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littlemisslipbalm · 8 months

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It shouldn’t have happened

Jake Kiszka x f!reader x f!oc x Danny Wagner

A/N: OMG first fic w danny! I love You man, just inspiration doesn’t always strike for me. THIS IS SMUT WITH QUEERNESS OCCURRING sorry if that’s not your cup of tea do not read and also 18+ FR

Warnings: penetrative sex, oral sex, fxf sexual relations, foursome? Mentions of weed and alcohol use, dirty talk/mild degradation

Word Count: 2.1k

It shouldn’t have happened. Not the first time.

And it certainly shouldn’t have happened again.

But here the four of you were. The last four at Jake’s place, staring at one another with drunken smiles and faded eyes. It was after 2am and nothing good ever happened then.

You had been in Danny’s girlfriend's lap all night already. You were close, it wasn’t anything new. And when you got stoned, you like to be close to people. Wanting to let Jake have fun at his party you’d left him alone, leaving you to bug Danny’s Angel of a girlfriend.

“Angel,” you sighed and the woman laughed.

“You’re on another planet, Y/N.” She ran a hand through the crossed individual’s hair.

You rocked your hips experimentally across your friend’s lap, feeling fuzzy and insane and needy and safe all at once. “Yeah, but you’re on it too.” You mumbled, staring up through your lashes after looking down at where your hips were touching. On fire.

“And are we on this planet with you two?” Jake called from across the room, legs spread wide as he slumped into his favorite chair, flipping his finger between himself and Danny beside him.

You ran your hands down Angel’s shoulders and grabbed hold of her arms tighter and leaned back, your eyes meeting Jake’s while you looked at the men upside down. You giggled as you leaned further but Angel tugged you back in warning, trying to keep you steady.

“Yeah, we’re all on the planet. Together. I can totally see it.”

Jake laughed and shook his head, standing to make his way over. “You are incredible, my love.”

You sat back up and sighed and it came out a bit like a whimper. Fuck, you were so wet. You needed to fuck. You needed them.

Angel’s eyes were wide on your face, still feeling you wriggling on her lap, hands drawing circles on her arms making her fuzzy too. You keened into Jake’s touch when he ran a hand over your hair, watching his girlfriend and Danny’s a little closer intently now that he was beside you two.

Memories were tearing through his mind. He knew exactly what you were up to. He smirked and settled beside you, brushing his hand down your back now. Your top was open in the back, leaving the expanse of skin bare. Warm and soft.

He settled his touch on your exposed upper thighs, your Jean skirt was so short and was barely of use with your straddling position on Angel. It was pornographic from this new angle, he could see your barely covered pussy pressing into Angel’s thigh. Jake drew in a breath, he had wanted this again but didn’t have the courage to voice it.

“Dan, c’mere,” Angel spoke out and Danny sauntered over to settle on the couch on the other side of the pair of you clearly seeing where this was heading as well.

You smiled at the three of them, watching you. You moved your hips again, grinding down into Angel. She hummed and you winked at Danny.

“Can we do it again?” You breathed, hips expertly beginning to move again. “I’m so wet,” you whined.

Danny breathed out a ‘fuck’ still in disbelief this had happened a first time, much less now a second.

“Yeah, where’s that?” Jake said right as Angel asked almost the same question teasingly, “Oh yeah?”

You leaned back, settling one hand on Jake’s knee to your left and let your other travel below your hitched up skirt. The black lace of your thong could already be seen if looked close enough at but your fingers pushed it to the side, slipping down your heat and pressing in for a moment of relief to gather the wetness pooling there.

You licked your lips in an attempt to silence the moan in your throat as your hips bucked needing it even more than you realized. You retreated the fingers, swirling them around your aching clit.

“Fuck, right here, you guys. It hurts.”

“Aw, baby,” Jake cooed, standing to move behind you and Angel on the couch now, slipping his hand down your arm to your slick fingers and stopping their work on your clit. “Your so desperate to fuck you’ll make a fool out of yourself in front of my best friend and his girlfriend.”

“Pretty slutty, Y/N,” Danny says, moving closer to his girlfriend to press a kiss to her neck.

“We’ve always known she’s a slut, c’mon Dan,” Angel coos, wrapping an arm around Danny to snake her hand into his hair while he begins to suck a mark into her skin. “She’s always dripping onto me at parties and on dance floors. She can’t help herself.”

You whined, keening your head back into Jake’s chest and rutting your hips into Angel’s lap. You couldn’t handle the stimulation and the lack of stimulation and how they spoke as if you were barely in the room. “Please.”

“But she begs so sweetly,” Jake murmurs, hands slipping to grasp at your tits over your shirt. “My princess just loves to fuck. Who are we to deny such a sweet girl?”

His lips press to the shell of your ear as he leans down, but his eyes stare straight at Angel who smiled back, her hands trailing up your thighs to where you needed somebody to do something before you died. It was a slick mess.

Her fingers are long and slim, pushing the messy fabric covering your pussy to the side again, she teases over the hot skin with a barely there touch and you whine again.

Jake shushes you as Angel grins. She drags her middle finger through your fold and slips inside you with embarrassing ease and everyone stops to watch as you moan out.

“Fuck, Angel.”

“Good girl.” She murmurs, granting a quick peck to your lips while Jake and Danny watch on. The sound of your pussy was so loud, she loved it. “So fucking wet…”

Her thumb works over your clit and two fingers slip in and out of you easily for a few moments. It’s not even long enough for the two guys to feel left out, you’re already so worked up that you cum quickly with a string of curses leaving your lips as you try to ride her fingers, bucking like a drunken girl on the mechanical bull at the bar getting off on the audience—something you had done before.

“Let’s move this to the guest room,” Jake suggests with a kiss to your temple.

Danny agrees and kisses Angel for a long moment before following you and Jake down the hall.

Your skirt and ruined thong are quickly removed before you get pushed onto the bed by Jake’s strong hand while Angel undresses Danny at the foot of the bed. Your hand slips to your already messy folds again as you watch Danny grope at her ass, kneading it with his big strong hands. Jake whispers in your ear about what a dirty girl you were watching the other couple with your hand in your cunt.

When they joined you on the bed, everyone was shirtless but you and the three of them looked wickedly at one another.

“C’mon baby, let’s see those pretty titties,” Jake moved to pull your top over your head and you giggled.

Angel widened her eyes at you for a moment, a secret joke passing between you two that neither of the men seemed to catch. You’d told her about Jake’s obsession with your tits and how he loved to fuck them whenever you let him.

On full display, you arched your back pushing your breasts into the open air. Your arousal made your nipples pebble under the watchful eyes of the three around you. It turned you on even more so you gave them a show, pushing them closer together with your arms before trailing a hand to play with one nipple.

Jake stopped you, taking your arm and pushing you to lay down fully. “Stop touching what’s mine, baby. I can only share so much with our guests.”

Angel appeared over you, kissing up your stomach, over your chest and up your neck. Her legs were straddled over your body while Danny ran his hands over her hips, pressing his boxer-clad hips into her ass. She moaned over you and then stuck her tongue down your throat. Her own tits pushed and pulled over yours in a way you had missed so much. The tender pressure of another woman’s boobs on yours, it felt so good. You wanted more, but Jake had restricted your hands, causing you to press your chest up into hers and whine.

“Such a fucking brat, Y/N,” Jake mutters, palming himself over his own boxers.

Danny hummed in agreement and pulled Angel back from making out with you, causing whines from both of you. “Jesus,” he laughed. “Would you like us to leave?”

“That might not be such a bad idea,” you said teasingly, but the look in your eye held the seed of a little truth.

“I’ll share my girl,” Jake said tersely, shuffling behind your head slowly. “As long as I’m present for it. Watch your tongue, missy.”

“Yeah, yeah, sir,” you teased and sent a wink his way.

He shook his head, still in awe of his girlfriend before pulling his cock free from its confines. He was almost unbearably hard. You moaned at the sight above your face and opened your jaw, aware and ready for him to take what he wanted.

“That’s my good fuckin’ girl,” he praised, tapping the head of his cock against your tongue. You hummed and bucked your hips, opening your knees wider.

Angel and Danny watched on. Angel’s hands were on either side of your hips, eyes bright while watching your chest heaving as you exerted yourself to take all of Jake down your throat at this angle.

The knocking of your knees against her arms brought her attention to your cunt right below her and she grinned, moving her arms in between your legs and getting down on her elbows, bringing her level with your dripping center.

“Jesus, I didn’t know giving head turned you on so much,” she murmurs, blowing lightly over the hot skin. “Hot.”

You bucked your hips and she quickly pressed you flat.

“Silly slut,” Angel tsked and Jake chuckled.

Danny took the opportunity to begin tracing up and down his girlfriend's ass with his own hard cock. The scene laid out before him was incredible. Angel moaned in appreciation feeling the heaviness resting between her ass cheeks and slipping down between her folds every so often, teasing her. She pushed back towards him wanting more before refocusing on your cunt.

She dipped her tongue down between your folds and smiled when your hips immediately bucked up.

“Needy girl,” Jake tutted, still slowly sinking in and out of your throat.

You moaned around him feeling untethered and euphoric and insane. You were getting exactly what you wanted. What you needed.

Angel ate you out with vigor and, you’d never admit it even if it saved your life, but better than Jake. Her tongue slipped inside you and she pushed in and out in time with Danny’s thrusts to her own cunt. She moaned into your cunt, muffling her cries but sending vibrations through your body.

Jake and Danny groaned at their girlfriends writhing in ecstasy, feeling close themselves. Jake pulled out of your throat and pushed gently at Angel so that he could turn you around.

Obediently, you got on all fours and faced Angel and Danny, smiling at her and then went slack jawed when Jake pushed in with a loud moan.

Angel moaned back when Danny slapped a hard hand over her ass cheek and everyone felt fucked out and happy. The men finished rather soon after on another.

You had cum twice but still wanted more as Jake left a kiss to your hip and slipped off the bed to clean himself off. Danny had already walked into the ensuite. Angel was laying on her back staring up at you.

“Can I please rub my pussy on yours, Angel?” Your question was for Angel but you were looking at Jake, who was beside himself.

“You need that, princess?” He asked softly, running a hand over your back.

“I want it so bad.”

“Fuck,” Jake’s voice was shakey, you were perfect. “okay.”

“Dan?” Angel asked, turning to him paused at the door.

“Yeah, go for it, honey. If you want,” he chuckled.

The girls stared at each other, slowly grinning and then were immediately intertwined. Thrusting and humping, their pussy juices mixing and sounding into the room obscenely.

“Thank god. I’m spent,” Danny sighed, adjusting his boxers while eyeing Jake carefully as he redressed.

“That’s not a horrible sight either,” Jake nodded to their girlfriends kissing and moaning into each other’s mouths.

“No, it’s not.”

They watched the scene silently for a moment in awe and pride before settling into a different feeling.

“We can never do this again, huh?” Jake asked.

“No. Never.” Danny responded quickly.

#Jake kiszka smut #Danny Wagner smut light #Greta van fleet smut #Jake kiszka blurb #jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka x y/n #jake kiszka x you #Jake kiszka x trader x oc x danny wagner #my writing

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readyforthegarden · 10 months

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Silver Springs

Masterlist

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Original Female Character

18+ only, Minors DNI

Synopsis: The year was 1976, the season was summer. The days were hot and the nights were hotter. Music was the best it had ever been, especially rock music. Sam Kiszka has been riding the high of being in one of the top bands on the scene, but when his bands tour is accompanied by another up-and-coming band, with a lead singer that gets on his very last nerve, will everything come crashing down or will they end up making music that changes the world?

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

Part Ten

Part Eleven

Part Twelve

Taglist: @joshsindigostreak @ascendingtostardust @sammysprincess @sammykiszkamyass @belovedsamuel @sunfl0wer-power @indigo-starcatcher @sammyscherub @earthlysorrows @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @losfacedevil @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvff @gretavanfleetposts @sacredthefran @josiee-gvf @joshkiszkatoothgap @madneedshelp @gardensgatedaisy @kkdarling @demonrat444 @teddiie @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @gretavanbestie @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @happy-harpy-stuff @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @jankandjonch @gvfpal @allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet

#sam kiszka #sam kiszka x reader #sam gvf #sam kiszka fanfiction #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake kiszka #josh kiskza #danny wagner #sam kiskza x oc

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seenoversundown · 4 months

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Masterpost

₊⊹ The Caravel Tavern Series ⊹₊

The opening of Caravel Tavern was a dream come true for Jake. With the help of his best friends and brothers, naturally. In a small city in New England, it's rare to come across new faces. (or even run into some from the past) Follow along through the series to discover what this piratical themed bar has in store for these boys.

WARNING: This series would be considered an AU ROM-COM, with romantic themes, wholesome friendship vibes, found family, and silly goofy behavior throughout.

Trigger Warnings will be listed at the beginning of chapters if applicable. (Please reach out if you feel anything was missed and I will make sure to add it in quickly!)

Please be advised that this series will include slow burn, open-door romances, meaning there will be on-page sexual content. Mature readers only (18+)

• All of these can be read as stand alone books, but do read better as a series! They are interconnected, so you will get more details if read in order 🫶🏻 •

💜 🩵 💛 ❤️

Sam Kiszka x Willa (Female OC)

Enemies to Lovers | Forced Proximity | Workplace Romance

Masterpost

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

• Book 2 - Coming soon!

• Book 3 - TBA

• Book 4 - TBA

Any extra chapters that are within the world of Caravel Tavern:

• Prologue

TagList | Jukebox Playlist | Master List (for other one shots / fics)

Wattpad | AO3

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writingcold · 10 months

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Bootleggers & Wildflowers

Greetings! Welcome to Chapter 1 of B&W! I’ve been holding this one incredibly close and the story is very dear to me. I guess that’s partly why I’m feeling skittish about sharing it. I hope you like it. I feel like I should say that this is a slow romance, with a light dusting of smut. There is some steamy scenes in this first chapter, but that is not the focus of this story.

Thank you once more to @whitesuitjake for the Jake edit for the cover, @gardensgatedaisy for listening to me whine and gush and show off pictures of little discoveries, and finally to @lvnterninthenight, Bobbie, your criticism and red pen has meant so much to me.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Chapter 1 is all about introductions, so we’ll be meeting Cora, Susannah, and Molly in this entry. There are three parts, three POVs. Word Count: approximately 4700 words.

This is a work of fiction, and is totally mine. Please do not take it for your own personal use. I’ve put in hours of research, hours upon hours of writing, re-writing, screaming, yelling and vomiting over this epic of a story. But it is mine.

Main pairing: Jake X OC, Sam X OC, Danny X OC, mentions of Josh X OC.

Content Warning: Mentions of poverty, personal strife, young marriage, alcohol and drinking, smoking, language, unprotected sex (Sam x OC and Danny x OC). This is an adults only story - that’s why there’s a mature label slapped on it. If you are under 18, please go elsewhere.

Chapter One: Introductions Part 1: Cora POV

May, 1926

Elegant. The singular word flitted through Cora’s mind as her eyes took in the dark wood of the office that was bathed in the early afternoon sunlight. The man that sat behind the huge, intricately carved desk, wore a lush navy suit, embossed vest, with a crisp white dress shirt, a perfectly starched collar and black and gray bow tie. He wore his hair short, but held enough curls that did not allow for the classic taper cut that most young men wore. Instead, it was all the same length that was professional, but belied his youth. Cora placed him no more than five, at most, six years older than herself, and yet, he was highly educated, poised and a honed businessman.

“You seem awfully skinny to be wanting a job here,” the man said with an uninterested eye. “You look like you could barely lift a sack of flour, let alone stand for ten hours a day. Tell me, Miss Janas, why do you need this job?”

Cora shifted in her chair, very aware that Mr. Kiszka was looking her up and down, searching for any reason to tell her to leave. “Sir, I need this job to help my mother support the family. I’m much stronger than I look. I’ve been working as a laborer for the Kilbourne farm for the past three years.”

“Where’s your father?” Mr. Kiszka asked with a raised brow, his dark eyes sparkling.

She wondered if he was looking for an illicit reason as to why her father was not around. “He died three years ago, sir, from wounds he, uh…”

She paused. Her father passed away from wounds from the war, but they did not talk about it. Her mother refused to believe that her father was so damaged that he could not function beyond their own farm.

He waved his manicured hand, his eyes relaying that he was disinterested in any further explanation. “Do you have a better dress you can wear?”

The question drew her back once more. “Sir?”

“I’ll take that as a no,” he remarked with a shake of his head. His fingers tugged at the chain of his very fine pocket watch, his face drifting away from her in a brief reprieve. He puffed out his cheeks as he pushed the watch back into the pocket of his finely tailored waistcoat before fixing the lapel of his coat. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you a week's trial. You’ll make fifty cents a day. You prove that you can handle it, I’ll make the post permanent and you’ll get a dollar a day from then on out.”

Cora felt her face drain of color. Fifty cents per day was five times what she made for Kilbourne. A dollar a day if she made it through would mean better in their bellies at night and so much more. She tried to hide her swallow by dipping her chin, but he was already standing and moving to get her to leave his office. He smoothed his hand across the lapel of his fine suit coat as he held the door open for her. She scrambled to her oxford clad feet and smiled widely as he directed her back into the main shop. She extended her hand as he offered his own.

“Thank you, Mr. Kiszka. This opportunity means more than you know,” she said warmly.

He smiled politely, his eyes turned towards the side of the shop. “We’ll see you back here, Monday morning, eight o’clock sharp.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Kiszka and Wagner Mercantile and General Store had been purchased by the families a few years prior. The two sided store was anchored in the middle with wide case openings for customers to move between the two shops, with a central register with beautiful marble counters and elaborate wrought iron framing the space like art, but functional as a way to keep the register safe. The coved ceilings drew the dreamy eye up with its delicate tin tiles of hammered sun rays on the mercantile side and of pastoral regional themes on the general store side. The dark woods of the cabinetry and pristine, clear glass of the fronts was sleek, displaying all sorts of goods from fabric, housewares, toiletries, jewelry, as well as many curios and catalogs made up the mercantile shop, while the general store was just as detailed, but featured dry goods, baked and dried foods, seasonal produce and canned goods. The shops were always busy being one of three such shops across the bustling town of Kingsford.

Cora watched as another one of the Kiszka brothers walked toward the eldest of them as she began to move away. It was Joshua’s twin - Jacob. The man’s dark eyes were always serious and sharp. Like his brother, he was dressed flawlessly in a black suit with a softer ivory dress shirt and black tie. He passed her without so much as a glance, leaving the smell of tobacco in his wake. She flashed a smile at the girl behind the ornate marble-topped counter before she pushed her way outside into the cool breeze of the late spring. It was going to be a long walk home, but her mother was going to be happy. A job in town would be a surprise. A job in town that promised three dollars for the first week was unheard of in her world. Six dollars a week would add up quickly. Perhaps they could move to town and get one of the little bungalows on the west side, eventually. Cora knew she was going to have to work the hardest that she could manage. The Kiszkas were fairly new to the town of Kingsford, but they already had the mercantile shop, the general store, as well as the dancehall next door. People were saying that they were from down south, near Detroit with ties to Chicago, which she took to mean big businesses at first. Then the rumors came thick for the area, with words of bootleggers, illegal liquor, and the ultimate of whispered words… ‘mafia’. Cora could care less. By the time she reached the edge of town, she had convinced herself that the Kiszkas’ were just another family that were trying to make it during the crazy times of 1926.

The family she knew only through reputation at church, and from a wide distance. All four of the gentlemen were typical residents in the hall prior to, during and after services, every Sunday. They were generous, always there to add to the donation pot for various needs of members of the community. The town had readily accepted them for their outward appearance for genuinely wanting to be part of the growth of the fledgling town.

Cora did not reach the cottage until late in the afternoon. She changed quickly to her cotton dress and boots and ran to the barn to help Mr. Kilbourne with the milking. He scolded her as she pushed against Daisy to get her into the chute. She just nodded and smiled to herself. He wasn’t going to push her around anymore. She would be respectable, with a respectable job in town as an in-shop clerk and they wouldn’t hold her father’s debt over their heads for too much longer.

She cleared her throat as the farmer was trailing out of the barn to capture his attention. When he looked at her with his typical subjective expression, Cora sucked her cheeks in to garner up her strength. “I’ll have you know, Mr. Kilbourne, that I have a trial job in town starting Monday and won’t be here to work for you.”

He turned back towards her, his blotchy features turning sour. “Trial job? What does that mean?”

“Mean that for the week, I work my tail off,” she said as his beady eyes narrowed on her. “If they like the way I work, then I will have a permanent post and won’t have to work for you any more.”

He made a rude sound deep in his throat before sucking on his teeth and spitting into the ground. His eyes roamed across her frame as he laughed. “Yeah. You’ll be back to me in a few days. You ain’t smart enough to work nowhere but here, girlie.”

Rosemary Janas was wiping her hands across a yellowed dish towel as Cora peeled off her boots and slid back into her oxfords to enter the cottage. The planks of the floor whined as they walked, as if the tiny three room structure bemoaned their entire existence. Her mother’s face was terribly thin and full of woe. The once happy blue of her eyes was full of dull gray worry and hunger.

Cora nodded to her mother before she washed and started rounding up the rest of the children to get to the table. The family of six were castaways scraping by on the meager earnings of the two women. The younger siblings ranged from 17 down to six. At twenty, Cora should have been married, but she was too busy trying to get her siblings to survive to care much about that business.

The family sat down to beans and bread, saying their prayers and speaking not a word as they ate. Cora and her sister Junie set to doing the dishes while her mother put the youngest children to bed. It was not until their mother returned to sit down at the table to do the night’s mending that Cora could share her news.

“I’ll start Monday,” she beamed, unable to hide her broad smile.

Her mother frowned. “It’s an hour walk twice a day. What if the weather turns? What if you can’t get home? And what of your duties here? Mr. Kilbourne expects you to be milking and in the field.”

Cora had not thought about the logistics and she did not care. “Money may mean that we can finally get into town to live, Mama. Perhaps even before the autumn comes. And I’ve told Kilbourne that I’m not working this next week. That if I get a permanent posting, I won’t have to work for him at all.”

“One job can’t be that good,” she said quietly. “And that’s a lot of maybe’s to put any worth into.”

“I work hard and make it through the first week, I’ll be bringing home $6 a week, Mama. I think it’s more than enough for one of those-”

Her mother’s eyes closed with a deep, mournful sigh. “I’m not telling you not to work the job, Cora. It’s just the other pieces that you need to think about. Without your hands to feed this family, we will fail. Terribly.”

“I know, Mama,” she said, folding her hands in her lap.

“Junie, head to bed. Cora and I need some quiet,” her mother said to the younger girl.

Junie stood up, her frail body evident as her dress caught against her knees as she moved. Her dark hair appeared brassy in the thin braid that snaked over her shoulder. She had the same sad blue eyes as their mother. Cora grinned at the girl as she walked past but received no warmth in return.

Once there was silence again, Rosemary’s face grew even grayer. “Had a gentleman come by who is interested in marrying that one.”

Cora’s stomach lurched. Her mother caught the sight of her reaction and shook her head.

“One less mouth to feed, Cora,” she whispered. “And Mr. Archer is a good man. Educated. He’ll provide a good home for her and a respectable place in town.”

Cora tried to recall the name to place a face. Her throat burned when she remembered the man from church. “Mother! He’s close to double her age - and with children no less.”

“She’s got experience with her siblings just fine,” Rosemary said, her whole body looking exhausted, not just her voice. “I’ve already given the blessing as he will pay for the services.”

Cora sat back with a huff in her chair. The only reason why her mother had not married her off yet was because she could earn a wage, whereas Junie was too frail for hard physical work. She bit the insides of her bottom lip in an effort to keep herself from crying. Fat tears struck her cheeks despite her efforts. Her mother shook her head disapprovingly.

“I was married by seventeen. I should have married you off as soon as your father passed, but…”

Cora hiccuped before she slapped her hands across her mouth to keep from making too much noise. The fate of her sister ground upon her spirit. There would be no love for her. There would be no joy. At least not like in the storybooks that had once been their father’s they had snuck from the Kilbourne’s house to read out back of the barn. Her mother stood with a sigh and walked away, presumably to fetch the sewing basket so that they could work together on their task that was heaped on the table, leaving Cora alone in her own grief.

Chapter One: Pt 2, Susannah POV

The feel of the silk robe against her body and the whiskey on her tongue felt like putting her skin back on and her dignity into place. She sat alone, her thin body shivering against the chill that was always present in the back of the house. The music that played in the dancehall below was throbbing through the floorboards and the singular privacy curtains for the girls that were under the employ of the Kiszka’s speakeasy.

Another sip of whiskey; a light of a cigarette. It was Susannah’s ritual in trying to shake off the fifteen minute venture that she had to perform four nights a week in addition to her dancing with the troupe as a whole. There were only a few others that actually endured what she did, though their trials were chosen, hers was happenstance. Six weeks prior, she was donning a new costume with individual crystals forming the bodice of her dress. Another dancer’s finger had accidently caught hold and the entire covering of her torso was spilled out in mesmerizing fashion. Of course, the crowd thought it was part of the act. She carried on, despite seeing Sam in the back, jaw clenched shut as Joshua yucked it up right along with his customers.

Since then, they honed it into a whole routine that Susannah still felt hollow about, but it came with a raise and a weird sort of prestige that also meant more uncounted tips from customers. Visually, it was the spectacle that brought in clientele. No one but herself, Sam and her friends seemed to care about the damage it caused to her own soul.

Bringing the cigarette up to her lips, she heard Sam’s footfalls somewhere behind her. He was looking rather hard toned, leaving her to try to prepare for what was to come. Rolling her eyes up in the mirror as his face came into view, she saw the gleam in his eyes. The possession. The need to reclaim her like he had anything to actually be concerned about. The man was the prettiest face she had ever seen and was the best of lovers, and it was hard not to fall for the intelligence that was so evident within him. He was always eager to share with her whatever he was working on.

His long fingers dug into her waist as he pulled her from her stool. He grabbed her smoke, took a drag, then stomped it out on the floor before he began to push her towards the wall. His eyes were black with need. His mouth kissed her hard before he spun her, belly flush against the wall.

“Sam,” she breathed as he kissed down her neck.

His hand pressed against the middle of her back, holding her firmly in place. He knocked her legs wide, hiking up the lavish robe. His hands ghosted up her thighs as they quivered to keep up with his movements.

“Mine,” he whispered in her ear before biting the lobe. “Who’s pussy kisses my cock, baby?”

“Only mine,” she gasped as he stroked her roughly.

The rasp of a growl against her skin made her breath catch.

“Who’s the only cum that lands on this skin?” he whispered as he pushed his way into her.

He started to fuck into her at a ruthless pace, stealing all breath and thought from her. Sam stopped, teeth sinking into her shoulder.

“Answer me,” he demanded in a softness that blazed through her head.

“Yours, baby. Only yours,” she answered.

His fingers snaked back around her hip, rubbing on her clit in tight, hard circles. Susannah bit into her lip. The chance for anyone to hear them was always too high. The last thing she needed was to have voyeurs infringe, but his own need for her spiked when something was not right in the business or The Earl, and to see his woman strutting around, titties hanging out and bouncing for everyone’s pleasure troubled him deeply. He had tried to argue with his eldest brother, but Joshua would not take him seriously, especially with that much money on the table.

Her jaw dropped open as her body froze in its pleasure. Every muscle, every nerve ending was on fire as he pushed against her, the roughness of his vest against her back, the power of his hips striking her ass, sent her into her beyond and back just in time to listen as he finished on the silk of her robe.

His breath was hot against her neck as he came down and cleaned himself up on the silk. Turning, he left her against the wall with a promise to return. She pressed her forehead into the plaster, collecting her breath once more, placing her own feelings back onto the background that was Samuel Kiszka.

When he returned, he tenderly removed the soiled robe, replacing it with another, lovingly tying the closure with one last kiss to her earlobe. “Love you,” he whispered, stepping away.

She knew he was honest in his feelings towards her. She could spill all the love she would ever have in her body and she would still have more to give to him. He held her hand, leading her back the few steps back to her dressing table. Susannah went right to putting her hair back into place and touching up her lipstick and rouge.

“I hear there’s going to be a new shop girl,” she said, catching his eye. “It’s all the gossip back here.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Josh hired a farm girl without experience. She’ll never make it through her ‘trial week’, to be sure. He’ll find some stupid reason to fire her.”

“The girls are placing bets to see how many days this one will last. It’s sad,” she said with a sigh. “I hear she’s pretty hard pressed.”

“Starving is more like it. Maybe that’ll give her an edge.”

Susannah set down her brush. “Samuel…”

“Yes, love?”

“What if we dish a bit of shit to your brother and help this one out?”

Sam stopped fiddling with whatever he was doing and looked at her through the mirror. There was a touch of twinkle in his eyes that she had not seen for a while. The corners of his full mouth stretched and curled upwards.

“Help her, huh?”

She nodded, rising to her feet. “Renee deserves better help than the weak assed gams that have been through there. It’s almost like he’s trying to run that poor girl into the ground.”

“Well, she is the daughter of the man who we bought the store from. It was the one part of the deal none of us liked,” he remarked with a sour tone.

“So, let’s take a few days to see how this one does and see where we can help her out?”

“That would really rub Josh wrong, wouldn’t it?”

Susannah grinned as she stepped close to him. “And you never know, maybe we’ll make friends. It’s been a while since I’ve been friends with anyone other than back of house girls.”

He lowered his forehead down to hers, a sad look in his eyes. “You know I’m trying to get us out of here, right? I don’t ever want you to feel like you’re nothing but back of house.”

“I know, baby. It’s just what it is now. Not always.”

He smiled against her skin, bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks. “If we do this, we’re gonna need Molly and Daniel’s help. Agreed?”

“I heard my name back there! Don’t drag me through it you two!” Molly called out from behind them.

She grinned at the sound of her dear friend. “Let me get dressed and let’s meet out front.”

“I’ll go find Daniel, babe,” he said with a nod.

“Susannah?” Molly called out as she started to get dressed. “You alone now?”

“Yes sweetie,” she cooed as she pulled the patent leather belt across low on her hips.

Molly’s lush curves appeared along with her deep chocolate eyes. “I’m not sure I’m likin’ what’s cookin’ in that expression, doll.”

“Ah, come on. A little light meddling and probably a new friend along the way? Sounds like a win-win to me.”

Chapter One: Pt. 3, Molly POV

Crossing the wide planked floor, Molly shifted her skirt so that the slits running up the sides were lined up with her hip bones once more. The last ‘gentleman’ dancer was too handsy. One look at her Danny and the issue was remedied in a hurry. His dark eyes sparkled with a heat as he dragged the man out of the dancehall with a threat that continued bad behavior towards the ladies would earn him a rock gut and dented brain cover.

It was Tuesday afternoon and word from Susannah was that the new girl was in her place in the store. Sam had said she had done very well for her first day. She watched the clock closely, counting down the minutes and the sweaty man's hands until her shift was over. The day seemed to line up just right; she could catch a glimpse of the girl in the shop to get a feel of what she was about before heading for home.

Danny strolled back inside, hands tapping against the outside line of his thighs. The smile that graced his mouth made her heart flutter. She was down bad for that man and he knew it, but radiated it back to her every moment of the day. With hands on hips, she shimmied at him and he swiped his hands like he was moving over her curves with an air kiss.

The next customer waved his dollar bill at her and she took her time, eyes straying to her lover before finally allowing the man to wrap his hand across her shoulder and to take her hand to lead her in something that resembled a dance with sore toes included. She affixed her emotionless stare as he rubbed his hand up and down her side, humming along to the tune. She placed her mind back to the morning, waking up to Daniel, his sleepy face hovering just over hers. He kissed her body tenderly like he worshiped every inch of her. His tongue and teeth and lips and nose rutting through her folds until she cried out for mercy to just fuck her all ready. It was his favorite state to put her into just before he made good on his work.

Molly felt the memory of his touch against her mouth as he fucked into her, spilling into her with his hands bound in her hair. She often wondered what luck she had to have found him, though often he vocalized that he was the one that was lucky. The heat of him passed over her as her eyes found him talking with Jacob by the main door. It always magnified the kindness and adoration for the man to see him interact with Jacob and Samuel. They were truly his brothers in the world where he had none to claim as his own. And the Kisza brothers, including Joshua, were so quick to accept him, fight for him, protect him. It was a true cycle of trust and loyalty between the four men.

Finally, she spun away with a kiss on the man’s cheek that allowed her to finally march away and end her day. Her feet were screaming, her body felt like she needed a three day soak to get the grime off, and her brain just wanted her body to be cradled by her Danny. She made her way to her dressing table, cleaning herself up, wiping off the overdone makeup and pulling down her frilly new dress that hugged her in all the right places. She would have only a short period that she could glimpse the new girl. She knew it was a hurry. Walking out, she waved at Danny to join her. Jacob had already disappeared.

“Ready, my love?” he asked, holding out his elbow for her to take.

“Yes, babe,” she cooed with a smile. “So, tell me what is she like?”

“Miss Cora is working hard,” he said as he held the door for her. “She’s actually keeping close to being in step with Renee.”

“Really,” Molly breathed. Renee grew up in that shop. For the new girl to be doing so well meant that she was motivated and a fast study. “How does Renee feel about that?”

Danny grinned as his dark eyes met hers. “She’s keeping her fingers crossed for this one. Only thing is her attire…”

“What is that?” she asked more to herself than to her partner.

Jacob was standing at the door, his face looking into the shop for a long moment. He leaned in and opened the door to allow a mousy looking woman in a very plain dress out along with a very well dressed customer. The woman was terribly thin, nearly frail looking, despite the items that she carried to the auto that waited for the customer. Jacob watched as the woman set the items down, a warm smile on her face. He waited for her to return before walking in behind her. Molly’s face brightened with thought.

“Oh my, Daniel,” she sighed as she tightened her hold on the crook of his arm. “Did you see that?”

“See what, baby?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Been a while since I’ve seen Jacob curious about a skirt,” Molly stated before she maneuvered forward towards the shop.

Daniel let out a dismissive snort. “Jacob? I highly doubt that, sweetheart. He was too into Bea for anything like that to strike again.”

Molly frowned at him, her amber colored eyes darkening. “Really? The heart is kind of strange. Just when you think you’re never going to heal, it spies something it wants and compels you to move on, my love, even after someone like Bea comes along.”

They walked closer to the shop, but Molly did not need to walk inside. Instead, she watched at the window like she was looking at the display of goods and wares. “So, if she’s good in the skills department, then let’s get her surface to match her skill.”

Molly had a talent that was unparalleled in the county. She could look at anyone, man, woman, child, and be able to visually tailor onto their frame perfectly. She just needed to study how the person stood, moved and how their body was structured. Renee caught her looking, but continued on without question.

“Good girl,” she breathed as she watched the lovely Miss Cora move from one side of the store to the other with quick steps and never overly rushed movements.

She nodded to Danny and they continued on down the street, arm in arm. “So, when do we kidnap her and dress her up?”

Daniel looked down at her with a gentle smile. “Really? I don’t think that will be looked upon with a kind eye by her. I’ll talk with Sam and see what we come up with. You just get your end ready.”

Hope you liked it. I’ll be back next Wednesday with Chapter Two. Let me know what you think! If you’d like to join my tag list - you can find it here

@lvnterninthenight @doodle417 @luverleaver @jakesgrapejuice @fictional-duchess @whitesuitjake @milkgemini @positivegvfthings @songbirds-sweet @streamingcolors-gvf @gretavanbitches @samsurfgreenbass @joshkiszkas-admin @gardensgatedaisy @babyhoneygvfarchive @myownparadise96 @josh-iamyour-mama @starcatchercarol @loveisonaroll @jakesstarlight @myownparadise96 @reesetrippingthelight @kyrose11 @builtby-gvf @ignite-my-fire @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @wetkleenex-gvf @gold-mines-melting @starsasone @puzzle-gvf @mysticalstarcatcher @montenegroisr @takenbythemadness @brookes-so-done @way-to-go-lad @cal-a-bungaa @lightmylove-gvf @thewritingbeforesunrise @leftjudgeempathsuitcase @brokenbells11 @imborrowedshesblue @vanfleeter

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #josh gvf #sam gvf #sam kiszka #danny gvf #danny wagner #jake kiszka x oc #jake kiszka fanfic #greta van fleet fan fic #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet au fanfiction

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spinachcattt · 7 months

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PROMPTOBER!!!

SO i really wanted to participate in some sort of writing challenge this october, but i've never posted my writing. However, my girlfriend has gassed me up enough to build up enough courage to finally post them!

So heres the list!

Carving Pumpkins - Sam Kiszka Pumpkin Patch - Sam Golbach Fall picnic - Spencer Reid Painting ghosts in paintings - Robin Buckley Leaf pile - Steve Harrington The PSL debate - Spencer Reid Ghost OC in love with character - Jake Kiszka Ghost guardian in the afterlife - Josh Kiszka Couples costume - Colby Brock Drive in horror movie - Sam Golbach Fall baking - Jake Kiszka Carnival - Sam Kiszka Ghost hunting - Sam Golbach and Colby Brock Apple picking - Spencer Reid Hot chocolate - Spencer Reid Halloween decorating - Steve Harrington Fall walks - Robin Buckley Camping - Josh Kiszka Possession - Sam Golbach Stealing sweaters - Spencer Reid Antique store - Spencer Reid Halloween party - Steve Harrington Power outage - Colby Brock Trick or treating - Dad! Spencer Reid Library/Bookstore - Spencer Reid Thanksgiving with family - Jake Kiszka Coffee shop meet cute/drink order discussion - Spencer Reid Fall injuries - Danny Wagner Cold/flu - Spencer Reid / Sam Golbach, Sam Kiszka / Danny Wagner Nightmares - Spencer Reid / Steve Harrington

I have the first 3 written so i'll link them here :)

#greta van fleet #gvf imagine #sammy kiszka #sammy gvf #josh kiszka #josh gvf #jake kiszka #jake gvf #danny wagner #danny gvf #sam golbach #colby brock #sam and colby #spencer reid #criminal minds #steve harrington #robin buckley #stranger things #x oc

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sacredmachine · 9 months

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Kiss the Sun (prelude)

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Danny’s Cousin!OC(Grace) Warnings: None (yet *wink**wink*)

Summary: Sam Kiszka, finds himself entangled in an unspoken love for Grace, the cousin of his bandmate Danny Wagner. Before the band's departure to follow their dreams, a fierce argument erupted between Sam and Grace, the origins of which remain shrouded in mystery even to the members of their families. This left their once-close relationship shattered and their true feelings buried even deeper within. As fate would have it, circumstances bring Grace and Josie to Los Angeles for an eventful summer with the band. The reunion triggers a whirlwind of emotions, with old feelings resurfacing as they are once again in each other's presence.

Grace was bored out of her mind in her dorm, wasting time until her last exam in an hour and then she could finally go home, back to Frankenmuth where she’d be bored all summer. That’s what life was since her two closest friends moved on to their big lifestyle, she was just bored, all the time.

A ring sounded through her dorm as she grabbed her phone, seeing Josie’s smiling face pop up on the screen. Sliding to answer she heard Josie yell, “Guess what?!”

Grace had barely any time to respond with a brief “What?” before Josie kept going.

“I just got off the phone with Danny and he said that we can go down to LA and stay with him and the guys for the summer!” She was overtly excited as she was probably jumping up and down on the other end of the phone.

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope!” She replied, popping the P. “I know you’ve been struggling with going to a new college and all and the guys being gone but I already talked to mom and she said I could go as long as you did, just so I wasn’t alone when they’re working.”

“You’ve really got this all planned out?” Grace laughed out.

“Of course!” There was a brief pause, “So? Are you coming or not?”

“Josie…”

“Oh come on!” She drug out her last word. “It’s been months, it can’t be that bad.”

“Listen, I would love to go see Danny, really, but I just don’t know about…” She trailed off.

“Ok well unless you’re finally going to tell me what happened between you and Sam then you have to come with me.”

“Josie, it’s really none of your business.”

“So you’re going to let me miss out on good quality time with my big brother just because you and Sam got into an argument?”

“Josie…” She sighed, hoping and praying she’d give her a way out.

“No. Unless you’re gonna tell me what happened that was sooooo bad then you have to come, end of discussion.”

There was some on Grace’s end as she tried to think of a lie that would suffice but none came to mind.

“Alright! It’s settled! You and I are flying out of Saginaw on Tuesday!” Grace dreaded her cousin’s words as she spoke excitedly. “I’ll let Danny know! Ahhh! I can’t wait! Bye, love you!”

Grace mumbled a brief “Love you.” Before she put her phone back on the bed, trying not to think about having to see her best friend after what happened.

Author’s Notes: This is obviously not the first chapter but there is more to come soon!!!!!

#greta van fleet #gvf #josh gvf #josh kiszka #danny wagner #jake gvf #jake kiszka #sam gvf #sam kiszka #sam kiszka smut #sam kiszka x oc #sam kiszka x reader #greta van fleet x reader #greta van fleet x oc

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ourtearsofrain · 4 months

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A Dangerous Duo (everyone)

Summary: Sam and Josh try drag.

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka, Josh Kiszka x Male O.C., Jake Kiszka x Male O.C.

Genre: no clue, too long to be drabble but there’s no smut or angst or anything. Just a fun little fic about our boys trying drag for the first time.

Word Count: 6.2 k

Warnings: language? But what’s new with them

A/N: I would highly recommend reading Save a Horse and Ride a Cowboy as well as their previous fics, as this is a continuation of their stories within this Universe. I love Sebastian with all my heart, Sirena is an amazing drag mother to Josh and Sam.

“Yeah, just right there is fine. Thanks, Daniel.” Sam smiles as Danny sets his bags down where he had directed him to.

Austin follows close behind, setting Josh’s bags near Sams.

“Sure we can’t do anythin’ else to help, darlin’?”

“Nope, that’s it. Thanks, love.” Josh presses a quick kiss to his cheek as he passes him, setting the rest of his bags down.

“Jesus Christ Josh, how much shit do you have? You have at least twice as many bags as I do.”

Josh rolls his eyes at his youngest brother, “Go big or go home, Sam. In my defense, my second wig is fucking massive, takes an entire bag up.”

“I still can’t believe you guys won’t tell us anything about your routines. Please can we just have one piece of information like what songs you’re doing?”

Sam walks over to his boyfriend and places his hands on the sides of his face, bringing him close to his own with a loving look, teasing him with their proximity. “That would ruin the surprise, Daniel.” Sam drops his hands before turning away so he can’t see the pouty look on Danny’s face that always got him what he wanted.

“I know what you’re doing, Daniel. I’m not caving this time.”

Josh begins shooing the other boys towards the door, slowing making his way towards them so they had no choice but to back out of the room. “Anyways, we need to start getting ready so, and I mean this with all the love I have for you two but, fuck off.”

Danny turns towards Austin, shaking his head in mock hurt. “See how they just throw us to the curb once they got their use out of us?”

Austin laughs, joining in on the bit. “Knew he was just keepin’ me around for my muscles. I’ll reckon this was their plan all along.”

“Yep, you caught us.” Sam chimes in, bent over his bags as he searched through their contents for his makeup bag.

“Mhm, that was our whole devious plan all along.” Josh begins closing the door, shouting a final, “Kay see you later, love you, bye.” before closing the door in their faces.

Danny scoffs, loud enough for them to hear on the other side of the door, before dropping the act and turning as he and Austin begin walking down the hall. They bump into Sebastian and Jake, also carrying bags as they make their way towards the room Sam and Josh were occupying.

Danny practically jumps them, “Jake! Sebastian! Oh my god please just tell us SOMETHING about Josh and Sam’s routines. They won’t say anything and I know you know something about them. They keep making these little inside jokes with mischievous smiles and I am fucking dying to know why.”

Jake throws his hands up in defense. “Hey don’t look at me, Seb won’t tell me anything either.”

Sebastian motions as if he was zipping and locking his lips, throwing away the key with a secretive smile on his face. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, kid. All I’ll say is I hope you brought a shit tonna ones.” He winks at Jake, “Maybe even some fives and tens if you’re feelin’ generous.”

Danny groans in frustration, all hope of finding out his boyfriend and brothers plans leaving him.

Austin offers him a pat on the back, as if he were consoling him. “It’s alright, Dan. We’ll find out soon enough.”

“Easy for you to say. Josh may be a shit head but he’s sweet at heart so it balances out. Sam’s just a shit head, I don’t trust that fucker. When I asked about his songs he just giggled, and he never giggles so I know he’s up to something.” He looks towards Jake, whose eyebrows were raised at his comment. “You know I say that with all the love in my heart for him.”

A grin breaks onto his face, and Danny silently curses Josh for getting his twin to do theater in high school with him. “Yeah I know, Sam’s a shit head. I was just fucking with you.” Sebastian and him start to make their way past the other two boys. “Anyways, I’m gonna help Seb drop these bags at the room, wait up for me?”

“Of course.”

“Try and peek into the room if you can, they just started getting ready but I bet you could spot some clues.” Danny calls after them.

“Uh, uh. No way, mon beau. I got the bags from here, thank you for your help. Go join them, love. I gotta go help my daughters get ready.”

Jake pouts up at his boyfriend, attempting to sway him as he was also curious about what his brothers had in store for the show. Sebastian looks at him with a slight smile, unwavering in his statement to not spill their secrets, his hand outstretched and motioning to take the bags. Jake sighs, giving up and handing them to him before giving him a quick kiss.

“See you boys in a few hours. Love you, Jake.”

“Love you too, Seb. Have fun trying not to strangle them.”

Sebastian only laughs as he makes his way down the hall, already hearing the lively bickering of the brothers behind the door.

The three men turn, weaving through the maze of the back rooms before finding the entrance to the main venue, still empty as the doors didn’t open for another two hours. They find a table near the back corner, knowing their partners would find them and give them a little extra attention no matter where they sat.

“I’m gonna go get us drinks while we wait. Want anything?” Danny questions, standing and looking at the others questioningly.

“The usual’s fine with me, Dan. Thank you.”

“Same for me, thanks.”

“You got it. Be right back.”

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

“I swear to god Joshua I’m going to vomit.” Sam screeches, his voice filling the small room.

“I told you I had colored contacts, Sam. If you don’t wanna see it then just look away while I put them in.” Josh retorts as he brings his hands back up to his eye, struggling to put his contacts in as Sam squirms beside him.

Sam physically cringes, turning away from his brother as his entire body shivers, groaning in his disgust. “That’s not helping, I can feel you putting them in.”

“Maybe if you would shut the fuck up, I could concentrate and get it done faster, dipshit.”

“Alright ladies, settle down. Can’t have y’all killin’ each other right before your first show.”

Sam focuses on adjusting his first hairdo of the night, trying his best to ignore his brother next to him but finding it increasingly hard as they shared the mirror.

“Got it!” Josh says excitedly, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted. “How do I look, Sam?”

He makes eye contact with him through the mirror, the bright red of his eyes an unusual sight. Sam grimaces at the lack of the familiar warm brown of his brothers’ eyes. “Creepy as hell.”

Josh prods him in the ribs, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Yeah, that’s the only reason I chose this color, to creep you out.” He wiggles his fingers at Sam as he inches closer to him.

Sam jumps out of his chair, putting as much space between him and Josh as the small room would allow. “Nope, nope, fuck off.”

Josh laughs, dropping his hands as he stands, beginning to rifle through his belongings in search of his outfit.

Sebastian bends to check his wig in the mirror, already having finished his makeup and getting dressed long before they had. “Alright, finish up. Show starts in 30 and y’all are the first performers of the night.” He makes his way to the door, opening it and stopping at the entryway to offer a final, “See y’all out there.” Before leaving them to get dressed.

“Hey Sam have you seen my-“ Josh’s question is cut short as a soft piece of foam hits the side of his head. He bends to pick the foam bra insert up, “Yeah that.” He fully turns towards Sam, “Do you know where the other one is-“

Once again, Sam chucks the insert at him, this time hitting him square in the face.

“I swear to god I’m gonna shove this so far up your ass-"

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

Danny anxiously checks the time on his phone, relieved to see the show was scheduled to start in a few minutes. He lets out a shaky breath, his leg bouncing as he finds any outlet for his nerves.

Jake notices, gently elbowing him to bring him back to the moment. “Danny, chill. Don’t worry you won’t have to wait much longer to see what my dickhead brothers have planned.”

Just as he finishes his sentence the club lights dim, and a bright spotlight falls on Sirena as she enters the stage from the side. She immediately consumes all of Jakes attention and he sucks a sharp breath in as his eyes wander over his boyfriend. His gaze goes from her tall stiletto boots, up her legs covered by blood red, loose leather pants, continuing to her tight fitting high-collared shirt, a heart shaped hole at the center of her chest to show off her impressively contoured “cleavage”. The light catches on her spiked choker as his eyes continue their journey upwards, he takes in her long locs, the same blood red as her pants. His gaze finally comes to a stop on her black eyes, the colored contacts covering both the iris and whites of them. The crowd cheers as she takes her place, adjusting to the bright light and checking her mic before starting.

“First of all, thank y’all for comin’ out tonight! How y’all feelin’?”

The crowd roars in response as Sirena grins, waiting for them to quiet down before she continues. “Fuckin’ fantastic! That’s what I love to hear! I do got a few things to say before we start tonight. First, consent is fucking sexy! If you don’t want extra attention or interaction from a performer, just throw your arms up into an “X” and they’ll respect that. Consent also goes two ways, so make sure to not touch a performer without them initiatin’ that interaction. The second thing is, tip your mother fuckin’ performers! It’s expensive to look this cheap, y’all. And lastly, tonight is a very special night. I have the pleasure of introducin’ y’all to my first ever drag daughters who’re gonna start us off this evenin’!”

Austin lets loose a shrill wolf whistle as the crowd erupts once more, causing Sirena to shout over them. “So I better see some fuckin’ tips in the air cause they’ve worked hard for this shit! Swear to god I’ve spent more time with them these last two weeks than I have my own boyfriend.” She jokes.

“Without further ado, may I introduce you to Elle Fernanda and Callie Bungah!” She yells, stepping off the stage as the spotlight cuts out.

It quickly reappears joined by soft red lights, fixed on the split curtains at the back of the stage. A too-familiar electronic intro begins and Danny’s jaw drops.

“Oh my fucking god, they didn’t.”

Josh and Sam burst through the middle, perfectly lip syncing to the song as it starts, matching the attitude of it with their stage personas.

“I like the girls that do drugs (Drugs).

Girls with cigarettes in the back of the club (Club).

Girls that hate cops and buy guns (Guns).

Girls with no buns, girls that’s mean just for fun.

I like girls who make love, but I love girls who like to fuck.”

Both Danny and Austin’s jaws drop, blushes falling across their faces as they take in their boyfriends’ appearances. Danny can’t seem to be mad at Sam for his song choice as his eyes roam his body, looking so unlike Sam that Danny’s not sure he would recognize him if Sirena hadn’t announced that it was him. His long, wavy locks are pulled into two space buns, his bangs messy and unruly, purposely left out. His makeup is light, with thin wings of eyeliner, visible blush, and dark painted lips. As Jake had noticed with Sirena, Danny doesn’t miss the way the light catches on his spiked choker, eyes continuing downwards as the boys move on stage. He has a fishnet shirt underneath his high-collared tank top, both tucked into tight black leather pants. Danny almost laughs when his eyes finally find their way to his short black heels, knowing that if they were any taller, he would most defiantly break his ankle. He tears his eyes away from Sam, looking over at Austin to see his reaction to Josh’s outfit, to see the other boy staring, mouth still agape with his eyes fixed intently on Josh.

Austin doesn’t know where to look, his focus constantly shifting from different aspects of Josh’s appearance and outfit as he takes it all in. His curly, brown hair replaced by a jet-black coiled bun with two strands on either side of his face left out as bangs. Austin realizes Josh is only an inch or two shorter than his brother, noticing for the first time his tall, red, sparkly stiletto heels. His eyes travel up his legs clad in fishnet tights, his gaze lingering for a couple seconds on the short hem of his leather skirt. He manages to tear his gaze away, his eyes travelling up his exposed stomach, only covered by a fishnet shirt as his V-line cropped tank top barely covers his chest. Passing over the leather choker around his neck, Austin’s gaze finally settles on his blood red eyes, with thick red eyeliner to match it.

Jake watches his brothers performance as they weave through the crowd, snatching tips out of outstretched hands as they make their way steadily to the corner they occupied. He looks over to Austin and Danny, laughing when he sees them both enthralled by their partners, eyes wide and jaws dropped. “Hey guys, think you have a little drool coming out of your mouth there.”

This comment snaps them out of it, blood rushing to their faces as they scramble for their wallets, seeing their partners drawing nearer to their table by the second. They finally reach their table, making their way towards their respective boyfriends. Sam momentarily ignores the bill in Danny’s hand, instead grabbing his hips and slotting his body in between his knees.

“They say I’m too fuckin’ horny,

Wanna put me in a cage.

I’d probably fuck the hole in the wall

The guy before made.”

Sam thrusts his hips forward, emphasizing the words with each movement of his body. Danny freezes, his face red as his thoughts are consumed by nothing but Sam and his act. Sam smiles wolfishly at him before snatching the money out of his hand, turning and half bending over, shaking his ass before strutting away as if nothing had happened, continuing with his performance.

Josh is a little less lewd in his interaction with Austin, grabbing his tip and slowly running his hand up Austins arm, making a full circle around him before stopping with a wide stance in front of him, aiming a “gun” at him with his fingers and pretending to pull the trigger as the chorus plays “Girls that hate cops and buy guns (pew).” Josh smiles wide at him, winking before he turns, dropping down into a quick deep squat, pushing his ass out towards Austin as he stands before making his way through the crowd as Sam had done.

Both continue weaving through the tables, snatching tips out of the air as the song continues. They reach the stage, synchronizing their movements once more as they lip sync.

“I like the girls who like to lie that they came,

Girls who fuck on the train.

Girls who got so much hair on they ass, it clogs the drain.”

They both shake their asses at this before Josh splits off to the side of the stage, jumping high and landing a perfect death drop as the beat of the last chorus drops. Austin chokes on his spit as the crowd erupts, Josh rolling onto his knees continuing to dance from his spot on the floor. Sam turns, squatting low next to Josh, who falls backwards as he tosses his tips in the air, knees still on the floor as the song ends and the lights cut out.

Wolf whistles are heard amidst the deafening cheering and applause as the patrons rise from their seats to give them a standing ovation. Danny and Austin are the only ones still sitting, their minds still focused on the performance they just witnessed to notice they were the only ones not on their feet. The lights cut back on as Josh and Sam rise, Sirena taking the stage with a mic as they catch their breaths.

“Holy fuckin’ shit y’all! I’ve seen them practice that at least 50 times and even I am real fuckin’ impressed, that was fantastic! Lets give them another round of applause!” The crowd continues their applause as they take their seats, still cheering for them as Josh and Sam beam from the stage, acknowledging the crowds praise with thankful gestures. “How y’all feelin’?”

She points the mic towards Josh, still recovering from the performance. “Really fucking out of breath.” He laughs as he gulps down air, chest heaving from exertion. Sirena laughs before pointing the mic towards Sam on her other side.

“How bout you, kid?”

“Sweaty.” He grimaces before he continues, “Very, very sweaty… in very uncomfortable places.”

Sirena throws her head back as she laughs loudly, bringing the mic back to her lips. “Welcome to drag.” She turns to face the crowd again. “Now, my daughters are gonna go change and take a short break, but don’t y’all worry, we’ll be seein’ more of ‘em tonight.”

With that, Josh and Sam exit the stage, waving their goodbyes and blowing kisses to the crowd as they give their final cheers before they disappear backstage.

“We got a whole line up of amazingly talented queens and kings for the night, but, for the next,” she looks at her wrist as if she was checking the time, “Three minutes and 20 seconds, give or take, y’all are stuck with me.” The crowd whoops and hollers, and Jake brings both index and middle fingers up to his lips, letting a shrill whistle out. “So, I’d like to introduce y’all to your next performer… me!” She laughs, the crowd continuing their cheers as she hands the mic off to Sparrow just off stage before the lights go dark as she sets up for her song.

The intro starts, and Jake immediately recognizes the song, having heard it hundreds of times from many of Sebastians playlists.

“’Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood.

You know it used to be mad love.

So take a look what you’ve done,

‘Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood, hey!”

She steps off the stage, beginning to prowl the crowd as her persona completely switches when the song changes from Taylor Swifts part to Kendrick Lamars’.

“I can’t take it back, look where I’m at.

We was OG like D.O.C., remember that?

My TLC was quite OD, ID my facts.

Now POV of you and me, similar Iraq.”

She weaves her way through the crowd, snatching tips as she passes people, her eyes scanning the crowd as she makes sure to interact with the other patrons despite her internal desire to run over to Jake and give him all her attention. She manages to gather her restraint, keeping herself deliberately away from the corner him and the other boys occupied. Finally, with less than a minute and a half left of the song, she allows herself to lock eyes with Jake as she slowly makes her way towards him. She lip syncs with the song perfectly, letting herself take on a softer persona as the bridge shifts the vibe of the song.

“Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes.

You say sorry just for show.,

If you live like that, you live with ghosts.”

She brings her hand up to slightly brush his hair back, her hand trailing down the side of his face and jaw, pushing it up slightly to bring his face closer to her own, ghosting her lips against his. Just before they make contact, she backs away, her arm continuing down his arm and grasping the bill in his hand, taking it from his grip and taking steps back, away from him as she grins. She keeps her eyes on him as she backpedals through the crowd towards the stage.

“Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes.

You say sorry just for show.

If you live like that, you live with ghosts.”

She turns away from Jake, her face obscured from him as she sings the end of the bridge, taking a running start towards the stage.

“If you love like that, blood runs cold.”

Right as it ends, when she’s about to run into the end of the short stage, she jumps, flipping in midair as she lands a perfect aerial, landing and dropping to her knees as the beat drops, throwing her tips in the air for further effect. She lets them rain down on her as the crowd erupts, losing their minds at the move she pulled off. She finishes the song with every bit of energy she had started with, gratefully accepting the thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd. Her eyes search through the throngs of people, looking for one specific man. She finds him, eyes locking with Jakes as he stands applauding her, a massive grin on his face as he lets out various whoops. He whistles loud once more, spurred on by the eye contact with Sirena.

Feeling a tap on her arm, Sirena looks over to see Sparrow holding the mic out for her expectantly, snapping her attention back to the show from where it had strayed to nothing but thoughts of Jake. She turns the mic on, checking it before starting her thanks and next introduction. “Oh lord, thank y’all so much. That shit just busted my knees but I had a fun time doin’ it and I hope y’all enjoyed watchin’!”

The crowd grows impossibly louder, showing their support for Sirena as they take their seats. “Now, y’all gotta give me a minute to catch my breath but, in the meantime, we got a whole crew of performers lined up for y’all tonight!” She introduces the next performer of the night, her sibling, Sparrow. After his performance, she comes back on stage, introducing the next, continuing this pattern as the night goes on. Jake thinks he recognizes a few names, Shimmer and Faebelle being two of them, but is lost after that point as Sirena introduces drag queens and kings he had never met in person yet.

After the last performer, she resumes her place on stage, waiting for the cheers to die out before she starts. “Now, I know y’all are havin’ the time of your fuckin’ lives out there, and we’re doin’ the same up here; but, unfortunately, this night has to come to an end at some point. It’s only fittin’ that our two opening performers close the night as well so, it is my pleasure to reintroduce you to our last performers of the night, starting with Callie Bungah!”

The crowd cheers once more as Sirena steps off the stage and is replaced by Sam, now bathed in a soft blue light. Danny sucks a sharp breath in as he takes in his outfit change. With his brunette space buns replaced by two blond braids, his tight black tank top now a loose, soft maroon one, light blue overalls overtop it, with maroon converse replacing his short heels. Danny almost laughs as he realizes Sam looked like half “country girls” he saw around town. Sam searches through the crowd for Danny as the song begins, finding him just in time and raising his arm to point at the other man.

“You think I’m pretty without any makeup on.

You think I’m funny when I tell the punch line wrong.

I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down.

Before you met me,

I was alright, but things were kinda heavy.

You brought me to life, now every February,

You’ll be my Valentine, Valentine.”

Sam grins at Danny as he begins making his way towards him as Danny wears a matching smile on his face, captivated by Sam and heart fluttering at his song choice. Sam ignores the other patrons waving bills in the air, his focus intent on getting to Danny. He once again places himself between Danny’s legs, his hands finding his forearms as he lip-syncs through his smile.

“My heart stops

When you look at me, just one touch,

Now, baby I believe this is real.

So take a chance and don’t ever look back, don’t ever look back.”

He places a quick kiss to Dannys lips, leaving behind a dark maroon stain before he grabs the tip in Danny’s hand and turning away to interact with the rest of the crowd. Danny’s heart flutters with pure love for Sam as he watches the rest of the performance, replaying their interaction in his mind even as the song ends and Sam reaches the stage, fists full of tips. The lights cut out as the song ends, returning to their dim white setting as Sam stands on stage, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd before exiting and disappearing behind the stage door.

Sirena takes center stage again, applauding Sam before bringing the mic to her lips. “Thank you, Callie! She disappeared backstage real fast, but imma assume that number was less sweat inducing than her last one.” The crowd laughs with her, whooping and cheering their support, and she gives them a moment to quiet before she continues. “Now, last but certainly not least, I give you Elle Fernanda!”

She steps off the stage, her place taken by Josh. Austin takes the sight in, thinking to himself that his new outfit was so fitting for him. His tank top is the same, the fishnet shirt gone and his hair now bright pink coils past his shoulders, a leather chocker adorned with a metal heart at its center, with his red contacts replaced by purple ones, his short leather skirt replaced by an ankle-length deep purple one, and lastly, his tall stilettos gone as he stood barefoot.

“Happiness hit her like a train on a track.

Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back.”

No one notices the tambourine in his hand until he raises it, hitting it perfectly with each beat, encouraging the crowd to clap along with him. He smiles wide when they do, stepping off the stage and beginning to weave through the crowd, grabbing tips with his free hand as he taps the tambourine against his hip. He manages to make his way through the crowd without dropping any tips, tambourine still hitting his hip as he spins and twirls along. He finds his way to Austin, stopping in front of him as he pauses the steady beat of his tambourine when the song reaches its bridge.

“And I never wanted anything from you.

Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh.”

He resumes the movements of his tambourine as he gently grabs the money from Austin's hand, backing away from him as he moves through the crowd once more. He finishes the song with as much energy as he had in the beginning. He bows as the crowd cheers for him and is joined by Sirena on stage as the crowd continues their applause.

“Once again, Elle, thank you for that incredible performance.”

Josh smiles at her, offering one last wave to the crowd before he exits and goes through the stage door Sam had disappeared behind.

“Thank you all for comin’ out to support us! Hope to see y’all soon!” Sirena offers as a final parting comment, before following suit after Josh and disappearing backstage as the main lights come back on. Jake, Austin, and Danny make no move to get up, taking the final sips of their drinks as they wait for the crowd to disperse.

Jake checks his phone as a message from Sebastian lights his screen up, placing it in his pocket after responding before he recites the message to the other boys. “Seb says to just wait out here, they’ll all be out in a minute.”

“Do they need our help? With all the bags and all.” Danny questions.

“Na, Seb says they can make it from the room to here with the three of them.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments before Jake breaks it with a question.

“So, how do you guys feel?”

Both Danny and Austin let out a breath, sighing as they recount their thoughts and feelings from witnessing their boyfriends in drag for the first time.

“Fuckin’ amazing. Josh was, wow. And that second outfit was just so… so him, y’know?”

Jake smiles, agreeing with his statement with a slight nod. “I know, he looked so happy and at-home up there, like he was born to perform.”

“What about you, Dan?”

Danny runs his hand through his hair before speaking. “Honestly? I’m not even mad that Sam chose “Girls” just to fuck with me. That was… fucking incredible. They both were.”

They sit together, making light conversation as they wait for the other three boys to finish changing. After about 20 minutes, they appear out of the stage door, visibly exhausted and arms full of their belongings. Their boyfriends immediately shoot out of their seats, quickly making their way over to the group to take most of their bags.

“You guys were fantastic tonight!” Jake says as he takes a duffel bag on each shoulder, another in his hand.

Sebastian offers a tired smile, “Thanks, mon beau.”

“Yeah, thanks mon beau.” Sam mumbles with a sleepy shit-eating grin as he leans on Danny, who presses a soft kiss to his forehead with a light laugh.

“Shut up, Sam.”

“Both of you, shhhhhhhh.” Josh says, pausing in his attempt at handing his bags over to Austin to raise a finger to his lips, eyes half open as he glares at them.

“Y’all tired?” Austin questions, already knowing the answer as Josh rests his head on his shoulder.

He mumbles a “Mhmm.” into Austins shirt, grimacing as he remembers that Sam and Danny had carpooled with them. “Ugh, and we still gotta take Danny and Sam home, don’t we?”

“They could just crash in our guest room, I don’t know about Austin, but Seb was planning on staying over tonight anyways.” Jake offers as they slowly make their way towards the exit.

Sam’s face lights up at the comment, as much as it could in his tired state. “Sleepoverrrr?”

Danny laughs at his tone of genuine excitement, wrapping an arm around Sams waist to steer him out the door. “Sounds good to me.”

The group reaches Austins truck first, saying their temporary goodbyes to Jake and Sebastian as they head towards Jakes car parked down the street. With Josh slumped against the window in the passenger seat and Sam leaning on Danny in the back, the ride to Jake and Josh’s house is peaceful and quiet. They reach their house before Sebastian and Jake do, Danny and Austin having to encourage the brothers out of the car and finally managing to get them to shuffle their way to the front door as Austin and Danny grab their bags.

Josh pulls his keys out, struggling with the lock before Austin gently takes them from his hands.

“Here, darlin’, let me.”

As he unlocks the door, the group is flooded with headlights as Jake and Sebastian pull into the driveway, causing Sam and Josh to bring their hands up to block their eyes as they squint at the harsh light. Sebastian stumbles out of the car with a little more grace than the other two boys had, taking a few of his bags as Jake handles the rest of them. They enter the house, all dropping their bags at the door and agreeing that it would be their problem in the morning to sort them all out.

Danny taps Sam as he leans against the wall, already falling asleep as he waited for his boyfriend. “Alright, Sammy, time for bed.”

He makes a pouty face at this, attempting to argue through his obvious exhaustion. “Nooo, mnot tired.”

Josh comes to his aid as Austin begins pulling him towards his room. “Me neither.”

Jake scoffs at his brothers, already falling asleep despite having been home for less than a minute. Austin and Danny only shake their heads, sharing a small smile at the well-known stubbornness of the Kiszka brothers.

Josh leans against Austins front, looking up and batting his eyes at his boyfriend. “Can we watch a movie? Pleaseee.”

“Yeah, I wanna watch a movie.” Sam butts in, trying his best to stay awake enough to argue.

Danny sighs, knowing it was no use trying to argue with them, even in their groggy states. “Fine. But only after we get ready for bed. You still have some makeup left on your face, love.”

Both brothers smile sleepily, making silent “Yaaaay”s at their victory.

“What movie y’all wanna watch?”

Josh immediately makes a suggestion. “Labyrinth. David Bowie’s outfit is fucking phenomenal. Have it on DVD somewhere.”

“Sounds great, darlin’.” The group begins to break off in pairs, each going towards a separate room to finish taking their still-stuck makeup and wig glue off. Austin directs his attention towards Jake and Sebastian, already halfway into Jake’s room. “Y’all joinin’ us?”

Sebastian looks at Jake, shrugging before answering. “Why not.”

With that final confirmation, they break off to get ready before piling onto Jake and Josh’s couches for an impromptu movie night.

Danny helps Sam remove his smudged eyeliner in silence, humming quietly as he goes along.

“Watcha hummin, Daniel?”

His response is quiet as he begins his work on Sams other eye. “Woyaya.”

“Isn’t that that one song Josh loves?”

“Mhm, stuck in my head for some reason.”

They continue in comfortable silence and it isn’t until Danny helps Sam into a pair of sweatpants and an old band tshirt he had left at their house long ago that Sam finally speaks up again.

“Did you like the show tonight?”

Danny gently grabs his shoulders, turning the other boy before starting to work on his unruly waves, brushing the tangles out with his fingers as he begins to pull them into a neat single braid down the center of his back.

“Of course I did, love. You were amazing.”

He smiles at this, thinking for a minute before continuing. “You’re not pissed I did “Girls” just to fuck with you?”

Danny laughs, pressing a small kiss to the back of his head before wrapping his hands around his chest and pulling him close against him. “I wouldn’t say I was pissed at your song choice, but I was definitely surprised, sweetheart. But no, you were fantastic, so that made up for it. You little shit.”

Sam laughs quietly, his exhaustion muffling his words. “Mmmm you don’t mean that.”

Danny offers him a light squeeze as he nuzzles his face into the other boys neck. “I don’t.” Danny places a soft kiss to the side of his head before breaking their embrace, taking Sams hand in his own as he leads him out of the room. “C’mon, no falling asleep on me. Movie, remember?”

Sam only offers a small “Mhm.” as they make their way towards the living room, already finding Labyrinth queued up by Jake who now sat leaning against the corner of the couch with Sebastian tucked snug under his arm. Danny takes a seat on one of the small, two person loveseats next to the main couch, with Sam flopping down, half laying on Danny as he gets comfortable.

It’s not long before Austin and Josh stumble out, taking the other loveseat on the opposite side of the couch as Jake makes a move for the remote.

“See Jakey, I told you it wasn’t “too much” seating.” Josh mumbles out, referencing the argument they had had when they first bought the house on if two loveseats and a couch was overkill.

“Shut up and watch the movie.” Is all he gets in response as everyone settles in and the opening credits roll.

They are silent for the rest of the film, with Josh and Sam falling asleep against their partners not even 15 minutes into the movie, Sebastian following suit soon after. The three boys that remained awake share various chuckles and head shakes of “I told you so”, knowing they would all give them lighthearted shit about it in the morning.

They all fall into a deep, comfortable sleep by the end of the movie, peacefully tucked against the safety of their partners as the end credits roll.

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

Songs mentioned:

Girls- The Dare

Bad Blood- Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar

Teenage Dream- Katy Perry

Dog Days Are Over- Florence + the Machine

Woyaya- Osibisa

#greta van fleet #gvf fic #fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #josh gvf #daniel gvf #jake gvf #sam gvf #danny wagner x sam kiszka #josh kiszka x oc #jake kiszka x oc #drag queen #lgbtq

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satans-helper · 7 months

Text

Reaching for Stardust - Part VIII

Read Looking For Space here // Playlists here // Read on wattpad

Word Count: ~3200

Warnings: none:)

A/N: I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I love love stories...especially this one <3

---

When we got back home, I was dying to talk to Bev and the boys. First, I consulted Bev, who went through a series of facial expressions so profound I faltered here and there throughout the entire retelling of the vacation. I could see the anger there when I told her about Josh’s secret and how he revealed it and her being upset on my behalf was validating. I hadn’t been out of bounds for merely being caught off guard and upset myself about what he’d kept from me. But then the same recognition, relief and forgiveness I had felt was shown on Bev’s face and I didn’t have to worry about her judgment, though I had worried about that quite a bit prior to seeing her. I’d worried that she’d take things to a drastic level. Thankfully, she didn’t and I was able to walk away from the conversation feeling an enormous amount of love from her that melted into the enormous amount of love I felt from Josh.

The boys weren’t coming back from their little Midwest tour for another week so I had to settle for a Facetime call with Jake, the one I was most anxious to discuss things with. I settled onto the couch, eagerly awaiting for him to pick up–when he did, I couldn’t help but grin wildly, the excitement of merely seeing his face enough to override my nerves.

“Hey, you,” Jake greeted in that kind, husky voice that had a natural soothing quality. He squinted, inspecting me through the little screen. “You don’t look that tan.”

I scoffed and looked down at my arm. “I got some color, Jake, jeez. Blame the phone camera for not being able to see my glow.”

Josh tilted his head one way, then the other, still looking at me hard. “Glowing from something else besides the sun?”

“No, I’m not pregnant,” I told him with a roll of my eyes. “And we’re also not engaged yet–technically–if that’s what you’re after.”

“Seriously? I thought he was gonna pop the question during this trip.” Jake sighed. “I mean, come on. You two should already be married.”

“Um, well, I agree,” I began, crossing my legs and beginning to fiddle with a stray thread on one of my socks. No doubt Jake knew I was the one who’d put the barrier up between Josh and I and marriage and I didn’t feel like getting into that then. “But he did bring something else up during the trip. I was wondering if he’d talked to you about it beforehand, actually.”

“What?”

“He had a job interview at a college in Savannah. He thought about us moving there.”

Jake’s brow furrowed and I couldn’t tell if he was just perplexed or a little upset or both. “Really?” was all he said, and then I knew he was feeling hurt. Not the same as the hurt I’d felt–different. Perhaps even deeper. Josh absolutely never kept secrets from Jake throughout their entire lives.

“Yeah. It took me by surprise too,” I told him. “I’m also surprised he didn’t mention it to you. It’s not like Josh to be able to keep his mouth shut for like, anything.”

Jake chuckled softly, then his face fell into a frown again. “I know. That’s very strange. I suppose I’m glad he didn’t tell me and not you but–”

I sighed. “Yeah. I know.”

“He really didn’t tell you anything?”

I shook my head. “No. Nothing until we were right outside the university. It scared the hell out of me, Jake,” I confessed. It was always so easy to talk openly with him–I was grateful for that, for how much our friendship had grown over the years. “Suddenly he drops this bomb and I couldn’t make sense of it all right then and there. We talked more, obviously, and it’s not even like he’s dead-set on moving there but–”

There was a gentle look of deep understanding in Jake’s eyes. “But he thought about it. A lot, apparently.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to live there, honestly. Maybe somewhere else someday. But I’m not ready to leave here yet.”

“That’s completely fair. I don’t know if I feel great about the idea of my own twin being that far from me either.”

I smiled a little. “Also fair. You should talk to him, too. I think he’s got a lot to say to you that he’s been holding back.”

Jake sighed. “I don’t want Josh to hold anything back from me.”

“I honestly don’t believe any of this secret keeping was on purpose. It’s just not in his nature.” I wanted to explain more to Jake but knew those were Josh’s words I’d be speaking. He was the one who needed to bring his twin up to speed on all he’d been thinking and feeling. “So, suffice to say, I don’t think we’re moving anywhere new.”

“That’s good. I’m all for change, but I don’t think I can handle another big one right now.”

“Me either. Except for getting married and buying a house, hopefully.”

Jake smiled. “Hopefully? It’s happening.”

I leaned back, stretching and holding the phone up with one outstretched arm. “Should we all just start a commune? Y’know, buy a big piece of land, all live together because we’re painfully codependent, all of that good stuff.”

“That sounds very Josh-like,” Jake said with a laugh. He looked more relaxed then, though I could clearly see the signs of exhaustion on his face. His undereyes looked darker and his entire face held a kind of sleepiness; I questioned it and he gave a slightly reassuring smile. “Touring is a lot. What we do now is different from how it was before–a few shows here and there in town, a few in Detroit. It’s definitely a bit tiring, but we do really love it.”

“Good. We knew you guys would blow up.” I sat up again, resting my elbow on my knee. “We just miss you. What are we gonna do when you guys are gone for like, a year?”

“There’s breaks. We’ll see each other.”

I loved hearing the assuredness of Jake knowing they’d grow more and more into their success; still, it always felt like a lot to process. “I’m not omitting Josh and I being roadies from the realm of possibilities,” I told him. “This codependency is a killer.”

Jake laughed again. “It’s just love. That’s all it is.”

–

After Josh came home, we talked from beginning to end–again–through his thought process about the job and the move. He talked as if they still held potential for a little while, but when he brought up how he and Jake had actually talked as well between classes, the dismissal of the two things came to light. He didn’t want to move states away and I believed him when he said it–he didn’t even need to reassure me. I could hear it in his voice and see it in his face, this kind of relief that I was sure came from not only finally revealing it all to me in Savannah but also, finally, talking things through with his brother. The bond he had with Jake, as well as with Sam and Danny, always came first in my mind even if Josh didn’t see it that way and I was fine with that. Jake and Danny were processors and held wisdom in their minds even when they weren’t quite ready to share it; Sam, on the other hand, reacted to things quickly and didn’t shy away from the full expression of his feelings. All of them held their own advantages when it came to communication and hard decisions, influential in their own rights.

“There’s so much to think about,” Josh mused. We were sitting on the balcony, watching the sun begin to set; I was studying the way the light hit the leaves, pondering what our next move would be–quite literally–until Josh turned to me and took my hand. “What are you thinking about right now?”

“I’m thinking about how much change might be too much change,” I told him, looking into his eyes. “Maybe trying to buy a house right now isn’t the best thing. There could be other things to focus on. And maybe we could move to Detroit sometime in the future.”

He smiled. “Other things to focus on–like a wedding?”

I smiled back. “Yeah. Like a wedding.”

Once again I found myself mapping the trajectory of our life and all the future choices I could think of in my head; the slight squeeze of Josh’s hand around mine made me slow down. “Maybe we don't have to plan every little thing,” I said, mostly directing that at myself. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. “I miss being more spontaneous. Being an adult sucks.”

Josh chuckled, jostling me a bit. “Only sometimes. Besides, we were adults when we met.”

“Kind of. Also kind of silly kids.”

“We’re still that way. We always will be.” Josh bounced up to his feet and took both my hands, pulling me up with him. “Let’s go have dinner on the beach. That’s spontaneous, no?”

It was warm but the air was cooling and would certainly be chilly soon, even more so once we were on the water; the thought of the strong breeze against our skin as the low waves rolled to shore propelled my emphatic “yes.” So we scraped together some sandwiches, chips, a tupperware container of fruit and the six-pack that had been hanging out in the fridge for a little too long. The sun was lower as Josh drove, a half-dome of golden-orange on the horizon as we headed west toward the lake and, by the time we parked the car, a cool, calm dusk was in full force.

Josh led the way down the rocky, sandy bank, through the tight cove of trees and to an entirely empty part of the beach. The sun was far to our left, merely a sliver over the water, and the deepening of the blue sky melted with the calm water, immersing us in a whole world of blue. Josh had returned to that quiet state that unnerved me, but he didn’t look nervous–he looked like someone who was holding in a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I questioned as we settled down on a blanket. I popped open two beers, handed one to Josh, and prodded the container of fruit open.

“Nothing,” he said, but then he began laughing wildly like I’D said something hilarious.

“Not another secret?” I pressed, actually joking.

“No. No secret,” Josh said with a wave of his hand. He nestled right against my side and took a drink, looking ahead at the water. “We’ll have a better view of the stars here.”

I looked up, past the wispy layer of grey clouds and into the darker part of the dusk where a few stars had begun to shine through. Josh’s weight on me, the darkness and the soothing sound of the water were lulling me into a daze and I knew I could have easily, literally fallen asleep had it not been for Josh abruptly shooting forward to grab his backpack again. It felt like the time he was going to propose–I expected a ring to be pulled from that backpack pocket, but he only took out a pack of cigarettes.

“Really?” I asked teasingly.

He put one between his lips. “Yes, really.” After he lit it, he passed the pack to me but I waved it away.

“We’ll share,” I told him, and Josh handed it to me after he exhaled. The whispers of smoke spun into the air and away while I took a drag; I felt nervous then, my expectations unmet but the knowledge of the upcoming proposal happening sometime, somewhere remained. I did wish many times that I hadn’t been so resistant to marriage. Josh had been ready sooner than I had, but I knew in my heart it hadn’t been much sooner. Sometimes I felt like I’d made him waste all that time with me–why should he have stuck around for someone unwilling to make the ultimate commitment? What had I been so resistant to anyway?

After we ate and drank some more beer, we walked along the shore, barefoot through the cold water. Josh held my hand and we looked for constellations and lone stars and planets–I spotted Arcturus, bright and white, and the Big Dipper above while Josh excitedly pointed out Virgo.

“It’s really incredible,” he said while we paused, both of our heads tilted back to look in wonder at the infinity that lay above us. “All of that–all those stars, planets, galaxies and we’re all here on Earth. There has to be other life out there. I don’t know why anyone says otherwise.”

“Sometimes it feels scary,” I admitted. “Not that there’s other life out there, but just how big all of this is. I don’t think we’re insignificant though.”

“We can’t be. And everything can’t be random.”

I squeezed his hand. “Definitely not. The universe knew what it was doing when it brought you into my life.”

“It did.” I watched Josh bring his gaze down to the water, turning to look past me. “Check out that boat–they’re way far out.”

I turned to look at it and I was a little mystified at how small the distant light on it was, how far away whoever was commandeering the ship was from us; I couldn’t hear the motor, only the sound of the waves and then Josh clearing his throat. When I turned back to him, he’d disappeared from my eyeline–no, he was down on both of his knees and looking up at me.

“Josh–” I began to say but I didn’t know what to say next. My heart sped up suddenly, racing hard in my chest and into my ears, and a wave of dizziness came over me so fiercely that I placed one hand on his shoulder to steady myself.

He smiled. “I’m so very glad I can still make you swoon, darling.” In his hands he held a small black box, so shiny it looked like it was carved from obsidian itself. “I want to do that for the rest of our lives.” Even in the dark I could see the glimmer of his eyes and the flush spread across his cheeks, his own nerves alive as much as mine were, I was sure. “You are absolutely everything to me and I want to go everywhere and do everything with you forever.” Josh took a breath and laughed a little before his slightly shaking hands–the sight of which made my heart swell with so much adoration I felt dizzy all over again–opened the box. I glanced down at the ring but it was a blur; I was too focused on his beautiful face and watching his lips create the next string of words: “I’ve wanted us to be bound together for eternity for so long now, love. Will you marry me?”

I dropped to my knees in front of him, threading my fingers through his hair, pulling him in to kiss. It was just my instinct then–to kiss him with all the love I had in my body, to hold him close enough that he knew I’d never let him go, not caring that the water was cold and soaking my pants. All I could feel was him. Josh hummed against my mouth and I pulled back to finally verbalize my answer: “Of course, Josh. I love you so much.” I kept my hands on the back of his neck but looked down to really see the ring and, when I did, all I could say then was, “Oh my god.”

It was gorgeous and I was speechless as I looked at it. The moonlight cast its glow on the white gold band and the teardrop diamond that was surrounded by tiny blue gems–all of it was perfectly suited to me. I kept gawking and Josh chuckled, then took it out of the box and took my hand, sliding it onto my ring finger as he quietly said, “I hope I got the right size.”

He did. He nailed it. I lifted my hand and gazed at the beauty of it some more, still trying to find the words to express all the gratitude and even surprise. Sure, I’d known the proposal would happen. But maybe nothing ever prepares you for the feelings that come along with it regardless, and from the adoration and the gratitude came a swell of feelings I couldn’t name, but it was all so overwhelming that I started crying.

“Oh, no, sweetheart,” Josh cooed, wrapping me in his arms as I brought my hands to my face, weeping into them and shuddering against his body. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing,” I whimpered, getting the ring wet with my own tears as I tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. “I’m so happy, Josh. I just–I’m so sorry–sorry it took so long.”

Josh rubbed my back. “Don’t be sorry. Please don’t be sorry. I’m not sorry about it.”

When the tears slowed, I hugged him back, resting my wet cheek on his shoulder. “You’re not?”

He giggled. “No! We’re together and we always have been. That’s what matters.”

I lifted my hand to look at the ring again. “This is too much. It’s too beautiful.”

“It’s just right. It’s just for you. Do you like it?”

“I love it. It’s perfect.”

“By the way,” Josh said, then turned to kiss my forehead. “It’s a lab-grown diamond. No blood spilled for that one.”

I sniffled. That was so him. “That’s good. Thank you. For all of it.”

Josh gently guided both of us back up to our feet. He held my hands, looking down at the impossibly gorgeous ring he’d placed on my finger. “You really like it?”

I watched the diamond sparkle–literally–in the moonlight and the tiny sapphires glow like the water before us. “I love it so much. You could’ve gotten me a twist tie for all I care but, Jesus Christ, Josh–this is stunning.”

He smiled. “I thought for a long time about what it would look like. It reminds me a little bit of the pendant you got me for our first anniversary. That may have influenced my decision making a little, too.”

“You know how much I love when we match,” I told him, taking away my right hand to wipe a few leftover tears away. My heart still felt so full and there was so much inside me I wanted to say, but eloquence didn’t feel possible then. Instead of trying to speak further, I kissed him again.

The lingering kiss over, Josh nuzzled into my neck. “I love you, mama. I’m so happy you said yes.”

I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes as his curls brushed against my skin with the same gentleness as the breeze. “There’s no universe in which I’d say no.”

---

Tagging: @kissingthegoat @jjwasneverhere @clairesjointshurt @bizzielisteningtogreta @colorstreammind

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#greta van fleet #gvf #josh kiszka #josh gvf #josh kiszka x oc #josh kiszka x reader #jake kiszka #danny wagner #sam kiszka #gvf fic #gvf fanfiction #josh fic #rfs #lfs

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capnjaket · 6 months

Text

The Opposite of Lost - Chapter Three

a/n: Welcome! Please listen to 'Diary' by Bread later on in the chapter!

Pairing: Josh Kiszka x Female OC

Warning: Domestic abuse themes ahead.

Word Count: 7k

Chapter Three

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆ Joshua

Even though I am a morning person, I always seem to be late for school. But today, I had managed to pull through, and get the boys in the car so we could be on time to see Rosemary. We pulled up in the senior parking lot and all walked out in search of her. Thankfully, we found her pretty quick, standing under a tree with another senior girl, Sasha. I remembered her to be only ever lovely and kind, which put me at ease.

“Hey Rose!” Sam yelled upon our approach.

“Oh, hey guys!” Rosemary said, looking at us, then turning to smile back at Sasha.

“Dannyyyyyy!” Sam immediately got distracted and ran off to see his friend who we literally saw yesterday.

“I’ll see you around, Rose. Nice to meet you.” Sasha returned Rosemary’s warm smile and nodded to Jake and I before walking away.

All the seniors were quickly directed towards the gym, where we were given our timetables. As Rosemary walked back to us after receiving hers, I snatched it up and we compared them all.

“Sam will be in your art class, then creative writing with me, and math with Jake. Solid.” I said, analysing the sheets.

“Great, so I’ll get a break from you all in world history.” We all laughed.

I showed her where her locker was, then we walked to mine so I could grab my stuff and show her where the art room was.

“So I was thinking, maybe on Saturday you could introdu—” I started to ask, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Joshyy!” Florence came bounding towards me, jumping into a hug with her legs around my waist.

“Florence?” I said, putting her down. “You told me you were moving away..?”

“Surprise!” She said, “Turns out I can stay until the end of senior year.” Florence searched my eyes for some elated reaction from me.

“Cool.” I said with a tight smile. “I’ll see you later. I need to walk Rosemary here to class. She’s new.” I turned to see Rosemary kindly waiting, nervously picking at her binder. Florence eyed her for a second, then gave her a little smile.

“Ok then bye Joshy!” She tilted her head to the side and looked up at me for a beat, then spun around to walk the opposite way.

“She seems to really like you.” Rosemary teased as we walked towards art.

“Oh stop it. She’s just like that.” I quickly mumbled.

“Whatever you say.” I rolled my eyes.

“Alright, here you are. I’ll meet you here when class ends and take you to creative writing.” I said, motioning to the door before walking backwards for a few steps, then turning to walk down the hall to my class.

We discussed our classes on our way to creative writing, Rosemary telling me about the immediate trouble Sam got himself into by mucking about. We found seats diagonally across from each other, pretty decent considering we came in a little late. She seemed to really be interested in the course work for creative writing, listening intently at our teacher. I for once listened too.

At lunch, we introduced her to our little group - Jake, Zach, Jita, Lilah and I. Sam and Danny occasionally joined us, but mostly stayed with their year group. Jita, Lilah and Rosemary seemed to get along quite well, though Rosemary was still a little shy.

I enjoyed the dynamic of our group; Jita had been our long-time friend, but I noticed her slight lenience towards Jake towards the end of last semester, so I was excited to see how that played out - especially since Jake has always had a crush on her. Zach and Lilah were dating, Zach being on the soccer team and Lilah on the volleyball one. They were both very competitive, which meant they basically waited each other out to see who would fold and admit their feelings for one another, which finally happened this past summer. The girls were both really smart, which helped a lot to keep the boys on track since we were all completely unorganised.

The remainder of the day went smoothly, with me showing Rosemary where world history was and Jake taking her to math with him.

The first week or so went on like that, everyone getting back into a school routine, and Rosemary adjusting to our school. I still walked with her to most classes, not that I needed to, but she never asked me to stop, so I didn’t.

“You guys want to come watch us jam tomorrow afternoon?” Jake suggested that Friday at lunch.

“I can’t man I gotta watch Lilah’s game.” Zach replied, putting his arm around Lilah.

“Self-explanatory for me.” Lilah added.

“I’ll come! You will too, right Rosemary?” Jita said.

“Sure! I can’t wait to hear you guys play again.” Rosemary addressed us.

“Yeah me too.” Jita glanced towards Jake then quickly looked away, trying to conceal her smile when Jake looked straight back at her, his cheeks slightly blushed. I caught a suspicious Rosemary subtly squinting at them both with a small smirk.

Jita had arrived a couple of minutes ago, and we were all hanging out in the garage. Sam and Danny were moving the drum kit on to a rug so they could try and drag it to move it in the future, since it takes so long to move. They were making laughably slow progress. They were almost finished when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Jita jumped up from her spot on the couch and jogged up the stairs. A minute later Rosemary walked down behind her. Rosemary was wearing a weathered green flannel half tucked into her shorts, her hair out.

“Hi Rosemary!” Sam shouted from across the garage, where he stumbled to get up and walk over, loudly crashing a cymbal on his way.

“Hey Sam.” She said, letting him hug her with a giggle. Jake followed in with a hug, as did I. It was the Kiszka way.

“Take your seats ladies. The show will begin shortly.” I pointed to our couch facing all the equipment. They both sat and chatted quietly as we finished setting up. Once the amps were all plugged in, I went over and shut off the main lights, leaving the twinkling fairy lights on along with a couple of lamps.

The boys started tuning up and getting their levels right on the amps, and finally, we were ready. We played through most of our usual set, and a little more Clapton because Jake was in the mood.

“Will you play Little Wing?” Jita suggested, looking intently at Jake.

“Ugh! Such a good song!” Rosemary commented as Jake began to play. The girls both danced in their spots on the couch, nodding their heads to the slow beat.

“What would you like to hear Rosemary?” I asked once the song had finished.

“Something of yours.” She said simply.

“Talk on the Street it is.” I looked back and nodded to the boys and we played the song. Rosemary had this glint in her eye during this one that she didn’t have for any other song. It felt different. I felt it too - playing our own music was something really special, and she could tell.

“Alright, anyone for some pool?” Jake questioned to the group when we finished.

“You know you’re gonna lose again, right?” Rosemary hopped up and walked straight to the table, hi-five-ing me on the way past.

“Oh it is on!” Jake gave us the stink eye.

“Join us Jita so it’s even.” I said, grinning as I followed Rosemary to the table.

Sam was as hopeless as ever, though Jake and I pulled through a bit more this time. Danny and Rosemary were a close match, taking much more daring shots, and sinking simpler ones easily. Jita was on Jake and I’s level, and was great at badmouthing the others. Everyone had to pretend not to see Jita and Jake giving each other looks the whole game because they were annoyingly enamoured by one another.

“Rosemary how the fuck are you so good?” Sam groaned as he watched another striped ball sink.

“Natural talent. Doesn’t seem to run in your family.” She replied.

“Woah” “Yo-” My brothers chorused.

“Hey! I’m literally on your team!” I protested.

“Just kidding! Jesus.” She laughed.

Danny somehow ended up taking the win for their team, after much build up and stress coming from our end.

“Suck it losers.” Sam yelled as we wallowed in misery.

We all went to sit around the couch and chairs, tiredly chatting away as it got darker. Rosemary and I sat together on the floor with our backs against the wall. After a while she nudged me while Sam was telling us about some teacher he pissed off at school.

“Hey Joshua.” Rosemary whispered. “Where can I get some water?”

“Oh. I’m such a bad host. I’ll show ya.” I got up and lent her a hand to stand. “We’re getting some water, anyone want anything?” I addressed the group. They all shook their heads.

Rosemary followed me up to the kitchen, and I turned the light on, the light growing dimmer since the last time we were up here. I opened the fridge to grab the cold water bottle.

“Glasses are in the cabinet to your left.” I directed her. When she reached up, her flannel sleeve rode up to her elbow, exposing a large scatter of bruises along her wrist and up her arm, almost in the shape of a hand. She grabbed two glasses and turned back around to place them on the counter in front of me, her flannel still caught up her elbow. She didn’t notice my continued stare at her arm, too focused on pouring some water. She finally looked up at me to see my arms reaching to inspect her injury carefully. Her eyes darted to her wrist and she hastily slid down her sleeve. She suddenly breathing very heavily, staring into my eyes like a deer in headlights. I furrowed my brow at her in silent conversation, and she slightly shook her head, then blinked and shook her head again with more vigour, breaking eye contact.

“Sorry, uhh… I’m all good don’t worry I fell this morning.” She looked out the window. “Looks dark out. I’m going to head home. It was nice to see you. Tell thanks to the boys and Jita.” She backed herself towards the front door. I followed her as she did so, reaching out to pull her into a hug at the door. She took a minute before settling into the hug, then she wrapped herself around me tightly.

“Can’t leave without a proper good bye..” I said earnestly into her shoulder. “See you on Monday.” I released her and she practically sprinted out the door to her car.

“Where’s Rose?” Sam questioned as I walked back into the garage alone.

“She didn’t realise how late it was until she looked out the window outside. It’s getting pretty dark.” I replied, faking calm.

“I should go too, Mom will want me home if it’s dark.” Jita stood up, patting Sammy on the shoulder. “Bye boys!” She waved, which we all reciprocated.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Jake offered, jumping up to catch her, and they forwarded out. We all rolled our eyes.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆ * ❀ 。• ₊°。

On the last weekend of March we held an end of summer campfire at our house. Our close circle were coming, along with some other friend groups we knew within the seniors. Ronnie and her friends were invited, and Sam and Danny had some people coming too.

We had set up to have it mostly outdoors, putting heaps of chairs outside on the deck, and more around our fire pits. It was nearing six o’clock, when people would start arriving, so we put on some music and chilled out until people started showing up. I put on my usual plain shirt and pants with a beaded necklace, but I knew I’d need a jumper of some kind later.

At around seven, most people were already here, though I still hadn’t seen Rosemary. I started to lose some hope, and Sammy mixed up a few salty dogs for us so I sat at the fire, trying to focus on enjoying the night anyway.

Florence turned up around 7:30, and I was pretty tipsy by that point. She kept moving into the seats nearby me every time someone left one, which kind of irritated me, but I let it be, she was having a good time, and I didn't want to start anything bad tonight.

I sat watching the fire, adding logs every now and again (I was in charge) and I kept thinking about Rosemary. I wished she was with us. I could feel my emotions running higher on the alcohol, and started feeling stupid for thinking so much about Rosemary. I needed to get out of my head, and the guys were all chatting about some girl drama at school and I'd heard enough, so I decided to go grab some water and my jacket from inside.

“I'm going inside for a sec anyone need anything?” I said. The second I stood up Florence basically jumped to her feet.

Everyone kinda hummed but Jake tapped me as I walked past and whispered, “The old guitar?”

“Why can't you get it?” I frowned. But he subtly motioned to Jita, who was sitting real close, playing with the rings on his other hand. “Fine.” I trodded off. I guess I did offer in the first place so I couldn't be mad, and I also knew how much this time with her meant to him.

As we walked up the path I could see Flo swaying in my peripheral, and shortly after she knocked into me. I made sure she got up the stairs alright and walked into the kitchen. I studied her, glossed eyes, flushed cheeks and heavy looking limbs. I decided it was not going to be that kind of night for me since I didn't want to look how Florence looked right now if or when Rosemary came. I drank some water to sober up a bit more and grabbed myself a jacket from my room while Flo drank the water I handed her. When I came back in she already had another alcoholic drink in her hand.

“Josh I’m cooooold,” Flo moped, staring at my jacket. She really was shivering, and I was a gentleman, so I walked back to my room and grabbed her a hoodie of mine and we walked back to the fire, Jake’s guitar in hand. I had to put my arm around Flo to keep her straight as we walked since it was hard to see now.

Everyone’s eyes lit up a bit when we came back down, and I thought it was because they saw the guitar, but their eyes were focused behind me. I turned around to see Rosemary walking down the stairs from the deck towards us.

She smiled kindly at me as I peeled myself from Flo so I could hug her.

She was wearing this embroidered western jean jacket over an off-white button up and bell bottom jeans. Her hair was stuck up into a bun that hung low on her head, barely held together by the tie. She had incredible style, and yet it felt as though she had thrown it together nonchalantly. She was just cool.

“Hey Joshua.” She whispered.

“Hey Rosemary.” I whispered back, and we all sat down.

Jake played some songs while we all sang along, everyone with a drink in their hand except for me and Rosemary. Sam was growing restless of hearing the same songs all the time, and his drunken state made him start to get very agitated. He kept shuffling in his seat and making annoyed noises. Then he made his intentions clear.

“Jita can you play guitar?” He said.

“No Sammy.”

“Lilah can you play guitar?” He continued around the circle.

“No.”

“Zach can you play guitar?”

“No.”

“Rosemary can you play guitar?”

“… Yeah.” She shifted slightly as everyone turned to her.

“Play for us! Pleeease? I can’t listen to any more of Jake’s songs they’rrrrrverplayed” He slurred rubbing his palms in his eyes.

“I don’t know, Sam, I-”

“I want to hear it too Rose! Here.” Jake got up and held out the guitar.

Everyone gave joyous looks to Rosemary as she tentatively grabbed the instrument from him.

“It’s not like you’ll remember anyway I guess…” She quietly mumbled. “I hope you guys like Bread.”

She played a song I’d never heard before - I assumed it was by Bread, whom I knew of but that was about it. The melody was gorgeous, and she sung quietly, floating above her graceful guitar plucking.

I found her diary underneath a tree,

And started reading about me,

The words she'd written took me by surprise,

You'd never read them in her eyes,

They said that she had found,

The love she'd waited for,

Wouldn't you know it?

She wouldn't show it,

And as I go through my life

I will give to her, my wife,

All the sweet things, I can find,

I found her diary underneath a tree,

And started reading about me,

The words began to stick and tears to flow,

Her meaning now was clear to see,

The love she'd waited for,

Was someone else, not me,

Wouldn't you know it?

She wouldn't show it,

And as I go through my life,

I will wish for her, his wife,

All the sweet things she can find.

“WOW.” Sam broke the silence while everyone sat shocked. After a beat, we all clapped and praised her.

“That’s such a cute song,” Flo called across the fire while snuggling towards me on our now shared log.

“It was very pretty Rose.” Danny said from next to Sam, holding up his drink in salute.

It was clear that Rosemary was a very skilled guitarist. It looked very natural in her arms, just like it did in Jake’s, or the other boys’.

But as the congratulations wore down, I couldn't help but feel like no-one listened to the lyrics. The song was horrifically sad. Realising your crush loves someone else? And then being kind enough to wish them well? My heart ached. While I sat there overthinking the song, Flo pushed further against me, putting her head on my shoulder. I looked up to see Rosemary staring right at us with a sad smile. Suddenly everything became a bit more clear. I furrowed my brow. Was the song about me? Now I thought about it, the situation didn’t look too good - She had seen me walk with my arm around Flo, her wearing my sweatshirt, and now almost sitting on my fucking lap. I didn’t even know if Rosemary liked me but if she did I sure as hell didn’t want to send this message. Goddamn it. At least I was sober enough to realise what might be going on.

I sat and pondered for all of two seconds before I stood up and walked down towards the tree line in our backyard. I muttered some excuse to leave and told Flo she’d fall over if she tried to follow me.

There was a small stream just at the edge of the trees, and I leaned against one with my arms folded. Listening to the trickling stream, I took my time to breathe and enjoy the glistening moonlight on the water as it danced past.

The voice in my mind went straight to Rosemary upon the sight; She'd like this spot. Ok, so I was really crushing on her. And I’d just completely fucked it all over.

“Fuck” I whispered to the woods, starting to bite at the skin of my thumb as I failed to calm myself down.

“Language”

I stood bolt upright from the tree and turned to my left to see Rosemary, leaning against the trunk across from me.

“So what's got you sulking about down here?” I could barely see her face in the darkness, but as pointed as her comment was, it still sounded sincere. “I didn’t think my guitar was that bad.”

“Just…” Fuck what do I say what do I say what do I say “Some… big emotions. It's fine don't worry - I just needed a breather.”

“Good spot for a breather.” As she shot me an infectious smile to cheer me up, but I already couldn't contain mine at the thought that she liked the spot too. Just like I thought she would.

“No drinking for you tonight?” I questioned her empty hands.

“I gotta drive home. Would kill for a beer though just not tonight.” That was my sign to definitely stop drinking for the night.

When we got back to the fire we sat next to each other. We didn’t really talk, we just sat and listened to Danny play the guitar while others had their own quiet conversations. I tried not to think about the earlier events.

At some point it was getting too cold to stay outside even with the fire roaring, so those that were left packed it in and headed for the living room. Our group of very inebriated teenagers dragging themselves up the deck stairs into the house was a sight, one which Rosemary and I chuckled about as we helped out here and there so they all didn’t end up like dominoes. Sam needed quite a bit of help because halfway up he decided he was done and wanted to take a nap in the middle of the staircase. I had to stand below the stairs and talk to him face to face as he slumped down with his head resting on one of the steps.

“Sam you need to get up we need to get inside.”

“I’m fine it’s plenty comfortable!” He insisted.

He continued insinuating that the reason we were telling him to move was because we thought he wasn’t comfortable. We ended up each taking one end and lifting him by his wrists and ankles until he gave up his stubbornness and trudged inside.

We all took our places in the room, and Rosemary ended up sunken into one of the couches between Sam and Danny as I sat on the floor across from them all.

“What’s this from?” Sam curiously dragged his hand along her wrist after absentmindedly toying with her jacket sleeve. A large bruise was revealed, wrapping all the way around her wrist and onto her hand, even bigger than the last I saw on her. I hadn’t seen it in the dark outside earlier but in here it was clearly visible.

Rosemary stumbled over her words, finally landing on “I fell from a tree.” Which sufficed for Sammy, and any other drunken listeners, but not for me.

“You’re in the wars lately.” I said. She knew I didn’t believe her, and I could tell when she whipped her head up at my comment.

Everyone left shortly after that, and I guessed she slipped away unnoticed by me as others were going, because I missed the feeling of her hug as I drifted into sleep that night.

A couple of weeks later, on Saturday night, we went out for a band meeting at the diner. We strolled in pretty late, it was already dark out, but as we filed into one of the booths, what we didn’t expect to see was Rosemary, working.

She walked right up to our table looking down tiredly at her small notebook and wiping down her apron to get ready to serve us. She didn’t even look up until Danny spoke.

“How long have you worked here?”

As her head shot up, our faces dropped from smiles to frowns of concern. Her left eye was stained a deep red and purple colour, the bruise accentuating her dark under-eyes and painfully blooming under her brow bone. Her eyebrow even looked like it had a bleeding nick on it.

We sat in silence - the question didn’t even need to be uttered for her to know what we would’ve asked.

She huffed a breath and looked me dead in the eye, though it looked spaced out, as if she was… caught red handed.

“I hit my head. I fell down the stairs.”

“God, did you land on a fist?” Sam joked

“I don’t know what you want to hear, I guess the banister was not as soft as you’d hope.” She replied, almost turning a bit bitter. But on the surface she said it in a light-hearted, joking tone – too light for my liking. I could almost see the cogs turning in Jake’s head as he stared with a creased brow. He looked to me in question, and all I could give him was a warning look and a cock of my head to let him know we’d need to discuss it later. He subtly nodded in understanding.

“Anyways, to answer your question Danny, I have worked here for almost a month now, this is that job interview I was telling y’all about. And speaking of, what do you all want to order?”

She ignored me after that - wouldn’t look me in the eye, or really even address me directly. But to everyone else, she seemed almost completely normal. I really wanted to talk to her, alone, so I got up to go to the ‘bathroom’ after we’d all eaten. She was standing at the edge of the counter near the entrance when I put my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She flinched. Her whole body shrunk down at my touch, and I immediately took my hand away with a frown.

“When’s your break?”

“Can I see your phone?” I showed her the time. “Uhh right now actually.”

“Do you wanna come sit at our booth? You don’t have to.” I offered

“I need some fresh air actually. Care to join?”

“Sure”

She led me through the back door where there was a step we could sit on that faced the surrounding woods.

“I feel like I never see you anymore. I’m like always working, and now school’s back I barely have time to go hiking.” Rosemary didn’t turn to face me as she spoke.

“Yeah. We’re pretty busy with the band too, and Jake works. But, we’ll be there tomorrow if you’re around.”

“I might just be.” I studied her as she smiled and looked at the ground.

“Did you really fall down the stairs?” Her face hardened and she looked back upwards, but still not towards me.

“I’m fine Josh please don’t worry about me.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m fine. Trust me.”

“You don’t look fine. And you won’t even look at me.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to face me, placing a hand over mine.

“Joshua. I fell down the stairs and hit my head on the banister. I’m not looking at you because I don’t want you to keep staring at it. And yeah, it hurt but I’m okay.”

I couldn’t accept it. I grasped her hand in mine in plea.

“If you’re lying to me and you’re hurting in there somewhere, I’m sorry. I just want you to be safe.”

She took a deep breath, and turned back to my eyes, giving me an appreciative half smile.

“Okay that’s enough Joshua.” She patted me on the hand. “Thankyou.”

When we got back home, I walked down to the creek again to clear my head. I needed to get over myself – she told me not to worry, and I needed to believe her. But I just had an inkling. And it wasn’t a good one. I soon heard the soft crunch of footsteps as Jake came down from the house.

“Is she okay?” He said softly.

“She told me the same thing she said earlier. Told me not to worry.” I looked up at my brother, and it was only then that I realised my eyes had been watering.

“But I don’t now, she had bruises on her that first time she came here, Jake. And at the bonfire night too.” Jake frowned under the hand he had covering his eyes and forehead. “I – I just can’t believe her Jake, it looks like – “

“I know what it looks like. And I think the same thing. We need to keep a close eye on her, but there’s only so much we can do if she doesn’t tell us anything. And besides, she could be telling the truth.”

“Maybe”

We were lying to ourselves – we both knew she was not telling the truth.

“Look, don’t beat yourself up about it. Your burning glare at the bruise won’t make it go away. You should get to sleep, you might get some quality time with her tomorrow at the trails remember?” He smirked at me as I broke into a bit of a smile at the thought. “You gonna finally ask her out soon?” He nudged me as we walked back up the garden.

“You gonna ask Jita out soon?” I snickered as he put his hands up in defence.

On Sunday we left bright and early for the national park for some much-needed break from the garage and school. I felt a wave of relief when Jake pointed out Rosemary’s car sitting the dirt in her usual spot. As we approached, we realised the windows were slightly ajar, and inside there was a sleeping Rosemary, soundlessly laid out in her front seat with a jacket gracelessly draped across her. Her long hair splayed over her head, and the only way you could tell she was alive and sleeping was the subtle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“Rosie!” Sam screamed as he ran up and banged hard against the top of the car.

“Sam you little fucking shit she was sleeping.” I shoved him to the ground. Little shit.

Rosemary sat up, rubbed her eyes and rolled down her window as we all peered in apologetically.

“Sorry Rose!” Sam said from down in the dirt.

She peeked her head out the window to wave at him.

“All good Sammy I forgot to set my alarm anyway! You guys go right ahead I’ll see you in a bit I just gotta get sorted here.”

“Alright we’ll be on the north trail.” Jake looked at me, patting Sam on the back and starting towards the trees.

“Did you sleep here overnight?” I leant my arm on the door to hold it open as she slipped to the side with her hiking boots in hand.

“Yes I did. I stayed out on the track too long to drive home. You know how much I like it here.” She focused on tying up her shoes, sitting on the edge of the car seat.

“No other reason?”

“No. Okay I’m ready.” She got up and closed her door. “I know a shortcut that can get us to the landing on the north trail before the others, but we have to be really stealthy, okay?” Rosemary said as she continued to the end of the dirt parking lot and past the trail entrance.

“Mission accepted. Let’s go”

A bunch of careful trekking and hiding in bushes later we had reached the summit, with no sign of the boys.

“I’ll give it about five minutes. We moved pretty fast I think they will take a while.”

“Alright then lets setup in a bush so we can scare them.”

We were tucked tightly on the ground, sitting cross legged with our legs squished on each other.

“Josh, why do you spend so much time with me?” She leant her head on my shoulder, which wasn’t far to move in our current proximity.

“I … like spending time with you…?”

“Yeah but I feel bad. Shouldn’t you like… get back to Florence? You guys really have something! I feel like I’m in the way.” She picked her head back up.

“What? No don’t worry about it okay? I like you as company much more than her right now.”

“Bullshit! You have such a chance with her.” Oh. I thought. So I don’t have a chance with you? “She’s beautiful. All you gotta do is start making some moves! Although, it seems she’s already pretty set no matter what you do.”

“You got that right.” Smirking, I pulled a hand through my hair.

“Oookay and there��s the ego.”

“Oh shut it. I don’t like her.” I like you.

“Whatever you say.” I didn’t have the nerve to keep arguing, not with the impending arrival of my brothers on the horizon, and not until I knew I could be sure she was okay at home, or wherever she was getting hurt. We sat watching and trying to hold in our laughter as the boys rounded the bend to the landing, our vantage point perfect.

“Dude do you have the sandwiches? I’m so hungry.” Sam moped as he sat down on the edge of the lookout.

“Does it look like I have the sandwiches?” Jake grunted as he showed his empty hands and absence of a backpack.

“Ugh Josh must have them. I hope they’re not too long.” Rosemary and I silently snickered until I grabbed one of the wrapped sandwiches out and signalled that I would throw it. Her eyes lit up but then she leaned in and whispered with her lips almost touching my ear.

“You throw a couple of rocks off to the side and while they’re distracted, I’ll put the sandwich where they’re sitting. Just throw enough that they get up.” We could barely hold it together at this point, and Rosemary being able to run and get back at this rate was looking very difficult. We pushed on anyway. I gathered a stash of rocks from around us and started aiming, then I finally fired.

Jake was the first to notice, asking Sam “Did you hear that?”

“Please let it be Rosie and Josh I’m starved.” Sam replied. At my second throw, they both shot their heads over towards the bush I had successfully rustled. I waited a bit for them to look away so I could throw another without them seeing, and when I finally did, they got up to investigate. Rosemary darted out in her usual silent nature and placed the sandwich right where they were.

“Do you reckon it’s some sort of animal?”

“I want to see what it is – surely it’s bigger than a squirrel, I want to see something cool.”

“The fuck?” Jake turned around, finally acknowledging the sandwich that sat perfectly on the rock, just as Rosemary got out of sight. She basically fell into me with the speed at which she ducked back behind the bush. I thought for sure the sounds we made as we crashed together would startle the boys and give away our position, but it seemed they were much more interested in the mysteriously appearing sandwich. They scanned the tree line for us, but we were just hidden enough that we escaped their gaze.

“Sweet!” Sam dove right into eating the sandwich. “The gods have answered my prayers. I know you’re there somewhere Rosie! You can come out now!” I threw two more rocks in different directions, giving them the impression that we were surrounding them. We finished our games by each grabbing a stone and throwing them straight at the boys’ heads.

“Ow, God!” Sam held his head in defence, scrambling to try not to let go of his precious sandwich.

“Alright, you’ve had your fun, now let me have my sandwich.” Jake yelled towards us as we popped up from behind the bush.

“What’s the magic word?” I held the sandwich just out of his reach.

“Please.” He huffed. I handed it to him with a wink.

I turned to Rosemary. “Have you had breakfast? I already ate mine in the car and I have an extra.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jake smirking and rolling his eyes. I hadn’t eaten a sandwich in the car.

“Are you sure?” I nodded. “Thanks.”

We spent the rest of the morning chilling around, looking at different things that Rosemary thought we would like. We eventually had to say goodbye, but we all had a great morning. Everything felt like it was back to normal. Except Rosemary’s black eye.

I texted her that week and made sure she was free on Friday night so we could hang out. When I arrived at her door at six to pick her up, I could hear someone yelling, really loud – angry loud. His croaky voice reverberated through the front door where I stood. My hand quivered in the air before the door, and just as I tapped it against the vibrating wood to knock, the door swung open, and Rosemary rushed out, almost running me over, clearly not expecting me to be standing there. Her glistening red eyes locked with mine as she nodded towards the car. I followed her with bated breath, not daring to look back into the house, where the yelling continued. She grasped the passenger door as I unlocked it and hopped in, driving off without a word.

I could tell she was trying really hard not to cry; her breathing forced and deep, nostrils flared, and her wide eyes focused on a spot on the floor. I just kept driving. I didn’t know what to say yet, so I saved it until I got where I needed to be. When I finally reached the end of the old dirt road and pulled up to the secluded ridge, I got straight out and circled the car, opening her door and beckoning her to join me at the edge. The spot was in the corner of a property of an old uncle of mine, where a wooded hill rose in the back paddock. There was a small road that led to the top, and the hill quite harshly dropped on the other side, with a little clearing in the trees for the dirt road. It was high enough to be able to look onto a bit of the back streets of Frankenmuth.

Her tired eyes lit up slightly at the sight, lights of small properties speckling the dimming area.

“I guess I don’t really know all the best spots in this place after all.” She murmured, looking out into the town.

“Local secret.” I said casually, sitting down on the ground. We both stared into the distance as I finally broke the silence again. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?” She didn’t reply. “I know there’s something really bad happening. We both know that now. I just want you to be safe. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay. I just care too much about you to see you like this.” I inspected her for any sign that she might say something. I felt like I might be prying too much. “Do you want to be alone right now?”

“No. Please stay with me.” She whispered ever so quietly.

“Okay. I’m going to grab a blanket out the back of the car to wrap around us. I’ll be right back.”

“I don’t want to talk about it just yet, if that’s okay.” She said, pulling the blanket over our bodies.

“I understand.” She didn’t jump right into any conversation or small talk that I threw at her, so I just did what I knew. I talked, told stories. In hopes that it would distract her, maybe make her feel more at home. Anything to make Rosemary feel even a fraction better. As I spoke, I nudged my upturned palm against hers, and she took it, and so we sat, holding hands while I told her complete nonsense.

“… And we had a dog, too. Jake and Sam wanted to name it some stupid name, I can’t even remember what it was. Ronnie and I had a great plan to call him Fish. We thought we were hilarious. Somehow Mom and Dad agreed with us.” I laughed at the memory, peeking over at Rosemary. My face dropped as I noticed the moonlight reflecting on her wet cheeks. She noticed I had stopped talking and looked over, wiping her nose.

“I’m sorry I just—"

“No it’s not your fault. You’re allowed to feel emotions. I’m sorry. None of this is your fault.”

“Thankyou.” She took a deep breath, blinked a couple of times, then started. “I had dogs, too. And horses. The dogs were Aussies, they would follow along on the ground as we rode the horses, and when we got in the car they would follow us too, running as fast as they could, from one end of the farm to the other. I don’t know how they didn’t get driven over.” She quietly giggled. “But that was them, my girls, Winnie and Pepper – they were always up for adventure. Didn’t matter where we were, all Pa and I had to do was whistle and they’d come running.” Every now and then she would look over for something my reassurance, and upon seeing my enthused smile, and feeling me squeeze her hand, she would look away and keep talking.

“Wish I could say the same for Fish. He was kinda stupid.”

We conversed for a while more, but it got cold eventually; the blanket that I had draped across our shoulders doing less and less to stop the cold wind from biting our skin. Rosemary said “Alright, you can take me back to mine now.” And we got into the car and I drove back to the suburbs.

“If your dad tries anything again, I swear, you’re coming straight home with me and staying until we find something better.”

“He’s not my dad. My Uncle.” Oh. “It’ll be okay now, he’s asleep. Please don’t worry. And I’m being more careful now. I’ll see you at school. Thank you for tonight.” She quickly rambled, got out and started walking, as if it was too late to change her mind.

#josh kiszka #josh gvf #josh kiszka x reader #josh kiszka fic #josh kiszka gvf #danny wagner #jake kiszka #sam kiszka #josh kiszka x oc #john denver

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heykoonsy · 8 months

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A Home for Jake Masterlist

Pairing: OC x Jake, OC x Danny

Summary: Charlotte’s stay at the Somerset Sapiens Farm was short-lived, her intelligence quickly astounding the owner; Henry Somerset himself. Hoping to become a client, Charlotte is gifted to an eccentric vampire known for supplying the wealthy elite with high quality humans for their gatherings. Charlotte, however, intends to use this vampire’s power and connections another way.

Chapters:

The Past

Fate

Cruelty

First Contact

In the Dark

A Hill of Beans

Cut the Thread

The Thread

The Future

#A Home for Jake #A Home for Charlie sequel #greta van fleet fanfiction #gvf fanfiction #jake kiszka #jake kiszka x OC #Vampire!AU #Horror/Dystopia #danny wagner

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joshsindigostreak · 12 hours

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Those new Danny pics gave me the all the encouragement I needed to make the header for Running Through the Garden 🌿

#werewolf!danny #danny wagner #Danny Wagner x oc #werewolf!danny x werewolf!oc #second chance romance #eventual breeding kink #oops did I say that last one

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flaccidmorbidity · 11 months

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★ ★ ★

AND I LOVE HER | s.k.

synopsis: ziggy novak had been friends with danny wagner and sam kiszka since middle school and had spent nearly every day around them since. after years of watching her best friends become great musicians and pursue their dreams, their career begins to take off and ziggy couldn’t be more excited for them. with impending tours and a new album on the way, everybody is buzzing with excitement. sam only has one concern; how he’s going to keep her with him for the ride.

pairing: sam kiszka x fem!oc

contents: friends to lovers, slow burn

warnings for this series: alcohol use, marijuana use, swearing, explicit themes/content (18+ minors dni‼️), angst, sam and ziggy are fucking stupid

a/n: i’ve had this concept marinating up in my head for like months now so i think it’s time to make her a reality, this is the first series i’m writing on here so i hope you like it and feedback is appreciated 🫶🏻

masterlist:

★ part one - coming soon!

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readyforthegarden · 9 months

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Silver Springs - Part One

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x Original Female Character

Warnings: Mentions of drug use, misogyny typical of the 1970s, 18+ only, Minors DNI

WC: 2712

🎶 🎶 🎶

“What is it like, being on top?” Sam smirked at the question, dragging his hand across his forehead in the hot sun as sweat beaded against his tanned skin. He held back a laugh at the obvious innuendo, leaning against the warm brick of the building.

“It’s a crazy feeling,” Sam answered the interviewer, who was holding a microphone out to him with a slightly shaking hand. “I never thought in a million years our music would reach so many people. We’re just some kids from the suburbs of Michigan, so to be at this level is insane.”

“You’re turning into hometown heroes, really.” the interviewer replied, chuckling at his moniker. “Record sales are at an all time high, you’re at the top of the charts, do you have any advice for any kids back home in their garages, trying to be the next Greta Van Fleet?”

“Yeah, don’t try to be the next Greta Van Fleet.” Sam grinned. “Be yourselves, write what speaks to you, play what sounds good to you. As long as you’re yourself you’ll go far.” They wrapped up the interview and Sam parted from the young man, starting his journey back to his bus across the parking lot. He pulled a cigarette out of the pack in the front pocket of his half buttoned shirt, slipping a lighter from his jeans pocket and lighting it.

“Hey, you’re Sam Kiszka, right?” Sam squinted in the sun, turning and seeing a young woman walking fast to catch up to his long stride.

“I am.” he replied. “If you want an autograph, I’m afraid I don’t have a pen. If you wanna shag, there’s a line forming over on the other side of the venue.”

“I don’t want either of those things, thank you though.” the girl scoffed lightly, slowing down now that she was beside him. “I’m actually a musician, a singer-songwriter, and I was wondering if you’d look over a few of my songs? I really dig the music you make, and it’d mean a lot.” Sam stopped with a sigh, turning to the girl. Her light, sandy brown hair was frizzed from the humidity, unkempt waves looking like she slept with her hair wet and the window open while tossing and turning.

Her wide hazel eyes blinked up at him, and Sam glanced down, seeing her clutching a worn, tattered journal in her hands. She wore overalls with patches on the wide legged knees. They hung loosely on her and were faded, the t-shirt underneath short and snug to her body, making them clear signs of hand-me-downs or thrift finds.

“I guess,” Sam sighed, holding out his hand. The girl opened the book in her hands, flipping through the pages before handing it over to Sam. The page Sam looked down on was scribbled all over, words etched out, messy writing across the lines. A few spots were discolored, spots where maybe some water, possibly even tears had spilled over. His eyes scanned the lyrics, keeping a blank face as the young woman bit her lip nervously, ruffling her hair, a smattering of bracelets clattering along her wrist and forearm as she moved.

Sam flipped through a few more pages before snapping the book shut, looking over to her. He thought carefully about what he wanted to say. The words she had written were good, and he couldn’t help the artistic jealousy that bubbled up in his chest that he never thought of stringing them together himself.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Brandy.” she responded. “Brandy Lawson.”

“Well, Brandy Lawson,” Sam held up the book in front of him. “I wouldn’t quit your day job. You’ve got some potential, but nothing big in here. No one wants to hear a woman whining about her broken heart.” he watched Brandy’s eyes dim, her cheeks turning pink as she rolled her shoulders back against the blow to her ego.

“I appreciate the honesty.” Brandy reached out, taking her book back from Sam. “Really, thank you.” Sam felt a small twist in his gut, guilt setting in at crushing the girls’ dreams. He ran a hand through his brown, shoulder length hair with a sigh.

“Listen, it’s nothing personal,” he shrugged. He wanted to continue but couldn’t find decent enough words to tell her he thought her words were shit.

“No, no it’s not.” Brandy shook her head, clutching the journal to her chest again, a new spark in her eyes. “Thank you for your opinion, Mr. Kiszka. Have a good show.” she began to move away and Sam reached out, placing a large hand on her shoulder.

“Do you want an autograph or something?” he offered, trying to take the edge off the conversation. Brandy turned, smiling at him with a shake of her head.

“No. But you’ll be wanting mine one day.” she replied, so self-assured Sam was taken aback by the confidence. “See you around, Kiszka.”

Sam watched her walk away across the venue parking lot, the heels of her boots thunking against the pavement. She propelled herself with enough force the wind blew her hair back around her as she went. Something in him felt an inkling of admiration and a pang of annoyance at her sudden conviction.

“Hey, you coming to sound check?” Sam looked to his left, seeing his brother Jake ushering flagging him down. He and the rest of the band were heading inside the venue now. Sam nodded, jogging over to him. “What kept you so long? The magazine guy left a while ago.”

“Just some fan, wanted me to give advice on their songwriting.” Sam replied, waving his hand in front of him like Brandy had been an annoying fly buzzing around his head for the few minutes they interacted.

“Were they any good?” Jake asked curiously. Sam huffed out a laugh, holding open the stage door as his brother shuffled in.

“Just some school-kid drivel.” Sam shrugged.

“Aw, you mean like what you used to write?” Josh, Sam’s eldest brother wrapped an arm around Sam’s shoulder, using his knuckles to give him a playful noogie to the side of his head.

“Knock it off,” Sam pushed Josh off of him gently.

“We all have to start somewhere, Sammy.” Josh reminded him.

“Well, she seems to think I’ll be asking for her autograph one day,” Sam rolled his eyes. “So she must think she’s ahead of the game.” He followed his brothers onto the stage, taking place at his microphone as a roadie handed him his guitar.

“Who knows, maybe we’ll even be opening for her.” Jake joked into his mic, making the other men laugh. That was the last they had spoken of it, and the last Sam thought of Brandy Lawson for a very long while.

Until she stormed back into his life, a new name, a new band, and fiery attitude.

🎶 🎶 🎶

“Los Angeles are you ready for a night of love and rock and roll?!” the crowd in the Troubadour roared. “My name is Harlow, and with me are the Blue Jean Babies. And we’re here tonight to make sweet love to you through music and leave you wanting more.” a few wolf whistles echoed through the room as Harlow gripped her microphone stand, bringing her body towards it. The bell sleeves of her dress fell back towards her elbows and she shook her shaggy bangs out of her face, licking her lips before beginning to sing.

“It’s a little crowded tonight.” Jake groaned, worming his way through the crowd to the bar, nodding at a few people who recognized him.

“You were the one who wanted to come.” Sam laughed back, finally resting against the sticky bar as his brother ordered them beers.

“Yeah, well I heard this band is really something.” Jake turned, handing a tepid, sweating amber bottle to his younger brother. “They’ve been blowing up the charts, and the label is thinking of having them on tour with us.”

“You mean the tour we’re about to go on in a little less than a month?” Sam was wide-eyed. “Who dropped out?”

“I guess one of the openers, one of their wives just had a baby and she’s threatening divorce if he doesn’t stay home with them since he was gone most of the pregnancy.” Jake shrugged. “It’s bullshit, but if you love the woman you do what you have to.”

“Happy wife, happy life and all that, yeah?” Sam chuckled as he took a sip of his own beer. He could never imagine himself kowtowing to anyone like that. No one was going to keep him from being on the road and living out his dream. If he was going to be with someone, they had to understand that music was the most important thing to him.

“More like he’ll have to pay out the ass in spousal and child support.” Jake rolled his eyes. Sam laughed loudly before having a few dirty looks thrown his way for interrupting the show. He smiled sheepishly and put a finger to his lips, promising to keep quiet with a wink. He turned his attention to the stage, allowing himself to focus on the music.

The woman singing was vaguely familiar, he’d probably seen her out and about in the LA scene. It was a small circle, no matter how many new faces moved to the city of Angels, so he was sure he’d met her at some party somewhere. Maybe they’d shared a joint or a bump. Maybe a beer.

“She’s pretty good, huh?” Jake leaned over to Sam, yelling over the music.

“Yeah, she’s all right.” Sam sniffed. He watched the singer on stage as she danced around, singing and banging a tambourine against the heel of her hand. Her hair flew around her wildly as she spun, and Sam couldn’t help to smirk at her free movements, they reminded him of his eldest brother in a way, and how he would move on stage during Jake’s guitar solos. “I think they’d fit in nicely as openers.”

“Yeah?” Jake quirked an eyebrow over at Sam, watching his eyes carefully. The singer was now leaning down, smiling as she interacted with concert-goers. She had a wrist laden with bangles and beaded bracelets, and Jake caught the small smirk on Sam’s face as he watched the singer slip a few off and put them over the hand of a fan who was reaching out before standing back up and continuing the show. When the band left the stage, Jake patted Sam on the shoulder, and they moved to go backstage.

As they approached the green room, they heard loud laughter, the clinking of bottles and energetic talking between bandmates, and Sam felt the energy inside him prick up. There was something so contagious about a post-show high, and he could tell Jake was feeling it too as they rounded the corner into the room. It took a few minutes of the chaos to settle down as they joined the party, and someone stopped to notice them.

“Woah,” a young man stopped when he saw Jake and Sam, his lips still glistening from the pull from the bottle of Jack Daniels he held in his hand. His mustache was barely grown in enough to collect any droplets and he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as he stared in awe. “You’re…you’re Jake and Sam Kiskza.”

“Yeah, we are.” Jake chuckled, reaching a hand out. The young man switched the booze to his other hand and shook Jake’s outstretched hand, before shaking Sam’s as well. “We came out to see the show, you guys are good.”

“No shit!” the man grinned. “I’m Billy, I’m the guitarist. It’s an honor to meet you guys, I’ve looked up to your guitar playing since I heard your first record.”

“Appreciate that, man.” Jake grinned. “Are the rest of your bandmates here?”

“Yeah!” Billy turned, putting his hand on another man’s shoulder and getting his attention, whispering to him before gathering a few others around. “Where’s Harlow?”

“I’m right here.” they turned around again, and parted, making room for the leading lady of the night to join. It took him a few moments, but up close, all it took was a few moments, and the glimmer of gold in those hazel eyes for him to fully recognize her. His memory pulled up the scene in a parking lot where he’d essentially told her she was a talentless hack. “Hello boys.”

“Hi, I’m Jake,” Jake reached out his hand to her with a smile. She took it gently, squeezing his fingertips and holding his hand in hers for a few moments, telling him how nice it was to meet him before letting go. She turned to Sam, a smirk tugging at the corner of her smile.

“And, you are?” Sam felt his cheeks prickle with heat flushed with embarrassment that she would pretend she had no clue who he was in front of everyone, in front of his own brother. All the while her eyes glimmered with recognition. He swallowed down his pride and put on a smile, taking her hand and instead of letting her feel like she had control like she did with Jake’s, as she squeezed his fingertips he brought the back of her hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to it as he kept eye contact, smiling as he lowered her hand. Her eyes narrowed slightly and he felt his chest swell at her reaction.

“Samuel.” he replied. “But you can call me Sam.” he tossed in a wink for good effort, her cheeks turning pink from it.

“Well, to what do we owe the honor of a visit from you both?” Harlow tore her eyes from Sam, glancing back to Jake.

“We just wanted to come check out the potential new openers for our next tour.” Jake grinned. It took a moment for what he said to sink in, and the band began jumping around excited.

“What, for real?!” Billy exclaimed, and Jake nodded.

“We don’t know for sure, but they told us you guys were in the running, and we thought it’d be a good idea to check you guys out when we saw you were playing tonight.” Sam offered.

“It was a really good show,” Jake chimed in, smiling. “Reminded me a bit of us when we were first getting crowd attention, feeding off of it. I’m definitely putting my name behind you guys for our openers.”

“And what about you, Sam?” Harlow’s gaze was back to him, the question leaving her lips and cutting through to him sharply. “Did you like the show?”

“It was very entertaining.” Sam replied coolly to her challenge. “You guys are up on my list, for sure.” Harlow kept her eyes on him as the rest of the Blue Jean Babies celebrated behind her. After a few moments more, they were called to their bus to start the next leg of their journey to the next city, and had to begin packing up.

“It was great to meet you all, hopefully we’ll see you soon.” Jake told them all as he and Sam headed for the door.

“Hopefully very soon.” Harlow agreed, shooting him a charming smile. “Have a good night Jake. You too, Sam.”

“Goodnight, Harlow.” Sam replied, meeting her eyes one more time before wishing everyone else a goodnight too.

“I really liked them.” Jake turned to Sam as they walked out of the building. Most of the concert-goers had left, only a few stragglers smoking or drinking at their cars. “They seem really cool and they genuinely are excited about music.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.” Jake smirked at Sam’s blaise response.

“You seemed to have a connection with that Harlow chick.” Jake nudged his little brother in the ribs with his own elbow. “Are we going to have to worry about some hanky-panky if we bring them on tour?”

“Not at all,” Sam rolled his eyes. “If anything, she has an attitude that’s annoying to me.”

“Well, if they come on tour with us, maybe it’ll humble her a little bit.” Jake shrugged, getting into his car. Sam climbed into the passenger seat, thinking of all the ways he could humble Brandy “Harlow” Lawson.

Taglist: @joshsindigostreak @ascendingtostardust @sammysprincess @sammykiszkamyass @belovedsamuel @sunfl0wer-power @indigo-starcatcher @sammyscherub @earthlysorrows @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @losfacedevil @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvff @gretavanfleetposts @sacredthefran @josiee-gvf @joshkiszkatoothgap @madneedshelp @gardensgatedaisy @kkdarling @demonrat444 @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @happy-harpy-stuff @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @jankandjonch @gvfpal @allybjt @hippievanfleet @weightofbrokenbells @joshkiszkasbadussy @malany-gvf @ruby0antlers @samofthedawn @sacredjake @aim4thedoublee @diditallforyouu @gvfmarge @highladyofasgard @sammysvanfeet @gold-mines-melting @earthgrlsreasy @mountain-in-springtime @forcebond301 @stardust-and-shadows @llightmyllovee @gretavangroupie @comesofarsomehow @starcatcherkiszka @indigofallingsky

#sam kiszka #sam kiszka x reader #sam gvf #sam kiszka fanfiction #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #jake kiszka #josh kiskza #danny wagner #sam kiskza x oc #sam kiskza #silver springs fic

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seenoversundown · 6 months

Text

Affirmation

Jake Kiszka x Charlotte (OC)

Warnings: Fluff! (otherwise n/a)

Word Count: 2k

This Must Be The Place - Talking Heads “Home is where I want to be But I guess I’m already there”

I awoke to the feeling of Jake curled around my back like a kitten.

These were my favorite mornings, the slight chill of the autumn air being held at bay by the absolute love of my life. Sharing warmth and skin in our own little bubble, undisturbed by the outside world.

We’ve been together long enough that our circadian rhythms were in sync. When one of us begins to stir, the other is sure to follow.

I felt Jake nuzzle in closer behind me, wrapping his arm tighter around my middle.

“Call out today, Red” he mumbled out in a gravely voice, thick with sleep.

I let out a small chuckle, as I turned in his arms to look into his eyes.

“We have this conversation every morning, Jacob.”

He plants a sleepy kiss to my waiting lips

“But, I really mean it this time. Let’s go on an adventure.”

I thought about it for a second. I rarely call out, even if I am actually sick. And with his job, Jake and I hardly get to spend time together during daylight hours.

“Well, if you really mean it, how could I say no?” I pressed a featherlight kiss to his forehead, before lightly shoving his shoulder,

“You’re on coffee duty, though.”

Huffing out a long, dramatic sigh, he got up and shuffled into the kitchen.

________________________

We walked hand-in-hand down the damp cobblestone streets, the sounds of the harbor serving as background noise for our contented silence.

When Jake promised me an adventure this morning, I didn’t think he meant “window shopping for the bar.”

I was more than happy to tag alongthough. Few things made me happier than watching him get excited about his work.

I loved seeing his eyes light up every time we stumbled upon something that he felt would make the bar he owned and managed with his brothers just slightly more welcoming.

I was completely transfixed by him, as we stood outside of a shop that sold vintage cookware. He was in a quiet conversation with himself, debating the merits of switching to an all cast iron set up for the kitchen.

I couldn’t help but stare. The way the light hit his hair, almost giving it a copper tint. The way he rubbed his free hand against his mouth, his brow furrowed in concentration.

He truly was beautiful and I still don’t know how I got so lucky to stumble across him.

I felt him lightly squeeze my hand, tearing me out of my thoughts.

“Ya hear me, honey?”

A faint blush painted my cheeks, as I shook my head ‘no.’

“I said that I think we should head over there” he nodded his head toward an occult shop across the street.

He’d always been the (far more) spiritual counterpart to my skeptical self.

“For what, Jacob?”

“Been thinking about getting some authentic spooky shit for The Bar for Halloween”

I let out a laugh,

“Let’s just stop at Target. I’m sure they have something sufficiently spooky.”

“That’s not very adventurous of you.”

I rolled my eyes and gave him a mock salute

“Aye Aye, Captain, lead the way.”

________________________

The bell on the door chimed as we entered the shop. We were immediately greeted by the smell of freshly lit incense.

“Welcome to Garden’s Gate!”

The woman behind the counter greeted us warmly, gesturing at the floor to ceiling shelves that lined the walls around the store.

“Take a look around, and holler if you have questions. I think you’ll find that we have something here for everyone.”

She said the last part to me directly.

Good Lord, does she have some type of Skeptic Detector?

We thanked her, and went our separate ways to explore.

Jake made his way deeper into the store, while I stuck close to the front.

The section I was perusing was, lovingly, I think, dubbed the “Baby Witch” area.

The shelves were filled with books on all topics of occultism, journals, pre-bundled herbs, and basic “supplies.”

However, I found myself gravitating toward the small table of crystals that were set out.

My hands flitted across several before settling on a small, pink tumbled stone that seemed almost out of place amongst the larger, raw stones that sat beside it.

I picked it up, rubbing my fingers along the smooth edges, getting lost in the feel of it in my hand.

“Rose quartz,” I startled at Jake’s voice.

Where did he come from?

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing a quick kiss to the top of my head before continuing

“A very romantic stone. Associated with the planet Venus and by extension Libra and Taurus. Thinking about me, are you?”

I rolled my eyes, setting the rose quartz back down. “Maybe I just thought it was pretty, Jacob.”

“Nah, I think it was fate, Red.”

I turned to face him, noticing that he had set a small basket filled with “authentically spooky” items on the ground beside us.

“Ready to head out?” I asked, nodding my head to the basket.

“Mhm”

He laced his fingers with mine before leading me to the front counter.

Jake made small-talk with the woman behind the counter as she rang him up and bagged his items.

She looked into my eyes, as she handed Jake his bag and receipt,

“Y’know. I don’t typically do this, but I’d love to give you a reading, free of charge.”

“Oh, I don’t know. That sounds like it’s more his thing…” I smiled awkwardly

“That may be true, but the universe doesn’t have any messages for him right now.”

I shifted back and forth on my feet, thinking for a moment.

What’s the harm? I don’t believe in this crap anyway.

“Okay, I guess”

“Perfect! Follow me.” She walked out from behind the counter, flipping the Open sign to Closed, then led us to the back of the store, opening an unassuming door and practically shoving us inside.

At the center of the dimly lit room, there was a table set up with chairs on either side of it.

In the middle of the burgundy crushed velvet tablecloth sat a deck of tarot cards and a half-burned white taper candle.

“I truly don’t normally do this. I prefer to schedule readings in advance to avoid having to shut the store down in the middle of the day,”

The shopkeeper let out a laugh and invited us to have a seat while she busied herself with lighting the candle and shuffling the cards,

“However, the second you walked in the store, I knew I had to do a reading for you.”

“That’s… interesting”

She stopped shuffling and asked me to cut the deck into 3 separate stacks, then began shuffling the stacks into each other again.

Why am I so nervous?

I glanced toward Jake, and he squeezed my hand reassuringly.

She finally set the deck down.

“Before I get started, I want you to take a few deep breaths and try to clear your mind. Picture yourself breathing in positivity, and exhaling negativity. Let me know when you’re ready.”

I huffed out a small laugh, but closed my eyes and did as she requested.

On each inhale I thought of everything I had to be thankful for, and on each exhale I sent out all my doubts, worries, and insecurities.

“I think I’m ready.” I opened my eyes to find her already staring back at me.

“Great! I’ll explain as I go, but I do feel called to do a Past/Present/Future spread for you. So, the first card I pull will represent your past; what you’ve overcome and what you’ve grown from. The second card I pull will represent your present; where you are currently at, areas that may still need work. The third card I pull will represent your future; where you will be, and what you have to look forward to.”

I nodded along with her, as she placed her right hand on the deck and took a deep breath.

I instinctively leaned forward in my chair as she flipped three cards over in rapid succession.

She studied them for a moment before glancing quickly between Jake and me, smiling

“Your interest in the Rose Quartz makes sense, now”

I raised an eyebrow, looking down at the cards before me.

“This one right here, your Past, is the Two of Swords,” she pointed to each sword, then the blindfolded woman between them

“She is…well- was, in your case, at an impasse. Stuck between two choices; your heart and your head. You wanted nothing more than to be loved, and to share your love freely in return. But the logical side of you wouldn’t allow that. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like your hesitation was related to a much larger issue. Possibly your family or your career?”

I found myself nodding along, despite my better judgment. I didn’t want to give her too much information to work with.

“This leads us into your Present, the Two of Cups. The man and woman here are fairly self explanatory. It’s obvious what choice you made in your past,, I want to focus on this back here,”

She points at the symbol between the man and woman, each holding a cup, on the card.

I’ve seen this before. It’s used in the medical field.

“This symbol is a Caduceus. It’s the symbol of Hermes, the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. Hermes, being a messenger, also ruled over Communication. This card showing up in your present means that you’ve found a good foundation with your partner, and you’re able to clearly communicate your wants and desires with them. Because of this partnership, you’re able to ‘fill each other’s cups.” Neither of you take more than is offered, nor do you expect it. It’s very mutually beneficial.”

I nodded, and caught Jake nodding along this time as well.

“Finally, for your Future, we have The Four of Wands. This is an absolutely beautiful card to see in a reading like this,”

She points, first, to the couple joyfully dancing underneath a wreath.

“They are symbolic of a well deserved period of joy. Instead of the calm before the storm, think about right after the storm, when the birds come back out from their hiding places to greet the sun. Your future will be full of that love and happiness if you continue on the path that you are on now.”

Shethen, pointed to the four wands that held the wreath the couple was dancing beneath.

“These symbolize all the little foundations that you’ve built so far, and the ones you will continue to build. If you continue to nourish them, they will be fruitful,”

She finally points out the Castle in the background.

“And this is the fruit of all the labor you’ll put in. This is your home, where you belong.”

I sat there for a second, my head spinning.

There’s absolutely no way this wasn’t planned. She has to have some special romance deck hidden away, full of fairytale cards, waiting for women like me to come in.

“That’s all I have for you, today. I hope it was helpful, or reassuring at the very least. Now, if you’ll excuse me, the shop won’t run itself.”

She stood, snuffing the candle and opening the door for us.

“I do hope to see you two lovebirds back in here.”

Jake and I stood and began making our way to the exit, thanking the woman as we crossed the threshold.

“Can you believe that? What a load of nonsense.” I looked at Jake as the shop door closed behind us.

“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself of that, Honey.” He smiled at me, then dragged me into the alleyway beside the shop.

He pressed my back into the brick wall behind us, pressing hot, open mouthed kisses up my neck.

“What are you doing, Jacob?” It came out breathier than I intended.

“Why don’t I take you home and prove to you just how right she was about us?”

I squirmed against him as he nipped at my jaw.

“By all means.”

Masterlist | Taglist

#greta van fleet #greta van fic #gvf #gvf one shot #greta van fluff #jake kiska fic #jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka fanfic #jake gvf #jake kiszka #jake kiszka x charlotte #gvfhalloweenfics.#jake kiszka x oc #sam gvf #sammy gvf #josh gvf #josh kiszka #danny wagner #danny gvf

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writingcold · 9 months

Text

Hi! Here we are at Chapter Two! If you’ve not read the previous chapter, you can find the Master List for B & W here. We might still be in setup mode, but you’ll want to start at our first part to get into our lovely characters.

Chapter two finds our new shop girl, Cora, in a bit of a bind. There is more character background and story building in this piece. Please be patient! There’s a lot to build here!

**This is a piece of fiction. I have put in a lot of work researching, writing, rewriting, editing, tossing it all and starting over. I do not know the guys of GVF. They became my muses for this long ass story.**

Thanks to @whitesuitjake for the Jake edit in the cover.

Thanks to @gardensgatedaisy and @lvnterninthenight - Britt and Bobbie, ilysm. Thank you for all your support. (You’re probably getting tired of me thanking you, but too damn bad. Y’all are fucking amazing.)

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Content Warnings: None. Just some pain and injury. Of course, language, mentions of drinking, smoking. It is the 1920’s.

Word count: approx. 5700

Chapter Two: Wounds and New Friends, Cora’s POV

The end of day three of her trial week found Cora standing in the alley peeling away the shoe of her left foot. She had landed wrong coming off one of the ladders, pressing the back of her tight shoe into the thick skin of her heel. The cut was made worse from ten hours of standing, with the back of the shoe digging further into the wound. Walking had become excruciating due to the bruising. Her legs trembled as she fished her handkerchief from her handbag and wrapped it around her heel. She bared her teeth as she tried to push her foot back into the shoe, but sucked in a loud groan when her foot just would not accept the prison of leather.

“Hey there,” a masculine voice called out from the street. “Need help?”

She wiped at her face, hoping that Daniel did not see the pain. “I’m fine, thank you. Just a cut.”

Mr. Daniel Wagner, from what she was able to discern from her past few days, was close with all the Kiszka brothers, but he was particularly close with the youngest, Samuel. His lean frame entered the alley slowly, his near black eyes taking in her condition. He pushed back his hat as he bent, hands held behind his back so as not to intimidate her with his closeness. He was dressed in pressed slacks, dress shirt and vest, his jacket folded in his hands. Cora was unsure of what his duties at the store were, but he always seemed to be working in several areas of the store and office.

“That is not good, Miss Janas,” he said with a sympathetic nod. “Come on. Let’s get you situated. Sam’s good with these things.”

He bent and picked up the shoe then assisted her towards the back of the building. Cora had not been to the area, keeping to the store only, and certainly not the dancehall, though the music that flowed out into the street was always interesting. The garage had three wide carriage doors, all of which were open to allow the cooler evening air in. The deep red brick was neatly kept, but the cavernous inside looked chaotic with tools and shelves full of metal and parts she had no idea what could be in existence for, and the smell of oil and gasoline hung heavy.

“Sammy!” Daniel called out as they approached a garage. “Sammy, I need you.”

Samuel Kiszka was an anomaly - he wore his hair longer, but yanked back under his hat so that it bunched up against his shirt collar. His face was always rich with thought, like he was working out complex problems that she would never hope to understand. His lanky frame was not as tall as Daniel’s, but he seemed to be too big for his actual size. He was dressed in tweed trousers and an undershirt with his suspenders hanging down on his waist. The moment he saw her, he ripped the suspenders up and over his shoulders, disappearing for a moment, only to return as he was drawing a jacket across his torso.

“Sorry, Miss Janas. Was working on the Earl - I mean the automobile,” Sam replied, his warm eyes drifting down to her foot that she gingerly was standing on the ball of her foot. “Oh, that’s awful. Daniel, bring her in. Let’s get that cleaned up.”

“Really, it’ll be fine,” she insisted even as Daniel tugged at her to move towards a chair in the corner. “I need to be getting home.”

“On that foot - I don’t think so. Besides, do you really want to walk home? You’ll get blood all over your lovely shoes,” Sam said with a grin.

Before she could stop him, he had a knife out and cut the thick brown stockings at the calf to slowly pull away from the wound. She let out a yip and couldn’t take her foot away if she tried, Sam had her leg in the vice of his large hand.

“What?” he asked without even looking up at her.

“These are… were my only pair,” she whispered, eyes on the discarded piece of stocking.

“You can buy another pair from the shop,” Sam remarked without a glance at her.

“I don’t have the money,” she whispered as her stomach stabbed with embarrassment.

Daniel’s hand came down on her shoulder. “We’ll get you over to my Molly’s house. I’m sure she has a spare pair that you can have.”

“But I really need to get home,” she started, but her jaw dropped as Sam brought up a rag pressing it to the wound.

He shook his head. “Damn sister, it’s like you sliced the whole of your heel in these things. Danny, go grab me some water, please.”

Daniel disappeared for a few minutes while Sam leaned back on his haunches and pulled a silver cigarette holder from his pocket. He held one to her in offering, but she shook her head. Her mother did not like the habit, so she had never tried. He struck a match and lit his own as his eyes squinted at her foot. With the water retrieved, he set into cleaning away the dried and fresh blood with a look of seriousness.

“Well, you’re lucky there’s no sign of infection,” he said quietly, dabbing at the heel.

“Sammy, how’s my baby…” A fourth voice, full of smoothness, stopped as his heels hit the cement of the garage. “What the hell boys? What’s going on here?”

Cora looked up to see Jacob, hand on one hip, face surprised, not in a good way. The dark button up and vest strained under the crisp linen of his suit. She recoiled, bringing her hands tighter against her abdomen like she could disappear. In the few days of working in the store, she noticed that any time that man was around, the air grew tense, like fabric pulled too tight. He was typically quiet. When he did talk it was low, almost hidden, and usually only to the eldest of the clan. The other shop girl, Renee, no matter what she was doing, would drop away and find something in the opposite direction of the store to do. She said that Jacob had an awful temper and to just steer clear.

“She’s hurt, Jake,” Sam remarked without looking up from his work.

“I caught her in the alley trying to fix it herself,” Daniel said, moving closer to her.

The man’s dark eyes swung from Samuel to Daniel to Cora and she could not stop the visible flinch. The silence that followed made even Sam stop in his actions.

“She’s Josh’s new shop girl,” he said quietly, each word punctuated with a tightness that felt like a hard drum.

“Not news to us, brother,” Samuel remarked, finally looking up at his older brother. “She’s hurt, Jacob. We’re not keeping her here against her will or anything.”

Cora blinked hard, trying not to crumble under the man’s attention like she did something wrong. She tried to tug her leg back. Sam held it firm, shooting her an annoyed expression. The curse that fell from Jacob’s mouth made her blush. His mouth fixed into a fine line as his eyes narrowed at her.

“Get her home,” he said firmly. “Don’t need any worried mamas coming round here.”

“Gotta take her to Molly’s first, Jake,” Daniel said with a nod.

The flare of incredulousness that washed over him made him seem all the scarier. “Why’s that?”

“Had to cut her stocking away. It was her only pair,” Samuel said quietly, as he bent to inspect the wound closer.

“Then take her back into the shop,” Jacob scolded.

“Jake,” Danny said softly, shaking his head.

Jacob’s dark eyes landed directly on her as if seeing through her. Cora tried to make herself as small as possible. Once he had her gaze however, she could not look away. The hard set of his mouth and jaw made her visibly shudder. She watched as he dropped his gaze, tugging his hat off to smooth his hair back. The brown wave that he immediately hid once more caught her attention. Unlike his twin who kept his hair short, with soft curls, Jacob’s was longer in the front to slick back in the more current style. Faded sunshine struck him, making the dark brown brighten and soften his edges for a moment. A moment she took note that there was something beyond the anger that prickled beneath his skin. Cora felt the fear of his thunder drain away for seconds, taking in how he held himself in a tight form, but his eyes on her - surely his visage of her did not hold concern? He took the corner of his mouth between his teeth before retreating and pushing back an air of annoyance.

“Fine. Take the Kissel. Get her to Molly’s, but do not linger. I mean it, you two,” he said in a hard voice. “Get her home and get your asses back here. Josh is not going to like this. At all.”

“Does he have to know?” Sam remarked as the elder brother began walking away.

“Don’t be a wise ass, Samuel,” Jacob called out in a path of smoke.

Cora finally took a full breath. “Really, I can make it home on my own, fellas. I’ll be fine.”

“Committed now, babe,” Samuel said, rising up to cross the garage to a cabinet. He returned with thin material and a small jar of salve. “We’ll get you over to Molly’s and get you home. Josh won’t bluster at us too bad.”

“I just don’t want to cause trouble,” she said quietly.

“No trouble, doll. Let us handle it,” Daniel said, calm oozing from him to surround her.

She winced as he first smeared a large fingerful of the strong scented balm across the wound, then watched quietly as Sam wrapped her foot tightly before trying to get the shoe back on. It stung a little, but admittedly it felt much better. She followed them to an auto that was out back of the garage. The polished silver sedan was the fanciest car she had ever seen. Samuel held the door open for her and helped her inside before sliding into the front seat next to Daniel. Before she knew it, they were in the nest of bungalows that she had tried to tell her mother about. Even in the long shadows of the early evening, her eyes dragged across each of the neat little box-like buildings. They rolled to a jerky stop, catching Cora off guard and causing her to rock back against the seat with a thud.

Samuel held his hand out for her as he opened her door, assisting her out of the car like she was special. She followed the two towards the small home, painted a bright blue with white trim. The door flew open to let out a soft looking woman who wrapped herself about Daniel like no one was watching. The musical laughter made her blush as they kissed in front of her.

“Molly, this is Miss Janas. She’s the new shop girl,” Danny said, finally giving her a reprieve from her blush.

The look the woman gave to Daniel was one of surprise. Cora hobbled a bit up the walk, catching the eye of Molly immediately. “Please, I’m Cora,” she said, attempting a smile.

“I destroyed her stockings,” Samuel replied leaning in to kiss Molly on the cheek. “I’m hoping you can help.”

“What do you mean ‘destroyed’, Samuel. Do I need to straighten you out for something you did to this little lady?” she said with a lot of sass, but a hardness in her eyes that let Cora know she was serious.

“No, ma’am. Miss Cora hurt her foot,” Samuel said with a shake of his head. “Your knight rescued her from the alley and brought her to me. We thought maybe you could share a pair?”

Molly’s quick smile and bright eyes were immediately disarming. She nodded and waved the three inside. “I’m sure I have something that will work for you. And perhaps we can get you gussied up, baby. I can’t believe Joshua allows you to wear that in his store.”

“He asked if I could get another dress, but I needed to make money first,” she said, embarrassed as the words fell from her mouth.

Molly stopped cold with a hard look. “Please tell me he didn’t just give you a week’s trial?”

“Yes - a week’s trial and if I do well -”

Molly groaned with a finger point at Sam. “I’m telling you, that little brat may have charm on his side, but I swear, one of these girls someday is going to put him in his place. Let’s see if it’s you, Miss Cora.”

She looked back at Samuel and Daniel as the woman pulled her by the hand towards the front door. Molly grumbled about her being like the perfect kind of skinny and how she would kill to have the ability to wear any form of drop waist without the boobs getting in the way.

She was met instantly with the scent of lilac as she stepped gingerly up the stairs, onto the narrow porch and into the home. It had four rooms and a bath. The luxury of the idea of four rooms with a bath - running water, no outhouse - for one person made her look upon Molly like she was the richest person in town, though she knew it was not true. The plain white and wood clad walls were warm as the curvy dancer dragged her to the back bedroom with a snap of electric light.

Cora’s eyes popped at the amount of clothing the woman had strewn about the small bedroom. These were not just day dresses, they were dancing girl glad rags that made her blush at how much leg would show if she donned such an item. Each was covered with adornment such as splashes of sequins and crystals, and beadwork that she had never seen in person, just on the picture show screen. She was relieved when Molly opened a wardrobe to reveal modern, yet much more modest attire.

“If you plan on getting past this week's trial, you’re going to need this one,” she said with a confident nod. She pulled out a dusty colored tan skirt with an emerald under top and a smart little jacket that was the same color as the skirt. “Now, it’s not too flashy, but just enough so that Joshua will notice that you are attempting to fit into his shop.”

Cora gazed at the garment with a kind eye. Molly was right, the green would be the snap, but the tan would dull down that overall look to be more suitable. Just as she was to thank her, Molly was back to the wardrobe, pulling out a soft rose colored blouse and matching cream colored jacket that also matched the skirt. The grin that tugged at her mouth before throwing it at her was full of playfulness.

“One more,” she said with a nod. “This one will be for Jacob.”

“Pardon?” Cora stumbled as Molly was combing through the pieces.

“Oh, honey. I know a Jake girl when I see one,” she laughed.

Cora straightened. Her mouth opened but nothing came out, until she finally swallowed hard. “I - I don’t know if I understand what you’re implying.”

Molly stopped in her search to look at her, bottom lip in between her teeth. The coy gleam in her eye sparkled. “Look, doll. I’m just saying that Jacob, for the hardass that he can be, has a type, and you certainly are it. Wispy, pretty, smart. His trifecta.”

She squinted her eyes at Cora for a long moment waiting to see if there was an argument to be made. Cora decided to remain quiet, feigning interest in a baby blue skirt that was laid out on the bed, full of crystals and sequins. Molly turned her back once more, resuming her search.

“Ha! This,” she cooed as she pulled out a drop waist dress that was clearly too small for her lush curves. “This is what you need to wear on Saturday. You hear me? Save it for the last day of the trial.”

Molly held up a dark blue chiffon overdress with a waist that would reach just below mid thigh. There was black trim that boxed out the neckline and at the wrists and hem. The underdress was a rich jeweled blue silk, with embossed flowers of colors blended in the blue, that would only peek out when she moved. Down the sleeves and up both sides were embroidered floral designs with tiny glass beading. It looked luxurious compared to anything that she had ever worn before. Cora took the garment with care as she could not help but close her eyes at the feel of the expensive fabric. Molly had a pair of thin stockings in one hand and thicker brown in the other, waiting for Cora to catch up.

“I can’t pay you for this, Molly,” she said quietly, a flame of shame crossing her cheeks.

“It’s fine, doll. You’ll owe me nothing more than getting through that trial and getting Joshua to hire you permanently,” the woman said with a grin. “Shoes. Those damn things cut you up because they’re too small. These will do you better.”

Soft leather mary janes greeted her when she looked down at the woman’s next offerings. Tears struck her cheeks, hot and fat as her breath caught.

“Aren’t you just the sweetest,” Molly drawled, wiping at Cora’s cheeks with a rough thumb.

“Jake was serious about hurrying up,” Sam called. “I don’t need him to switch me.”

“When are you going to realize that you’re bigger than he is, Samuel?” Molly called, helping her to fold all the items neatly. “Give him a little chin music one time and I’m telling you - he’ll back down.”

Cora rolled her lips into her mouth to keep from smiling.

“Crack him once and he’ll put lead in my belly,” Sam jabbed back. “Come on. It can’t be that hard. We gotta go.”

Molly rolled her eyes, but relented. The two women strolled out, the new shoes on her feet felt more like pillows than shoes. Daniel and Sam were already waiting at the door for her, shooing her along outside. In a repeat at the garage, Samuel held his hand up for her as he held the door open. He grinned as Daniel started the car and they rumbled out of town in a hurry.

Between the jumps, bumps, and sways, Cora felt like her backside would be bruised. She held onto her newly acquired treasures tightly so as not to lose them in the darkness of the seat. Her heart fluttered as they made turns and curves in the near black of the evening with only two very dim lights to lead the way. She wondered how Daniel could see anything, but thought it was best to be left unasked. They had her home in a quarter of the time that it would have taken if she had walked. As they rolled to a loud stop, she saw her mother and younger siblings stream out of the tiny cottage they called home.

With flair, Samuel slid out from his seat and made a big deal of helping Cora out and ensuring that she had all of her items before closing the door. He assisted her to the front of the car before she looked up at him.

“Thank you for this,” she said quietly. “Please tell Daniel I appreciate him, too. That was the bee's knees. Truly. I’ve never been in an automobile before.”

He smiled at her, his dark eyes catching a bit of the light from the lights of the house. “We’ll see you tomorrow then, Miss Cora.”

She smiled at the formal tone as he turned back to the automobile. The look on her mother’s face was distrustful and angry. She tried not to limp as she walked towards her family, but by the time she reached the door, the littles were swarming her and nearly took her down as the pain flared in her foot.

“That better not become a habit, Cora,” her mother scolded before turning and heading inside.

“Yes, Mama,” she said, looking over her shoulder as Sam and Danny disappeared into the distance.

“I suppose there is a reason for that nonsense,” Rosemary continued. “Honestly. Riding in an automobile with two strange men.”

“Mr. Kiszka and Mr. Wagner are respectable gentlemen, Mama,” Cora said as she sat her outfits down on the table to remove her jacket. “They were only helping me out.”

“And why is that?” she asked as she pulled the pot of beans off the woodstove.

Cora’s eyes went to the hand-me-down shoes that were on her feet as if she could guide her mother to notice. “I cut my foot on my oxfords. They helped me and did not think I needed to walk home because of the injury.”

Her mother paused as she started dishing out bowls of the thick mush. “What did they expect in return?”

“What?” Cora sat up straight, her face blushing at the connotation.

“You come home in an expensive auto, with two men. One of your stockings is cut away. You have new clothes and shoes. What am I supposed to think?” her mother said with a hard edge.

She placed her hand on the clothes protectively. “Mr. Samuel patched up my foot, Mama. That was all. It was an act of kindness. Friendship.”

Her mother shook her head and called out for the children to get to the table. Cora stood and moved her items into the shared bedroom of the family before joining them once again at the table. There was no sound as they prayed, ate, and left the meal finished. Junie was sullen as she dried the dishes next to Cora who was washing. Their mother was in the other room, settling down the youngest of the brood.

“I’ve met him,” Junie whispered, looking to make sure their mother did not hear.

“I cannot believe that she is making you do this, Junie,” Cora remarked, not really caring if her voice could be heard or not. “It’s not right. I should be the one she’s trying to get rid of, not you.”

Junie shrugged at her. “But I can’t work like you. We all know that, big sister. She’s going to keep you for as long as she can. She’s even got you convinced that you have to support this family when, really, you can be anywhere and we’d be just fine.”

Cora knew that she had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, but she could not fathom a reality that allowed for her to not be ensuring her family be taken care of.

“Will you show me your new rags? I love the shoes,” she cooed as she set the bowls in a stack on the table for the next day’s meal.

“You said you met Mr. Archer?” Cora asked after she checked over her shoulder.

“He seems like he is quiet,” Junie whispered. “His children are mean.”

“You don’t have to do this, Junebug,” she said as her heart dropped into her belly.

“I don’t have the same prospects as you do, Cora. This is my one chance to alleviate hardship on this family. I can do my part,” she said quietly.

“You had better wash that whore perfume out of those clothes tonight,” their mother remarked as she sat back down at the table.

“Yes, Mama,” Cora said as she grabbed the wash basin to move outside. “Junie, can you get the clothes please?”

It would give her a reason to show the girl the outfits that otherwise would have to wait until she actually wore them. Junie retrieved the clothes and the washboard on her way outside.

“They smell like lilacs,” Junie said dreamily.

“Her whole house smelled like that,” Cora said as she tried to explain what had happened and the woman who was so very generous with her clothes.

“What does Molly do that she can have the ability to just give away clothing like this?” Junie chirped, her fingers lingering on the dark blue fabric of the outfit she was to wear on Saturday.

Cora looked at the propped open door and found that her mother stood just inside, watching the girls chatter. Swallowing, she started to drag the tan skirt across the bumps of the board.

“Go ahead and tell her what your new friend does for her money, Cora,” her mother said firmly. “I’d like to know as well.”

Thinking back on the brief time she had with Molly, she realized that what Molly actually did to earn her way never was broached. The clothing was that of a night life - flapper attire with pretty crystals and glitz that she was sure the woman was probably the most glamorous woman in town. “I’m going to assume that she works in the dancehall, Mama.”

“You know what kind of women work in the dancehall, Cora,” Rosemary said sharply.

“Doesn’t mean that they cannot be friends,” Cora said just as sharp, her eyes hard. “She was a lovely woman who was willing to help me. That means in turn, she has helped this family. That counts for something.”

“Junie, to bed now,” her mother demanded.

“She’s going to be a married woman, Mama, perhaps she needs to hear this conversation,” Cora remarked, swishing the skirt in the water.

“Cora,” her mother fumed.

“You can’t call someone a whore just because they work in the dancehall,” she said firmly. “And I, for one, will not fault a woman for doing what she needs to in order to survive. Especially in this world of men.”

“Remember that when it has to be your mother, sister or yourself,” Rosemary said in a hard voice.

“If marriage is your only reason for women to be allowed to be close to men or have sex, then there really is no real difference between a married woman and a whore and no reason to look upon either differently. Both must survive within the confines of men and the structure they provide,” Cora continued, voice matching her mother’s as she started wringing the skirt out into the basin.

Junie’s mouth dropped open at her sister’s brashness. Cora held her ground, not liking that her mother did not have trouble looking down her nose at a woman who was doing what she could to live, no different than themselves with their family. Rosemary stood with her painfully thin arms folded across her chest.

“Junie, to bed now, girl,” her mother ordered before turning her back on her daughters. “Cora, I would think that perhaps you should whet your tongue a bit and feed your brain in reality before you run your mouth off again on matters you have no idea what you speak of.”

Hanging the skirt on the line, she set into washing the rest of the items. When her hands wrapped around the dark blue number, her eyes rolled closed. Molly had called her a Jake girl. She had said that she was his ‘type’. She had no idea what any of that meant other than perhaps that she could catch his eye. Perhaps that would mean that she could make him smile? Samuel and Daniel were quick to laugh with happiness. Mr. Joshua was brimming with smiles, though she was sure that those were part of his professional manner. Mr. Jacob was always serious. His dark eyes holding onto something that she could never quite understand or ever see all of what was going on with him. His thunderstorm of a temper was always chaotic and unpredictable, save for one thing, there was always calm afterwards.

The strong vision of him standing in the corner of Mr. Joshua’s office, hands splayed on the desk and looking over whatever his twin was showing him blazed in her thoughts. The way his eyes always met hers, too hard at first, then softening as if he could sense that she needed a more delicate touch. It made her stomach flutter and unexplored knowledge dance through her mind.

Chapter Two: Pt. 2 Molly POV

“Please do not tell me that you hurt that poor girl to get her to me,” she said as Danny sat down next to her, a sarcastic grin tugging at the corner of her plump lips.

He scrunched up his face. “No, it was just a coincidence. I’m actually afraid that if I would not have seen her, she would have kept trying to walk on it.”

“She’s really a doll, though, Danny,” Molly said, clinking her glass of sherry against his mug of beer. “She seems like she can hold herself rather well.”

“Sam thinks that she runs numbers when she is collecting goods,” he remarked. “And I overheard Joshua commenting that she’s a natural with customers. Folks know her from church and foster right into that connection.”

She paused for a moment before leaning over his shoulder. “I hope we didn’t turn things for her by meddling.”

“Why whatever do you mean, meddling?” Josh said as he appeared behind Danny. “Which ‘her’ are you talking about?”

Molly looked up at him over the rim of her glass. He was with Catherine, and Jacob was following right behind. Her stomach soured at the sight of the eldest’s interest. Danny sat up straight as Josh held Catherine’s chair for her to sit. Jacob looked on edge. Samuel and Susannah were wise to remain at the bar. She wished she could crawl under the table and join them. Clearing her throat, she nodded at Danny.

“That new girl of your’s, Joshua,” Molly said, surprised that her voice was as strong as it was. “Danny found her in the alley with a cut heel.”

Josh sat down, eyes narrowed like he was studying the situation. “Well, if she’s injured, then perhaps that’s proof that she can’t do that job after all.”

“She got hurt in your shop,” Molly scoffed.

“No different if you got hurt down here, Miss Molly,” he said, leaning towards Catherine. “If you can’t perform, you wouldn’t be working here.”

“Kind of an idiot-”

“Molly,” Danny broke in, voice firm.

“Kind of a poor business move, Mr. Kiszka,” she continued, ignoring him and shifting into professional mode. “From what I hear she’s been good for your little front of a store. I just gave her some window dressing to level the playing field, boss.”

Josh shook his head. “Alright. Enough of the banter. What the fuck happened today and why is Molly calling me an idiot?”

“Josh,” Jacob said, his voice low. “Miss Cora cut her foot. Sam and Danny helped her out. That’s all. I sent them over to Molly’s to get her cleaned up and on her way home.”

“How droll,” Catherine sighed, rolling her eyes. “Why is this even important?”

Molly noticed that Jake glared at the woman before regrouping. “It was not anything that should affect the shop, is what I’m saying.”

Danny tapped her shoulder. “Come on, Mols. Let’s go dance.”

She let him take her hand. She heard Catherine scoff behind her. Molly tried to turn back around but Danny wouldn’t allow her to return to the table.

“Sweetheart,” he whispered, tugging her tight against him. “Let Jake take care of it.”

“But-”

He swept her out and dipped her down before spinning her, effectively ending the conversation. Molly could not keep her eyes from Catherine, Joshua and Jacob. She said something that made Jake shoot venom. In a chain reaction, Joshua leaned forward, mouth hard like he ended the conversation, leaving smoke and cinders behind. Danny swept her around once more to recapture her attention.

“Leave it,” he whispered, eyes squarely on her own.

Molly screwed her mouth to the side. She reluctantly turned her attention away from the fire that was obviously brewing between the twins. The fuel had been there, growing since Bea had scrammed five months before; since Catherine had strolled onto the scene three months ago; since the family booted them out of Detroit to take the reins on the UP twenty months ago. Molly had been a constant, witnessing the slaughter that Josh had brought to the family from the moment they set foot in Kingsford. She had fallen in love with the tall, dark stranger the moment she had strolled into the dancehall to meet the new proprietors and Daniel stood on the fringes looking like he had choked on a lightning bolt.

Wetting her lips, she pushed her smile to the fore as her fingertips grazed Danny’s chin. The blackness of his eyes and the warmth of his aura filled her with the moment. Instead of arguing, she pulled closer to him and dropped the attention to the group behind them where it belonged.

Hope you enjoyed this bit. Next chapter is one of my favorites and contains our first Jacob POV.

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