the boys’ side was, and looked at whoever was awake. Apparently only Dash and Eric were awake, so she set them on the quilt as well.

       “They got my genes. Look, more of them have my eyes then yours. I heard what you said to Eliza~,” Sonic wiggled his eyebrows, and his smirk only grew wider as he saw her blush. He walked over to her, and hugged her from behind, his arms tightening around her waist. “I’m hungry.” After years of knowing Sonic, she could see someone licking a vanilla ice-cream, she could think of dirty scenarios happening all at once. 

      “W-whoa there! We have children! Some of them are awake!” Amy tried to push him away, but he only held on tighter.

      “Come on, a little fun won’t hurt~” Sonic started to gently peck her neck.

       “...Why do you want this?” Amy asked, trying to hold her moans in.

       “You being the mother to my children turns me on more than you notice, babe.” Sonic was suddenly pushed onto the quilt while Amy straddled him. 

        “I’m going to the mall today with Rouge and Cream. You can take care of the boys with Tails and Knuckles. I’ll take care of the sisters.” Amy often referred to her daughters as ‘the sisters’ because of their names. She named them after the Schuyler Sisters, seeing Hamilton with her best friends. Their middle names were after Greek Goddesses, one of the names for each sister being from the Three Graces.

 “Just be careful, okay? Buy something that’ll make me feel like stripping every ounce of clothing off of you.~” He bit into her neck, leaving a purple spot and a gawking Amy.

        “Do not worry, Mr. Hedgehog, we will make sure that Mrs. Hedgehog has a lingerie so beautiful, you’ll faint and nosebleed like you used to back in University.” The pink hedgehog and her latter looked at the door. Rouge was standing there with a camera, while Cream was staring at them with stars in her eyes.

       “Thank you, Mrs. Echidna. Ames, you be a good girl. Don’t get into any fights, and if you do, don’t let the Sisters get in, or else you and the girls would be in jail.”

        “Actually, Sonikku, I think you should be telling yourself that. You’re gonna be watching the boys. You haven’t properly taken care of them yet. I’m usually the stay-at-home mom, but today, roles are reversed. I wrote instructions on how to take care of them properly and I put their to-” Amy was cut off by a sudden warmth on her lips.

         “Don’t worry, Amy. I’ll take good care of my little guys.” As soon as he said that, Rouge and Cream started gushing over how cute they found Sonic calling his sons “Little guys.”

         “He loves his children!!! He loves the children Amy made!” (I’m personally fangirling too) Cream squealed. Amy and Sonic sweatdropped at their hardcore shipping. 

    ~~~~~~Time Skip to Once They’re Downstairs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    “Okay, I packed Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy’s things. That should be all!” Amy looked at Sonic. “You sure you got them?” Amy asked.

  “Ames. You ain’t gotta worry about me. How hard could it be?” 

   “It’s not hard for you until now, because I usually take care of the kids, while you’re off at the recording studio, or practicing. I’m a housewife!”

     “Don’t think I don’t know that Ariana Growle asked you to choreograph her newest music video.” Sonic said, pulling Flash’s foot from reaching the t.v. remote.

     “Yeah, Amy. You don’t have to worry, Knuckles and I will make sure that he isn’t going to end up in tears because he has to change the kids’ diapers.” Tails responded, ignoring Sonic as he yelled an insulted “Hey!” at him.

    “Thanks Tails, Knuckles. Maybe when you two have children, Sonic and I can take care of them!” Amy said, as she tried to get a two-month old squirming Angelica into her carseat. Angelica whined, wanting to get out of the carseat, until her mother handed her a soft little plush toy. Eliza was smiling at Cream playing peek-a-boo with her. Peggy, however...just...sat there. Amy walked over to Sonic, who was holding Wayne and Dash. She gave them a peck on the forehead, and gave their father a kiss on the lips. Sonic leaned in to let the kiss linger for a little longer, but Amy pulled back.

   “I’ll see my little boys later!” Amy exclaimed as she gave kisses to Eric and Flash, who were being held by Tails and Knuckles. “Take good care of them! Or else...” Amy’s motherly instincts kicked in, her glare telling the caretakers that she’d kill them if even if one of the boys get even a tiny scratch.

- ~~~~~~AT THE MALL~~~~~~~

    “Oh! This would go well with the skinny jeans I saw, don’tcha think? Amy asked Cream as she examined a grey crop top. She looked over at her daughters, who were sleeping, being lulled into a nap after a long walk in the stroller. Rouge was looking at some off-the-shoulder tops.

   “Rouge, looking at your growing stomach, I would avoid looking at these teen tops, and move to the maternity section.” Cream joked. Rouge smiled. Amy smiled too. 

   “I remember when I was pregnant with these little angels, I dragged Sonic to at least 22 different stores. He went ballistic!” Amy laughed. “But seriously, you should start buying pregnancy clothes. One minute your stomach is barely half an inch, you blink and it looks like you have a basketball under your shirt.” 

  “How is it that we knew that you’d be the first one to get married and first one to have children?” Rouge smirked. Amy’s face flushed. 

  “D-don’t look at me! Sonic basically rushed me into this! He was in love with me my whole life! Since we were three!” Amy said, turning redder than the bat’s husband.

   “Well, you have a point. Still. You fell for him!” Cream pointed out. They all laughed. Amy started wondering how the boys were doing. 

Now, let’s see how the men are doing~

-

   “WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” One of the babies, specifically Eric, started crying. Of course, it started a chain reaction, causing all the babies to cry. Sonic jolted up immediately and scooped up two of them, as they aren’t able to move much. He glared at Knuckles and Tails, who got the memo to pick up the other two.

   “What do we do?!” Knuckles yelled at Sonic over the crying.

   “Let me look at the list Amy gave me.” Sonic got up and moved to the kitchen counter. He skimmed through the paper. “Let’s try giving them some food.” Sonic started looking through the pantry.

   “But they’re too young to have normal food. They can only have milk at this age!” Tails skidded over to Sonic and blocked the pantry. They noticed it wasn’t as loud as before. Knuckles handed them pacifiers.

    “Knuckles, you’re a genius!” he gently put the pacifiers into Flash and Dash’s mouths. They started sucking. “Damnit, we don’t have nipples. Amy usually breastfeeds them.” 

   “Too much information, buddy.” Knuckles shook his head.

    “Dude, you’re about to have your own child or children! It’s only natural. Amy occasionally does it because of the brood we have!” Sonic said, rolling his eyes at Knuckles’s immaturity. 

   “What about baby formula?” Tails asked. Sonic tried to snap his fingers, but failed because of the septuplets. “To the nursery!” And with that, he dashed up the stairs, Tails yelling at him to be careful. He sped back to the kitchen and began reading the directions. 

     “For infants four months and younger, one tablespoon of formula in 165 ml water. Infants will best like it as lukewarm. Huh, easy enough!” Sonic gives each baby to his friends, and starts taking out baby bottles. “Wait, how much is 100 milliliters are in cups?” Sonic asked. Tails sighed.

      “Maybe I should do it, Sonic, you can play with the kids.” Sonic handed Dash and Wayne to him, and started measuring. Sonic walks back to the living room and puts the kids on the quilt from earlier. Knuckles started playing peek-a-boo with them, until Sonic interrupted.

       “Dude, they can’t see clearly at this age, give them a few more months. Then again, they’ll be more interested in pulling those red dreads.” Sonic jokes with Knuckles. The echidna makes a disapproving look at him. Tails walks over with four baby bottles. He gave the idiots the bottles, and the kids started to suck on the bottles. After about ten minutes, the boys were done drinking their milk, and Sonic made a disgusted face.

       “Ew, Knuckles, what did you eat? It smells like scrambled egg made with rotten eggs.” Knuckles glared at Sonic

        “Oh sure, blame the buff guy.”

        “Well if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Sonic asked. Tails pointed to the kids in their arms.

      “Well, I just remembered! I have stuff to do! Bye!” As Knuckles tried to get up, he was stopped by Sonic.  

      “You agreed to help with your nephews, now help.” Knuckles didn’t find Sonic’s face very friendly, so he sat back down. “Chaos, Amy owes me a strip show for this...” Sonic muttered. He looked up to find Tails and Knuckles blushing at what Sonic said. “Can you two imagine your own women doing that? Thank you.” Knuckles thought of Rouge and Tails with Cream.

   “Ugh, help me change them.” Sonic said as he took four diapers and baby wipes. They walked to the nursery and put them on the diaper changing tables. (There’s more than one because of the seven hedgies.) “Okay, guys. We’re in unfamiliar territory, so be careful and stay safe.” Sonic said, acting like he was putting on an astronaut helmet.

   “Sonic, we’re wiping your sons’ asses, not exploring the moon.” Sonic took a wipe and stuffed it into Tails’s mouth. 

    “Wash your mouth, dude! I don’t want ‘ass’ being their first word.” Tails spat out the wipe and started acting like he was dying. 

    “Can we get this over with? Sonic do you know what to do?” Knuckles asked, done with life, and just wanted to go home.

     “Take off the diaper. There are those sticky strap things on the side we take those off, and take the diaper off.” Tails explained. They all followed what Tails said, only to find the revolting urine. The boys all ran to the nearest bathroom. They slowly went back to the nursery, the little hedgehogs giggling at not being covered on their rear-side.

    “I see where they get those annoying smug faces from.” Knuckles stated, looking at the one who wore the smile first. Sonic’s smirk just got wider.

    “I knew Amy would want most of the kids to look like me~, after all, I’m practically the hottest hedgehog alive!” Sonic made a pose, keeping still until he heard giggles at the door.

   “No one’s named you ‘The Hottest Hedgehog Alive,’ Sonic.” Amy said, smirking at the doorframe. “Learn to change your kids’ diapers first. You haven’t even completed that.” Amy walked over to her husband, and slid one finger across his cheek, to his shoulder, and down his chest.

   “Well then, Ames. I guess you better get to it!” And with that, the boys ran out of the mansion.

   “SOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCC!!!!!!” Amy scoffed at his childish behavior. “WELL, I GUESS I’LL HAVE TO TRASH THIS OUTFIT I GOT FOR YOU!” Sonic immediately came back, picked up Amy and left.

   “So, now what do we do?” Rouge asked. 

   “Finish what our guys couldn’t do.”

THANK YOU, I HOPED YOU ENJOY, PLEASE GIVE ME MORE PROMPTS BECAUSE I AM NOT CREATIVE.

#sonamy #pinky au #lyra ze hedgie boiii #otp #feeeeels #sonic girls #sonic the hedgehog #cream the rabbit #rouge the bat #amy rose #sonamy children #sonamy story #Pinky (AU) #knuxouge #taiream #sonic kids #knuckles the echidna #knuckles the enchilada #tails the fox

[donteattheappleshook]

AU Prompt: Emma pushed Killian away when he confessed his feelings to her. He’s finally returned home, a bit broken by the world. Will she finally have the guts to tell him what she always regretted not saying? (Can be smutty or not)

Sorry this took a few weeks but here it is! Thank you for my first ever prompt! I don’t know if this is what you wanted but this is what it turned into... nearly 10000 words of friends to lovers angst.

You can read it on Ao3

Send me your prompts!

Emma met Killian Jones when she was seventeen years old and she hadn’t liked him one bit. From the moment he’d first said hello to her she’d read him as a cocky, smooth talking broody type who probably liked to win over girls with his accent and his Edward Cullen like aloofness. She had not been a fan. She’d let him know too, on multiple occasions. 

She’d spent most of her time avoiding him for the first month of the semester and she was doing a pretty good job of it actually. That is, until she got detention. For being late. How unfair was that? It wasn’t her fault that Ruth’s car wouldn’t start in the morning and so she and David had had to walk to school. David got away with it, he always did. He was sweet and friendly and he could charm teachers like it was nobody’s business. 

Emma had scowled and defended her innocence and had ended up with detention. She loved the guy, really. Ever since he and Ruth had taken her in a year ago she was nothing but grateful for their kindness and love. She’d even started referring to him as her brother. She just hated how much better he was at being a person than she was sometimes. 

That was the second time she met Killian Jones. She was shocked to find him there. Despite her first impression she had managed to discover that he was, at his core, a nerd. He may dress like the love interest in a teen movie but he spent most of his time in the library or sitting under trees reading or doing homework. He even wore glasses sometimes, these big, awful square things that took over half his face. So what was he doing in detention?

“Afternoon, Swan,” he said when she walked in. He was immediately shushed by the teacher who had gotten the unfortunate role of supervising them. “I’m just being friendly,” she heard him mutter under his breath. 

They were the only two in there today. They had to stay for an hour after school. She guessed the punishment for being late to class was being late to dinner. They were told to sit silently and to either do homework or read. Emma figured she might as well try to get through some of her English homework. She was crap at it and it was the one subject that David couldn’t help her with. She’d rather do it here then at home. 

She started working through the questions for Act 1. Why the hell did they still study Shakespeare? The guy was dead four hundred years now. Give it up already - let him rest in peace. She was working on the third question - guessing the answer to the third question was more like it - when she heard a small cough beside her. She looked up to find Killian leaning over in his seat, his own homework in front of him.

“That’s the wrong answer,” he said quietly and she raised a brow at him.

“What?”

“Your answer, Mercutio isn’t Romeo’s cousin. Benvolio is. Mercutio is just his friend.” Her eyes widened in surprise. He wasn’t being condescending or self-righteous. He was just… letting her know. Trying to help her, she realised. He looked nervous as he glanced at her and then back at his book. 

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“I’m in your English class,” he said, looking down, ears turning red. Right. And she was a jerk. She felt bad, he looked a little dejected and it was her fault. She hadn’t seen him hanging around with many people, he was usually alone. Like her. She wondered then, a bit sadly, if maybe he wasn’t alone because he wanted to be. Maybe he was alone because he didn’t have anyone - like her. 

“Thanks,” she said with a smile and he gave her a small one in return. “Um, do you know who the hell Tybalt is?” 

His smile widened and he nodded as he leaned over to help her. The teacher told them to knock it off but he insisted that they were trying to help each other complete the same homework. He even argued that it was more character building than just sitting in silence. He was damn lucky that he seemed to have some of that same charm that David had when it came to teachers. The teacher waved them away, letting them continue to work together. 

She finished her homework a lot faster than she would have without him. And she understood the story a little better than she had coming in to detention. She was reminded then that that was where they were and as she looked at Killian, with his red ears and his shy smile and hunched shoulders and his dumb glasses, she had to ask. 

“What did you do to get in here?” His smile faltered just a tad. He scratched behind his ear nervously. 

“I, um, I punched Eric.”

“You what?” she demanded, loud enough that the teacher glared. Of all the things she’d expected - that was not one of them. 

“He was picking on Belle. He threw her book in the snow and made fun of her for liking to read - I mean, who the hell makes fun of someone for reading?” 

Emma felt her lips curling up a bit at his incredulous tone. “What, is Belle your girlfriend or something,” she teased. He frowned at her, looking confused.

“No,” he said. “She’s with that strange Scottish exchange student who’s name I can’t pronounce. But she’s a person and she’s sweet and Eric is an asshole and well, Belle is only about yea big,” he said, bringing his thumb and index finger close together. “I couldn’t do nothing,” he insisted. Emma laughed. 

Two things changed that day. One, Emma understood Shakespeare for the first (and last) time in her life. And two, she decided to make Killian Jones her friend. 

They were inseparable after that. At school  they spent almost all of their time together. In class they sat next to each other, they chatted in the halls between bells, they ate lunch together, and Killian ate dinner at their house regularly. Emma learned fairly quickly that his own home wasn’t a place he liked to be when he could avoid it. 

His mother had died when he was young and his father had raised him and his brother for a few years but finally decided that he couldn’t handle raising his sons on his own so when Killian’s brother went off to university, he had sent him to live with his aunt Cora in Boston. She was, in Killian’s own words, not a very nice woman. 

It was then that Emma realised how similar she and Killian were. They’d both been abandoned and left behind by the people who were supposed to care about them more than anyone. His father had sent him away. Her parents had abandoned her by the side of the road. Both their parents had chosen to give them up. And so she invited him for dinner, because Ruth and David were the best thing that had ever happened to her and she thought he could use a little bit of the Nolans in his life. 

He and David got along like a house on fire. She was surprised considering how David was such a jock, and Killian revealed dorkier and dorkier interests with every day that she knew him. But they were similar, she could see that, in their friendliness and openness and their humor. Killian told her that David reminded him of his brother and that made him miss him less. 

David also quickly became the bane of her existence, insisting that she and Killian were secretly in love with each other and getting on her case to just admit it already so that they could get married and have lots of babies like they both clearly wanted. Emma usually punched him for that. 

She and Killian were friends. That was all. She’d had few real friends in her life and she wasn’t going to screw this one up by developing feelings for him. No matter how cute he looked when his hair fell onto his forehead despite his best efforts to push it back. No matter how much he made her laugh or how much she enjoyed when they watched a movie late on the weekend and he let her fall asleep with her head in his lap. No matter how she thought he looked kind of hot when he got mad every time she beat him at Scrabble - which was all the time. They were friends. 

Emma had tried love once. She was sixteen, just when Ruth and David had first taken her in. There had been a guy. He had been in one of her group homes a while back, before he aged out and they had stayed in touch. They’d reunited when they found themselves both in the same city. 

He was older but she didn’t think that mattered. What was five years when they’d lived so many of the same experiences? Ruth hadn’t approved of the situation but she’d stayed mostly quiet about it - their relationship not strong enough for her to impose her views yet. 

She’d thought Neal was the love of her life. But then, she’d had a pregnancy scare and he’d run away faster than a bat outta hell. She’d never heard from him since. She hadn’t been pregnant, thank god. She was not ready to be a mother. But to see how little she meant to him, how despite all his pretty words and promises he had left her so easily the second he was faced with her being in his life forever… it had hurt. It had destroyed her, really. So she figured love wasn’t really worth it in the end. 

She’d met Killian less than a year later and at first she’d hated him because that easy charisma and confidence and air of a damaged soul had reminded her so strongly of Neal that she’d headed for the hills. But after she’d gotten to know him she realised how different they were, and so she did love him - not in that way, maybe in that way- but in the way she loved David. She trusted him and liked being around him. 

He was her friend - even if she had had that weird dream about him one time… several times… too many times. It wasn’t her fault that she thought about him when she woke up and before she went to sleep. He was usually texting her at that time - what else could she think about? They were friends. He was her best friend and he had been for nearly a year when everything changed. 

“I um, I got in,” he told her when they were sitting at the kitchen table one weekend near the end of their senior year. They’d decided to open their letters together. Emma had applied to a few colleges nearby and the local community college. She had her sights set on becoming a police officer or a social worker. She wasn’t sure which yet. Killian wanted to be an English professor. He’d told her so one of the first days they’d hung out. She’d called him a nerd but gave him credit for at least finding a way to make money off of it. 

“Got in where?” she asked. She’d missed which envelope he’d opened. He had a lot - they were all the big envelopes too. 

“Oxford,” he said, his eyes wide in disbelief and amazement. 

“Holy shit, Killian!” she shouted, standing up and throwing her arms around him, nearly knocking him right off his chair. “That’s amazing! Isn’t that where your brother studies? That’s an amazing school! Oh my god, professor Jones here you come!” 

She was beaming, so proud of him, so happy for him. She knew this was his dream school. But there was something off. He didn’t look as thrilled as she expected him to. Maybe it was just shock but she thought he could at least smile about it. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, nudging his shoulder. “I thought this was what you wanted?” 

“It is - sort of. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s in England,” he said and for the first time since he’d opened that letter it hit her. Oh. Oh. That meant… that meant he’d be leaving. Moving hundreds of miles away. 

“I don’t have to go there,” he said, giving her an awkward, embarrassed smile. “I got into Harvard too.” 

“You what?” she practically screamed. She punched his arm. “You weren’t supposed to open letters without me!” 

“It was Harvard, Emma,” he deadpanned and she couldn’t really be mad at him. She wouldn’t have been able to wait either. 

“Where do you want to go?” she asked and he looked at her hesitantly. She tried not to think about the way her heart was racing in her chest. Or about how blue his eyes were. Or about how she might not get to see them every day if he went to Oxford. 

“I don’t know,” he started and she knew he was lying. 

“Yes you do.” He looked away, not meeting her eye. “Killian, I know you hate it here,” he opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. “I know you like me and David and Belle and some of the others but… I know you miss home. I know you miss your brother. I also know it’s the better program because you’ve told me so. Multiple times.” She held her breath for a moment, surprised at how much it hurt to encourage him to follow his dream. “Oxford is everything you’ve ever wanted.” 

“Not everything,” he said and she tried to meet his eye. He wouldn’t look at her. 

“What do you mean? What’s missing.” 

“You,” he answered, finally looking at her and her breath caught in her throat. Not just at his words, but at the way he was looking at her, like he’d been holding something back a long time and now the floodgates had opened and it was rushing out, plain on his face. “Oxford doesn’t have you,” he said. 

“If I stay here,” he continued, “we could go to school in the same city. We could keep hanging out between classes and on the weekends - we could even get a flat together!” he said a little excitedly and Emma’s chest hurt because she wanted all of those things, so badly. But she couldn’t have them. She couldn’t let him choose her over his future. They were friends. They were seventeen. He would regret it and resent her for the rest of his life. 

“But Oxford is your dream, everything you said you wanted,” she reminded him. “Oxford is where your family is, your brother and your old friends.” Her argument sounded weak to her own ears. 

“Maybe I have other dreams, other things I want more,” he said, looking at her that way again. It scared her. 

“What dreams,” she asked, barely whispering. 

“Emma,” he said, taking her hand and her heart started racing. “Emma you have to know, there’s no way you couldn’t. The whole school knows, your brother knows.” Her breath was coming quickly now, all of her senses on high alert and her blood rushing in her ears as he leaned in.

He pressed his lips to hers, tentatively, nervously, but with a passion that Killian always had for anything he did, anything he cared about. She shouldn’t let him kiss her, she thought. She couldn’t. She couldn’t because she wanted him to and if she wanted that then she had to admit to everything she wanted, to how much she wanted him. 

Of course she knew. She’d always known and… he knew too. But this was his life. His future. She couldn't let him throw it away for her. She loved him, regardless of which way, and so she had to let him go. So she did let him kiss her, for a moment, let her lips slide over his own, let herself enjoy how natural it felt, how right it felt - because she knew she’d never get to again. She pulled away first. 

“Killian -” she started and he must have heard it in her voice because he raised his hand, cupped her cheek.

“No,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. His words were frantic, desperate, like he was trying to hold on to something he knew was slipping away. “I love you, Emma. Ask me not to go. Ask me to stay.” 

She couldn’t. She couldn’t ask him that. It was selfish and she couldn’t let him give up his dreams for her. She wasn’t worth it. She knew he wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t let her convince him to leave just like that. She’d have to hurt him - for his own sake. And it would hurt her just as much. 

“I can’t,” she said and she felt his hand tighten slightly in her hair. She pulled back. “Killian. Don’t stay for me. Whatever it is you feel for me… I don’t,” she lied. “I’m sorry. But you can’t stay in Boston for me. Not if you’re staying because you hope something will happen because… it’s never going to happen.”

She felt him tense. His hand still in her hair, her hand still clasped in his. Then he pulled back all at once, looked down, and then back at her. He was hurt, but there was guilt there too. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Emma, I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s fine.”

“Will you still be my friend?” he asked. “Even after…”

“Yes,” she promised. 

“You really want me to go?” he asked. She nodded, hoped he didn’t see the tears she was struggling to hold off. 

“Yeah. I really want you to go,” she said. 

When Killian went home that night, earlier than usual, Emma let herself cry. 

Killian left in the summer. Their goodbye was awkward, as had most of their interactions been since his confession. They’d tried not to make it awkward, to go back to how they’d been but now he had this huge vulnerability hanging between them and she had this huge lie hanging between them. It tore at the fabric that made them what they were, that made their friendship what it had been. It stained it. 

“Keep in touch,” she said as she hugged him outside his aunt’s house, the cab waiting behind them. 

“Aye,” he promised. He got in the cab and David’s arm was around her suddenly. 

“You okay?” he asked. 

“Fine,” she lied again. She was getting good at it. 

***

They were still sort of friends, for the first year they kept in touch - really made an effort. Killian told her about the residence and the people he had met and his professors and Emma told him about her forensics courses. She’d decided on becoming a police officer - but she wanted to be a detective. David was in the same program. It was nice to do it with someone else. 

But slowly, unavoidably, life got in the way. The phone calls were few and farther between, he didn’t have the money to go to Boston for Thanksgiving and she didn’t have the money to go to England for Christmas. Plans were broken, texts went unanswered, new friends were made, new interests developed and slowly, they drifted. 

It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just one of those sad, unavoidable realities of life. Only, he and David still talked, still texted and emailed and spoke on the phone. So maybe it wasn’t so unavoidable. Maybe they’d both needed it. 

She still had him on Facebook, still checked in on his profile despite the years that passed, trying to stay aware of the things that were happening in his life. She learned about his brother’s death from David. She sent him a card with her condolences but she didn’t go to the funeral. It had been three years since he left, two since they’d spoken. He probably wouldn’t have wanted her there anyway. He hadn’t come down for David and Mary Margaret’s wedding a year later, despite having known both of them since high school. He’d had exams and had sent his apologies and a gift by mail. 

She saw online that he was in a long-term relationship, someone called Milah, a pretty dark haired woman who looked a few years older than him, a professor at his school she discovered after a little bit of snooping. He was with her for two years during which Emma was accosted with pictures of the two of them, until finally, one day they just stopped. She wondered what had happened there. 

She smiled when she learned that he got his PhD. He’d posted a picture of himself with a beer in one hand and his diploma in the other. He’d captioned it ‘that’s DOCTOR Killian Jones to you’. She hit the like button. He changed his job status to ‘employed’ at one of the smaller nearby colleges shortly after and she was proud of him. He’d done it. He’d gotten everything he wanted. It had taken ten years, but he was exactly who he’d hoped to be. 

So was she. She had made detective a few years ago, alongside David. They were even allowed to be partners since technically they weren’t related. She was happy, she had a job she loved, a nice apartment that was all her own, good friends, family… but she still checked his Facebook. She still spent evenings sometimes with a glass of wine looking up the boy who had told her he loved her when she was seventeen. 

She and David were sitting in their patrol car, staking out a coffee shop of all places that they’d been told their perp liked to use to make his drops, when he told her Killian was moving back. 

“What?” she demanded, her voice practically squeaking. 

“He got a job at Harvard,” David said dismissively, as though he hadn’t just turned her world upside down. “He’s got a one year teaching contract. I guess they liked the idea of a Brit teaching British lit,” he smirked a little at his own joke. 

Emma was reeling. She wasn’t prepared for this. She didn’t know how to handle the guy that she’d loved in high school and then stalked on Facebook for ten years suddenly coming back into her life. 

“You okay?” David asked, looking at her strangely. 

“Fine,” she said quickly and he rolled his eyes, not buying it. 

“Whatever,” he said, picking his battles. “We’re having a party at our house to welcome him home,” he told her. “You should come.” Emma forgot sometimes that David and Killian were still friends, even after all these years. He and Mary Margaret had even taken the time to visit him when they’d gone to Europe for their anniversary last year.

“Maybe,” she said dismissively. 

“He still asks about you, you know,” David said after a moment. Emma stayed silent, pretending to look through her binoculars at the front door of the cafe. Pretending her heart wasn’t racing in her chest at the idea of seeing the man whose heart she’d broken a decade ago. 

She’d debated not going to the party. Had walked to her front door and back into her kitchen a few times, had hesitated at her car, but she’d finally told herself to snap out of it. It had been ten years ago. They’d been teenagers. He was surely over it by now and she should be too. So she went. 

She hadn’t been prepared. She thought she was but when she walked in and saw him standing with David and Mary Margaret, smiling at something one of them was saying… it was brutal. It was brutal because he was different. She’d expected him to be different of course, but not like this. 

His smile didn’t reach his eyes. He looked sadder and older. He held himself more confidently than he had in high school, but something about it told her it was a facade. Maybe she just knew him, she thought. But she didn’t anymore, did she, she was reminded. Her heart stopped when he looked over, met her eyes. He smiled a little but it wasn’t the easy smile she’d loved so much. He raised his bottle at her and she gave an awkward wave. 

“Long time no see, stranger,” he said later, coming up behind her to say hello and honestly scaring the absolute shit out of her.

“Jesus, Killian,” she said, hand to her chest. “Don’t you know not to sneak up on a cop like that?”

He smiled, that teasing smile she remembered. “I think I could take David if we’re honest.” She laughed. “I heard you made detective,” he said. “Congratulations.” 

“Thanks. I hear you’re finally Professor Jones.”

“Aye. It seems we both got what we wanted in the end,” he said and there was a bit of sadness in the way he said it, the kind that she could tell was unintentional. 

“So,” she started awkwardly when the silence dragged on. “How have you been?”

“Good, good,” he said. “You?” This was brutal. They continued the small talk for a while. She missed how easy things used to be between them. She missed all the stupid, fun things they did when they were kids and they didn’t have all this baggage hanging between them. 

“You know what I miss?” she said out loud and he raised a brow at her. 

“No, Swan, what do you miss?” 

“I miss when we used to steal Ruth’s whiskey and climb up onto the roof and drink it there,” she smiled, remembering how many long, slightly drunken conversations they’d had as kids on the roof of Ruth’s house. 

Killian smiled, fondly and then a little mischievously. He leaned in a little and Emma couldn’t help but notice the way his face had changed. His jaw was sharper, some of the roundness of his cheeks having faded with age, and he’d grown into his nose. He was sporting a short beard now too, something he’d always wanted to complete his professor look but hadn’t been able to grow. He dressed better too, no more jeans and band tshirts. Now he wore… well, jeans and a tshirt but nicer ones with a jacket and boots instead of converse. It was pretty unfair, Emma thought, that he'd gotten better looking with age. He’d been good-looking enough to begin with. 

“I think I spy a bottle of whiskey in the kitchen there,” he hinted and Emma smirked. 

“This place does have a roof,” she said, matching his tone. 

“I’ll get the bottle, you distract Dave,” he said, winking - well, trying to. He’d never mastered that one and it made her smile a bit to see that some things hadn’t changed. 

They successfully managed to steal the bottle and hurry their way up to the guest room that Emma knew had a window they could walk out onto the roof from. They sat there, knees pulled up, passing the bottle between them as they looked out at the slowly darkening sky. Emma let the liquor warm her, let it make her a little looser, a little braver. 

“How are you really, Killian?” she asked eventually. He sighed, reaching for the bottle and taking a sip. 

“Tired,” he said. “It’s been a rough few years.” 

“I saw, about your brother,” she said. “I’m sorry.” 

He nodded. “Thank you. I’ve learned to live with it.”

“There was a woman too,” she said, not quick enough to catch the words before they slipped out. He raised an eyebrow at her teasingly.

“Been stalking my facebook, have you, Swan?”

She shrugged, deciding to be honest. “Only a little.” He looked surprised at her confession, a small smile breaking out on his face. 

“Aye, there was a woman,” he said and she wanted to roll her eyes at the fact that he sounded like some old dandy poet, lamenting over a lost love. “Milah. She went back to her husband.” Emma’s eyes shot up to her hairline. Husband? Wow. That was not what she’d expected. “There was a child involved,” he said, not turning to see her surprised look. “It was for the best.” 

He didn’t sound like he totally believed what he said, but he sounded like he’d made peace with it. Emma felt for him. His life had continued on the way it had been when they met. He’d lost more people, been left behind by more people he cared about, loved. She’d managed to avoid that. But she hadn’t let herself love anyone new. Not since him. 

“And what about you?” he asked, turning to hand her back the bottle. “What great loves have you lived and lost? Or is there a great love now?” he asked with a cheeky smile. She laughed.

“Nah, not for me,” she said. “My love affairs usually only last until the next morning.” He huffed out a laugh as she took another drink from the bottle. 

“Ah, you’ll find it someday,” he said. “One day there will be a man that you can’t dream of living without and that one will last a long time.”

“Two nights?” she joked and he laughed again. His laugh was the same, she thought with a small smile. 

“Aye, two nights.” 

They sat in silence for a while, continuing to share the bottle and Emma decided to blame that for what she said next. “I’ve missed you,” she told him and he turned his head to face her, away from the stars they’d been gazing up at. 

“I’ve missed you too, Swan,” he told her. He lay back, stretched his arm out and she took the invitation, snuggled up next to him like they had when they were teenagers watching scary movies and she lay her head on his shoulder. 

They stayed out there for another hour before David came to find them, scolding Killian for sneaking out of his own party. But he smiled at them as they climbed back through the window and Emma knew he was happy they’d found their way back to each other - that they were finding their way back to the friendship she’d once valued more than anything.

The next night, Emma invited him out for a drink with her and some of her friends from college. He’d made a comment about going out two nights in a row and she’d mocked him for being an old man - ‘I’m sorry, has it been ten years or fifty since we last saw each other?’ - and he agreed to join her. 

Emma was surprised, tough not really, at how well he fit in with her friends. They all loved him, loved his stories from teaching and the fact that he had dirt on Emma from before any of them knew her. He and Will and Robin hit it off immediately and she figured it was probably a brit thing. They spent over an hour talking about soccer. 

He fit in well here. Emma tried not to think about the fact that he fit so well into her life. Or about how much she liked that he fit there, how much she’d missed having him there. She also, really tried to ignore the way that his shirt clung to his biceps. He hadn’t had those in high school. It was difficult when Ruby seemed so intent on pointing it out. Ruby was being herself, pretending to be more salacious than she really was for a laugh, making comments about how she could just spread him on a cracker, when she looked at Emma and her face changed. 

“Oh,” she said and Emma didn’t like the knowing tone of her voice.

“What?” Emma asked, realising that her arms were crossed over her chest. She let them fall, tried to strike a more casual pose. 

“I didn’t realise… you like him,” she said with a sly smile. Emma scoffed.

“We’re friends,” she said flatly. 

“Mhm,” Ruby smirked. “You don’t look at me like that,” she pointed out. “Or Will, or Robin, or even Graham.” 

“Shut up,” Emma said, crossing her arms again as Killian looked over and she accidentally, automatically smiled at him. Ruby only laughed. 

They were friends. They’d only just started being friends again. She wasn’t going to ruin it now. She’d been the one to ensure that they would always, only be friends. ‘It’s never going to happen’, she’d told him. She’d made her bed. Now she had to lie in it - alone. 

She still couldn’t help wondering though if he still kissed the same way. She’d only kissed him once but she’d had yet to have another that lived up to it. And he’d been a teenager then, she was pretty sure she was the second girl he’d ever kissed. She wondered what it would be like now. 

She pushed the thought away. She’d thrown that possibility out the window a long time ago. She’d done it for his own good. And look who he was now, a professor, he had a goddamn PhD. He’d gotten everything he wanted. So why did he look so sad most of the time? Why was she so sad most of the time? She hadn’t noticed that she was before - it had only been since he came back and she had become aware of the gaping hole where something had been missing from her life. 

Having him back helped a bit. Like a bandaid over an open wound. She just hoped that the awkwardness would fade and they would find their way back to the friendship she had mourned for so long, had never really gotten over. She hoped he would let her earn it back. She looked at him laughing at something Robin said and she realised that regardless of time, her life was a little better with him in it. 

The awkwardness did fade. It wasn’t instant and it wasn’t necessarily easy - there was a lot between them, a lot of years and disappointments and broken trust, but soon, they found their way back to what they’d had as kids. It wasn’t long before they were spending evenings in each other's apartments, curling up on the couch and watching bad movies. She found herself smiling a lot throughout the day when he would text her a funny message or a stupid meme.

He was there for Christmas, only the second they’d gotten to celebrate together. They’d both spent the night at David and Mary Margaret’s and Emma had only been disappointed for a second that there were two guest rooms. She’d been looking forward to staying up late talking with him and laughing… and flirting. She’d noticed that there had been a bit more flirting, more than there used to be. On second thought, having to share a bed might not have been a good thing. Not if she wanted to keep him as a friend. She bought him a tweed jacket with leather patches on the shoulders that year. It was meant to be a joke but he’d worn it every day for a month. 

He was there for New Years and Emma felt her heart skip a beat when he kissed her at midnight. It was a small thing, a peck on the lips, barely a second, and he’d smiled at her in a way that made her feel that she shouldn’t read into it - no matter how much she wanted to. It was just a European thing, she insisted, weird boundaries. 

There had been a moment, once, when they’d been sitting on her couch in her apartment, watching another terrible movie. Nothing had happened, nothing specifically, but suddenly she found herself looking at him and he was watching her too, something heavy hanging in the air between them. 

Their hands were close and he moved his little finger, brushed it over hers and it made her breath stop. It was ridiculous, considering her legs were thrown over his and they were already sitting so close, but her breath stopped anyway. It was the way he was looking at her, the uncertainty and the affection and just a tiny bit of longing - there was no other word for it. She recognized it because she’d felt it every day since he’d come home - every day since he’d left ten years ago. 

His fingers had continued, collecting more of hers and slowly intertwining them. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to kiss her. She was pretty sure that he would for a moment. He held their hands up between them, looked at them and then at her, pulled her a little closer. And then a loud noise had come from the TV and he’d jumped, dropping her hands and scratching at his ear. They didn’t bring it up again. 

He was there for St Patty’s Day and Easter and the Fourth of July and birthdays, and before she knew it a year had passed. Well, nearly a year, eleven months to be exact. She knew that because it was August and he was complaining about having to go back to teaching the ‘little entitled shit’s’ as he called them. 

“Weren't you one of those students a few years ago?” she reminded him, flicking at his ear as she walked around him into her kitchen to grab them a snack. He was sitting on her sofa a few feet away. Her apartment was small, but it was cozy.

“I was a little shit,” he allowed, batting at her hand. “But I was never entitled. It’s the entiledness that really gets to me.”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” she taunted, as she put the popcorn in the microwave and turned it on. 

He turned, throwing his arm over the back of the couch and looking over his shoulder at her. “You really want to question an English Literature professor?” 

“Being a professor doesn’t mean you get to make up words,” she told him. “Besides, I still beat you in Scrabble so I’m pretty sure I’m the expert.” 

He scoffed, hopping over the back of the couch and joining her in the kitchen. “Scrabble is a game of luck, nothing more,” he told her. “You can’t make words if you don’t get the right letters.” 

“Sounds like something a loser would say,” she shrugged. He looked at her in shock and Emma saw the glint in his eye a second before he moved. “Don’t,” she tried to warn him but he was too fast. He grabbed her and the idiot started tickling her, actually tickling her like he was seven years old. 

“Admit I have a superior mastery of the English language,” he demanded. She shrieked as she laughed, her sides burning, cursing him. He had her trapped against his body, his arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her back to his chest.

“Never!” she saw her opportunity and she took it. She grabbed his arm and spun him around, managed to pin him against the fridge, her arm braced against his chest, holding one of his wrists, she held the other down at his side. 

“Woah,” he said, eyes wide. 

“I keep telling you not to mess with cops,” she pointed out. 

“That was kind of hot,” he admitted, looking more impressed than turned on really. But that was enough for Emma to realise that she had him pushed up against the fridge, her whole body pressed to his. She could feel her face warming, could feel all of her skin warming where she touched his. Oh. She saw it in his eyes when he noticed too. 

She let him go, moved to step back but he caught her, putting his hand on her lower back and pulling her back in. Her heart rate picked up as he pressed her against him, that look in his eyes he’d had that night on her couch back again. He licked his bottom lip and Emma’s eyes darted down to it immediately. 

She saw the way his expression changed a little when she did, curiosity there as he cocked his head, looking her over. He seemed unable to settle on a single part of her face until he stopped at her lips. His own parted, his chin tilting slightly, drawing closer and she couldn’t think of anything except the heat of him against her and her heart running a marathon in her chest. She could feel his breath on her face and that he looked so damn handsome and she just really, really wanted him to kiss her. 

The microwave beeped and Emma cursed the shitty timing that seemed to keep ripping them apart anytime she was given the smallest bit of hope that there could be something more, that they could be something more. Because that was what she wanted. She’d stopped denying it that night on her couch. 

She wanted Killian. She loved Killian. She had since she was seventeen years old. She’d thought it would go away, had almost believed it had at one point. But then he’d come back into her life and that part of her that had been on mute, on pause but never truly gone had reared its head, made sure she knew that she was still, completely and hopelessly in love with the boy she’d met in detention. 

Killian released her, cleared his throat and she stepped back. She held back her sigh, her disappointment. She couldn’t tell him. Not now. Not after all they went through, not now that they were back to who they’d been. She’d turned him down ten years ago. She’d broken his heart. To tell him now that she loved him, that she’d always loved him... She feared his reaction, feared his rejection. 

“I have to tell you something.” He said to her back. She was pouring popcorn into a bowl. 

“If it’s that you don’t want Milkduds in your popcorn you’re shit outta luck,” she said, trying to lighten the heavy mood between them. 

“No, well, yes, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you.” She turned around, recognizing the serious tone of his voice. She leaned back against the counter, waiting for him to say whatever he needed to say. “I’ve been offered a job,” he told her. 

“Killian that’s amazing!” she started but he stopped her. 

“It’s at Oxford.” She felt her heart drop into her stomach. No. Not again. She’d only just gotten him back. “A former professor of mine, Nemo, he pulled some strings when one of the faculty announced her retirement. He says the job is mine if I can get there for the fall semester.” 

It took Emma a moment to speak, trying to process what he was saying, trying to cope with the way it was ripping out her heart. “What about Harvard?” she asked, a little hopefully. 

He scratched that spot behind his ear like he always did when he was nervous. “That position is still up in the air. They’re still reviewing my candidacy.” 

She didn’t say anything, not for a long time. She couldn’t think of what to say. She felt like she was seventeen again, having the exact same conversation they’d had then. Please don’t go, she wanted to beg. Don’t leave. Stay here with me. Be with me. Choose me. But he’d chosen her once before. He’d chosen her and she’d practically thrown it back in his face. 

“It’s a pretty great opportunity,” he continued. “Rare too. It usually takes years to get a position like that.” She could hear him speaking, was aware that he was talking to her, but she couldn’t hear him over the thoughts that were rolling around in her head. She couldn’t lose him again. Not like last time. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. 

“The English program there is renowned and-”

“Don’t go.” 

He froze. “What?” 

Shit. Shit, she’d said it out loud. He was looking at her with disbelief and shock and maybe a tiny bit of hope, but maybe she’d imagined that. Well, it was too late now to take it back. 

“Don’t go,” she repeated, stronger this time. She watched the emotions playing over his face, so many that she couldn’t track all of them. But the last one was anger, a desperate kind. 

“What do you mean don’t go?” he reeled on her. “How - How can you ask me that? After all these years?” 

“I know,” she said, hanging her head. “I’m sorry but I just,” she took a deep breath. “I let you leave once and it was the worst mistake I ever made. I was in love with you and when you left I lost you and... Don’t go.” His eyes widened in shock, his jaw dropping. If this moment hadn’t been so serious it would have been almost comical.

“You were in love with me?” he demanded, disbelief clear in his voice. He stepped forward. “Why didn’t you tell me that ten years ago? Why did you push me away?” His voice cracked a little. “I was in love with you, Emma. I’d have done anything for you and you - You broke my heart.” 

“I know,” she could feel tears burning her eyes. “I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought that if you stayed you’d resent me, that you’d hate me eventually. I wanted you to get everything you wanted.”

“You were what I wanted!” he practically shouted at her. She flinched a little. “I wanted to be with you but you turned me down. And then you cut me out of your life.”

“I didn’t-”

“You did, Emma. You stopped answering my calls, my texts, my emails. You didn’t come to the funeral…” She hung her head again. “And now, now we’re finally speaking again, finally back in each other’s lives, finally friends again and now you say you loved me? Now you ask me to stay?”

“Are you not anymore?” she asked and he looked at her in confusion. “In love with me," she clarified. She shouldn’t be asking him. She knew she wouldn’t like the answer. Just because her feelings hadn’t changed in ten years didn’t mean his wouldn’t. He tensed, stood up straighter.

“Are you?” he demanded. 

Emma bit her lip. She was. She was as in love with him now as she was at seventeen but it was different now. She was an adult, she understood the difference between love and infatuation, knew how they were different. Her love had grown from missing him for a decade, had grown more from being with him this last year. It was all consuming, all she thought about. All she wanted was him, if he turned her down now… she didn’t know if she’d recover. 

“Emma, how can you ask me to stay if you can’t even tell me how you feel? What are you asking me to stay for?” She didn’t have an answer. She just stared at her feet. He waited for a while, and she heard as his breath slowed and became a heavy sigh. “I should go,” he said, walking back over to the couch to grab his jacket. 

He was at the door when the panic seized her. The dread and the fear that he was leaving, that he was walking out of her life again, that it was her fault again, that she would surely lose him for good this time, overwhelmed her, reared its head and took over. What are you asking me to stay for? he’d asked. He hadn’t answered her question, hadn’t told her he didn’t love her. He’d just wanted a reason. She’d give him a reason if it meant he would stay. He’d been the one to put his heart on the line last time. Now it was her turn.

“Don’t go,” she said again and he stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Don’t go. Don’t leave the apartment. Don’t go back to England. Don’t leave again. Please,” she begged.

He didn’t turn around but she heard him speak. “Why not?” 

“Because I love you,” she nearly shouted at him. “Okay? I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen and I thought I could get over it but I can’t. I lost you once and I can’t lose you again so please,” she paused, a small sob leaving her. He turned around finally, walked back over to where she still stood against the counter. 

“Please just don’t go,” she said again, quieter this time. “I should have said it then but I’m saying it now. I’m being selfish and asking you to pass on your amazing opportunity. I’m asking you to choose me and be with me instead.”

He took her chin between his thumb and his finger dragged her gaze up from where it had been staring at her feet, met her eyes and her heart jumped at the softness there, the anger from earlier gone. “I’ll stay,” he said and she thought her knees would give out with the force of the relief, the hope hitting her all at once.

“What about your job?” she said hesitantly. Shut up, Emma. You got what you wanted. But she still cared - about his success and his dreams, even as she asked him to give them up.

“Fuck my job,” he said before his hand moved to her cheek and he slid his mouth over hers. Emma wanted to cry as she felt his lips move over her own. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, slanting his mouth over hers and she opened beneath him, let him explore her with lips and tongue, and his hands on her body. 

Her hands came up around his neck, tangling in his hair and dragging him closer, pressing herself against him until here was no room left between them at all. He backed her against the counter and she didn’t care even as she felt the hard ridge digging into her back. He groaned when she rolled her hips against the hard ridge digging into her belly. 

“Wait, wait,” he said, breath heavy and ragged as he pulled his lips away from hers.

“What?” she asked, suddenly nervous. That had been the best moment in her entire life and now she feared it would come crashing down, that he’d changed his mind. 

“I forgot to tell you that I love you too,” he said, sounding panicked. She looked at him in disbelief and in that moment he was exactly the boy she’d fallen in love with, awkward and sweet and nervous and just so stupid for such a smart person. “I love you,” he said. “I have for a decade. It never stopped for me either.” Whatever quip she had planned died on her tongue at the sincerity in his voice and on his face. 

She smiled before pulling his lips back to hers, standing on her tiptoes so that she could kiss him properly, the way she’d wanted to for ten years and hadn’t been able to. He kissed her back just as eagerly, lips and teeth and tongue driving her nearly as mad as his hands, which were everywhere at once, stoking the fire that had been burning inside of her since she’d pinned him against the fridge. 

“You’ve gotten better at this,” she teased when they pulled back a moment to catch their breath. He gave her a truly wicked grin. 

“I’ve gotten better at a great many things,” he promised, and she knew where he was going with it, was definitely on board with his plan… but she couldn’t help herself.

“Not Scrabble…” 

He bent down then, grabbing her around the knees and hoisting her up over his shoulder. She shrieked, laughing as he carried her the short distance to her bedroom, dropping her unceremoniously on the mattress. He was such a sore loser. 

He looked at her for a moment, standing at the edge of the bed before leaning down over her, bracing his hands on either side of her head, and lowering his face to hers so their lips nearly brushed as he spoke.

“Not Scrabble,” he conceded before that smile came back. “But a great many things.” 

#cs #captain swan #captain swan au #friends to lovers #cs au #cs fanfiction #captain swan fanfiction #captain swan fanfic #cs fanfic

[popculturebuffet]

Close Enough: So Long Boys And Clap Like This

ON this hour’s episodes: Josh decides to have a vasectomy after a pregnancy scare and soons end up dealing with second thoughts and bostonian robots while Alex regrets getting his after meeting what are maybe his children. Then Josh finally sells a game but it falls through and takes up extra jobs to avoid telling his family while Bridgette is forced to get a real job on her birthday and Alex enjoys inudstrial humis. Clap Like This under the cut. 

So Long Boys

Aka the greatest vacesctomy based comedy episode since Brooklyn Nine Nine’s “Choclate Milk”. If you don’t know the show or don’t remember that episode if you are a fellow 99er it’s the one where Jake thinks his superior officer and friend Terry getting a vasectomy means chopping his penis off. I mean it starts off just assuming he’s making a joke but it becomes blurry if he’s just making quips or genuinely thinks that’s how it works. It’s also easy to compare these two because they both, while vastly diffrent and great episodes in their own rights: have a simlilar beat to the plot: a character trying to get a vasectomy for responsible reasons but being unsure they don’t wnat more kids. It’s just Brooklyn Nine Nine is more also about Jake being hurt Terry dosen’t think of him as a friend, a position he reverses while Close Enough has indentured pop and lock teenagers, a dark ride dedicated to scaring people out of kids and bostionan robots that sound like JFK from Clone HIgh. How does any of this fit together, let’s take a look. 

So we open with Josh and Emily having a huge pregnancy scare, which was caused by the birthday sex from the pitch trailer aka Josh trying to pass it off as “we’re just doing our taxes sweetie!”. In other words the main bit I wanted to see transfered to the show proper. And while there’s a few joke this scene is mostly played for drama.. it’s not out of tone with the rest of the show. What really has made this show work for me is it combines regular show antics, but with the added maturity of having an older cast dealing with growing up. A bunch of 30 somethings to start instead of a bunch of 20 somethings so instead of dealing with stuff like video game competitionts, guys nights, and dating woes, it’s more dealing with juggling family and friends, having a job you hate and trying to ballance your career with your passion.  And here is no diffrent: Josh and Emily HAVE no money, live in a cramped apartment with their best friends and a newly divorced couple which as we’ve seen isn’t always easy, and work jobs htey utterly hate and would have to double down on, snuffing out their real dreams, in order to support this kid. Josh outright says he’ll get a second job and give up his video game development which wihle it’d probably be miserable for him would be a sad neciscity. I myself do this blog on the side while trying desperatley to get an actual paying job, it sucks and their situation is compounded by having a kid on top of it who needs their support and attention. It’s stressful enough without adding a second child. Thankfully it’s a false alarm.  However Josh, in a show of responsibility decided to do something about it and get a vasectomy. Still being josh though, his getting one also involves a massive and hilarious vasectomy party, where a bunch of people we never met, and alex and bridgette obviously play party games involving pinning sisssors on testies and theires even a breakdancing sperm. Emily and Pearle’s reactions are gold to this: Emily, before the opening, tells Josh he’s not allowed to plan parties anymore, understandable while Pearle genuinely didn’t belivie they were dumb enough to have a vasectomy party and gives out an understandable “Damn you white people” when she’s proven wrong. Alex also gets set up for his subplot in the episode mentioning he got his a year ago, which given his and Bridgette’s relationship was probably falling apart around then was a good call. I do however like this: Something big happend and Josh is taking responsibility for it, while still being josh about it, but it shows how unlike a lot of idiot heroes in adult cartoons,he’s still a genuinely nice guy who tries to do what’s right, and has more than one brain cell. he has two thank you. So Alex drives josh to get a vasectomy, while Randy presumibly watches Candace as we only see her at the start (Peale was watching her during hte party to help keep her in the dark for now) and finish of the episode. Meanwhile Emily, Bridgette and Pearle have a small B plot having brunch mamosas and boxing up candace’s baby stuff. We also find out for 100% sure our heroines nationatlities: Bridgette is japanese while Emily is Mexican. Mostly because Bridgette always saw Emily with a bigger family and only half for racist reasons that get her handcuffed to a pipe by a drunken Pearle. This show really needs more of Pearle asa every time she shows up she’s a fucking delight and if the show hopefully returns for season 2 I could easily see her getting more screentime. Emily ends up in tears and realizing she may want more kids, which is.. resonable. Their only 32. While it’s resonable to want or have any amount of kids, except like 20 like that one tlc show... I never watched it but when the only two things you hear about a show you don’t watch is the weird, archacic dating setup they have that feels like it produces a good marriage as much as Charlie Sheen did, and that the mother won’t stop having kids despite it nearly killing her  multiple times and having you know 20, you kinda don’t want to watch it.  Anyway it’s resonable to want a family of any size you want, Emily realises she’s not sure she wants to stop at 1 just yet.  Meanwhile in the A-Plot Josh has come to the same conclusion after finding out that not only is this version of a vasectomy he’s getting permentant, mostly due to ball scorching done by robots, but after a hilarious but deeplly insulting carnival ride in the clinic that’s supposed to Scare josh out of having kids and features two teenagers fighting and pop and locking, a goblin and a wall just saying why why why why, impilng kids ruin your sleep, your romantic lives and are terrible. Josh however understandably takes offense to this, and seeing a brother and sister.. only make him not want to deprive candace of possibly having a sister oneday. Again while he and Emily are in no way in position for a second kid now.. they have time and Josh could easily sell a game at some point: he almost does in the next episode. ONe of Emily and Bridgette’s songs could go viral. Or Josh could end up finding a much better day job or Emily could get a promtion at hers. While not wanting to have a second child while they can’t support one is the right move, Josh realizes not wanting ot have one at all, at least in their spectfic case, was an overreaction to a scary situation.  Josh decides to think more, despite the doctor offring up some pubic scaping for extra, and he and Alex end up finding the Teens from the ride.. who are in fact real kids who look an AWFUL lot and act an awfl lot like alex and are basically indentured to the doctor,who treats them like crap and has them undder contract to pop and lock for him and look at his new pubic hair designs (”Those nights are the hardest”). Josh decides not to go through with it but the bostioan robots who do the procedure refuse to let that happen and leave Josh, Alex and the Twins on the run, while Alex himself reconsiders parenthood as he’s now proud of what he thinks are his kids. As the four are cornered it turns out the doctor is also a prisoner.. but an unsympathetic one since he can A) go home and B) is willingly collaberating with obnoxious robots to do a dangerous verison of a serious procedure to save his own ass and is karmically atomized. When Alex brings up his thinking the kids are his, they sadly explain he isn’t: Their dad’s a republican senator (Tot hteir shame the girl, who I almost forgot to mention is voiced by the wonder Kate MIccui, in her second role in a JG Quintel show. HOpefully if there’s a season 2 or the show stars having arcs they can find a full role for her on the show. ) and Alex finds his sperm he donated ended up in a dumpster.. but is determined to protect the kids anyway. Thankfully our heroes are able to escape with Emily, who sneaks ina fter the robots locked down the faicility’s help, with Josh bummed because he was proud for being responsible as the two discuss still wanting to have kids, with Emily pointing out .. this is STILL responsible. Not going through with something you have doubts about and having an honest talk with your partner is the responsbe thing> The five of them escape, and while Alex knows he’s not the teens father, offers to be there for them if they ever need it.  Wrapping things up at a skating rink, The Ramierz’ skate and Josh and Emily plan to do their taxes again later, though likely with a rubber this time, and Alex got his vasectomy reverse and is really weird about it to Bridgette’s annoyance. Also 20,000 years into the future subhuman cavemen versions of hismelf are the dominatne lifeform Neat. Overall this ep was really good, having great character stuff for Josh Emily and Alex, while still having some good bits for the rest of the main cast minus randy who I feel the show honestly forgets exists half the time, with drunk Pearle being a delight. But it’s the emotional core for both sides: Josh and Emily hastily deciding to not have more kids before wondering if they want to keep the option open while Alex realisses he might want to be a dad himself and his bond with waht he thinks are his kids and protectivness of them is really sweet. It’s also not lacking in great jokes; The entire rollercoaster of “DON’T HAVE KIDS” is just black comedy gold from start to finsih including the green goblin for some reaosn, the boston robots and vasectomy doctor are great vilians and overall the episode is just really good and really mature for an episode that also makes plenty of testicle scaping jokes. You can do both. 

Clap Like This

And continuing the trend from the last few episodes, we have the weaker one (though Golden Gamer was still pretty damn good), second this time around, though like Golden Gamer it’s still decent.  The plot is a bit simplier and starts with Josh FINALLY selling a game to two idiot tech billionares, Clap LIke This, a game about clapping along that actually seems really damn fun and I wish were real like Ladder World.  While Emily enjoys being able to spend money and her husband finally living his dream or so she thinks, Bridgette, who we find out has been on an allowance from her parents, is cut off on her birthday and has to get a job at a forever 23, one of the few times this show has used an offbrand and not nearlya s awesome a name as “Plugger Inners” it feels lazier if only because again, Plugger Inners exists. But as was revealed earlier, the two guys who bought it went broke and the deal feell through but josh, feeling terrrible about them not being able to afford the finer things anymore, hides it from his family and takes as many shifts as possible at plugger inners. He also runs into David Hasslehoff doing his best mitch von malibu as he just.. throws more money at josh to do what his son asks. Or nephew or whatever. I went back and redited this after finding out that really was him and supposed to be him. I’m also calling his annoying son Hobie for reasons that will be come clear if you’ve ever watched allison pregler’s baywatching series but it’s always fun to see the hoff in something. Especailly the time he made this really embarassing music video. 

But alass the 200 dollars Hoff made off “jump in my car”  that he gave josh isn’t enough and with him having taken all the insltation jobs josh is forced to turn to black market insltations including one where he installs a tv while jaws eats a guy.. I genuinely wish they’d used this song.

#close enough #jq quintel #reviews #animation reviews #hbo max #so long boys #clap like this

[mychemicalficrecs]

Someone sent in a request for highschool frerard aus with bullying, so... here's the list :D

Some of these have either Frank or Gerard as the bully, in others they are bullied by someone else. Many of the fics deal with pretty dark issues, so if that's not your thing, don't forget to check the tags and warnings!

High School Frank/Gerard And Bullying

The Story of Us by SnowBazIsLife, 9k [WIP], Mature. Frank has had a crush on Gerard since like ninth grade, but Gerard was straight, right? Wrong, Frank learns, after something unexpected happens. This is the story of their life together, starting with that one day in March of senior year.

It's not Lovin' if It's Just Fuckin' by GeesCLUELESSgirl, momiji_neyuki, 28k, Explicit. Frank stopped and looked down at his best friend. "I love you Gee, you know that right?" Gerard swallowed, his smile slipping a little. He nodded. "Yeah, I know." Just not the way Gerard wanted him to. "Good..." Frank leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

All In A Day by GeesCLUELESSgirl, 14k, Teen And Up Audiences. Gee in a skirt with Bob by his side...enter Frank, and the day gets interesting.

Frank wasn't really sure how any of this happened. by Frnk, 2k, Not Rated. Why was he still awake? When the fuck did it start raining? Does Jamia still have his fucking lighter? Aka Gerard is an asshole but Frank likes him anyway.

Careful by francoantoniohierro, 20k, Teen And Up Audiences. Gerard Way is a preppy idiot who doesn't get high school dynamics. Frank Iero is a loser who wants him. parallel story to my other fic Careless

Careless by francoantoniohierro, 20k, Teen And Up Audiences. Frank Iero is Gerard's biggest bully. He's also totally in love with him. parallel story to my other fic Careful.

Something Worth Losing by KafePest, momiji_neyuki, 50k, Explicit. Frank, a boy suffering from the abuse of his step dad, has moved to a new town with low hopes. He's transferred to a new school that allows vampire students and he's not sure if he'll be able to make it there. And he's right, capturing the attention of a powerful vampire prince is one thing. Capturing his heart is another. Can Frank survive long enough to melt Gerard's heart?

I Need You More Than Ever by Frnk, rockforfrnk, 10k, Mature. Frank has been out as trans for just under a year. After a one-stand and a pregnancy scare, he realizes how much he likes Gerard. But it is not an easy road for their relationship.

Can't Take It Any More! by GeesCLUELESSgirl, 13k, Mature. Gee's life was not the best...in fact, it was very far from it. When he was just 5 years old, his mother and his baby brother Mikey had died in a car crash, leaving his father to bring him up alone. On the day of the accident Gee was unwell, so he'd stayed home with his dad, while his mom took Mikey to the supermarket...Gee never saw them again, and he didn't get to say goodbye. Gee's father, Don Way, blamed Gee for their deaths. He said that if Gee hadn't been ill, his mom, Donna, would've been taking him to school, and she wouldn't have been on the bridge when that 18 wheeler lost control. Don and Gee had never been that close to begin with, but ever since the accident, Gee found himself living in a nightmare.

Unspeakably Unique by loganmai, 88k, Explicit. When Frank moves to a new school after being taken in by a social worker, the last thing he expects to find is Gerard, the kid who just really likes skirts. Can Frank overcome his ‘behavioral problems’ from his past trauma and learn to trust Gerard? And will Gerard ever truly trust Frank with all his secrets?

Stay by YouKnowNothinJonSno, 14k, Teen And Up Audiences. Gerard has bullied Frank for years throughout high school, but when Frank is in real danger, will Gerard save him? Even if he does, will Frank ever forgive him for the past?

The Locker Room Creep by ChemicalPunkSongwriter, 10k, Explicit. Gerard Way spies on his crush, Frank Iero, in the locker room showers. Gerard is a creep and Frank is a popular jock with some complicated feelings.

Under The Willow Tree by GeesCLUELESSgirl, 41k, Mature. When Gerard goes to sleep at night, the last thing he wants to do is wake up in the morning...or at all. When Frank and his mom arrive in Belleville New Jersey, the last thing he's expecting to do is fall in love.

A Step In the Right Direction by MCRmyGeneral, 49k, Mature. As long as Gerard's been alive, it's just been him and his mother, and that was just fine. They didn't need anyone else. Until one day, Donna decided they did. Too bad Gerard doesn't take too kindly to strangers. Even really cute ones in Joy Division shirts.

What happened to you? by SenpaiFrerard, 13k, Not Rated. Frank was running as fast as his legs would let him, he swears it wasn't his fault he tripped and it slipped out of his hands. He couldn't keep going though his legs hurt so much and they were gaining on him. It was way past getting an adult to help him they already chased him out of the school and into the neighborhood.

I Just Want You To Know Who I Am by mcr_rockstar, momiji_neyuki, 31k, Explicit. Frank stares at his reflection in the mirror. He's trying to pinpoint when his life got so bad. It had to be around the time the most beautiful boy he had ever seen transferred to their school after Thanksgiving break

Kick Me Like A Stray by lukesdaydreams, 8k, Explicit. Gerard hates Frank. He hates him he hates him he hates him. So why does he get so turned on when Frank beats him up?

Frerard Football Team AU For Which I Could Not Think of a Title by franks_hands, 5k, Teen And Up Audiences. In the locker room and at practices, Frank was noisy, bordering on obnoxious. He seemed to bounce off the walls sometimes. He didn’t know about personal space.

Pray For The Dead by curvethisonapearl, 25k, Explicit. And you say that you can save me ✬ Don't hope to ever find me ✬ And I fear I'm too far gone✬ Pray for the dead

Your Guardian Angel. by MCRmyKilljoySoldier, 8k, Teen And Up Audiences. Frank realizes there's more to the asocial older Way brother than he thought; so he tries to help him come out of his shell.

Nobodies by thehotinpsychotic, 31k, Explicit. Gerard's a bit of a misfit. He has zero friends to his name; unless his brother, who is a seventh grader weighing in at about 102 pounds, counts as one. Frank, spotting this awkward boy, decides to make his living Hell. Later, we find why Frank is so full of rage, and Gerard begins to fall in love with him over it.

The Friends Who Stuck Together, And Wrote Their Names in Blood by ierostache, 13k, Not Rated. Gerard and Frank are juniors at Belleville High Scool. They used to be best friends back when they were kids but soon drifted apart when Frank got Popular and Gerard stayed, well, Gerard. Now, at the age of 16, Gerard is bullied by Frank and his friends, as well as jocks. What happens when Frank moves next door to Gerard?

Only When I Hit the Ground... by jatty, 53k, Mature. After switching schools to avoid a sadistic ex-boyfriend, Gerard is introduced to Frank who he thinks is a normal, albeit an oddly nervous, guy. Frank was forced to transfer after getting caught enjoying his favorite pastime—spying on boys in the locker room. If only Gerard knew that he was Frank’s new favorite model.

#fic rec list #frank/gerard #frerard #high school au #bullying

[loveeveryoneincludingfictional]

The gory fanfic I talked about (part one)

My Behaviour reform/cult camp aU (it’s from a DnD session and originally was sort of a more magic based place but I decided to abandon magic for this because it wasn’t a well done element and was used so rarely it’s literally better I make this without it at all) I wasn’t sure about publishing this until someone told me to show her off so here she comes. So like triggers for violence and shit, kinda the vague cultish themes and also the angst—oh fuck the angst. Also sorry for slightly short first chapter, I know it’s just 4K words and not to the meat yet but something came up and the eventful chapter needs editing because basically I got so sick I could pretty much sleep, try to live and sleep.

You probably get updates faster if you read this on Archive of our own since it’s my main platform but yeah, I’ll continue to update both. Already slightly gory but not quite.

—————————————————

Chapter one: Preaching on the old camp grounds.

If he had a choice on this matter, he would’ve probably simply said no way and walked off without a second thought for the matter. He would’ve scoffed at the idea of joining a camp full of people who would probably have violent tendencies and hurt him or be just batshit insane—hell he is scoffing at it now. He’s a guy who just happens to be coming here because of ‘behavioural reform’ since his college councillor decided to suggest it—turns out skipping a lot in high school leads you to being a monitored case when you’re in college, who knew, and then they send you to a summer camp because your parents decided that will work.

But really, Clay has nothing to worry about, he can’t complain in a productive way so he should just be capable of holding his chin high and looking at the positives—such as the fact the scenery is beautiful, a lake opening side camp sounds like a daydream. A tiny bit of therapy here and there for a few months, avoiding everybody who has worse issues than him, easy. He can just play in the water by himself and maybe he can chat up a girl and get himself a girlfriend—he has been meaning to have one of those. Or hell, maybe he’ll just make good friends, who fucking knows. He should be excited, not everyone he meets is going to be a fucking sociopath.

The camp worker greets him, shakes his hand, he calls himself Sparkles (vaguely weird but Clay is literally wearing a mask to cover his face for reasons he has never liked mentioning, so a nickname isn’t the weird thing. It is written on the guys t-shirt, blue with the camp logo with a name sticker on his left breast—however that’s written with a Z, Spanklez, Clay can only assume it to be a writing error or the dude’s handwriting being unclear.)

He explains himself as the captain of Clay’s wing, Clay only slightly laughing at the idea of sparkles wearing an eyepatch with an eye missing or something, pacing up and down a corridor screaming out various pirate like sentences—captain sparkles huh? Or Sparklez, captain sparklez, as the name sticker says.

“I’ll show you your dorm, you’re in the left wing, we’ve got to find Da—TDM somewhere. He should be taking your phone and all that.”

“TDM?” Clay questions, turning his head to the right to drive his confusion in, “Is that like an acronym? what does TDM even stand for?”

“Not quite sure,” Sparkles/z speaks, grabbing Clay’s bag and walking him towards the dorm, “There’s three other guys in already, you were the last to arrive. There’s two more dorms in the left wing, they’re full ones, don’t mind them too much. Then the right wing has another three. If you’re wondering, the girls are in the other building over there, you’re not allowed to go there.”

‘Because murder or because sex?’ is his immediate question, keeping it inside himself with the assumption it is to say no sex—this is supposed to be a camp with high values after all and teen pregnancy probably isn’t something they are exactly looking forward to. Is murder a lighter value? No? But it is more acceptable for a behaviour therapy camp to say ‘oh sociopath’ than ‘oh they fucked’

“You’ve got a room with Sapnap, Techno and Wilbur. Nice boys. If you hear anything weird from them, report it to me or Stampy.”

“Why is Wilbur the only one with a normal name here?” Clay questions, confused beyond anything else. Okay maybe his mask is weird but why are the campers having weird nicknames just like the captains or councilors or whatever the fuck they are—like is this just a thing?

“They give everyone nicknames, I’m sure they’ll give you one soon too. It’s like—you’re supposed to call each other your new names. It’s something like a rebirth to have a new name, a new beginning. Wilbur isn’t Wilbur’s name either, it just ended up being his nickname.”

He supposes that makes sense, also makes sense why he hasn’t called him Clay yet. He supposes that may be a good idea, he isn’t sure about it, it doesn’t feel like a horrible idea to have nicknames for any purposes but especially for improved behaviour and shit? But then again, he assumes he’s one of the less insane kids so Clay seems like it would fit anyway.

The door opens and he steps in, noting of everybody inside the dorm and making quick profiles.

There’s a guy with pink, dyed, hair sat on the floor. The guy seems sort of unfocused on what he seemed to be doing, doodling on a piece of paper, instead inspecting the pencil and finally facing up to look up at him only to go back to his pencil staring a moment later with disinterest.

A guy with black hair is laying across a bed, holding a paper ball in his hand after just having thrown it to himself. His eyes are hyper focused on him, as if the mask is intriguing to him or maybe just him as a person, his smile reserved but friendly. It screams hesitance but at the same time a confidence, like he’s hiding a confidence behind a box. He doesn’t look like he wants to kill him but he does stay looking at him uncomfortably long, even after Clay’s eyes trail elsewhere.

Then there’s a last guy, a giant in his own right, sitting on the table with a guitar in his hands. The boy is horridly attractive, brown eyes and large hands seemingly in the middle of playing the guitar. He’s a straight dude but he just thinks he is notably normal and attractive looking, his eyes almost warm but not quite there with this slight edge to them. They don’t look at him for long, instead looking over to Sparkles (or it’s with a Z, he doesn’t fucking know) with that name warmness.

“Here’s the new boy, doesn’t have a name yet. I have to go give these to TDM and talk to Tubbo. Make the guy feel welcome, okay?”

And before Clay can comment on anything just said, the door has closed and the guitar man is extending his hand with a warm smile and Clay takes it, shaking hands.

“I’m Wilbur, my whole nickname is Wilbur Soot but you can take the Soot out. The one on the floor is Technoblade, call him Techno, and then the guy staring is Sapnap.”

“Hey, I’m—.”

“You’re not supposed to give real names,” Wilbur explains after slamming his hand on Clay’s mouth, “that can get you in big trouble here, new guy. You should be getting it soon.”

“Honestly this reminds me of holes,” Clay speaks, Techno turning his head towards him at the mention of a book in such a casual context—especially one you would read for a high school project, “Next I learn we have to dig holes as manual labour without water and two of us escape onto a mountain to get away from that shit.”

“They were talking about doing that actually,” Wilbur speaks with a shrug, sitting on the desk and straightening his legs across it, “Like doing tasks so we don’t have ‘harmful energy’.”

“Sounds like absolute stupidity to me,” Techno speaks, “I can murder and cook the same day, the meat may taste a bit weird but nobody said I couldn’t. I wouldn’t, not unless I have a reason, but I technically could kill someone and burn off all the evidence and serve the victim up with some spicy potatoes, a family recipe.”

“I mean maybe it isn’t that bad,” Clay speaks, attempting to be positive even with his eyes slightly avoiding techno for a moment with the fact he has a plan to get away with murder yeah this is what he was expecting, “Sparkles seems like a nice man and at least we aren’t being leashed and collared here.”

“Bet you’d like that,” Sapnap speaks, finally taking his eyes off him with a small smile as if he got what he was looking for—it’s almost scary, he feels like asking if Sapnap gave him a good score based on what he saw. Sure a mask is unusual but to have the other stare at him so unreadably makes his highly uncomfortable.

“What’s with the mask, Smiley?”

“Techno! That’s insensitive!”

“It’s just a question, Wilbur.”

“It isn’t just a question! That might be personal!”

“So? I can ask, nobody is demanding he answers me. Including me, I’m not demanding for him to answer me.”

“But it’s still a bad question, Techno!”

“How?”

“Something happened to it,” Clay speaks to the arguing duo, having all three faces turn towards him in a way that almost leaves his head with whiplash just witnessing it, “I’d rather not go into detail.”

“Show it.”

“TECHNO!”

“I doubt it’s like burned off or something! Bet he’s just got some light tiny scars across it.”

He almost flinches because yeah chemical burn isn’t too far off burned off. His face has a huge, ragged, previously festering, chemical burn. It used to discharge this yellow shit when he went into the cold and he used to have to bandage it and feel it drip through it. It would fucking drip through his bandage, bleed through it until he had to wash the fucking mask. It’s not a pretty fucking face and even when he can see Techno’s scarred hands playing with a pencil in his boredom, it does nothing but make him feel like those hands would cover his eyes looking at him. Sure, line after line swiping each other on his hands. Those hands look hard with use and like there’s more white scarred skin than pale skin his face matches with—his hands look like they were made to dodge sharp objects and suffer the consequences of it. If those scars were Techno’s face, he could feel comfortable with the idea of showing his face. They could be on equally disfigured grounds.

Honestly, it gives him slight jealousy issues to see the other three—not that they were ugly in college when he went in person. Some of them were prettier than Wilbur actually, supermodel lookers with Florida tans and freckles and fuck a few of them had a head of pure sunkissed golden locks and the deepest blue eyes with a grey storm crossing across in a way that almost divided their eyes into two colours. Some of his classmates were attractive and damn aware of it but something about being in a camp where people are supposed to look like they have issues, since they’re supposed to have issues, kills him. He can’t quite understand why he expected to be at least average when his lower left jaw to his lower cheek is bubbling like a second mouth. The way Techno’s hands are still attractive and the second most disgusting thing in the room makes him want to scream because what the fuck. He can be so fucking confident but he was supposed to fit in here. And here he stands with his stupid mask on with a healing chemical splash and scars running down his face.

“Can we talk about something else?” Clay asks in almost a whisper, getting a nod from Wilbur and a ‘sorry’ from Techno in return. He appreciates it. “So how long have you been here?”

“Six days, Techno’s been here seven. Came here with a kid, he was scared as shit so I helped him out but he’s not in this dorm so,” Wilbur explains, Techno giving him a nod.

“Three,” Sapnap speaks, lifting up three fingers with his pinky thumb and middle finger in the air, “I had to finish things since I start college after this bullshit, I was supposed to come the same day as Wilbur originally.”

“Why are you even here? You don’t look particularly troubled—excluding you techno, you look like you fought god in your underwear with an umbrella during a thunderstorm.”

“Arson,” the black haired answers so casually it almost makes Clay think he said something else until he registers that the younger boy said arson, as in lighting shit on fire, and not something like weed… then again maybe the dude also smokes weed, he looks like a stoner for no better words. He looks relaxed and has a fucking ninja ass band in his hair—it’s so clear he’s a fucking stoner that if he is not he will drop out of college.

“Sparkles asked me to get you,” speaks someone from the door, strong british accent with brown hair and goggles on his head, “It’s time for the evening meal and he wanted to make sure Dream is coming.”

“Who?” Clay questions, looking between the three who all look at him—oh he’s Dream, Clay is Dream. That’s such a girly name, what the fuck, Techno at least sounds like a guy. Or maybe Dream because he’s so incredibly dreamy—ha he wishes, he’s just not all that. Maybe his body is but his face needs a fucking transplant, maybe when he’s a best selling author he will have the money to look like a model. God he can only hope.

He doesn’t really speak at all, Sapnap grabbing his hand and dragging him towards a building on the other side of the camp opening before he washes his hands in the line of sinks—Dream deciding to do the same, tailing the black haired boy until they sit at a long table (one of two long tables, he doesn’t really bother looking over though, he doesn’t want to look in case he aggravates someone as tall as Wilbur or an another arsonist.)

“New guy?” Someone asks, another fucking Brit why is everyone fucking British what the fuck is happening—he’s met three Americans and three Brits and that’s not normal odds when he’s in fucking America—if he’s in America it should be at least ten to one of American accents but everyone is fucking British as fuck, “I’m George.”

“He’s Dream,” Sapnap speaks for him, Dream nodding. He doesn’t mind having his introduction done by his dorm mate when there’s people he is fucking scared of all around the table. He isn’t easy to scare but again, arson, he’s here because he skipped school and there’s an arsonist at the same table so the kind of people there may be, honestly, scares him. Also, to be fair, he’s honestly not sure he’s quite used to being called ‘Dream’ under such short notice. He shakes from his thoughts as Techno takes a seat on the other side of him, reaching for water across the table until someone huffs and hands it to him, a ‘thanks Philza’ leaving his dorm mate's mouth. He doesn’t really bother with looking at the guy.

“New guy,” speaks an unmistakable New York accent, Dream still sort of not looking. This is a lot of people with issues and considering the most—or second most polite person here is here because of fucking ARSON, he doesn’t really wanna know what a more aggressive sounding is here for, “NEW GUY YOU ‘MURICAN?”

“Schlatt—,” Wilbur speaks, letting out a long huff before he turns his head to the other boy, “Yes, he’s American.”

“Shush, you little Brit, go drink your tea. I was talking to the mask here.”

“Yeah, I’m American,” Dream speaks after a moment of staring from all around him, still not particularly interested in looking over at anybody, “I’m assuming you’re a New Yorker.”

“Born and raised in Montana, moved there later. You’re kinda tan, what’s your opinion on gay people? Weed?” Schlatt questions, Dream finding almost comfort in the way he’s blunt, just for a moment. It’s weird, he doesn’t know why, it’s so slight it doesn’t help him but he assumes he likes when people are blunt and straight, maybe it’s just endearing.

“W-What?” He questions, in slight amusement. He almost looks over. He’s so close. He’s within a hair of looking over and talking to him face to face but something stupid stops him—actually what stops him is the mask but.

“I’m getting your state. Christian?” Schlatt questions, taking a sip of water. He’s still uneasy, maybe because the directness is different from Technos (something that gave him an illegal amount of familiarity easily, his directness was awkward while Schlatt has this almost regal straightness, almost like it's more ‘no bullshit’ than awkward. It’s like a knife where Techno’s different in a punch way—punching can be friendly, stabbing really isn’t) but his unease is so different with someone who seems to be blunt and jokey with him than anyone else there just looking at him.

“Yeah. I guess. I haven’t been to church in a while but I think I’m in the papers? My parents are Christians,” Dream speaks with a shrug, looking around for a moment—why come for an evening meal so early if there’s not going to be an evening meal? That’s kinda weird.

“Gulf state?” goes Schlatt’s next question, Dream hesitating a moment before giving his response in case it’s revealing too much. He assumes they could find his state easy if they asked the workers anyway so he is honest,

“Yeah.”

“If you were from Alabama, you would keep up with Church more than that. You look inbred though, good reason to wear the mask if you have a Habsburg chin. Though that would show through, maybe incest eyes?”

Dream almost feels offended, laughing it off before speaking to make sure Schlatt doesn’t actually think he is inbred, “My parents are not related, I promise.”

Schlatt takes a moment to think, the silence making Dream the same uneasy he was before. It’s more overwhelming, it feels like he is being judged. Until Schlatt speaks, “You like alligators?”

He’s so glad to hear something before thinking, shrugging, “Yeah, I guess, they’re pretty cool.”

“Florida man,” Someone voices, kind of like a frat boy with an accent. It has the feel of a spanish telenovela playboy, obviously faked or at least made more aggressive for a joke.

He nods, finally looking around himself through not really taking note of anyone. Well he does take note of the short guy in front of himself, wearing a blue shirt and smiling as he grabs Dream’s glass, pouring in some water and putting it back down. He says a thank you, getting a slight salute and a ‘no problem’ before a bell loudly rings and grabs both their attention, along with everyone else.

The girl on stage says to thank the Gods for the day and the food before grabbing their food—Dream mumbles the prayer, stumbling through by listening to how Techno is saying it, low voice right next to him making it easier for him to at least get it 70% right with a few skipped words. He doesn’t necessarily understand what they are doing this for, the guy in front of him seems to express his emotions with the roll of his eyes upon finishing. Guy seems pretty fucking cool.

With that thought, Sapnap grabs his hand and pulls him towards the kitchen or whatever you call that, the guy who sat in front of him jogging up to them,

“Sapnap, how come you’re taking the new guy? Planning to shag him?”

“You know I only want to kiss you, Gogy.”

“My name is George. George. Like the king.”

“You’re far from a king, Gogy, you know you shouldn’t be using your real name here.”

“Bullshit, Gogy is close enough to George you should just use my actual name. Whole no name thing is fucking weird.”

“Gogy, annoying you makes me want to refuse calling you your name even more.”

“You’re a fucking wanker, you know?”

“Ah, it’s a Brit innit?”

“Low fucking blow, man.”

“I can blow you.”

“You’re like barely out of high school, no thank you.”

“Oh c’mon now boys, this is not rough house time,” Dream speaks after the argument has gone on for a while, half heartedly getting in between—it seems like a friendly argument and he could easily take on George with Sapnap and probably Sapnap if George really pulled his weight.

It’s all fairly comfortable laughter and jokes from there until George has walked them to their dorm and pointed out his own—the familiarity is strange so immediately, especially to an arsonist and one that is not even hiding the fact he’s an arsonist—like at all, he actively jokes about lighting things on fire.

“Sleep well,” George speaks with a smile, opening an another dorm door, his dorm, with ‘Tubbo’ and ‘Eret‘ written on the door—along with another name, one that makes dream almost lose his shit—Nutpig, poor thing.

They make it into their dorm, Techno and Wilbur sitting on the table with a third boy, this one blond with blue eyes and seemingly caught up in talking about things that he seems interested in. Techno looks over to them, as if daring them to say something about it—or perhaps just Dream, Sapnap seems used to it and just sits on his bed.

“Dream, you sleep on top of me right?”

“I—what?” Dream asks, shocked. That’s a proposition and a half for the first night.

“The top bunk,” Sapnap speaks with a laugh, clearly knowing how his words could be taken out of context.

“That was on purpose,” Dream says accusingly, looking at the top of the bed wondering if it’s high enough for his fear of heights to be triggered by how high up he is.

“Or we could,” Sapnap speaks, sitting down on his bed dramatically, making grabby hands with a big boisterous grin that clearly says ‘I’m joking’, “cuddle. C’mere, I’m lonely.”

“The—I, face, y’know,” Dream explains, suddenly grateful for the upper bunk, “you don’t—it’s—I don’t sleep with a mask on! C’mon now, that would be so uncomfortable.”

“You could trust me and take it off?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Turn the lights off so I get cuddles!”

“You won’t get cuddles anyway! But yes, please turn off the lights so I can take the mask off.”

“Okay,” Wilbur speaks, grabbing the unknown boy by the hand with a small smile, “lets go to sleep, Tommy.”

“He can take mine,” Techno speaks almost immediately. It’s almost affectionate sounding, it comes so close to not being numb and monotone.

Dream almost questions if the boy is staying with them tonight or if it’ll even be the full night before Techno shoots him another dangerous look—they look protective of the boy, clearly so, this is probably the boy Wilbur mentioned earlier talking about arriving with someone. He doesn’t bother saying anything about the fact the blond boy climbs up to the top bunk.

It takes a second to adjust to the lack of light, he can tell bodies but not who’s bodies based on more than location. He takes his mask off, climbing up with it in hand and sniffing it. It doesn’t smell like he has opened anything, it smells clean, and he just lays down.

He has a hard time getting sleep, settling on watching Technos body at the table writing something until he can see from the corner of his eyes how Wilbur is wide awake, standing up and walking around the room until Techno turns back and whispers to him, expecting everyone to be asleep. This time he genuinely sounds worried.

“Wilbur. Wilbur. You’re okay. You’re not sick man, breathe, you can breathe. You won’t die if you sleep, okay? I promise.”

“Easy for you to say that—you don’t know if something is wrong with me.”

“Wilbur you yourself told me this is you overthinking, that you’re healthy. Breathe man, you’re not thinking straight. Do you need me to sleep with you again?”

“Please.”

When they’re on Wilbur’s bed is when Dream finally starts getting sleepy enough to go to sleep, facing the wall just in case.

#fanfiction #dream team #au #gonna post to AO3 too #he’ll lose an eye soon i promise

[badchoicesposts]

Don’t Dream It’s Over Chapter 17

Series Summary: Liam and Ali thought that their relationship was perfect, but their whole world came crashing down when Constantine called him back to Cordonia. Four years later they meet again at Liam’s bachelor party, determined to make things between them work even if it isn’t always easy.

In this AU, Liam and MC (Ali Moonessar) dated for a year in New York while Leo was still crown prince. They broke up when Constantine asked Liam to come back to Cordonia, but they meet again at Liam’s bachelor party before the social season. The story will contain flashbacks, which will be italicized, of their relationship and follow them as they try to navigate the season with Ali as a suitor. I’ve messed around with the timeline a bit so that it fits the story better. I’ve also added in a few OCs of my own.

Pairing: Liam x MC (Ali Moonessar), Platonic!Drake x MC

DISCLAIMER: I’ve changed up the timeline of the social season a bit to fit my story better. I’ve based it off of some research I did on the British Social Season. Some of the dialogue was taken directly from Book 1 of The Royal Romance but was changed a bit to fit my fic.

Taglist: @flowerpowell, @ao719, @kingliam2019, @emceesynonymroll, @hopefulmoonobject, @dcbbw, @qammh-blog, @liamxs-world, @drakesensworld, @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @lauradowning29, @texaskitten30, @senseofduties, @indiacater, @alexintheskyy, @jared2612

A/N: This is my first time ever posting a fic. Please let me know if you enjoyed it and would like to read more. I thrive on validation, lol. Thanks for reading!

Catch Up: Masterlist

Ali smiled from her spot in the doorway as she took in the sight of Marshall twins cuddled up to Liam on the couch. Lily was sitting in his lap, fast asleep and drooling onto his shirt, while Tyler was resting against his arm, slowly falling in and out of consciousness. They had both begged to stay up a little longer than usual because it was a weekend, and Ali had obliged because she knew that this would happen. It was only ten minutes past their usual bedtime, and they were both almost completely knocked out. 

Both of the twins had taken a quick liking to Liam after meeting him that first day in the library. It was now an odd occurrence for Ali to babysit by herself. 

“I think it’s time to get these two into bed,” Ali whispered, walking over to them and taking Tyler into her arms. 

The four-year old protested very little before leaning into her embrace and resting his head on her shoulder. Liam smiled and stood up with Lily in his arms before following Ali to the twins’ bedroom. She placed the toddler down under the covers and placed a pillow on his left side, the way she knew he liked, and watched as Liam did the same for Lily. 

Ali made sure the small star-shaped night light was plugged in before grabbing Liam’s hand and leading him back to the living room of the Marshalls’ apartment. 

Liam pulled her down onto his lap, and Ali smiled against his lips as he kissed her gently. He pulled away from the kiss and looked into her eyes, running his fingers lazily through her curls. Ali could feel the love in his gaze and it made butterflies erupt in her stomach. 

“What’s on your mind?” she asked.

Liam opened his mouth to speak but hesitated and remained quiet. He moved his hand from her hair and wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her pressed tightly to his chest. 

“Do you ever think about… about having kids?” he asked. 

Ali was startled for a minute, not having expected him to as her that question. 

“Yeah, I do. I’ve always loved kids, and I’ve always imagined myself having them. Not now, of course. But, when I’m older, and I’m done with school,” she said, gently tracing her finger across the stubble on his jaw. 

Liam’s face lit up, and he smiled widely.

“That’s great!” he said happily. 

“What’s with the baby talk all of a sudden?” she asked, resting her head on his shoulder. 

“I like seeing you with them,” he said, inclining his head towards the twins’ door. “And I’ve always wanted a big family,” he said quietly. 

“How big?”

“Maybe six or seven,” Liam said, smiling sheepishly. 

Ali shot up out of his arms. 

“SIX OR SEVEN!” she shrieked, her eyes basically popping out of her head. 

Liam laughed and pulled her back down against him. 

“We can talk about the amount later,” he said, a hint of a smile still on his face. 

“I am not pushing seven babies out of me, Liam. I’ll give you three at most,” she said.

“Shhh, we’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

Ali could tell that he was still smiling as he spoke.

~~~

Ali made eye contact with Drake across the apple orchard and quickly looked away. She had been avoiding him like the plague for the last forty-eight hours, determined not to discuss the results of her pregnancy test. If she told him, she would have to tell Liam, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. It’s not like she could go up to him and say that she was pregnant with everything going on. 

Ali walked over to where the other suitors were standing and was greeted by Lizzie and Hana. She made casual conversation with the two of them, and even though they could sense that something was wrong with her, they made no comment.

“Welcome to the annual Apple Blossom Festival!” Constantine spoke, standing near several wicker baskets filled with the famous Cordonian Rubies.

“As is tradition, myself and several ladies of the court will sample the apples of the first picking of the season,” Regina said from her spot next to him.

The apples were distributed to all of the suitors, and Ali quickly realized that she had never tried a Cordonian Ruby before. All she knew was that they had an intense flavor according to Bertrand. Regina gave them permission to try their apples, and several reporters moved in closer to catch their reactions. 

Ali took a bite of her apple and was forced to hold back a gag as a mix of bitter and sour tastes filled her mouth. She unwillingly swallowed the apple and placed a smile on her face for the cameras. 

“That was tasty,” she said, hoping that she sounded more natural than she felt saying it. “It definitely has character.” 

The reporters got a few last minute shots of the ladies and their apples before dispersing to get more pictures and to speak with other members of the court.

The air was filled with a sense of calmness as the Apple Blossom Festival began, and people made their way around the orchard, picking apples and laughing with those nearby. However, Ali felt more on edge than ever. She caught sight of Liam standing nearby, speaking to a member of the court she didn’t recognize, and she felt her stomach begin turning again.

“Are you and Liam fighting or something?” Maxwell asked, falling into step beside her. 

“What? No, why would you think that?” she asked.

“You seem strange,” he said. “And you look sad.”

“We’re not fighting. I’m just not really feeling like myself today,” she said. 

“Well, in that case,” Maxwell began, holding out his elbow for her. “Care for a stroll around the orchard? It might take your mind off of whatever’s bothering you.”

Ali smiled and took his arm. They walked along in silence for a moment, taking in the crowds of people around them and just enjoying the fresh air. Their walk was cut short, however, by Drake approaching them. 

“I need to talk to you,” he said.

Ali nodded, her hands beginning to sweat as she let go of Maxwell’s arm.

She knew there was no way she was getting out of this conversation now.

“I’ll be right back, Max,” she said. 

Ali followed Drake through the orchard and to a large white gazebo situated in a secluded part of the gardens of Applewood Manor. She caught sight of a noble lady discreetly elbowing her friend to bring her attention to the two of them walking together as they exited the orchard, but tried to calm the surge of anger she felt. She reminded herself that she had bigger things to worry about right now.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said simply, turning to face her.

“Yeah, I have,” Ali said quietly, looking down at her hands.

Lying to him now wouldn’t do her any good. She was going to have to tell him the truth eventually, and there was no point in putting it off any longer. 

“You can’t ask me to get you a pregnancy test and then pretend like it didn’t happen.”

Ali remained silent, and that was the only confirmation he needed.

“Damn, what are you going to do?” he asked.

Ali felt tears well up in her eyes again. She knew that Drake wasn’t trying to upset her, but she got more confused and scared every time she thought about her situation.

“I don’t know,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “I’m scared, Drake.”

Drake sighed and moved closer to her. He looked hesitant for a moment, cautious of showing her any affection after their incident with the press, but then pulled her into a gentle hug. Ali rested her head on his shoulder and let a few more tears fall before pulling back.

“We’ll figure it out. I promise,” he said, in attempts to comfort her.

“I can’t have a baby! I’m still a baby!” she exclaimed hysterically.

“Eh, I think you’re more of an angsty teen than you are a baby,” he said with a smirk, attempting to lighten the mood. 

She glared at him through swollen eyes and resisted the urge to knee him in the crotch. The smile on his face immediately disappeared at her murderous expression and he raised his arms in surrender. 

“Sorry,” he responded sheepishly. “Look, I know you’re scared, but everything’s going to be okay. You’re not alone in this.”

Ali nodded as tears continued to fall down her face. 

“You have to tell him,” he continued quietly. 

“I can’t. I don’t know how,” she said miserably.

“Ali-” Drake began trying to reason with her. 

“No! Liam just got done telling me that Constantine wants him to make me his mistress because he doesn’t think I can handle being queen. What do you think is going to happen when I tell him that we’re having a baby?”

“You can’t keep it from him,” Drake said insistently. 

“I know. I’m just not ready to tell him yet. I need some time to figure all of this out myself first.”

“Fine, but you have to do it soon. I may not be the only one who knows about this,” he said. 

Ali’s body immediately went into panic mode.

“What do you mean?” 

“Bastien’s been keeping close tabs on that gossip blog ever since they ran that article about the two of us. He got a tip off from an inside man that someone was trying to sell pictures of you to them again,” he said, in a low voice. 

Drake pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed her a picture of her throwing up in the grass after the Regatta with Liam holding her hair back. 

“I was just seasick after the Regatta,” she said, feeling slightly more reassured. 

“No, you had morning sickness,” he said, swiping right onto his phone screen. 

Ali felt her stomach do a somersault as she looked at the new picture. Drake was standing in line at a drugstore, several pregnancy tests clutched tightly in his hands. The picture was taken from far away and was slightly grainy, but there was no denying what was happening in it. 

“Our guess is that they planned on running a story saying that you were pregnant with my baby and make it out to seem that we were both playing Liam,” he said.

“What do we do?” she asked, holding back tears for the third time in the last five minutes.

“For right now it’s taken care of. Bastien bought back the photos, so they can’t run the story. But, you need to tell Liam about the baby, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to figure out who’s been trying to spread rumors about you,” Drake said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder when he noticed how sick she looked.

“Do you think it was the same person both times?” she asked.

“Probably. Either way I think it’s safe to assume that whoever is doing this wants to hurt you, so that makes finding out who it is even more important.”

She took a few deep breaths to calm her increasing nerves when a thought occurred to her. Her head snapped up, and she looked back over to Drake, a wide smile on her face and happy for a distraction. 

“Why are you smiling like that?” Drake asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. 

“I can’t believe I forgot. Today’s your birthday!”

Drake groaned and awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair. 

“It’s okay. I think we have more important things to worry about.”

“Look, like I said. I can’t tell Liam today, and we’re not going to figure out who’s doing all of this in one afternoon. You might as well have a good time,” she said. 

“A good time? No, no good time is going to be had. Wait, what are you doing?” he asked, his voice sounding panicked as he watched her pull her phone out of her bra. 

“Group text,” she said, pulling up the message chain she had going with Maxwell and Lizzie.

She shot them a text asking them to round up Liam, Hana, Ben, and Charlie if he was available and to meet them under the gazebo. 

“What? No! Don’t do that,” he said, looking over her shoulder to see what she was typing. 

“Too late,” she responded with a triumphant smile. 

They waited a few moments in silence with Drake glaring daggers at her before they saw the others approaching. 

“What’s going on?” Maxwell asked. 

“It’s Drake’s birthday!” Ali responded happily.

“It’s Drake’s birthday?” Maxwell exclaimed, looking over at him excitedly. 

“You didn’t know?” Ali asked.

“Drake’s never told me,” Maxwell said, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. 

“Haven’t you guys known each other since you were kids?” she asked 

“That doesn’t mean he needs to know,” Drake said. 

“Isn’t your birthday something you tell your friends about?” she questioned, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

“We’re not friends,” Drake said, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Okay, but you’re kind of friends,” Ali teased.

“No, we aren’t,” Drake scowled. 

“Face it, Drake. You have friends,” she said, gesturing to the people surrounding them. 

“We need to celebrate!” Lizzie said, practically bouncing up and down in place.

“There’s an American Western-themed bar I’ve been wanting to try out,” Maxwell said. 

“Western-themed bar?” Hana asked.

“Yeah. Cowboy boots, mechanical bull riding, that kind of thing,” Maxwell answered. 

“I’m in,” Lizzie said, and everyone else nodded in agreement. 

“Onward!” Maxwell called, jumping down the steps of the gazebo. 

“I texted Charlie the details, he said he’ll meet us at the bar when his shift is over,” Lizzie explained, following after Maxwell.

Drake was grumbling under his breath as they made their way out of the gardens, but it was obvious that he wasn’t too upset.

After a short drive, they arrived at a bar that had been decorated to match every western stereotype Ali had ever heard. The walls were made out of wood panelling and were decorated with several bull skulls, the bartender was wearing a cowboy hat with a red and white plaid shirt, and there was a large pit in the middle of the room where people were attempting to ride a mechanical bull. 

“The party has arrived!” Maxwell said, “Yeehaw!”

He turned around and gave Lizzie a high five, before they ran off with Ben and Hana to find a table. 

“This is definitely going to be a night to remember,” Drake said, taking a look around the place. 

“Okay, first order of business is to get the birthday boy a drink. C’mon, Li,” Ali said, starting off towards the bar. 

“Please, don’t call me ‘the birthday boy’,” Drake called after her. 

Ali and Liam shared a devious smile.

“I make no promises,” she said over her shoulder.

After grabbing the drinks, Ali walked back to the table where Maxwell was trying to do what sounded like a bad southern accent, while Liam wandered off to find a bathroom. 

“How many times has he said ‘yeehaw’ since we left?” Ali asked, handing Drake his whiskey and taking a seat next to Ben.

“About seven,” Ben said.

The two of them choked back their laughter, while Maxwell continued his impression which was somehow becoming more Scottish the longer he carried on with it. Ali looked over to Drake from where he was seated across from her and smiled mischievously. 

“Hey, birthday boy, say it,” she said, taking a sip of her virgin cocktail. 

“I told you not to call me that,” he groaned. “And say what?”

“You know what,” she said, a smirk plastered on her face. 

Drake scowled and narrowed his eyes at her. 

“No.”

“You have to do it at least once while we’re here.”

“Yeah, Drake! Say it!” Maxwell piped up. 

Drake turned to glare at him, but the other man just shrugged his shoulders, the smile never leaving his face.

“Yeehaw,” Drake said in a monotone voice, rolling his eyes as the group erupted in cheers.

“I hate you people,” he groaned. 

“You love us. Don’t deny it,” Lizzie said, throwing her arm around his shoulders playfully. 

“Okay, my friend, the mechanical bull is all yours,” Liam said as he approached the table. 

“I thought you were in the bathroom,” Ali questioned. 

“I was, but I made a quick stop on my way back to the table. You’re up, Drake!”

“Me? No way!” Drake said, surprised.

“Oh, my god. You have to!” Lizzie said happily, bouncing up and down in her seat. 

“Drake! Drake! Drake!” Maxwell began chanting. 

“Why are we saying Drake’s name?” Charlie asked, walking up to their table.

“We’re trying to get him to ride the mechanical bull,” Hana explained, greeting him with a smile.

“Drake! Drake! Drake!” he began chanting as well, warranting an eye roll from the guest of honor.

“Okay! Okay, I’ll do it. Just quiet down,” he said, getting up and downing the rest of his whiskey in one gulp. 

The group watched from the table as Drake slung his leg over the mechanical bull. Ali wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she definitely didn’t expect to see Drake keep perfect balance. The bull began to buck faster, but Drake kept a firm hold onto it, swivelling his hips in perfect time with it, and her jaw dropped as Lizzie and Maxwell began to cheer loudly for him.

Drake was thrown off the bull a few seconds later, but he returned to the table smiling happily. 

“You don’t have to look so surprised, you know,” he said, causing Ali to realize that she hadn’t closed her mouth yet. 

“How do you know how to do that?” she asked, still taken aback. 

Drake just shrugged and turned away from her as the band began to play a new song. 

“This is where I get to show off all of my moves,” Maxwell said, already starting to dance in his seat. “C’mon, we should hit the dancefloor.”

He grabbed both Hana and Lizzie by the arm and pulled them out with him. 

Ben and Charlie broke off from the group to get another drink, leaving Liam, Drake, and Ali alone at the table. Liam took Ben’s vacated seat and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer into his side. She relaxed into his body, glad that she was able to be close to him in public for once. 

“Don’t you want to go dance?” she asked Drake, pointing over to where Maxwell was doing the sprinkler and Hana was awkwardly trying to imitate him. 

“Dancing isn't really my thing. Especially that kind of dancing,” he responded as Maxwell began doing the robot. 

“I think it’s about to become your thing,” Liam said, as Lizzie and Maxwell came back to the table and each grabbed one of Drake’s arms.

Ali and Liam watched as Lizzie tried to get Drake to dance for several minutes, before he finally gave in and started nodding his head to the music.

“Oh, my god!” Ali laughed, as a crowd began to form around Maxwell who was break dancing in the middle of the dance floor. 

Charlie was mirroring his movements in what looked to be a dance battle.

“I can’t believe Maxwell actually knows how to breakdance,” she said in shock.

“I can’t believe Charlie does either,” Liam responded.

Everyone finally returned to the table, Maxwell completely covered in sweat, as the last song of the night was coming to a close. 

“So, what did you think, Hana?” Ali asked, as they made their way back out into the cool air. 

“This was scary, but a fun kind of scary,” she said, smiling. 

Ali could hear Maxwell talking about going out another time as she fell back away from the group so that she could walk alongside Drake. 

“Liam said that you never really celebrate your birthday, so I’m sorry if this was weird for you.”

“Actually, tonight’s been… really fun,” Drake said, a small smile on his face. “Different that expected, but still fun.”

“I’m glad it was. Maybe you should have told everyone about your birthday sooner,” she said playfully. 

“Don’t push it.” 

“Happy birthday, Drake.”

#the royal romance #trr #the royal heir #trh #liam x mc #the royal romance fic #drake walker #drake x mc #trr fic #liam x mc fanfic #liam x mc fic #my fics #liam #king liam #choices #choices fics #playchoices #playchoices fics

[iaal]

Illumi Dirty Alphabet

Ah fuck I finally finish it, I feel so light! Hisoka’s one is here and Chrollo’s here.

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

You'd be the one doing most of the aftercare and he'd merely let you. He'd take you in his arms but don't expect a big reaction if you're affectionate afterward without asking him directly what you want him to do.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Illumi is nothing but practical and despite that he wears his hair very long, I mean did you see how shiny and silky his hair is? He obviously put a lot of effort in his routine. He loves his hair, you can cut one of his arm and it'd be like any other monday for him but cut a strand of his glorious mane and he'd unleash hell on you. For his baby's factory partner he's attracted to overly feminine figure, big boobs and wide hips.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

His cum is white, runny and doesn't tastes good at all, not that you'd taste it often, Illumi wants to cum inside almost every time.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He lost his virginity to a maid a bit older than him when he was a teen, a few years later he'd learn she was sent by Zeno to keep his hormones in check so it wouldn't interfere with his training. Illumi still sees it as a failure on his part to maintain a perfect control over his body at that time.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Not really experienced, him sleeping around doesn't benefit the family in any way so he doesn't see the point but he knows what he’s doing. He's met very few people catching his interest strongly enough to want to have sex with them but if he doesn't consider them as a partner he usually doesn't act on it. As an assassin he knows everything about the human body and finding the most pleasurable spots is easy for him but most of the time he wouldn't make much effort.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Nothing too acrobatic but a position where he could restrain you easily with minimal effort or move you around easily would have his preference. Pushing your legs on your chest during missionary and grabbing both your wrist with one hand for example is something he would do often, he just likes to have you completely malleable under him.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

You don't joke around in bed with Illumi, actually you don't do anything without authorization. You can try to push your luck but you'd probably be gagged and restrained if he's feeling lenient, worst case scenario he'd stop and prepare a new training to teach you how to behave.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

It's not a concern for him, his hairs are thin and he's not hairy at all, he goes all natural.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Everything with Illumi is about carrot and stick and he knows exactly what words you want to hear, not that he doesn't love you or that he'd be reluctant to be affectionate but he'd use it at the right moment to have the maximal effect. When you'd be particularly obedient and didn't make any waves for an extended period of time he would be extremely tender and reminds you everything he loves about you, he'd also be more focus on your pleasure and chose more intimate position, you would feel loved with every inch of your skin. He'd use this method to guilt-trip you if you were thinking of doing something to displeased him too, he would know even before you'd do anything and he prefers to not have to punish you if it can be avoided, making you afraid to lose his love is more efficient for him.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

A few time a year and he's only doing it because it's better to take care of it sometimes than just ignores it completely. When he masturbates it's not because something aroused him too much but usually just because he have some free time and that's part of what he sees as his body check up. Illumi doesn't take his time nor search for his pleasure, he just jerks off fast to be over with it quickly, usually in the shower, he doesn't need any mental images either he just knows how to touch himself to cum fast.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

A big pregnancy kink but he wouldn't admit it, for him it's just natural to want to put a baby in the woman he loves and he doesn't see how extreme he is about it. He's 100% a dom but I couldn't call his kink “master-slave role playing”, there's nothing playful about it, same with bondage, it excites him but there's no rules, that's the real deal.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

A room with a comfortable bed and fresh sheets. He can sleeps in holes in the ground but that doesn't mean he doesn't love being comfy.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

If you talk about wanting to be pregnant chances are that he'd want to get started right now with way much enthusiasm that he'd ever shows. Illumi is turns on by obedience but after a while it would simply be something expected from you, on the other hand being repentant and begging for his forgiveness after being punished for something you did will never stop to arouse him. He loves to reaffirm his control on you and bend you to his will once again.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

DON'T. TRY. TO. DOM. THIS. MAN

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

He prefers to receive, he’d eat you out but it's something he'd rarely do, a treat given to you as a reward for your good behavior or if he wants something for you and needs you to be in good disposition towards him. He finds it enjoyable on occasion but it doesn’t especially turns him on.

P = Pace (Are they fats and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Whatever he wants at the moment. Illumi is pretty selfish in bed and he’s concerned about his partner pleasure only when he decided to uses sex as a reward. His preference is for a fast steady rhythm when he just want to cums but he can take his time and be more sensual when he genuinely missed you after a long mission or when he feels a craving for intimacy.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Time isn't something he has an abundance of, so quickie would happen pretty often for practical reasons.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Nothing you could come up with would even compare to the tamest torture he’s experienced, if you can argue your case well enough and it has nothing to do with having him submissive he wouldn’t refuse trying something new.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Virtually he could go forever but he doesn’t have plenty of libido and time so he doesn’t last very long. I said he was selfish in bed but he does know that intimacy and bonding during sex is important, he’d find the time to have have a proper fuck day(s) where you would be fucking till raw. Coincidentally it’s almost always around your ovulation period.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

This man has a sex dungeon. He’s calling it a training room but it’s a fucking sex dungeon.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Illumi does have playful mood sometimes and likes to tease a bit, the only problem is that his playfulness could turn into full blown sadistic play really quick and he’d be really into orgasm denial and overstimulation. He can tolerate a bit of tease too but he’d let you know clearly when he’s tired of it.  

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Almost entirely silent, you'd need to know him really well to notice the change in his breathing to pick up what really has an effect on him. He would be louder if you play on his pregnancy kink.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

He’s not big into roleplay at all but there’s a scenario he likes to play out often when his partner rp as one of his mark and beg him to spare her life in exange for sexual favor. It’s actually sometimes that happened a few time during his missions and he never took on the offer, he’s a pro after all, but the idea of accepting did get him hard.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Illumi’s dick is very long, just around 21 cm, a bit under average in width, straight and smooth, cut with an oval head.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Low the vast majority of the time, he can spend weeks without touching you and be perfectly fine. When he fucks you has a way to manipulate or reward you it has nothing to do with his own desire though but he has rare moments when he can’t get enough of you and would insist on fucking you 5 times a day because he genuinely is super horny.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

I don’t think Illumi sleeps more than a couple of hours, when his body needs it he’d sleep longer but he’s a well-oiled machine and he gets enough rest with little sleep. I can see him staying in bed longer to cuddle with you until you fall asleep but it’d be extremely rare to see him fall asleep before you or even to wake up before him.

#hxh #hunter x hunter #illumi #illumi zoldyck #illumi headcanons #smut #it was hard #I'm not thirsty enough for Illumi #for his alphabet to come easily #but hey! #it only took 3 month! #I had asks for this #but I wanted to keep #the same format (title+A-Z) #for the adultrio #dunno why

[wroughtbetwixtfanfic]

Wheels Set In Motion, Ch 2.

Fandom: The Society.

Summary: As the situation in New Ham takes a dark, mysterious turn, Campbell is faced with a threat he never saw coming. With few allies and the past coming back to haunt him, he is forced to deal with a world that is crumbling fast, and choices with grim consequences.

Rating: Explicit.

Tags: Minor Character Death, Canon Divergence, Mental Health Issues, Addiction Recovery, Unhealthy Relationships, Teen Pregnancy, Past Rape/Non-con, Campbell Isn’t The Dad, Brother Feels, Attempted Murder, Supernatural Elements, Gay Sex, Resolved Sexual Tension, Campbell has mild ASPD and is actively trying to not be awful

Word Count: 7613

Ch 1 || Ch 3 || Ch 4 || Ch 5 || AO3

Meet me at the library.

It was 10am when Campbell got  the text from Grizz. He had been sitting at the kitchen counter with  Elle and Harry; both of them lifted their gazes at the sound of the  buzzing, giving him a quizzical look.

It's done. I need someone to talk to.

"Who is it?" Elle wondered.

"Grizz." Campbell stood up and slipped on his shoes. "Allie went through with it."

Harry's face turned a faint shade of green. "What does he want?"

"I don't know. I'll be home soon."

Yet  another lie, but what did it matter? Campbell didn't know for sure what  was going on, or what exactly Grizz wanted to talk about; he could only  guess, and either way, it wasn't his business to share. At least it was  a beautiful day, Campbell thought as he walked to the library. Sunny,  warm but not hot. A good day to go, if he had to pick one. But Dewey  hadn't picked it, and the beauty of the summer morning didn't change  that fact, nor did it change the fact that Grizz was hunched up under  the tree in front of the library. Shaking, crying.

Campbell  didn't say anything. He walked up and sat across from Grizz, keeping his  mouth shut and studying the grass while Grizz pulled himself together.  Grizz would talk, on his own time; pushing would only make things  harder, as could unwelcome touch, even if it was out of comfort. Speech  wasn't something that could just be pried from people who were  panicking, especially not autistic people.

After fifteen  minutes, Grizz let out a shuddering whimper. He ground his wrists  against his eyes and sniffled. Coughed. "I couldn't do it."

"Yeah?"

"She  had us all pick up a gun. We didn't know which had a bullet. I tried  but, we missed the first time and I just couldn't..." Grizz choked on  his words, looking like he was going to retch. "Fuck, how are we  supposed to live with this?"

Campbell thought back on everything  he'd ever done. How did he live with the worst of it? No, he didn't  exactly feel bad about any of it, but he could imagine what it'd be  like, if he did. "I guess you just find some way to justify it, some  explanation that makes it less painful, and hold onto it until things  feel less awful."

"That works?"

"I don't know. Remorse isn't my thing, usually."

Grizz  looked up at him, frowning, but he didn't say anything. Not at first.  "There was graffiti on the wall, before we were brought here. It said  we'd been weighed, and found wanting. It was gone when we got here.  Maybe it was right, whatever it was."

"Huh." Something bothered  Campbell from the back of his mind. A faint memory. Something that felt  connected, but nothing that jumped to mind clearly. Shaking his head,  Campbell shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe. Either way, all I know is that  sometimes shit can't be avoided. All you can do is accept that it  happened, find a reason you can live with, and keep going."

"I just want it to stop hurting."

"I wish I could tell you that it will, but I don't know. It might not. It fucking sucks."

"What would you tell yourself?" Grizz asked. "If it had been you?"

"Probably  something like, we're in a shit situation without the means to keep him  safely contained, and he was a threat. Putting him down would be the  fastest, most surefire way of making sure the rest of the community  would be safe."

"That's not really true."

"You asked me for what I'd tell myself. Not for the truth."

Grizz  leaned back against the tree and stared up at its leaves. There was a  finch up among the branches, whistling an obliviously cheerful tune. "I  couldn't tell Sam about this," he said, eyes fixed on the bird. "I don't  want him to see me falling apart like some kind of weak piece of shit."

The  idea made Campbell laugh, despite the situation. "Have you met my  brother? Yeah, sometimes he can be stubborn, and he can make jokes when  it's not the best time. But he's got a lot of fire and he's  compassionate. He's a good guy. Sam isn't going to think you're weak.  He's going to think you're a good person who was put in a shit position.  Because that's the truth."

They sat there together for a while.  Grizz cried again, softer than before, but he still rocked back and  forth and let out small whimpering noises.

"Is it okay if I hug  you or something?" Campbell asked. It felt strange, just sitting there  while someone fell apart. Grizz shook his head. "Alright. Is there  anything I can do?"

Grizz used a handkerchief to wipe his face.  "Uhm." His cheeks turned a flushed pink. "Could you, I mean, I need to  take my mind of things. Could you help me find a book on sign language?  I'm... I wanna..."

"Say no more. C'mon."

Grizz followed  Campbell into the library. It felt surreal, helping the guy pick out a  book to probably sign-sext Sam, but there was a sincere curiosity and  eagerness to Grizz as they headed towards the language section that  Campbell decided he didn't care. Whatever. The guy had just watched  someone die. But as they walked towards the section, Campbell turned the  plan over in his head. A few times, in fact. By the time they got  there, he knew what he would do.

Campbell grabbed a book on  British Sign Language before Grizz had a chance to look over things  much. "Here. This is the one I used to learn. It's super informative."

"But it says British." Grizz frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. It's pretty much the same thing, just with... you know, British slang."

Grizz  peered at the book as Campbell pushed it into his hands. "Huh. Well,  okay. If you say so. Thanks, Campbell. For being cool about this, I  mean."

"No big deal. You help me, I'll help you."

He  didn't tell Grizz the plan, of course. That was something he'd find out  all on his own, but he'd thank Campbell for it later. They explored the  library a bit more, with Grizz staring down the religion and  spirituality section before shaking his head and leaving. Campbell  didn't ask. He just made sure Grizz got home safe, before heading home  himself. Hopefully, Grizz would just tuck into his room and focus on  learning the wrong type of sign language, and take it easy.

Elle  was sitting on the porch when he got home, getting together some paper,  pens and other stuff. "Hey," she called as he walked up. "I'm heading  over to Becca's house. She's going to help me make missing dog signs  during my work break."

Campbell winced. "I'm sorry he's still gone, babe. Do you need me to come help put them up?"

"No. I've got it."

She  sounded upset, but of course she was upset. Charlie was gone and hadn't  been found. He considered telling her about the blood, but he'd already  lied about it; it'd look bad if he suddenly admitted it had come from  the night Charlie went missing. Besides, he had no clue if the blood was  Charlie's, and Elle didn't need to hear that something-- who knew what,  some unknown dark mass-- probably ate her dog.

"Alright. Have a good day at work. If you change your mind, I'll see you at lunch."

Campbell  kissed Elle's forehead. She gave him a smile and stroked his cheek  before leaving. He watched her go, his own smile falling once she was  out of sight. There had to be something he could do to cheer her up.  First thing was first, though. He went inside and checked in on Harry,  who was snoozing in bed. His forehead felt feverish when Campbell  pressed his hand to it. But he didn't stir, and Campbell didn't want to  wake him. Instead, he grabbed a book from the living room and perched at  the end of Harry's bed, waiting.

It was close to lunch time when  Harry groaned, stretched, and yawned. He blinked sleepily at Campbell,  and Campbell felt his heart ache a centimeter more than before. Harry  sat up and rubbed his eyes, voice groggy. "Hey, Cam. How long have you  been here?"

"A while. You feeling okay?"

"No. I feel like I got hit by a truck."

"Hungry?"

"No."

Standing,  Campbell went to the kitchen and brewed a cup of herbal tea, with a few  scoops of sugar. He brought it back to Harry and held it out. Harry  sighed and sipped the drink. "No caffeine for a bit," Campbell said as  he opened the curtains a touch. "It'll make you more jittery."

"Can  I lie and say I feel great?" Harry asked with mock hope. Campbell gave  him a look, and Harry slumped. "I guess I better get ready for work and  stuff."

"Just brush your teeth and put some shoes on. I'll do your half of the work, I just need you there so I can keep an eye on you."

"But Allie--"

"Can take it out on me if she has a problem with it."

Harry  bit his lip, but he didn't argue. Campbell drove them to lunch so Harry  wouldn't have to stress his body out; Elle joined them out in the  school's courtyard, where it was pleasantly warm and away from the  bright fluorescent lights. Harry picked at his food, but he seemed a  little less haggard, out in the sunlight and with the fresh air. Elle  was quiet and didn't say much.

No one, Campbell realize, was  saying much. Not at lunch, not during cleaning duties before dinner.  Elle had left with Becca-- who hadn't even glanced at Campbell-- to go  hang up the missing dog posters. The house felt heavy, and at work,  everything was the same way. People had cheered for Dewey's arrest, and  some had even cheered for his death sentence, were stone silent.  Campbell kept his head down and mopped the floors, but he wanted to  laugh in their faces. See, he wanted to yell. You think you're so  fucking righteous, but you all have blood on your hands, too. They  thought they were so tough. Now, reality was hitting them right in their  fucking faces.

That evening, after dinner, Allie called a  meeting at the church. "Greg Dewey was put to death at 9am this  morning," she said. Her voice was flat. She didn't look at anyone,  staring straight ahead. "He was buried in the woods without a marker.  There will be no funeral. If you want to mourn him, you can do so among  yourselves."

And then she left, leaving behind a church of  stunned faces, with plenty of shocked whispers among them. Campbell,  Elle, and Harry went home without a word, and that night was the first  time Elle slept in her own room in a long time. He didn't mind the time  alone. There was a lot to think about, to try and process. He thought he  would feel some sort of comfort, some sort of closure, but he felt  nothing. Just a dark hole where Cassandra had been, still, and no real  sense of justice. Just cold practicality, distant and hollow logic that  said it was the right move for survival, and that was it.

Dewey  had deserved to suffer. To live for ages, knowing what he did and be  punished for it. Death wasn't to punish him or get Cassandra some sort  of peace in her rest. It was just to get Dewey out of their hair. And  Campbell knew that, had known that the whole time, but with it over and  done...

His phone buzzed. I love you, the text from Sam read. That was it.

I love you, too, Campbell texted back.

The  message was read, but Sam didn't send anything else. Campbell set the  phone down and tried to go to sleep. He didn't know why Sam had sent  that, or what it or his own reply meant at all, but something about it  felt like an acknowledgment that things were fucked and who knew how  much time any of them had? Maybe that was all it was. Two semi-estranged  souls feeling burdened by the idea of death, and reaching out for some  small scrap of familial affection. Just in case.

For the next  week, the days seemed to drag by but vanish in a blink at the same time.  Everyone seemed to be in their own little bubbles, except for Harry,  who stuck close by Campbell's side. It was hell watching him detox, and  Campbell wondered if he'd been that irritable; one moment, Harry would  be angry and snapping, the next he'd be crying. He slept all the time,  which wasn't too far from normal, but even when Campbell dragged him to  work-- to pretend like he was working-- he'd glaze over like some sort  of robot without batteries.

Elle had withdrawn into her shell.  Campbell didn't know what to do. They weren't fighting, but her smiles  were forced and when she laughed or acted interested in anything going  on, Campbell could tell it was fake. He knew that sort of mask all too  well. But what could he do? He didn't even know for sure what was wrong.  If he didn't know any better, he'd think it was something he'd done.  Maybe it was, but he'd been on his best behavior. What was he missing?

Allie  arrived at the house one day when Campbell was sipping coffee on the  front steps, pondering that exact question. "I heard Harry hasn't been  working," she said, staring past him at the house door. "Can I talk to  him?"

"He's sleeping. You can talk to me."

"Campbell, you know the rules. You don't work, you don't eat."

Campbell  shrugged. "Fine. I've taken over his shifts until he feels better. If  I'm doing twice the work, I get twice the food. No problem."

"Christ. What's going on with him?"

"He's detoxing. Gave up the drugs and the booze cold turkey."

"Really?"

"Is it really that surprising?"

"I  guess I just never thought..." Allie rolled her eyes, then looked  Campbell over. "Alright, fine. Have it your way. Twice the work, twice  the food. I don't care what you do with it. How long does he need?"

"Assuming my research is right, about another week. Week and a half."

"He's got two weeks. If he needs longer, then he needs to come see me."

"Thanks." Hesitating a moment, Campbell called out to Allie as she started to walk away. "Hey, Allie? Can I ask you something?"

Allie sighed, but stopped. "What's up?"

"Do you know if something happened with Elle? She's been acting kinda strange lately."

"I don't know. She's been hanging out with Helena and Becca a lot. Ask them."

"Well,  I would, be Helena wants me to burn in Hell and Becca hasn't spoken to  me in forever. Makes things a little difficult, doesn't it?"

"Really?" Furrowing her eyebrows, Allie took a few steps back towards Campbell. "You guys used to be friends, didn't you?"

"Kinda. But then..." Careful. "Life happened, I guess, and she won't even look at me anymore. No clue why."

The  look on Allie's face shifted, and for a moment Campbell thought she was  going to ask something, but then she shook her head. "I'll ask Sam to  talk to her. You and him are on speaking terms again, yeah?"

"Yeah. Mostly."

"Good."

That  sounded almost genuine. Maybe it was. Who knew. Allie walked off, and  Campbell finished his coffee in peace. The mystery only deepened as the  day went on, and Sam texted him, asking to meet. Elle was at work, so  Campbell dragged a weary Harry along to the coffee shop where his  brother was waiting. Sam gave Harry a skeptical look, but Harry tucked  himself into a corner in the back with a book and one of Campbell's  hoodies draped over his shoulders. He wasn't going to be paying  attention.

"How have you been?" Campbell asked. "Since everything."

"Tired. Sad. Worried."

"Worried?"

Sam  shook his head and gave a helpless sort of shrug. "About how it will  change things. How it will change us. But I think Allie is taking it  harder than most of us. She had to take over for Grizz."

Now, that was something Campbell hadn't known. "Yikes. No wonder she's tense."

"Everyone seems tense. Allie told me you're having troubles with Elle?"

"Maybe,  I don't know. I'm glad she's got some friends now, but lately she's  been hanging out with Becca more. She found a dog wandering loose, and  then he disappeared right around the time all this Dewey shit started.  Maybe it's just that."

"Maybe. That's rough."

"It is."  Campbell noticed a hint of... something in Sam's eyes, though. "Do you  know if Becca has anything against me? We got along okay, but she treats  me like I've got some sort of contagious disease these days."

Pursing  his lips together, Sam glanced to where Harry was curled up. Harry was  still ignoring them, but Sam switched to signing only. "I want to ask  you something, but you have to promise to tell me the truth."

"I could lie about promising," Campbell signed back, also going into silent mode. "But sure. I promise."

"Did you and Becca ever sleep together?"

"What? Hell no. Elle's the only person I've slept with."

"That's what I thought, but..."

"But?"

A long, long pause. "Promise you won't say anything, not even to Elle? Or Harry?"

"Dude, still the same problem there."

"Campbell."

"Okay, okay. What's going on?"

"Becca's..."  Sam hesitated. "I asked Becca about someone she slept with, and she got  angry with me. She told me to never ask her again. I assumed it was  you, because I don't know why else she wouldn't tell me."

Campbell  felt dizzy, in a way, as he processed the information. Was it possible  Becca associated him with that night, and just didn't want to remember?  Or, worse, that she thought he had been responsible? Either way, he had  no idea what Becca had confessed to Sam, so best to stay vague. "I know  about the party where she met them, but it wasn't me. We just went  together."

"She never told me about that. You don't know who it was?"

"No. Sorry."

"It's okay. Do you want me to talk to Becca for you?"

"No, no, I don't want to bother her, especially if she's angry at me over something. I'll see if Elle will just talk to me."

Sam  nodded. He messed with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. Empty  now, their contents taken by Will and his crew to use in the communal  kitchen. "Was that all you wanted to talk about?"

The answer was  yes. Campbell hadn't planned on talking about anything else. Yet now  that he was there, sitting across from Sam and actually talking about  things rather than arguing or blaming or whatever, Campbell considered  that maybe it was also time to extend another olive branch. A bigger,  better one. "Actually, I was thinking we could go to the arcade on our  next day off. Like we used to."

"Really?" Sam sat up a little straighter. "You want to?"

"Yeah, of course. If you want to."

"I'd like that."

They  settled on a day and time, and went their separate ways; it was easier  than Campbell had expected. No questions, no suspicion. Just a glint of  hope. Campbell was starting to think that maybe Sam really did care  about him. Maybe he always had. He'd known that his own feelings had  been impacted by his parents, but was the same true for Sam? Did their  relationships with their parents really color the relationship between  them so much? It seemed hard to believe, but maybe it was true, and it  had just taken a few doses of tragedy to bridge that gap.

Unfortunately,  those tragedies seemed to have broken something between Campbell and  Elle. She smiled, she laughed at his shitty jokes, and she accepted his  affection, but there was a stiffness to it. It was forced. Once lunch  was over and Elle had gone home to rest, Campbell popped back into the  cafeteria. Elaine was working. They weren't as close as before, but she  still seemed welcoming when he approached. That was a good sign.

"Hey," Campbell said with as charming of a smile as he could muster. "Could I ask you for a favor?"

Elaine tilted her head. "You can, doesn't mean I'll agree. What's up?"

"I  was hoping to make my girlfriend a dinner at home tonight. You know,  just me and her. Something special. I just need a jar of like, alfredo  sauce and some garlic bread."

"That's cute. I'll have to ask Will, though."

Oh, god. "Okay."

Shuffling  into the back, Elaine vanished, and a few minutes later Will came out  instead. He looked neutral, but Campbell braced for a fight. "Elaine  said you asked for some extra ingredients. You know we're not supposed  to give out food for people to use at home."

"I know. Maybe I can  bring in some other supplies to trade, at breakfast? You guys probably  need band aids and stuff like that, yeah?"

Will narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, we could use some. Are you sure you wanna do that?"

"I'm sure," Campbell replied. "Elle's important to me. I want to do something nice for her."

"I can give you a jar of sauce, and a few slices of texas toast we've got. You got a box of band aids we can have?"

A  small price for what Campbell was hoping to accomplish. Maybe Elle just  needed a pick-me-up, something to remind her that he cared. The next  night, Harry took Elle out with the excuse of getting some fresh air  while Campbell quickly set the dining room table. Nice glasses,  sparkling cider his parents had kept around for the 4th of July,  candlelight. He salted the pasta water, drained it when it was al dente,  and added the sauce to the pot with a bit of pasta water and dried  herbs. He mixed in some canned mushrooms and a bit of pan-fried frozen  chicken, heated the bread, and got it plated just as the two came back  from the walk.

"Oh?" Elle peeked into the dining room. "What's this?"

Campbell  took her hand and kissed it as Harry darted into his room, flashing  Campbell a thumbs up behind Elle's back. "I thought we could stay home  tonight, babe. Will traded me a few things so I could make dinner here,  just the two of us. I remembered that you liked Italian food, so..."

Elle stretched up on her tippy toes and kissed him. "It looks amazing. Thank you."

And  it was amazing, for the first half of dinner. Campbell hated small  talk, but Elle was quieter than usual, and if there was ever a time to  sort things out... well, maybe it wasn't then, but he was tired of  waiting. "How have you been doing?" he asked. "I feel like we haven't  really talked lately."

"Oh! Well, I've mostly just been working  and helping out some people around town. Some people are talking about  setting up classes and workshops to give people things to focus on. I  was thinking about reviving movie night."

"That sounds like a good idea. We could all use the distraction."

"Yeah." Elle glanced up from her plate. "There haven't been any leads on Charlie, though. Have you heard anything?"

"Sorry, babe. I haven't heard anything, either."

"And you're sure you don't know what happened to him?"

Campbell  gripped his fork tighter as his jaw clenched. Peaceful thoughts,  peaceful thoughts. Maybe she didn't mean anything by it. "What do you  mean?"

"I was talking to Becca, and--"

"She told you what Sam said?"

"Sure. Yeah."

"Elle,  that's..." He stopped and rubbed his face. Even now, even with her, it  was all too easy for his brain to go into that space where everyone was a  threat and he had to attack to defend himself. This time, he managed to  cut himself off before anything snappish came out his mouth. "I've  fucked up a lot, and some people in town hate me for a decent reasons.  Kelly, Allie. I was mean to them. But Becca's different."

"Different how?"

"I  never did anything to Becca, but she hates me, too. Maybe it's because  of me and Sam not getting along. I don't know. But whatever she said I  did, it's not true."

"Alright. I'm sorry I said anything. I should have known."

"Hey."  Campbell stood up and walked to her side of the table, kneeling on the  floor next to her and taking her hand in his own. "No, it's okay. I'm  not mad at you or Sam or Becca. I just wanted to set the record  straight, you know? It's better to just get it out in the open."

Elle  nodded, but she was still staring down at her plate. "Yeah, it is. I  guess I just..." She trailed off, finally looking to him. "This place is  doing things to people. Showing them for who they are, maybe. It scares  me."

"It's scary shit. But we still have each other, right?"

"Right."

Campbell  knew, deep down, it wasn't that simple. Elle began sleeping with him  again-- both in the literally and euphemistic sense-- but there was a  sadness in her eyes that never quite seemed to fade, even on their best  days. She was afraid, and his presence wasn't changing that. He couldn't  blame her. He knew that there was no way he could be at her side every  moment of every day, and even if he was, he wasn't bulletproof. Still,  he refused to stop trying.

He kept seeing Grizz a couple times a  week. Usually they would just talk. Vent. Grizz found some papers he had  on something called EMDR, and suggested they try it. "It seems to help  with stuff like PTSD."

"I don't have PTSD."

"You don't think so?"

"I'm not a war vet, Grizz. I haven't been through anything bad enough for that."

Grizz  gave Campbell the look he always gave Campbell when he knew Campbell  was trying to avoid a topic, and thought it was bullshit. It was one  thing Campbell admired about Grizz-- he didn't hide his opinion. "You  don't have to be a war vet. You know that. It's actually the least  common cause for PTSD. Physical assault, sexual trauma, and sexual  assault are the top three causes."

"Yeah, okay. I get the point."

"Do you? Do you know what the fourth leading cause is?"

"I know you're gonna tell me either way."

"Sudden  death of a loved one." Grizz lowered his voice and leaned forward,  making direct eye contact for the first time since they' bee having  meetings. "You were the one who first found her body, weren't you?"

Campbell met his eyes and felt goosebumps rise up on his arms. "How do you know that? I never told you."

"It doesn't really matter, because I know you didn't hurt her. Here's the papers."

Just  to end the conversation, Campbell snatched the paper folder from Grizz  and hid in the corner of the library. He didn't want to have to think  about what Grizz said, not for a long time, if ever. It wasn't some  miracle cure, but Grizz figured out a sort of at-home way to do it, and  Campbell did feel better. Calmer. In return, he helped Grizz practice  his BSL, even if Campbell knew it wouldn't work with Sam. It wasn't  entirely useless. Learning a new language was beneficial, and Grizz was  proud of his improvements; Campbell enjoyed the interaction, so really,  it was a win/win.

Harry stayed clean, though as summer passed by  and melded into fall, Campbell could tell that the depression was  getting worse. It wasn't too much of a surprise. Depression didn't just  go away, even with treatment, and getting sober made everything more  difficult. It had been a coping mechanism, and now Harry didn't have  that to lean on. Campbell taught him some of what he'd learned from  Cassandra and Grizz; it seemed to help, but the situation they were in  just kept punching a lot of people down. Harry needed to rest, but he'd  been dragged back to work once the two weeks had been up. To make  matters worse, the work schedules hadn't been rotated since Dewey's  execution.

"I brought it up to her," Sam said during one of their  now-weekly get togethers. "But she just isn't listening. You know  Allie. She has her opinions."

"Runs in the family. I don't get it, though. If she's so worried about people revolting against her, why is she doing this?"

Sam  lifted his shoulders in a big shrug. "I have no idea. She gave me a job  at the library, and told me I could stay there as long as I wanted.  She's done the same for a few other people. Given them stable jobs.  Maybe she feels like that's what's best for everyone, now."

"Yeah, except she didn't ask anyone."

"She doesn't have to."

And  that was that, in the end. Allie didn't have to justify or explain her  choices to anyone. It was her rules now. It was her society. They were  all just living in it, despite what she may have said during the  mandatory town meetings. Campbell kept his fingers on the pulse of the  community as best as he could, making notes of who was pissed,  frustrated, complaining. He wouldn't give it over to the guard or to  Allie, but it was good to keep track of the undercurrent of the river  they were all standing in. And it was getting rough.

There was a small reprieve during October.

"I  guess Blake, Clark, and some of the goth kids are getting a Halloween  thing together at the end of the month," Elle said one day when she came  home from work. "Do you wanna go?"

Campbell looked up from the dishes he was washing. "Hey. Sure, that sounds like a good time. When is it going to be?"

"Five in the evening. I guess there's gonna be a trick-or-treat event after dark."

"Nice. That should be fun."

"Do you want to do the costume thing?"

"I don't know. How about you?"

Elle  perched on the counter next to him, lightly kicking her legs. "It could  be fun. We don't have to do anything complicated. We could ask Harry  and Sam and a few other people to come with us, maybe?"

Other  people was vague, but she sounded so tentative that he didn't want to  press her about it. "Sure. Halloween's kind of better in a group, right?  Maybe tomorrow we can go through our stuff and figure out costume  ideas."

"Sure. That'd be nice."

And it was. They didn't  have anything super elaborate to work with, but it was fun to paw  through their closets and figure something out together. They didn't  have much luck at first, but Elle's smile was a bit warmer than it had  been in a while. Maybe things were going to be okay between them, after  all. She held his hand when they went to movie night together, and ended  up leaning against him; she and the others involved had decided every  week in October would be a different horror movie, which seemed like  both the best and worst idea.

It was a double feature night,  with Rocky Horror Picture Show and Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Harry had  decided to come with them, unlike the previous week's Creature from the  Black Lagoon. Harry ended up falling asleep on his shoulder twenty  minutes into the second movie. Once the movie was over, Campbell and  Harry helped Elle clean up; Elle and Campbell had just taken out the  last bag of trash when Elle curled her arms around his waist in a hug.

"Hey,"  she said as she nuzzled his shoulder. "I got a costume idea. We could  always go as Mina and Dracula. Classic. I could wear my nice white dress  my mom got me for my birthday this year."

"The one with the lace hem?"

"You remember."

"Of course. You wore it for Easter. It's amazing on you."

She let out a pleased hum. "Do you really like the idea?"

"I do," Campbell affirmed. "Vampires are still in, aren't they?"

"Always."

Even  with something to look forward to, the time dragged a little, but it  gave Campbell a touch of excitement for the near future. The three of  them managed to sneak some Halloween decorations, not something his  parents had really allowed, and make the house appropriately festive. He  and Harry got in a light argument over whether Nightmare Before  Christmas was a Halloween or Christmas movie. The week before the  Halloween events, Will revealed that there were pumpkins available for  decorating.

Sam showed up with a few, looking hopeful. "I thought we could carve them together," he signed, "since we never have before."

And  how could Campbell say no? They sat on the back porch, and Elle joined  them with a pitcher of hot, spiced tea. It was sunny and perfect weather  for it. Sam didn't eye him for wielding a knife, which was a bonus.  Campbell sliced the pumpkins open and dug out the seeds. "There. I'll  have to find some tea candles for when they're done."

Harry sat  nearby, picking the seeds out of the orange goop. "These can be roasted  later," he said. He wrinkled his nose as he grabbed a handful. "Even if  it look like something you'd find growing under a bridge."

Sam  signed something, and Harry glanced at Campbell, unsure. Campbell  chuckled. "He said we might have to forage under bridges if things get  bad."

"Oh, geeze." Harry turned his eyes back to Sam. "Better have Grizz teach us about mushrooms."

Blushing,  Sam nodded and focused on his pumpkin. He made a sort of howling wolf  face, while Elle made a cat, and Campbell and Harry stuck to more  traditional jack o' lantern faces. As it turned out, all carved pumpkins  were destined to be decorations at the Halloween Eve festival that had  been planned; Grizz came around to pick them up the day before, spending  a few minutes talking to Sam, who had come by again to make roasted  pumpkin seeds.

Campbell waited until Grizz was gone before nudging Sam. "When are you gonna go for it? It's been months."

"He hasn't made any sort of move at all. Are you even sure he likes me?"

"Have you made a move?"

He  didn't push the issue when Sam kept quiet. It wasn't really Campbell's  business, and his relationship with Sam was just beginning to bloom into  something that actually resembled a brotherhood. The lovebirds would  come together on their own, eventually, or they wouldn't. Still, it was  nice to think maybe Sam wouldn't be alone forever, after all. It was  something he'd always worried about, ever since that priest put it in  his head after Sam had come out.

At least Grizz was part of the  group that gathered together to go to the Halloween events. Campbell  dressed in black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket;  he'd managed to barter high-quality custom fangs from Elaine, and of  course, Elle looked effortlessly beautiful in her white dress and pale  make-up. The three of them met the others in front of the school. It was  mostly Sam and Allie's friend group, but Campbell was determined to  play nice, even though Will, Luke, and Gordie were giving him wary  looks, and Becca outright ignored him. There was a tension between her  and Sam. Campbell assumed there must have been an argument. Regardless  of what happened, they all plastered smiles on their faces and greeted  each other.

Allie raised her eyebrows at Harry. "Dude, what's your costume?"

Harry  stood there in boxers, a tank top, and moose slippers with a five day  shadow and an unopened package of Top Ramen in his hands. Without  missing a beat, he gestured to himself with it and shrugged. "I'm a  Millennial.

"Ah. The scariest urban legend."

Bean gave Harry a concerned look. "Aren't you gonna be cold like that?"

"Not with the increasing effects of global warming, I won't."

Most  of them chuckled. It was an uneasy sound that came with knowing they  might not actually survive long enough to worry about that sort of thing  anymore. Food. Warmth over the winter. Sickness. Student loan debt and  rising sea levels seemed like such a distant problem, in their new town.

The  big event distracted them, anyways. There were a few different  activities going on. In one area, there was a big barrel where people  were bobbing for apples, provided by someone who was lucky enough to  have an apple tree in their yard. Blake and a few theater kids were  doing face painting, and Clark had offered up his pick-up truck for  rides along the more picturesque parts of town. All the carved pumpkins  were scattered around with candles, and people had gathered up bags of  leaves to scatter around the field. A little ways out, there was a  bonfire going, where people were serving cups of hot cider, and roasting  hot dogs and marshmallows. Someone had brought a speaker system, and  cheesy Halloween music filled the air along with the smells of wood  smoke, caramelized sugar, and spices.

A solid half of the group  got their faces painted, and after seeing how cute it was, Allie gave  in, too. Campbell politely declined, as did Luke, Helena, and Harry.  Surprising Campbell, Harry decided to bob for apples; he looked like a  soggy dog when he came back up, but he did have an apple and won that  round. He winked at Campbell when no one was looking, and Campbell  rolled his eyes. Show off, even when it was apple bobbing.

"I  guess they converted the school into a haunted house," Kelly said after  they'd gotten cider and snacks at the bonfire. "Wanna go, anyone?"

Everyone  agreed, except for Becca, who's eyes were pointedly on Campbell when  she refused. "No thanks, I'm a little tired. I'll just stay here by the  fire."

Sam signed to her. "We'll come get you in a little bit."

"Okay. Have fun."

Campbell  started to leave with the group, but then paused. He waited until they  were a ways away before turning back to Becca. "Look, I don't want a  fight, but you clearly are pissed off at me for some reason." He didn't  want to bring up what Sam said. "I don't understand why."

"Really?" Becca glowered at him. "You're playing that card?"

"What card? One day we're kinda friends, and when I took you home after what happened at Harry's party, you just--"

"Fuck you, Campbell."

"Becca, just tell me what I did. I can try to fix it or something."

Standing  up, Becca raised her voice until she was practically yelling. "Fix it?  You can't fix what you did to me! How dare you? Maybe you've got Sam and  Allie and Grizz fooled, but not me. I know what you did. And one of  these days, so will everyone else, and you'll get what you deserve."

"So  you think I did it." Campbell had suspected, but it still felt like  someone had kicked him in the gut. "Becca, I don't know what you  remember, but I didn't do it. I found you, and I helped you get home.  That was it."

"Leave me the fuck alone! Get away from me!"

People  were starting to stare. Campbell opened his mouth, shut it again, and  turned to follow after everyone else. He froze when he saw that Elle was  standing not too far away; she had stopped when she'd noticed Campbell  wasn't with them, probably, and now she was looking at him with a look  that chilled even him.

Campbell approached her, slow and with care. "Babe, I don't know what you heard, but--"

"We should catch up with the others."

"Elle."

"Please. Not now."

Clenching  his teeth, Campbell followed silently behind Elle as she made her way  to the school. No, he wanted to shout. No, we're not leaving it like  this. You have to listen to me, you have to believe me. But if Campbell  were Elle, he knew he wouldn't believe him, either. Becca was a  straightforward, no bullshit kind of person. Honest, with a spotless  record, and she was well-liked. She was Sam's friend since childhood.  She'd never been Campbell's friend, really, but they knew each other.  He'd had opportunity. It didn't look good, and if it got out, how would  he be able to defend himself? How could he fight that, without hurting  Becca?

He didn't know. All he knew was that the rest of the night  was a blur, and by the time they all got home, the evening was  thoroughly ruined. Harry kept his mouth shut and hid in his room; he  could sense there was a storm brewing, and Campbell didn't blame him for  wanting nothing to do with it. Elle fled upstairs. Campbell gave her a  few minutes, and then went up. She was sitting in her own bathroom,  staring at the mirror. It looked like she'd planned to take her make up  off, but she hadn't started yet. Elle just... stared at her reflection.

"Babe?" Campbell called softly. "Can we talk?"

"Is she telling the truth?"

The cutting, dangerous edge to Elle's voice was enough to make Campbell swallow. Hard. "How do you mean that, exactly?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't. Do you mean about being attacked, or it being me who did it?"

"Did you rape Becca?"

"Jesus,  Elle." Running his hand through his hair, Campbell sat down on the  floor just outside the bathroom. "No. I didn't rape her."

"So she's lying?"

"I'm  not saying she's lying. She was attacked at a party Harry threw with  the football team and some college assholes from outside of town. We  went together as friends, I lost sight of her, and when I found her it  had already happened. I made sure she got home, but she was pretty out  of it. She refuse to go to the hospital and she told me not to tell  anyone. The next day, she blocked my number and hasn't spoken to me  since. I believe that she thinks it was me, but it wasn't."

Elle  was watching him in the mirror, expression completely closed off and  eyes blank. "You know how this looks, right? You know how many guys say  it wasn't them when they get accused."

"I know, and I know that  ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the victim is right. I'm not saying  Becca wasn't attacked. Hell, I understand why she thinks it's me. Trust  me, if I could find the dirtbag who hurt her, I'd rip their fucking head  off. But I don't know who it was. I just know it wasn't me."

Turning  on the sink, Elle began to remove her make up. She didn't speak. She  didn't look at him. He didn't try and make her. They just both sat there  in their own thoughts. Campbell knew that she was going to leave. It  was all too much, and he knew that. His shitty temper, his moodiness,  what happened with Sam and then Cassandra, Charlie vanishing, and now  this. Even if he didn't or hadn't done everything he was accused of,  Campbell knew he was difficult to deal with, and he knew he'd done  enough to be suspect. Why would she stay with someone like him?

"I need a night to just clear my head, I think," Elle finally said. She frowned and fiddled with her hair. "Is that okay?"

"Of course. Take the time you need."

"Thank you. Goodnight, Campbell."

He  stood and went to his room. Elle shut the door behind him, and the  sound of the lock to her door clicking shut sounded a lot like the sound  of his heart cracking. He paced his room for a while, after that. Elle  was just scared. It made sense. He loved her, and she must have loved  him too, otherwise she'd have left long ago. Maybe he could talk with  Sam and see if Becca would talk to him. Hear him out, in a quieter  environment with Sam or someone else there to help her feel safe. Maybe  if Campbell explained what he remembered, it would help her, too. But  what if it didn't? What if it made things worse, or Elle left before  then, or left anyways?

Crawling into bed, Campbell sighed. Happy  fucking Halloween. His gaze moved to the clock by his bed. Well, not  Halloween anymore. It was a little past midnight. It was November 1st.  Almost winter. A bad time to find one's self isolated. His bed felt  cold, he felt cold, and something in him felt... off, detached,  shivering and alone, even with other people in the same house. It had  been a while since he'd felt that way. Best to get used to it. Things  were only going to get colder. Literally and metaphorically, it seemed.  But Harry still looked at him warmly. Grizz was a friend. And Sam. Sam  was there for him, too, maybe.

Campbell closed his eyes. He just had to take his own advice.

Find a reason, and keep going.

#the society #the society netflix #the society fanfiction #the society netflix fanfiction #the society fanfic #the society netflix fanfic #the society fic #the society netflix fic #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #writing #campbell eliot #sam eliot #harry bingham #elle tomkins #allie pressman #grizz visser #wroughtwriting #cw: minor character death

[ratleft]

billy + his mom / paralleles 

a big important turn point in billy’s life is the abandoment he suffered on the account of his mom leaving him , there are several factors that come into play in my view of this . 

firstly , his dad’s physical abuse had been completely zoned in on his mother , for the longest time . it wasn’t like there was hesitation on neil’s part but because all of his energy redirected to his mother , a key piece on why her leaving made everything ten times worse . this meant that i headcanon that although billy had always been mentally abused , and the physical abuse was on the back burner , not as prominent . 

secondly, his mother did not plan to leave like she did , if we take into consideration women’s rights and how the law viewed marriage in the 1970s , progress was being made , for sure , but it wasn’t as intense or well known .

the way i see billy’s mom , it’s that she is a free spirit , someone with a passion and a fiery look in her eye . i would place her on the category of a hippie as an early teen , who was forced out of her ways by an unplanned pregnancy . she’s one of those that rides on life and shows caring and respect to most things , but she’s deeply influenced by the new wave and the search for equality and justice for everyone , in the scene where neil hits her , she fights back . she throws something at him, yet she seems so calm and serene at the beach , so naturally looking . 

now when she left , it’s certainly when things were starting to get out of control , and it threatened her life . she could not take billy with her, it just wasn’t something viable . yet i feel like she did say goodbye and left him with important things , especially her jewelry . she’s still in contact with him , just overall avoiding neil just to get divorced from him . that’s why she’s able to call , and eventually i feel like not getting her son out of the situation is something she’s ashamed of and the reason she never came back .  and on billy’s side you can understand that he felt abadoned because he was , but obviously his dad could’ve easily picked up on this , use this as an excuse to turn billy against his mother . and although i do believe that billy does resent her actions i don’t think he could ever hate her . she’s the only happy memory, the only person that brought him joy , something his father took away from him . 

now , once his mother was out of the picture , neil had no one to project his anger and abuse on , therefore you can assume he redirected all his anger and attention to billy. his anger was quite high , since he was practically ridiculed , he got left . he got put into a position he didn’t want , because of course neil is obsessed with the picture of a perfectfamily and he tried to force it into billy’s mom and consequently billy when his mother was anything but a conventional woman . to me , billy reflects his mother , not only physically ( with both of them being blonde and whe billy being younger sharing all the same interests and passions) but in personality , billy is a fiery individual , even though his abuse has worsen how he reflects it , he is a free spirit who is not conformed with what he just has . and that , to neil is the worse . he wishes to kill that part of billy , but it’s the very essence of billy . neil sees his ex wife reflected on billy and it brings him so much anger and regret and shame that it’s just so easy to not want him and be such an abusive bitch towards him . 

billy and his mom were the two types of rebels of their times , a metalhead and a hippie , against what society dictates yet with convictions and motivations , fighting against an unfair house situation , worsened by the fact that billy is gay , something i feel his mom wouldn’t mind really . it’s something bittersweet to think about , how much they are like each other and how much they project of each other . and how that got lost . 

#/ * tagged — 🐀 ( a broken boy turned asshole ) headcanons . #meta. #/ * tagged — 🐀 ( ratatat ) ooc . #( i got carried away ) #tw abuse