Like most everyone I’m pretty disappointed in what we got today. It’s just another point in a long line of excluding Colin. But the one thing that I am happy about is that it seems like this fandom is actually coming around and realizing the Colin disrespect and erasure. I’ve seen so many posts about the anger at his exclusion and that at least makes me happy.

no tattoos

wordcount: 1.7k

warnings: drunk sophie, hints of nsfw talk, etc

______

Rafe picked up Sophie’s facetime call to be greeted by his excited girlfriend and her talking conversationally in Spanish, albeit a little stilted as her drunk brain tried translating back and forth.

“Sophie -”

“Estoy bebiendo, hemos encontrado este vino por la sangria -” 

He laughed, shaking his head. “English, baby, please. Por favor.” 

“Oh! Fuck, sorry. I’m not sober.” She immediately switched back, bringing a nearly empty cup to her lips as she took him back into her room to momentarily escape the loud party. 

“I can tell. What’s up, just saying hi?” 

“Yeah!” She shut the door behind her and lifted up her shirt a little. ”Baby! Baby, look.” She angled the camera toward her leg, keeping it on selfie mode and hopped on one foot trying to show it correctly.

Rafe held back a smile. “Flip the camera, Soph.”

“No, no, I got it, look.” The camera finally focused in on the purple pen outlining the eventual tattoo, the initials R.C. done in her terrible drunken scrawl. (Her handwriting was pretty poor normally, but her drunk handwriting was much worse.) It was right above her hipbone and at least five inches tall, not at all what she would typically go for with a first tattoo.

He choked back a laugh, eyes wide in disbelief. “Oh my fucking god.”

She grinned and turned the camera back to her face. “What do you think?”

“That’s not - Sophie, you didn’t -” he fumbled with his words, feeling a weird mix of horror and also being turned on that she’d even consider tattooing his initials onto her forever, even if she was drunk.

“No, no, I’m next.” She nearly tripped as she walked back into the kitchen, showing a group of her friends crowded around a table, one of them giving stick and poke tattoos with a practiced ease. The phone was set down and abandoned for a few minutes, but he could hear Sophie accepting another shot with a giggle, her words taking on a pronounced slur.

Rafe waited patiently, straining a little to listen to the conversation.

“Were you talking to your boyfriend?”

“Wait, the one that gave you the ring?”

Sophie laughed and he could picture her grin. “Yeah, I was talking to Rafe. I’m gonna get his initials.” She pulled up her shirt a little to show off the sloppy outline and the girls squealed, both equally as drunk as her. “Oh my god, you can’t.”

“Why not!” Sophie exclaimed.

“What if you break up?”

“Oh, we won’t.” She replied, self-assured. He grinned at that.

“So do you think you’ll marry him?”

There was a brief silence and more giggles and Rafe desperately wished he could see her face. Unbeknownst to him, she nodded with a grin then picked the phone back up, her face tinged pink. 

“Hi! I forgot we were talking!” She took the phone back to her room to talk to him again. Sophie had a tendency of being spacey when she was drunk, often wandering off or just ending a conversation mid-sentence when she couldn’t remember the rest.

Rafe shook his head, trying his best not to laugh. “Sophie. Angel. Listen to me, very carefully, okay?”

She furrowed her brow. “Yes?”

“You cannot get that tattoo.”

She pouted, running her thumb over the ink and smearing it a little. “Why not?”

“Because, Soph. You’re hammered -”

“Am not! I can do a handstand, look, watch -”

“No no no, Soph, just listen to me, please -” he laughed, snapping to try and get her focus as she went to set the phone down and show off (he was a little concerned, especially because he wasn’t sure she could do a handstand sober). “Sophie Flint! Hey. Hey. Pay attention and listen. No tattoos.”

“You don’t like it.” She frowned, lip wobbling, and Rafe could feel the tears coming on. He paused, part endeared and part exasperated. “It’s - it’s not that, I just -”

“No, you hate it and you’re going to break up with me because you think I’m a bad artist and I could never open my own tattoo shop.” She sighed dramatically, a few stray tears spilling down her cheeks. 

“Jesus, what did you drink?” He muttered to himself, shaking his head. “I’m not breaking up with you, baby.” He couldn’t help but laugh, utterly confused. “Has this been some long standing dream I’ve never heard of?”

“You’re laughing at me!” She cried out, rubbing the heels of her hands hard against her eyes. “I’m a great artist.”

“Oh my god.” Rafe muttered, grinning. “Yes, you are. Hey, how about you wait, and - um -”

He grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and held it up. “Look, I’ll draw you the tattoo, but you have to wait until you get it in the mail. So you can copy it right.” He pretended to write his initials onto the paper, knowing he had zero intention of sending it to her.

“Oh. You mean it?” She sniffled, her tears long forgotten.

“I mean it. Nothing to cry over, baby.”

She nodded, swiping the back of her hand over her eyes to get rid of her tears. “You promise to send it? So I can have you with me forever?”

He swore he melted at that statement alone. “That’s why you wanted it?”

“Yeah. And ‘cause I miss you.” She paused. “I miss your dick too, but I’m not gonna get that tattooed on me.”

He laughed loudly at that, shaking his head. “I think that’s a solid plan. No tattoos tonight, okay?” 

“I’ll wait until you come out and we can both get each other’s. Oh!” Her face lit up and it was almost painful for him that she was so far away when she was in one of his favorite moods. “Yeah, Soph?” 

“You could get my signature, on your letters! The S and the halo!” 

He paused, thinking. “That’s not too bad.” 

“No, it’d be perfect. I want it over your heart. So everyone knows you’re mine.” She declared, tracing her idea over her own heart to demonstrate. 

“Okay. I’ll think about it. Go back to your party, angel, go have fun.” He urged, feeling better now that he’d talked her down from the tattoo ledge. 

“No, I miss you, I wanna talk.” She flopped down onto her bed and propped her phone up, then wrapped her arms around her pillow. “Last night one of my roommates brought some guy home from the bar and it’s not fair. You should be here so I don’t have to get off on my own.”

Rafe grinned, shaking his head. “You’re trouble.” 

“Am not.” She protested, then grinned. “Unless you want me to be. Then I can be trouble.”

“Keep your voice down, Soph.” He admonished, knowing she had a tendency of being loud when she was drunk. “Go drink some water for me.” 

“No. You know what’s bullshit?” She fished around in her nightstand drawer, looking for something. 

“What?” 

“Ah!” She held up a small drawstring bag. “My vibrator died last week -”

“Jesus Christ, woman -” 

“- and I can’t find a replacement anywhere online. The thing won’t charge here, I think I electrocuted it. Useless.” She tossed the bag across the bed, scowling. 

He was clearly strained, rubbing his temples. “Can we go back? Since when have you had a vibrator?” 

“Since, like, sophomore year.” 

“And I didn’t know about this, why?” 

She shrugged. “You never asked and I think I can probably count on my fingers how many times we had sex in my room last semester. What was I supposed to do, reach over and whip it out when we were fucking?” 

He laughed at her brash words and dropped his head in his hands, shifting in his seat. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear.” 

Sophie waved her hand, ignoring his struggle. “Rafe, listen to me. That picture you posted with Colin, in the swim shorts, you’re holding the beer?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’ve literally never wanted to get down on my knees more.” 

He about choked, eyes going wide. “You can’t just say things like that without a warning, angel.” 

“I’m serious -”

“I’m sure you are.” He laughed, trying his best to ignore her tank top slipping off her shoulder and the way she licked her lips. 

“And when you come visit and we travel, I want to have sex in every country. Just so we can say we did.” She declared. 

“We’re only going to be in three, Soph. Including Spain.” He countered, attempting to switch the conversation for his own sake. 

She yawned, stretching, and her shirt slipped a little lower. “Okay, so we’ll just have to travel more together later. Fuck, I miss you.” 

“You too, baby.” He heard her name being yelled out in the background and laughed, raising his eyebrows. “Do you need to go?” 

“Prob’ly. More shots, you know how it goes.” She dragged herself up out of bed and glanced down at her shirt, sighing dramatically. “I gotta change, don’t I?” 

“No, you look great. Go have fun, I love you.” 

“No, no, I gotta change.” She insisted, pulling off her shirt with no hesitation and Rafe sucked in a breath, watching her hunt around through her laundry basket of clean clothes waiting to be folded. “You’re teasing.” 

“I’m not teasing, I have a bra.” She snapped the strap for emphasis. 

“You are teasing. I can see your underwear when you bend over, your skirt is short.” He laughed when she turned a little red and tugged it down. “You’re lying.” 

“I’m not. They’re pink with little red hearts on them.” He grinned. “Adorable.” 

“I’m not going to waste my good underwear when you’re not here.” She defended, then found the shirt she wanted. It was one of his from intramurals, with Cameron written out on the back. He held back a smirk when she tugged it on and it went to her thighs, her skirt barely peeking out under the hem. “Is this better?” 

“Yeah, you look beautiful.” He smiled. “Go back to your party.” Rafe paused, adding, “Tell Mateo I said hi.” 

“That’s weird, but alright.” She shrugged. “You be good, okay?” 

“I don’t think you’re the one that should be telling me that.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Have fun. If you go out, text me when you’re home again.” 

“Deal.” She blew him a kiss before waving and hanging up. 

taglist: @whoeveniskendall @kkmaybank @karsinner @outerbanksbro @outerbankspreferences @randomficsandshit @sunshineitsfine44 @jailcalledlife @tovvaa @moniamaybank @illbesafeforyou @dontjinx-it @freddymaybank @jjmaybankzz @g4bster @oopsiedoopsie23 @babygal-babygal @thecuthoney

Smoke Bombs, Strawberry Licorice, and the Pitfalls of Being Thirteen

Jondami Week day 5: Heartbeat | “I thought I lost you” | Not actually unrequited love

Summary

Things Damian Wayne can do: plot a murder, hide a body, adopt every stray animal in Gotham, pretend to be a school bus driver, hit a target with a batarang from a hundred feet away while standing on top of a moving car.

Things Damian Wayne can’t do: ask out Jon Kent.

Things Damian Wayne just needs a little help with: asking out Jon Kent.

“Okay,” Colin said, “looks like we’re going to Plan B.”

Damian scoffed. “We are far past Plan B.”

“Yeah, this is, like, Plan M or something,” said Billy.

The three of them were in three different positions in Billy’s bedroom—Damian in a chair, Colin with the upper half of his body hanging off the top bunk, and Billy sprawled out on the carpet like a snow angel among crumpled post-its, filled notebooks, and empty chip bags.

The latter groaned. “Why is this so complicated?”

“You’d think a giant chocolate heart would work,” said Colin. “At this point, he’s either messing with us or he’s the most clueless guy in the world.”

“I am opting for cluelessness.” Damian clicked his pen repeatedly. “He does not possess the capacity to deceive people.” He did not wish to entertain the possibility of his crush not feeling the same way quite yet.

“Didn’t you pretend to be his bus driver once?” Billy asked.

“Tt, that was too easy.”

Unlike this. Ever since Damian’s brain decided it’d release serotonin around a certain half-Kryptonian, his life has been, as his brother would put it, a hot mess. Colin and Billy figured it out on their own and offered their matchmaking services.

Which is turning out to be an even hotter mess.

“Have we tried hiring a mariachi band to follow him around?” Colin asked.

“Twice,” Billy replied. 

Colin rubbed his eyes. “Can we think of other stuff Jon likes?”

Damian thought for a second. “Candy, but we already tried that with the chocolate.”

“We could try a different candy.”

“I get what you’re saying!” Billy scrambled up and flipped to one of the few empty pages left in a graph paper notepad. His tongue poked out as he furiously sketched before turning it around to reveal a stick figure connected to a vertical line. “We’ll get a hundred-foot licorice rope and lower Damian in dressed as baby Cupid—”

“Absolutely not,” Damian said. 

“… I was gonna suggest getting him a gift basket or something,” said Colin. 

Damian opened his laptop. “How big of a basket are we thinking?”

.

.

Read the rest on Ao3

@jondami-week

the sweetest life (and the loving is easy when you’re with me)

tumblr version:

rating: mature

tags: no warnings, mutual pining, idiots in love, jealousy, colin my dramatic king, penelope is confused

Chapter Two: Strawberry Crème Brûlée p. 1

For the first time in his life, Colin Bridgerton wasn’t hungry.

Nevermind that he had invited himself over to Eloise’s and Penelope’s flat with the singular intent of sneaking in some sweets made by his favorite homebaker. All of that was swept aside, his gigantic appetite becoming non-existent at the sight displayed in front of him.

The easy upturn of his lips, a smile famous for charming all the women in his life, quickly vanished. The glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes dimmed, the words he had prepared to announce his arrival got caught in his throat; because who the hell was that man towering over Penelope in the kitchen? Why was this stranger whispering so close to her? And why was she giggling? At the sweet sound of her laughter Colin inexplicably felt a mad rush of... frustration. The urge to go and physically separate the two was overwhelming and he almost took another step inside the tiny kitchen when what happened next made his stomach drop.

The prat, after taking a spoonful of whatever it was in front of them, moaned and smiled brightly at Penelope before leaning down for a hug. Worse still, Penelope with her eyes alight with joy, happily reciprocated the embrace and wrapped her arms around him.

Colin couldn’t even begin to understand all the tumultuous feelings inside him at the sight. All he had were questions upon questions running through his mind. Who was he? How long has this been going on? Since when did she bake for someone else?  Colin shook his head as if the simple act would brush away all the unanswered questions cluttering his mind.

When he had decided on his last minute trip to Greece over two months ago, he never imagined he’d be coming home to this. Since his friendship with Penelope deepened, he found that his attention to his phone increased dramatically. What simply started off as links for recipes, became chats where they talked about anything and everything. That's when he knew that Penelope Featherington wasn’t just his family friend. She was his best friend. So why, during all the countless chats they shared while he was away, did she never mention the fact that she was dating?  

As much as he wanted to get to the bottom of all his queries, the thought of walking in and having to witness the apparently happy couple up close, made him physically ill. He just knew he couldn’t act as if all was well. Colin was struggling to come up with reasons as to why this new information didn’t bring him happiness for his friend. If anyone deserved to be in a loving relationship it was Penelope. He knew that. So why did the mere thought of her being in one make his jaw clench?

It was a small comfort that his arrival wasn’t expected. To the entirety of his family he was still in Iceland, he had made the last minute decision to cut his trip two weeks short, and instead of alerting them, Colin had been giddy at the thought of surprising them all. It had been a spur of the moment decision to drop by Eloise and Penelope’s first, before settling in the room set up for him at his mum’s place. Next time however, he’d be sure to give a heads up. He couldn’t bear to go through this again. To come unannounced and heaven forbid, see them in a more compromising position. Just the thought of it felt like someone suckerpunched him in the gut. Colin simply and quietly turned around and walked away.

“Penelope you are a genius!”  

Phillip Crane moaned as the blackberry cream melted on his tongue. He finished his spoonful of the delicious filling the lovely redhead was making before continuing his praise.

“Eloise is going to love this. I can’t even begin to thank you enough for helping me out.”

Though he was never one to initiate grand displays of physical affection, Phillip couldn’t help but reach out and hug Penelope with the utmost gratitude. Her help in his grand plan to convince Eloise that it was time to declare their relationship to their respective families was invaluable. He wanted her to meet his older brother and he wanted to finally get to know the alphabet personally. He knew that without Penelope’s support, his ideas would have never manifested as grandly as they did. That, and she had already agreed to watch his twins overnight while he wooed Eloise on a weekend getaway. If anyone needed proof that Penelope was on her way to sainthood, they only needed to learn that she volunteered to take care of his little hellions. Thank god for angels on earth.

“All you have to do is make sure my best friend is happy,”

Penelope disengages from the hug and takes a step back, making sure to look up into his eyes. The seriousness of her following words could not be ignored. She may be tiny, but the protective love she held for Eloise shrouded Penelope with unmistakable power. She could be a threat if the need arose.  

“Because if she’s miserable, or heaven forbid hurt, I will personally ensure that you will be too.”

Penelope’s voice maintained its sweet inflection, while her blue eyes turned into an icy glare. Phillip gulped before nodding solemnly.

“She’s the most magnificent woman I've ever met. If I'm the fool who makes her miserable, I deserve whatever torment you deem appropriate.”  

The ice in her demeanor melted as Penelope swooned on behalf of her friend. She patted Phillip on the chest in approval before focusing on the various ingredients before her. She had planned to make Eloise’s favorite fruit tarts but with a twist.

“I’m glad we are in agreement! Now back to the sweets. I can recreate this cream for the tarts, all I need is more berries and those edible flowers you were talking about earlier! You will have to be in charge of dinner, I can bake but cooking still eludes me.”

Penelope herself was more than happy to help Phillip in his quest of making his relationship with her best friend public knowledge. He had been smart enough to realize early on in his relationship with Eloise that Penelope’s opinion was of the utmost importance. So he tried to be friendly, even when his stoic demeanor could often be misconstrued as snobbish elitism. Penelope was keen enough to know there had to be something about him that held Eloise’s attention. In the end, they ended up bonding over literature, -though Eloise loved to tease that it was a miracle he read anything outside of his botanical interests- and gardening. Phillip soon began to gift Penelope with the excess fruit and herbs he grew in his own little greenhouse so she could turn them into magical bites of perfection.

Sworn to secrecy, Penelope never hinted or uttered a word of his existence to the other Bridgertons and in the end, the only beings who knew of this relationship were his twins and herself. Penelope was excited for the secret to be out! It was alarming how often she found herself wanting to share the news. She wanted to join in on the inevitable teasing, she was eager to brag about the fact that she knew this secret before any of Bridgertons, and she was ready for someone to complain alongside her about how sickenly sweet they were with one another. She often imagined Colin being quick to tease or annoy Eloise about it... and just like that, Penelope felt her heart ache. As thoughts of Colin were known to do.

She missed him. It was alarming how much she missed him. He's been gone before so she really had no excuse to act as if this were new, but then again, before the eclair incident she had never spent so much uninterrupted time with him. He had spoiled her with his singular attention. They still texted each other almost every day but it wasn’t the same. She had gotten used to his physical presence. The way he towered over her, often helping her get things off the top shelf. The way he would sing her a song as he cleaned the dirty dishes and she would try and harmonize with him as she dried them. She also missed his chaotic energy in her kitchen, even when it could annoy her at times. The way she would need to slap his hands away to prevent him from dipping his finger in the raw batter or when she would have to take away the bag of chocolate chips to ensure there were enough for the cookies she planned to bake. He could never stay still but it was always such fun and there was always a delicious snack at the end of the night as a reward for all their hard work. He might never love her the way she loves him, but she had gotten greedy, soaking up all the moments he freely gave her and now she was going through withdrawals. Oh Colin, how am I ever going to get over you? Do I even want to?  

After ensuring everything was going as planned, and shaking thoughts of Colin out of her mind, Penelope shooed Phillip out. Eloise was soon to return and she didn’t want the surprise to be spoiled. Penelope baking alone is no longer an odd sight, but if Eloise came home to her boyfriend being there unexpectedly, she would stop at nothing to get the whole truth.

A single beep from her phone alerted Penelope to an incoming message. Her heart picked up in pace as her anticipation rose. It's been a few days since she’s heard from Colin. The longest bout of silence since he left two months ago. Penelope took a deep breath before swiping the lockscreen away. Immediately her shoulders drooped, and she tried to temper her disappointment when she noticed that the message was from her baby sister.

Felicity: hey pen, the love of your life came back early!

Felicity: it was a shock to the whole fam, hyacinth even canceled our movie night! something about blue gifts or whatever.

Felicity: anyways, just thought you should know 😇

The initial joy at the news of his early return was quickly marred with the confusion over the total silence on his end. Did she do something to upset him? Or maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing. She really needed to stop expecting him to update her on his personal matters as if she was his girlfriend. It wasn’t fair to put those expectations on him, and it wasn’t fair that she kept disappointing herself because of her daydreams.

Penelope ignored her phone, not giving Felicity the satisfaction of adamantly protesting her feelings when they both knew she was not off the mark. Instead she pulled out a recipe she had been eyeing for weeks now. She had been waiting for Colin to come back before attempting to make it. Only she would spice it up and make it with strawberries. She knew that he had a fondness for them and she wanted this treat to be special, to be more than the usual standard.

Strawberry Crème Brûléé

She was tempted to reach out to him and ask him if he wanted to join her while she baked it, but she thought better of it. Surely the trip back home must have been exhausting and whatever energy he did have, must have been depleted after a dinner with his family, a boisterous lot that they were.

Looking over the recipe, Penelope noticed that it called for the creme brulee to chill overnight. She smiled as this offered the perfect solution, tonight she would bake the night away and keep her mind busy, and tomorrow she would invite him over and hope that she was simply imagining any weirdness she felt over the sudden silence. Grinning to herself, Penelope nodded decisively and set out to make a delicious strawberry compote.

-

Colin woke up moody, frustrated and tired.

Sleep evaded him all night; he had been plagued with nightmarish situations, each one of him of losing his best friend, of losing Pen. The more he thought about it, the more it terrified him. Penelope having a boyfriend meant that those late night baking sessions would come to an end, the constant trips to other bakeries would not be as frequent, and while Colin was sure that Penelope wasn’t the type to shun her friends in favor of her relationship, Colin wasn’t sure he could stomach the thought of being around her while she was kissing someone else. When she should be kissing me.

Colin paled as the thought crossed his mind, a thought that should not exist when Penelope was only a friend. Just a friend, friends don’t think about kissing their beautiful friends.  

Although now he couldn’t stop thinking about how plump her lips were, especially after nervously biting them while she waited for his verdict on her sweets. He wondered if they were as soft as they looked? He would have to lean down to reach them but he could already imagine himself holding her closer, pressing himself against her soft plump curves and cupping her face. Lightly biting her bottom lip before using his own tongue to soothe the sting. He wondered if she would simply gasp and let him use that to his advantage, or if she would bite him back, Penelope was unpredictable afterall, he would never know what to expect from her...

Colin groaned as pure lust slammed into him the more he thought about Penelope. He laid back in shock over how quick his mind was, to turn against him like that, but it was like a pandora’s box. Now that it was open, things would never be the same. Colin couldn’t help but look back and notice all the little things about her that made her shine. The way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, and how when she blushed it was obvious for the world to see on her normally milky skin. The way she would be the first to share her food and would always offer encouraging words when needed. Colin thought of her laugh, and how loud and contagious it was, or how her bottom lip would tremble as she tried not to cry when she accidentally burnt or cut herself. All these moments rushed through his head and it killed him that someone else was learning these things about her right this very second.

Yes, her voluptuous figure, tiny stature and dark red curls were attractive on their own, but paired with her intelligent blue eyes, witty humor and overall sweetness, it was no wonder she was taken. It was a miracle it hadn’t happened sooner! How could he have been so blind? If he had never gone on his most recent trip, would he have been able to stop it from happening?

A subtle buzzing on the bedside table alerted him to his incoming messages. He blindly reached out, not even bothering to use any excess energy when all he wanted to do was waste away in bed. It’s what he was good at apparently, wasting time.

His heart began to accelerate when he noticed that it was Penelope.

Pen: a little birdy told me that you are back home.

Pen: welcome back 🥳

Pen: i was going to text you later in the day but I have something exciting to share with you!

Pen: knowing you, you’ve probably already had breakfast by now, or you're about to! come to my place right after! see you soon.

Colin could feel the cold brittle fingers of dread latch on to him. Weighing him down and chilling him to the bone. He had just come to the startling realization that he kind of, sort of liked his friend as more than just a friend and she was going to tell him all about her new relationship. Any fleeting hunger he might have felt was chased away by the churning in his stomach. And even though a large part of him wanted to make up an excuse, any excuse to get out of this sure to be painful encounter, avoiding Penelope Featherington after having spent so much time integrating his life with hers, would be like wishing it never rained in London, absolutely impossible. Taking a deep breath, Colin finally got up out of bed and went about preparing for what he was sure to be, the worst day of his life.

-

As soon as Penelope received a text from Colin, letting her know that he was on his way, Penelope pulled out two of the chilled ramekins from her fridge. She also pulled out the homemade whipped cream she had made last night, a couple of fresh strawberries and the turbinado sugar. She was quick with the knife and sliced up all the strawberries, ridding herself of the green tops and setting the rest aside once finished. She had gone all out and gotten herself a kitchen torch for the sole purpose of making that crunchy top layer that made creme brulees so fun to eat.

She was excited to have Colin try it. She had originally intended to call him over later in the day but then remembered she’d be taking care of the twins. Seeing as she didn’t want to have to explain that, Penelope figured it was best to call him now, she was just glad that he hadn’t made any morning plans already.

When Colin finally walked into her kitchen making use of the spare key, it only took a split-second to realize that something was off with him. Penelope used a kitchen towel to pat her hands dry before walking towards him. She tried to catch his gaze, but it seemed as if he was looking around for someone. Her head tilted slightly in confusion, Penelope wondered who he could possibly be looking for, surely he was aware that on Saturday mornings Eloise had brunch with his mum and sisters?

There was something downtrodden about him and the urge to comfort him came at her so fast, she was unable to resist. She didn’t really want to resist anyways. Opening her arms wide she pulled him into a hug, pleasantly surprised when he returned her embrace with gusto.

“It’s so good to see you! Am I being silly if I admit that I missed you?”

Penelope murmured into his chest. He was so damn tall, she wondered if he even caught what she was saying.

-

“Well I missed you too, so we can just be silly together.”

Colin had meant for that to come out in an upbeat, charming reply, but his body had a mind of its own, and instead he simply squeezed her tighter, he dipped his head close to hers and he softly admitted that she was no more silly than he. In fact he could have gone on to admit that he was more than silly, he was a damn fool for letting her get away, for not realizing that the feelings he had for her were more than just platonic. He wasn’t sure if it was love, but he knew that it could grow to be, it was all a moot point now, he wouldn’t even get the chance. So he held on, he breathed in her sugary sweet scent and wished that he could stay like this forever. Colin didn’t want to let go. How was he supposed to let go? In the end, he didn’t have to force himself to, she had pulled herself away.

-

As much as she would have loved to stay in his arms forever, the knowledge that something was wrong made her want to help him in whatever way she could. The way he clung to her let her know that whatever was ailing him was really serious. And she wanted to enjoy it, she wanted to close her eyes and melt in his embrace. But she felt guilty, deriving pleasure from his pain felt wrong. Knowing that food could at least partially help, Penelope withdrew from the hug and looked up at him, smiling at him softly as she tugged him closer to her counter.

“I made you something! When I found out you were back I just knew I needed to welcome you back home with style.”

“Pen, you didn’t have to do that.”

Colin rubbed the back of his neck, and Penelope wondered if the slight flush on his cheeks was him blushing or if she was just imagining things.

Penelope let go of Colin to make her way to her ramekins. She quickly and with minimal mess, poured two spoonfuls of the brown sugar on the top of the strawberry custard before spreading it around, covering the light pink creme from view.

“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to,”

She grabbed the kitchen torch and turned it on, giggling at Colin’s alarmed reaction and wary eyes.

“Plus, I really really really  wanted to use this today.”

She directed the open flame on the sugar and giddily watched as the sugar melted and browned, turning itself into the perfect crust to crack. She felt the moment Colin stepped into her bubble, the way he was looking over her shoulder was a move he’d done in the past and she’s proud she no longer jumped or startled when he invaded her space. Her heart still races, but at least her body no longer expresses her shock at him being so close. In fact, Penelope was proud her hand was still steady. No accidental burnings yet. When the first creme brulee was finished she breathed a sigh of relief before swiftly moving to the second, finishing  that one too. Once both were done, she turned off the torch and grabbed the whipped cream, adding a generous spoonful on each, before finishing with the strawberries as a garnish.

“Ta da! A strawberry creme brulee. This is an experimental recipe so please be honest in your feedback. I think you’ll like it. I promise, no artificially flavored strawberries are found in this creme brulee!”

Penelope pushed his dessert closer to him as he had moved himself to the left of her during her explanation. She offered him a spoon and then grabbed hers. She wasn’t going to bite into it just yet, she was dying to see his reaction.

She watched as he cracked the top layer with his spoon, a satisfying snap resounding in the kitchen. He gave her a brief smile before dipping his spoon further in to capture some of the creme. Penelope flushed when she noticed his tongue lick around the spoon, not willing to miss a single bite. She just stood there, a little dazed as he dug in after that initial spoonful. She finally got ahold of herself and beamed at the way he devoured it. She managed to bite into her own and softly moaned when the velvety smooth creme melted on her tongue, the caramelized top adding the perfect crunchy texture to every bite. She had truly outdone herself.

So caught up in her own taste testing, Penelope never realized that Colin had turned stiff at the sound of her moans.  She couldn’t have known that such a little innocent sound had triggered a tsunami of misconceptions and angst. No, she didn’t know anything about the regrets swirling around Colin’s brain at the moment. She did, however, notice that he was leaning heavily on the counter, gripping the edges so tightly his knuckles appeared ghostly white.

“Colin what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick? You look a little pale…”

Penelope set her own dish down and quickly closed the small distance between them. She stood on her tiptoes so she could reach his forehead, he felt a little warm but nothing out of the ordinary. She cupped his face, wanting to get to the bottom of what was wrong.

“Colin look at me, please tell me. What happened? Did my food make you sick? Do you need to lie down?.”

Penelope lets go of his face to reach for his hands, she gently pulls his hands away from the counter, clasping them with her own. She holds them and squeezes softly, quietly letting him know that he can depend on her. She looks up at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something, anything.

-

How could he begin to explain everything that was wrong?

It was a small comfort that he didn’t have to meet her significant other, but just knowing that moments like these, where he can stand over her shoulder and just see her doing something she loves would be an activity she would share with someone else. Someone else would get to hear her make those little moans, someone else would get to make them happen in a different setting. How does he tell her that it's killing something inside him to know that it won’t be him?  How does he begin to explain that he feels this possessive urge to steal her away and never let her out of his sight? He doesn’t even know where to start. He’s not even really sure that he should.

Before he can wave her worries away, before he can reassure her that her food would never make him sick, before he could pretend like he was just feeling off. Something in him takes over and all that comes out is the most important question that will guide him in regards to how he should treat Penelope Featherington.

“Are you happy?” is all that comes out, ragged in its intensity. Colin’s eyes burning with the need to know exactly how she felt.

Whatever Penelope was expecting, it was obvious from her reaction that this was not it.

“What?!”

Colin closed his eyes briefly, gritting his teeth as he gathered the bravery necessary for this inquisition. He opened them and this time he used her grip on his hands to his advantage, bringing them up to rest against his chest. He wondered if she could feel how fast his heart was beating for her.

“Are you happy? With him?”

|| CHAPTER THREE  ||  || AO3 ||

Swelter Weather

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Bridgerton Rating: M Warnings: None at this point. Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington,  Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington(besties),  Bridgerton Family Dynamics, Eloise Bridgerton/Phillip Crane Characters: Colin Bridgerton,  Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Featherington,  Benedict Bridgerton,  Portia Featherington, Violet Bridgerton, Genevieve Delacroix Additional Tags:  Bridgerton, Polin

Summary: Colin Bridgerton is weary from travel and decides to spend the summer at the Aubrey Hall. While his initial plans were to avoid his perfect family, he ends up sharing the house with Eloise and Penelope. This is a Modern AU!

Additional Notes:  I still have plenty to write for my other series  but this is the first chapter in the Modern! AU which demanded release today.

There was something about the sweet freedom of being away from the crowded streets of London that Colin loved.  While he wasn’t quite ready for another adventure around the world, he did didn’t particularly care to spend the summer in his bachelor flat alone or at the family home surrounded by his perfect and over achieving siblings with their perfect marriages and lives.  Instead he opted to head to the family summer home in the countryside and it was everything he wanted.

He had fond memories of his childhood here.  Life was far less complicated when he and his siblings had been on fairly even footing.  There was nothing to worry about how they were going to spend their afternoons – hikes, swimming or even the occasional croquet battle.   No one had the same leisure between careers, families or school.

He had spent the last several weeks savoring his solitude and the quiet of Aubrey Hall. There were no schedules, no commitments and most importantly not a single person to bother her outside of the occasion phone call or text from a member of his family. If they were being especially annoying, he would turn it to silence and send them to voicemail until he would inevitable cave and respond because he did actually care about what was going on in their lives.

After a late night of eating takeout and watching a movie on Netflix, he had decided to simply not set an alarm clock for the next day. No one was going to complain about him sleeping in, so he did so. By the time he decided to move from his bed, the sun was already up the sky.  He wouldn’t have forced himself up then if it weren’t for the persistent growl of his stomach demanding his attention.  That was nothing new though. He was always hungry.

He pushed himself up from the comfort of his bed, padding his way down to the kitchen.   If his family had been there, he would have had to make some effort at making himself presentable but by having the house to himself, he could do as he pleased and that included going straight from bed to the kitchen.

He grabbed a frying pan and put on a couple of eggs before popping some bread in a toaster.  He hummed absently to himself as he moved back to the pan, working on properly scrambling his eggs.  He couldn’t quite remember the song but it was probably something he’d heard during his last stint in London at some social engagement or another.

“Colin,”  a voice came from behind, making him nearly jump in surprise at the sudden invasion of privacy.  He spun prepared to fight off the offender with a specula despite the fact he knew the voice belonged to Eloise.

He very quickly remembered his state of undress when he caught sight of not only his younger sister but also Penelope.  His eyes widened slightly and he froze, his face growing red with embarrassment. 

Penelope wasn’t any less pink. Their eyes met and then quirkly averted.  While he quite enjoyed the company of his sister’s best friend this was probably not something that would be on their topics of conversation.  He mentally cursed as his mind processed that over the years, he’d randomly had less than innocent dreams about the girl and a few of them started with happenstance just like this but Eloise was never part of them.  Now was not the time to let his mind linger to far there.  He decided to focus on the Eloise part.  His sister was a safe person to focus on.

Speaking of which, Eloise seemed to be the only person capable of taking action. She covered her own eyes, making a face that made it known that the whole situation was the stuff of terrors before blindly reaching for an apron that hung unused, extending it to her brother.

“Christ,” she muttered. “Cover yourself.”

Colin for his part did use it to cover his front not that the damage wasn’t already done. There was literally no way to escape the situation unscathed and he had no doubt his entire family would know about it by the end of the day. He really needed to go put on some actual clothing but first, well he felt like throwing an absolute hissy fit about the fact Eloise thought she could just show up unannounced.

“Did you think to maybe call before just showing up?

“It’s the family home. I don’t need your permission to show up. Besides, what kind of deviant runs around in the nude?  We need to sanitize the entire house now.”

“People who think they have the place to themselves,” he gruffed.

It was Penelope who came out of her shellshock enough to point toward the forgotten frying pan. “Uh, I think your eggs are burning,” she managed, though honestly it was any wonder the words came out in order.

“Shit,”  Colin murmured starting to turn back to the stove but it was Eloise who stopped him mid-spin.

“No,” Eloise said, reaching for the spatula and taking over the egg prep.  “We’ll finish this. You go find some pants for fuck’s sake. Penelope doesn’t want to see your ass. Right, Pen?”

Penelope was noticeably quiet for a long moment but to her credit she did nod at what Eloise was suggesting. It was probably for the best if he did find clothing. Colin decided to save Penelope (and his sister) from further embarrassment.  He moved past, trying to get to the door. He paused and did a little spin trying to keep some modesty not that there were any mysteries to be had at this point.

“Yes, wouldn’t want to traumatize her like that,” he said toward his sister before nodding, smiling cheekily toward her counterpart.  “Honestly, you can stay but  Eloise is ruining the fun. Try and ditch her before I come back, yeah?”

“I resent that,” he heard Eloise complaining after he left the room.

--

Penelope hadn’t been able to bear the thought of another summer locked away with her miserable family so when Eloise had offered the concept of a girl trip to the Aubrey Hall she’d eagerly accepted. It was only half way through the drive that the other girl had mentioned that they’d have to share the house with her brother.

The mere mention of Colin was enough to make Penelope’s heart skip a beat. She had a crush on him for more years than she could count anymore but he’d never given her any indication that he considered her more than a friend.  He was quite charming though and he was always kind.  When he would come home from jet setting around the world, he always made time to chat or dance with her.

It did very little to discourage the crush.

She had thought that with time and distance it would fade but all it took was a mention or a sighting for the whole dreadful thing to come racing back.  How Eloise wasn’t aware of the crush at this point was beyond her but since it was a relatively mute point he didn’t push it. She and Colin were friends but that was all they would ever be.

The last thing she’d expected upon arrival was for her eyes to be assaulted by full-frontal Colin. It wasn’t something she’d be forgetting anytime soon either.

“I’m sorry about that, Pen!” Eloise told her after a moment as she trashed the now slightly burnt eggs and decisively started over making enough to where they could all eat. It had been a long trip after all. “This stuff happens when you have brothers. At least he was alone not that it makes it any less gross.”

Penelope didn’t want to even think about that him having someone else there.  She nodded though. Eloise did have a point that she could only assume was accurate. She’d never had brothers of her own but she’d heard enough complaints about the Bridgerton Boys that she felt as if the mental picture was accurate.

“It wasn’t that gross,” Pen said after a long minute. “I mean, objectively Colin isn’t hard on the eyes.”

“Well he’s not your brother,” Eloise said making a face that made it pretty clear that she wasn’t interested in hearing how objectively not unattractive her best friend thought her brother was.  Maybe she didn’t know how far back it went and she wasn’t really aiming to ask questions about it but she was aware that Penelope had been into him at points.  She was also fairly sure at points her brother had probably been into her friend as well.  Nothing had come of it though and she definitely wasn’t going to try and encourage it lest it all go horribly bad.

Penelope didn’t push it for her part.

They began to work in silence creating a veritable breakfast feast for three and by the time Colin rejoined them wearing shorts a t-shirt they already had the plates made and juice poured.

“Well you might have invaded my very intimate breakfast this morning but I suppose I can forgive you for being angels who cook,” he said as she moved to take a seat at the table that was far too big for just three.  He did pause long enough to ruffle Eloise’s hair to mess with her before sitting in the end spot between the two girls.

“Someone has to be angelic when you’re clearly Satan incarnate,” Eloise responded stabbing a fork into her eggs and taking a bite.

“Only some of the time,” Colin confessed, laughing as he began to pick away at his plate. He offered a light smile toward their guest.  “Let’s be real, Pen is the only angel at this table. Us Bridgerton come from a long line of demons.”

Eloise made a fake gagging noise at that.

“That actually explains a lot,”  Penelope said after a long moment.

That managed to grab both of their attention, waiting to hear what she might have to say about demons and Bridgerton family members.

“I honestly believe you could be an incubus,” she said after a long moment, eyes directed toward Colin.

Colin nearly choked on a sausage at that, he recovered quickly though and fell into a fit on laughter.  Penelope always had been witty and the fact that she thought that he could be the incubus of the family was laughable. He wasn’t the person that most people thought him to be.  Of course, he was charming and could flirt with anyone but that didn’t mean he actually got anywhere. He couldn’t very well have his older brothers judging him for that though so he let people believe what they wanted to and didn’t go out of his way to correct them.

“You can’t just go around telling people that I’m a sex demon, Pen,” he said conspiratorially barely able to keep a straight face. “I mean, what I do in your dreams is between me and you.  Not everyone gets to survive with their soul intact.”

“You better not be doing anything to her in her dreams or your own,” Eloise said, kicking him in the shin. “My friend is off-limits.”

Colin frowned, reaching down to rub his shin.  He wanted to tell Eloise to mind her own business but before he could Penelope seemed to take it upon herself to handle that.

“Little late for that,” Penelope said knowing that by saying so she was declaring sides in this sibling battle.  Colin couldn’t be more smug about it either. Eloise looked as if she could kill them both.

“I’ll try to behave moving forward but I do hope it was as good for you as it was good for me,”  he said, though from the shit-eating grin on his face it was pretty clear that he wasn’t sorry at all.  Especially when his gaze moved from Penelope back to Eloise.  “Sorry El, I couldn’t help myself.”

“Of course not,”  Eloise said, shaking her head.

If this was how the summer was going to go, it was going to be a long one.

BRIDGERTON EPISODE ONE SPOILERS : the first episode as we know was called DIAMOND OF THE FIRST WATER but what it should’ve been called was ARE YOU MERELY A BROTHER OR ARE YOU THE MAN OF THE HOUSE ? One of the things I immediately noticed was the fairytale feel that i hope sets the tone for the rest of the season. That & Lady W as the narrator has given me a TON of Pushing Daisies nostalgia without the murder but still with some pie. To get some of the technical stuff out of the way everything about this show is beautiful and clean & exactly how I pictured it in my head as i read the books. A true fairytale setting in each and every scene even darkened bedrooms & gardens. The first ep does a lot of introductions, which i expected.

Marina & Siena shine shine shine as characters in their own right. They’re not passive background characters they are three-dimensional women that don’t back down when the ‘main characters’ try to overshadow them & especially when they talk down to them. Marina definitely didn’t deserve to be sent to the Featherington’s ( especially the missus ) idc what she did.

One of the things I’m loving is that in the books the Bridgerton’s are this perfect family unit with Violet and Anthony politely acknowledging each other’s existence as the different heads of the house, in the show they’re still this amazing, close family unit we all love but they are giving Anthony so much more room to be the Rake you don’t get to see in TD&I. The animosity between Violet and Anthony was surprising but I think it was needed to show that Anthony struggles and deals with his role as Eldest Brother Viscount Caretaker of a Family in ways he didn’t in the books. And honestly ? It’s more believable in the show that he DOES feel this way. I don’t love that in doing so he takes away Daphne’s agency to choose who she wants to marry ( ENGAGING HER TO NIGEL BERBROOKE?? BOOK ANTHONY WOULD NEVER ) but I also feel like it really is a testament to how much all of the older three relied on Anthony growing up because Violet was pre-occupied with the youngest IN ADDITION to her grieving her husband and kind of left those four to raise themselves because they were old enough. It’s always a tough thing for oldest siblings to have to raise their younger ones & then be expected to back off when a parent finally wants to parent again & I strongly feel that’s the case here. Not that Violet isn’t a good parent, it’s just kind of reassuring to know that the aren’t perfect. Eloise Bridgerton continues to be the feminist icon that i know and love, Claudia Jessie was perfectly cast and truly stole every scene she was in with them. 

That being said I feel like I’d be remiss if i didn’t mention Colin & Pen. They have such an easy vibe together & Nicola Coughlan STANDS tf out. Every scene even when she’s in the background, I notice her reactions to things that are happening around her & it just makes SENSE ( iykyk ;) )

I hate that Philipa Featherington is so hot but all of the Featheringtons are 1) perfectly cast & 2) just as mean/indifferent/don’t pay attention to Pen as they do in the books. 

Lady W is way more of a savage than in the books.

I think that Simon & Daphne kind of got overshadowed, despite the clear chemistry that Rege & Phoebe have until the very last scene in which they are so breathtakingly beautiful together I looked like a little girl watching a princess movie. The dual scene of him finding her punch Nigel / coming up with the plan vs them dancing in front of everyone was so so charged and electric and it reminded me of WHY i liked Daphne & Simon so much in first half of the books. I loved that they were kind of picking at each other in the beginning of the episode because their friendship was again something i loved in the books. 

WAS LADY WHISTLEDOWN REVEALED? no.  SOME NOTES I TOOK DOWN : hyacinth you’re an angel never change / lady d & violet power couple / they fucked ( about anthony & simon ) / anthony you dick BEST SCENE OF THE EPISODE : A, B, C & D trying to run away from Lady Danbury & her immediately clocking that Anthony was going to be weird about people courting Daphne. Overall : 8/10

Rites of Passage

Elle: I never met you, here's a joke!Never trust a pirate duck.They have the power to unleash the quackin'.🦆🏴‍☠️

Amy: I wish I got to meet you! You seem so wonderful.

Jodi: Hey Bri, we never got to play together but you destroyed my guy Jared’s perfect game in the first tribal council and I thought that was pretty funny. Cheers!

Elle: I was SO sad when you were voted out 🥲 because I figured we'd swap into the same tribe or make merge and we could work together and talk about Stardew Valley, I also started listening to the Penumbra podcast (which I know you listen to The Magnus Archives, but there's a lot of overlap between the fandoms so I thought maybeeee you had listened to it too) Anyway! It doesn't really matter I just was really sad when you were voted out ❤️Here's a joke ^_^: I asked a French speaking man if he played video games.He answered, "wii".

Amy: I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you. I loved your intro video and I had heard of you from past games. You seem so cool.

Jodi: Also never got to play with you, but Brayden told me you’re cool so hopefully I’ll meet you some time in a game!

Elle: I just know you from Kyoshi where you voted me out and we didn't really talk that much… so 😅 I hope you had fun in Metaverse?Here's a dad joke: My grandma started walking 5 miles a day when she was 65She’s 91 now! But we have NO idea where she is 🤷🏽‍♀️

Amy: I was so hoping to chat with you again because we barely got the chance in HB. You are wonderful and I hope to one day actually play on the same tribe as you!

Jodi: I heard you were my guy’s ride or die until you weren’t, you won the very first comp of the season so good job, hope to see you around in the community!

Elle: A truly unanimous vote, I never met you, but you dropped this, king 👑✨A joke: There once was a king who was exactly 12 inches tall!Terrible king, but he made a great ruler!📏🤴✨

Amy: The legend! All I know about you is you have some chaotic energy and I love that! 

Jodi: The truly unanimous vote of the season....we really wanted to give you your first W but you literally just did not show up even for your vote out. I still wonder to this day if you’ve found out you got voted out yet. Nevertheless, nice saying hi to you a couple times!

Elle: You were super nice and I'm sad that you were voted out as soon as you were 💔 we should've talked more when we were on the same tribe.You know every time I see a Jennifer Aniston movie, it seems like she's playing the same person.I guess she's a victim of Rachel profiling.

Amy: Girl I wish I got to know you better because once you came back online after the tribe swap you were so sweet. I really enjoyed your presence and I think the game could have been very different had we worked together. Wishing you all the best.

Jodi: I’m glad I got your vengeance :) Sorry you didn’t last longer in the game! Bye mittens

Elle: I don't know you, but here's a dad joke:Yesterday I spotted an albino dalmatian.It was the least I could do for him🖌

Amy: Oh Danny how I wish it would have worked out with us two! You were so fun and I loved working with you but I’ll never forget sitting on call for an hour when you ghosted our challenge. I’m sorry it ended like that, but I hope we get to play again together because I adore your vibe!

Jodi: All my Fools paragraphs are going to involve Jared since that’s the only relation I have with you all, but Danny I heard you’re my guy’s other ride or die and he told you about his idol. I grilled him when he told me about it at the merge because damn you were connected. You would’ve told everyone (but everybody knew already lol) hope to see you around!

Elle: Ginnyyyyy 💔 I'm sorry I didn't really want to vote you out but I wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers that early into merge, I truly did believe you when you said you were done being chaotic. Your lipsync TikToks are very fun🎶A joke for you: What do you call a singing computer?A Dell! 🎤🎶

Amy: I’m so sorry girl. I didn’t want to see you go, but it was decided. I enjoyed playing this game together through all of premerge and making it through the cursed Fools tribe with you and sitting in that hour challenge call just vibing. I hope we can chat more in the future. I am wishing you all the best because you deserve great things.

Jodi: Girl, you were my first comp partner and I wish we got closer and could play together more. I really thought you were super connected with other Stings players and that’s why I had to boot you before the Jury phase, because I wasn’t sure I could get close enough with you to work together. Regardless, you were fun to have on Phantom and I hope we can cross paths again!

Elle: My Libra rising sibling ♎️✨ I wish we got to work together more in this game, without that ‘no items’ twist round you definitely would've made it far. Thank you for talking astrology with me, giving Colin your items which ended up helping my game too, and just the existence of Neptune 🥰 big Brookyln 99 "I've only known [Neptune] for a day but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself" vibes.Le joke: My partner just broke up with me. They're sick and tired of my constant zodiac puns.It Taurus apart, I'm in Pisces writing this.(a second one): Why did the nurse carry a red pen?In case she needed to draw blood!💉

Amy: Dennis 😭😭😭!!! I am so so sorry you were voted out that way. There were whispers the previous round too and I was able to squash that, but for your round it was decided before I could act and I saw Colin being villainized for sticking up for you. I am so, so sorry for how things went. I so wish we would have stayed closer in this game because we could have done great things together! I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for our conversations before you went because without them I would not have flipped to protect Colin. You were our guardian angel. Thank you for giving Colin your gifts and still trusting me to confide in me. I hope we can play in another game together because I wanted to work with you from Day 1! You are incredible and I wish you all the good vibes in the world!

Jodi: Dennis, you truly were the one to watch this season, because your reads and intuition were amazing. That’s why I aligned with you, because I like working with other thinkers. I’m really sorry that I voted you out that round, because I knew that if I were to strike, I could not miss with you. I rightfully knew that you had something really good, in not just 1, but 2 idols. After going for 15.5 hours on that Hunt, I knew that the only person that could’ve beaten me was you. You pushed me to be a better player and you definitely made it a very tough hill for me to climb to get to this point. I’m not sure if you gave me your vote this time, and I understand if you didn’t, but I adore your love for the game and I hope that next time we can align and blaze through some games. I give you props for figuring out my game so early on and you were the one that kept me on my toes and pushed me to play harder. I have lots of respect for you as a person and a player of this game, I hope we can be friends after this. 

Elle: From our first real interaction I knew you should be someone I'd work with. Unfortunately, I didn't end up reaching out really until it was a bit too late 😅 And we kinda ended up on opposing ends… whoops!I still think we could get along really well! ☺️ We're both creative and funny (though my humor is more an… acquired taste 😂 dad jokes aren't for everyone, I suppose) and have a lot of the same pop culture references from that one challenge lol.I hope your first ORG experience was still a good one, though 💖. Maybe I'll get to ally with you in the future?Un joke: Whenever my artistic partner is sad, I let them draw on my body,It's always good to have a shoulder to crayon.🖍✨

Amy: Babs! I don’t know how many times I wrote to other contestants and my host chat “I just want to be friends with Babs!” I wish we could have chatted more because I absolutely adore your energy. I had the best times on call listening to you. And like you said, great minds think alike. Our double tie was so fun! Hope to chat more soon!

Jodi: Babs, I truly adore you and you were the light of the tribe. I understand that your vote out seemed like a big betrayal, but I truly did not want you to go there. Colin and Elle both played things and everyone else was immune. I had to pick between you and Jared and I just could not vote out Jared due to our relationship. I hope you can forgive me on a personal level after this and we can talk because a lot of my joy in this game came from you. 

Elle: Well, this turned out better than Kyoshi did between us 😅 so at least there's that. It was fun being allies for a sec, and here's hoping neither of us gets swap screwed in the future 😂.Your joke: I have a friend who writes songs about sewing machines.He's a Singer songwriter, or sew it seams.

Amy: Brayden! Omg Brayden first I am so sorry I gave you that fake idol. I didn’t know it was going to you; I only knew it was going to second place. When Raffy told me it was you I was like omfg I accidentally gave a fake idol to one of my closest allies 🤦‍♀️. I want to see your creative challenge submission bc I think you probably deserved the win over me. Brayden, you were incredible in this game and I kept trying to see if you wanted to flip with me with some hints haha but you were closer with Jodi. Congratulations on graduating and on being Anastasia’s best friend! I loved getting to know you and working with you. I’m so sorry it ended the way it did. Hopefully I’ll see you in another game or mini! You’ll do great things!

Jodi: Brayden, I severely underestimated you in this game, even though I knew that you were going to be incredible since you’ve played before. When we met up at the merge, I was so grateful to have you be somebody I could bounce ideas off of. Anastasia and I said this later in the game, but you two and me and Jared should’ve come and done a 4-person alliance and rip through the late game. You were such a loyal ally and I really hope we get to play again some time. 

Elle: You have a very rational and sort of quietly analyzing mind that I noticed almost immediately and knew that I'd want you on my side, not only because I'd love to be allies with someone like that, but because I knew as an enemy you could easily be a death sentence.I appreciated your love for Survivor and lived in fear of a super idol since the first moment you mentioned their existence 😂. I really wish corn tribe could've made it to FTC 🌽💔, Ohioans for life! (I'm kidding I'm getting out of this state as soon as possible, but it was fun to bond over Ohio with you!)An edited! joke (see that was a slight joke right there… okay I'll see myself out): Did you hear about the guy trying out for editor for the sums series of Math Magazine?It was an addition edition audition.

Amy: JAY! My Disney buddy!!! So I didn’t know Raffy and Jay Bee were going to expose me in that all or nothing tribal for being at Disney lol I was trying to keep it on the DL. Otherwise I would have freaked out more with you over WDW and your trip and my upcoming trip the next week haha!!! We have to catch up after this! I adore you and our chats. I hope you don’t have to sleep on any more chairs and you are having a great summer at work! Love your positive energy. You are on your way to big things!

Jodi: Jay, I have so much to say to you both about the game and about you as a person. As an ally, you were so loyal to me even when people were not nice to you about it, and you stood up for me and always had my back. You played your role in the game to perfection and people are mad about it just because you were never actually on the bottom. I’m sorry I had to vote you out because they made me force my hand. I love you to death and I am so glad we got to play this game together. Having this opportunity showed us that we can absolutely do this again and I will be your goat next time we play together. I promise. 

Elle: Colin 🥺🥺🥺💗 When I say I literally almost gave up on this game when you left (Amy can testify). We were a little devious team and it was so much funnn, Amy was the double agent super spy, you were the person on comms with all the connections and gadgets, and I was the nerd in the van planning out the heist routes and typing really fast until I look up really dramatically and say, "I'm in".Also here's the list of book reccs you asked for✨:

The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson, it’s a mysteryyyy and it's a lot of fun! A fun little cast of characters to get attached to ^_^

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, I mentioned this one before, it's a classic but you can read it in one sitting And it's funny. We love to see it💕 Plus it's pride month and we love Victorian era gay poet/playwright/authors.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Look. This book is amazing, it is queer🏳️‍🌈 (mlm protag relationship but also way more queer characters), it is well written, it's romantic as hell, it's spicy, I don't know how to describe how good it is I'm getting emo thinking about it read ittttttt 💖 (Casey McQuiston also has a new book out with a wlw relationship and we also love to see thattt✨)

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Okay soooo this isn't a mystery, but I feel like people into mystery novels would enjoy the way the plot unravels. Also I love this book. That is all ^_^ Also it is queer as well🏳️‍🌈, mlm relationship.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Haven't read it, but from what I know about it and what books you said you were into and it's acclaim/reputation, I think you'd be into it.

Generally speaking, I am more in the YA/romance/fantasy side of things but I tried to tailor the list to things I genuinely think you'd enjoy ❤️A joke ^_^: Everyone tried so hard to figure out why Mr. Edwards changed his name to Mr. EvansBut after all these years, it's still a Mr. E

Amy: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭!!!! I won’t even lie here before writing this I spent 20 minutes crying thinking about seeing you at FTC because I am just so sorry. I wanted to sit next to you as you won and I feel like I let you down. I am so sorry for how that round went. I was MAD mad after. When you said you, me, Elle F3 I was all in and when I lost you I made it my mission to get both Elle and myself to the end in your honor. I also regret not grabbing drinks with you in KC because that would have been absolutely hilarious even if our planned tribe fight didn’t pan out hahaha. I loved every second of working with you in this wild game. Your social game is incredible and I am so thankful to you for doing everything you did. I’ll never forget sitting on a 20 minute call with Brayden and Jodi about voting you out, hanging up, and immediately calling you to plan how to keep you safe. Sorry I didn’t tell you about the tricks up my sleeve, too. Thank you for making this game so fun to play that I ignored my family in Disney World. All my love ❤️

Jodi: Colin, I wasn’t quite sure what direction to go with this, but I’ll just be open and honest. I really did want to play this game with you, but after realizing the true threat of you having all of Dennis’ stuff (which was correct), I had to get rid of you not because I didn’t want to play, but just because I wanted my game in my own hands, and with 3 immune advantages, you were able to cruise from F7 to F4 with no risk. Sort of like James in China, you have to blindside them before they cruise to F4. That’s one less guaranteed spot for everybody, and I didn’t want to rely on whether you liked me enough to keep me around. For the same reasons that you were upset with Jared and Jay, I too, did not want to play somebody else’s game. I wanted to put my game in my own hands and that’s what I did. You were not supposed to go at F7, we were just trying to get rid of your idol. I was hoping you’d appreciate the gameplay that I was not willing to rely on riding coattails and be in someone else’s good graces to keep me around. Hopefully I’ve explained this well enough during FTC as well. I had no ill will, just wanted to play my own game, not somebody else’s. For the record, if I didn’t make it back into the game or got voted out again with you at the end, I was going to vote for you to win. You pushed me to play harder and be a better player because I knew you would not be easy to outwit and outplay. I’ve told many people this and I can respect and appreciate being outplayed. 

Elle: Joshhhh, my buddy 💔 I'm really sorry you got rocked out, Amy and I were willing to take the risk of being rocked out but we didn't tell you because you had voted for Colin the round previous. To be clear we were still willing to work with you, but the wound was kind of fresh and it seemed silly to give you sensitive information at the time. You did get past F8 this time! But I am sorry about going to rocks, didn't mean to lose you, king.A bit of humor: What does a panda use to make pancakes?A pan...duhI had multiple cooking themed onessss:A student baked a loaf of bread for home economics class.At the end of the class, his teacher returned the loaf and told him that he had gotten an A.The student said: “Thanks, that’s just what I kneaded.”

Amy: Josh I am so sorry you went out on rocks. I know that is the last way you wanted to go. You probably won’t forgive me but I really didn’t want you to go there. I was aiming for Jodi or Jared, but had already mentally prepared for rocks before the twist was announced. I truly hope you get to play again and not be victim to a twist or rocks. You are an absolutely incredible player which made me cautious and frustrated at times haha! Love your energy and I am manifesting that you get a new job that you absolutely love because you deserve it!

Jodi: We had such an incredible story arc to our games. We weren’t close on Phantom, got in touch on SEES, then grew apart again before my vote out, pulled off a beautiful move at F7, and continued to work together until you got rocked out at 6. You were the surprise blessing to my game. When you approached me at F7, I found light in my game again. You had the same agenda as I did, with the same intentions and same concerns. You gave me a real chance to reintegrate into this game and I’m so happy and grateful that you decided to trust me. On top of that, your energy and personality was super fun and I’m glad we got to have fun writing each other’s names down a couple times. I treasured your trust in me a lot and I really wanted to play to the end with you. I think you’d win the game if you were in my spot today. I hope we continue to be friends and good luck with your new game.

Elle: Thank you for remembering my birthday before Raffy reminded everyone 💛 that was very sweet and in my introduction I literally said if anyone remembered it I'd love them forever and then I proceeded to be on opposing sides with you… oops!

Granted, it wasn't really on purpose, I just happened to not be in that alliance of six people and that happened to kind of decide how lines were drawn for the rest of the game in a way.

Impressed with your sudoku skills, being on a tribal call during graduation (congrats again!), and with your coolheadness, if I had an idol while that chaos one was played you bet I'd be playing it 😂 you had a really good game and I hope you think so too ^_^

A fitting joke: If you keep trying the same sudoku puzzle, you willl eventually solve it.

It's just a numbers game, really.

Amy: Jared! You unintentionally became one of my biggest rivals because you are so good at this game! I envy your way to lie in such a believable way that I had to spend so much time convincing Colin you were lying even though I was copy/pasting your exact plan haha! You are great at challenges and frustrated me to no end when you would ONLY tell me lies. You are so smart and I can’t wait to see what you do next. For the cards that were dealt to you, you had an incredible game. Congratulations on graduating! I hope to see you in another game and actually get to work with you.

Jodi: Dear my beloved idol holder, thank you for being my in-game simp. Thank you for having your idol on deck at all times to use on me at my request :) Jared, by now I would’ve shared with everyone at FTC about our 10 year love affair, but I want you to know just how much playing this game has meant to me. After drifting apart for a good 7 years, I’m glad that Survivor brought us close again last year and that you signed up to do this. I couldn’t have played the game that I ended up playing without you despite you WANTING ME OUT AT F4. I’m glad we did this game before signing up for the show together. I cannot wait to do Blood Vs. Water 3 with you. Basing off of our track record this time, we’re going to kill it :)

Elle: Anastasiaaaaaaaaaa💔 I'm not sure how much left I have to say to you 😅 (I am writing this kinda right after tribal so I was talking to you like an hour ago). Congrats on graduating again!! And congrats on this game kinda jealous of your streak so far 😂 you've literally never done worse than F4 do you know how many people can say that? Not many!! Definitely not me lol.

Here's a dad joke!: How do you handle a redhead's temper?

Gingerly!

Amy: Anastasia you are absolutely incredible and I am so thankful Ginny put us in an alliance together on new Fools because I loved playing this game with you. We went back and forth on working together but every time I was glad we were both still together making it farther in the game. I truly meant when I said I would force fire for you, but I respect your decision. I am so sorry I had to keep things from you so much since you were closer with Brayden and Jodi. I hope to play another game with you because you make it so fun and you are such a great player and your social game is so good! I was so excited when you wanted to flip but I am sorry I couldn’t say yet that I already had. Congratulations on graduating and being absolutely incredible!

Jodi: Anastasia, you are the reason I got to the end, and I owe so much to you. In this game, I’ve had to play so dangerously, and my game heavily relied on having ride or dies have my back. When I came back in, we talked immediately about me throwing out your name and you writing my name down, but we got together instantly and made magic happen. You had my back and I had yours. We pulled the most iconic move in this game at the final 7 together (by now you’ll all have heard me talk about it, my plan to create immunity for 3 people) and I truly had you as my ride or die to the end. Thank you so much for playing with me, believing in me and recognizing the game that I played. I love you and can’t wait to be best friends with you and Brayden 

The Perfect Storm Chapter 1 (Jensen x Reader)

Title: The Perfect Storm Chapter 1-She’s Here

Pairings: Jensen x Reader; Jensen x Danneel

Summary: Jensen just wanted his ex wife to sign the papers so he could marry Danneel. He never expected to be dragged back into the life of a storm chaser. But once a storm chaser, always a storm chaser. Based on the movie Twister (RIP Bill Paxton)

A/N: This story is dedicated to the beautiful, talented, amazing, all over fantastic @petrovadixon! The lyrics in this chapter are “Give it Away” by George Strait. I hope to be able to get this posted to AO3 soon, if it will work with me. Anyway, here it is. Feedback is welcome!

Edited because I didn’t realize (y/n) was changing to my name

****

Just give it away There ain't nothing in this house worth fightin' over Oh, we're both tired of fightin' anyway Just give it away

 Danneel reached over and turned down the radio as Jensen tapped his hand on the steering wheel. It felt weird not wearing his wedding band after so long, but that chapter of his life was coming to an end. But when Danneel turned down the radio, he looked over at her. Her red hair was blowing in the wind from the open window and she was wearing a pair of vintage aviators, so he couldn’t see her eyes, but he knew that look was there.

 “What gives?” He asked. “That was George Strait.”

 “Don’t you think that song is a little inappropriate?” She asked, looking out over the cornfields of Kansas. Jensen raised an eyebrow.

 “Inappropriate?” He asked. “It’s just about a guy going through a…oh…”

 “Yeah.” Danneel said with a sigh. Her feet were up on the dash as she relaxed back into her seat, loving that Jensen was doing all the driving. It was too nice of a day to use the AC all the time. Storms were moving in anyway, so she knew that the ride back would be windows up, AC going.

 “So…she will be there?” Danneel asked. “I don’t want us making this whole trip for nothing.”

 “Yeah, she’ll be there.” Jensen said, checking out the clouds as he drove. “They’ll all be there. They wouldn’t miss this perfect opportunity.” Danneel reached over and rested her hand on his thigh.

 “You’re nervous about this whole thing, aren’t you?” She smiled softly at Jensen.

 “Do I look nervous?” Jensen asked. Of course, he was nervous. It had been over a year since he had last seen her and he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle it. He never got this nervous, even when he was standing on a sound stage somewhere reading news or weather off a teleprompter.

 “Well, a little.” She said, giggling some. “But it looks good on you.” He smiled some.

 “I’m just glad that it’ll be over soon.” He sighed some.

 “And she did sign the papers, right?” Danneel asked. They had been struggling on and off with finding time to talk to her and get everything in order. She was always travelling for her work, and if she was in one place, it wasn’t in place for long. Luckily for Jensen, he knew she had someplace that she visited all the time where he knew she would get the notice of the attempt to divorce.

 “The last time I talked to her, she said she did.” He told Danneel. “We just have to meet up with her and get them.” He looked around as Kansas passed by. It had been so long since he left their home in Lawrence for Los Angeles. But it seemed like even longer since he left Texas for Kansas. “This place brings back memories.”

 “It does?” She asked, looking around. “But there’s nothing here.”

 “I know.” He sighed softly. “Isn’t it beautiful?” He glanced over at her. “But not as beautiful as you.” She smiled and pulled her feet down off the dash so she could lean over and kiss him on the cheek with a loud smooch. She looked back out the windshield.

 “Is that them up there?” Danneel asked, pointing to a group of people off in a little clearing right up by a farm. Jensen smiled some.

 “Yep, that’s them.” He said. He looked up at a van to see her standing there in a white tank top with the album cover of Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” on it. Her lucky tank top. He pulled the truck off into the clearing, not ready to get out yet. He could see the old team running around, fixing equipment. Misha was yelling at someone, which wasn’t unusual.

 “Don’t fold the maps.” Misha told Jake as he fished a water bottle out of their cooler in the back seat of their truck they were using.

 “I didn’t.” He groaned, hearing Jared’s music playing through the speakers on his bus again. He got it working after hail destroyed it in Oklahoma.

 “Well, according to this, there is a valley right through Wichita.” Misha sighed. “Always roll the maps.”

 “Aye, aye captain.” Jake said, saluting Misha. After hearing Misha yelling at the poor kid, Jensen finally found his calm place and opened the driver’s door as Danneel opened hers. They climbed out and Jensen smiled over at the two.

 “Jenny?” Misha said, earning a thumbs up from Jensen. “Well hot damn! Jake, Jensen’s back!”

 “I’m not back.” Jensen said, shaking his head. “Where’s (y/n)?”

 “The queen’s busy fixing the satellite.” Jake said. “Her and Jeff have been working on it all night. Of course, he was more worried about being able to hear the perfect soundtrack over the roars of a twister.”

 “Yeah, that’s Jared for you.” Jensen sighed. Jared looked out the windshield of his bus then, his eyes widening as he jumped off. HE ran over to Jensen before Misha and Jake could go to him.

 “The Extreme!” Jared called out, barreling over and picking up his friend in a crushing bear hug.

 “Jesus Jared, don’t start that again.” Jensen gasped. “Put me down Sasquatch.” Jared set Jensen down on his feet, but he still had a big grin on his face. Danneel slowly came around the truck, a little weary of the moose man in front of her. “Guys, I want to introduce you to Danneel. Danni, this is Misha, Jake, and Jay. Jared. The guys.”

 “Nice to meet you.” Danneel said. Jared laughed and pulled her in for a hug. He was definatly a hugger. Jensen forgot to warn her of that little fact.

 “Is she busy?” Jensen asked Misha. “Like is she almost done?”

 “I don’t know man. You know her better than we do.” Misha told him. Jensen shook his head.

 “I don’t know about that one.” He sighed. “Danni, sweetie, why don’t you hang out here with the guys. I’m going to go talk to her.”

 “Okay honey.” Danneel said, a little out of breath after the Padalecki hug.

 “Hey Jay, why don’t you try to explain to her why you are the way you are? It’ll kill some time.” He laughed. Jared did a weird little dance, holding Danneel’s hand as he did, making her look up at Jensen with a scared expression. Jensen gave her a small smile before heading over to the van where Jeff was currently holding up wires while (y/n) poked and prodded at the Doppler mounted on top.

 As Jensen made his way over to (y/n) on the longest walk ever, he passed people he thought he would never see again. Jim, Rob, Richie just to name a few. He was honestly surprised they all clung together after the final straw between him and (y/n), but he couldn’t really blame them. There wasn’t really a big demand for professional storm chasers. And many of them wouldn’t survive a week working at the Weather Service. Jensen sighed as he finally arrived at the van. Jeff looked up at him and wondered how fast he could get out of here before (y/n) noticed.

 “Hey (y/n).” Jensen said. She cringed a little but looked around the Doppler and smiled.

 “Hey Jen.” She said, being very pleasant. “I’m glad you found us. I wasn’t exactly sure where we would end up on this road.”

 “How are you?” Jensen asked, trying so hard to be nice. Actually, it wasn’t that hard. The hard thing was joining (y/n) up on top of the van. Like old times.

 “Great.” She looked up at the darkening sky. “Looking like we’re going to have a fun afternoon.” Felicia came over to stand by Jeff as Jensen and (y/n) talked to each other for a second. (y/n) climbed down off the van.

 “So, about the papers…” Jensen started to say when Colin, a kid would could easily pass as Jared’s brother, called her over to check out the camera he had dropped in the mud a couple tornadoes ago. He watched her handle it with all the grace he had ever seen. Too bad she couldn’t handle everything that way. She made her way back over to Felicia and Jeff, checking the last of the monitors and signals.

 “You want the papers?” She asked. Jeff and Felicia looked at each other before taking a step back and looking down at some readouts, trying to distance themselves from what was going on in front of them. “They’re signed and ready to go.”

 “Good.” Jensen sighed. “Where are they?”

 “In the truck.” She told him, not even looking up. He looked around, seeing that god awful yellow Jeep pickup sitting not too far from them.

 “Can you get them?” He asked.

 “What’s with the urgency? You’d think you were getting married…” She froze then, knowing the answer but not wanting to hear it.

 “I am.” He explained. “Her name is Danneel Harris. We met out in LA.” (Y/n) nodded some and left where she was standing, heading for her truck.

 “Went from me to Danneel. You don’t browse around much, do you?” She joked, making Jensen roll his eyes.

 “You know the answer to that.” He said. She opened the door to the truck and leaned in, opening the glove box and pulling out the envelope.

 “Here you go.” She said. He took them and started to examine them, making sure nothing was missed. (Y/n) realized then that she was still wearing that ring. She quickly pulled it off and tossed it into the truck so he couldn’t see it.

 “You missed a page.” Jensen said as she started to walk away. She sighed and turned around. “Just two more signatures. That’s all I need and we’ll be out of your hair.”

 “Sure you will Jen.” She sighed softly, walking over and grabbing a pen out of her truck. “Wait, she’s here?”

 “Yes she is. I left her with Jay.” Jensen explained. (Y/n) laughed.

 “You left her with Jay? What’s the matter with you?” She headed over to where Jared and Danneel were, much to Jensen’s protests.

 “What are you doing?”

 “I wanna meet her.” (Y/n) said, walking away. Jensen growled out and grabbed the papers. They made it over to Danneel and Jared as Jared was explaining suck zones to her, making her giggle some.

 “Hey there. You must be Danneel.” (Y/n) said, walking over and shaking her hand. “I’m (y/n) (y/l/n).” She took your hand and shook it. “Jenny was just telling me the happy news.”

 “Jenny? Happy news?” She asked.

 “About us.” Jensen sighed. Danneel nodded, laughing a little as she thought about Jensen’s nickname.

 “You’re getting hitched? That’s awesome man.” Jared laughed. Jensen looked down at him.

 “We wanted to get it done before Jensen’s new job.” Danneel said.

 “Oh, I almost forgot. TV weather person. She almost sneered.

 “Hey. Don’t mock it.” Jensen sighed.

 “I’m not mocking anything.” She said as she walked away. Danneel answered her phone then as Jensen followed, making a motion with her hand to tell him to get the papers. Jensen followed (y/n) as she examined his cherry red ride. “New truck. New job. New girl. You’re a whole new Ackles.”

 “I know how awkward this is…”

 “I thought you would’ve been coming out here alone.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. Jense laughed some.

 “I didn’t think I’d be coming out here at all.” He said. “You promised to have them to us by January. It’s July.”

 “Sorry. I’ve been busy.” (Y/n) explained to him.

 “With what?” Jensen asked. “What is so important that you couldn’t take five minutes to drop these back off at the Wakita post office?”

 “Dorthy.” She said softly. Jensen raised an eyebrow.

 “Dorthy? What about her?” He asked. (Y/n) smiled some.

 “She’s here.” She told him, noticing how she was drawing him back in. His eyes widened.

 “Show me.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar almost starred in ‘The Princess Bride’

NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s trophy case runneth over — however now he’s angling for an Emmy. He has nabbed six NBA MVP awards, six NBA Championships and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The New York native has additionally written quite a few books and pens op-eds — about the whole lot from whether or not LeBron James is the best basketball participant ever to the midterm elections — for The Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian. Now he can add tv scribe to his résumé: At age 71, he’s working as a employees author on the upcoming reboot of the teen-detective TV sequence “Veronica Mars.” The outspoken Laker nice, a divorced grandfather of 1, talks to The Submit about his surprising profession change, the one factor he’ll by no means eliminate — and the film function that acquired away. You’re fairly energetic on Twitter. Had social media been round if you had been taking part in in the 1970s and ’80s, is there something you’d have introduced extra consideration to? There’s plenty of stuff that comes from simply residing my life — driving on the NJ Turnpike and being stopped as a result of I used to be a black individual driving an costly automotive. I by no means wrote about it or complained. All black [people] must take care of that. Cell cameras have uncovered that black folks have been singled out by white cops. It really occurs. As soon as we expose these items, daylight is nice for these conditions. Something out of your video games? I used to be proper there standing on the courtroom when Marvin Gaye sang the Nationwide Anthem on the All-Star Sport [in 1983]. I might have taken footage of that. The [Los Angeles] Discussion board was nice for star-watching. Did you ever watch ‘The Munsters’? Fred Gwynne [Herman Munster] and Al Lewis [Grandpa] tried to by no means miss my video games at UCLA. How did you find yourself in the author’s room for the “Veronica Mars” reboot? [Show creator] Rob Thomas. There was a e book he did referred to as “Slave Day,” which I referred to [in an Orange County Register story] and he was flattered. I met Rob and had some concepts about doing a restricted sequence about South Central Los Angeles. I wanted some assist with that. Rob was gracious sufficient to assist . . . And he supplied to convey me and my right-hand man, [writer] Raymond Obstfeld, in and invited us to assist with the following season of “Veronica Mars.” It’s ­actually serving to us and we’re studying [how to write a show]. We had no expertise. Now that I’m studying this, it’s fascinating, man. What concepts are you bringing to the desk? Me personally, not an entire lot. I’m making an attempt to take it in and determine it out as I’m going alongside. I’m the rookie in the room . . . because it goes alongside I’m able to contribute somewhat bit. You look forward to that ­second to occur. What are you watching now? The final present I binge-watched was “Atlanta.” I didn’t have [the FX network] on my cable so I had to determine easy methods to watch it. You will have an iconic function in the film “Airplane,” as a co-pilot who denies he’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You additionally appeared as your self in “Fletch” and “BASEketball.” Ever flip down a component for being too goofy? No, however there was a task I missed out on . . . the [one] that Andre the Big had in “The Princess Bride.” I might have had it, however they shot the film throughout basketball season. And I acquired the function in “Airplane” as a result of Pete Rose couldn’t take it. They shot that throughout the summer season and he was taking part in baseball. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (left) and Peter Graves (proper) in 1980’s comedy ‘Airplane!’©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Col You’re now auctioning off memorabilia — together with sport jerseys and championship rings — to learn your Skyhook Basis for underprivileged youngsters. What motivated you? I had a fireplace [his Bel Air mansion was destroyed in 1983] and it helped me perceive what issues are all about — they’re simply issues, and I’m not in the museum enterprise. However there needed to be one factor you needed to maintain, proper? Yeah, I’ve one among my MVP trophies. Certainly one of six. I stored one. You grew to become a particular assistant coach to the Lakers in 2005 — 16 years after retirement. Why the delay? I had a really unlucky relationship with the press whereas I used to be taking part in, as a result of I could possibly be prickly. It was a transition, generation-wise. I used to be coping with folks [in the basketball world] who didn’t like Muhammad Ali — and I used to be a fan of Ali, and there was some antagonism. It acquired out that I didn’t like folks. I used to be seen as a danger. However I lastly acquired by that and coached with the Lakers for 5 – 6 years. It was a very good expertise. [By the time I retired,] I had burned out. And that was two or three years and . . . when that stopped, I began writing. [The burnout] compelled me to do one thing else. You collected plenty of {hardware} in the NBA. Which accomplishment means essentially the most to you? My kids’s e book [“What Coloration is My World,” revealed in 2012] that gained the NAACP Picture Award. I’m happy with that as a result of it was important for youths and the kind of factor that lasts. Children will probably be reaching for that e book for hopefully time to come back, particularly black youngsters that don’t perceive their very own heritage. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar selling his kids’s e book, ‘What Coloration is My World?’FilmMagic Do you suppose modern-day athletes are doing a very good job parlaying their highlight into significant roles? I believed [outspoken NFL quarterback Colin] Kaepernick did an unimaginable job. All that fireplace and he was nonetheless capable of be on message . . . It was neat to see that Nike gave him some help there. What’s subsequent for you? I at all times consider one thing new to attempt. I’m simply having fun with life and it’s lovely having my granddaughter and seeing my kids do effectively. Amen. That’s all that counts. Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/12/08/kareem-abdul-jabbar-almost-starred-in-the-princess-bride/ The post Kareem Abdul-Jabbar almost starred in ‘The Princess Bride’ appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2018/12/kareem-abdul-jabbar-almost-starred-in-the-princess-bride.html

What We Learned: The NHL's other looming free agent apocalypse

Blake Wheeler will be difficult for the Jets to retain. (Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)

After all the attention that has been understandably paid to Toronto’s current and future salary cap situation, it got me thinking about other elite teams and what their cap situations look like going forward.

Obviously Tampa is going to have some big issues dealing with their roster, even before the potential addition of Erik Karlsson, simply because they have so many elite and very good players. They’re already close to a cap crunch of sorts, and next summer they will have to strike new deals for Nikita Kucherov, Yanni Gourde, Brayden Point, Anton Stralman, Slater Koekkoek, and Jake Dotchin, among other players.

It’s therefore likely that seismic changes are on the way for that roster, but this is something that’s already pretty broadly acknowledged league-wide. However, there’s another top team that is going to be staring down some serious issues in the future and could end up having to make some difficult decisions in short order.

Winnipeg currently has the lowest cap obligation in the league as of this writing (less than $52.7 million, giving them about $26.8 million to play with right now). As we await word of new contracts for seven restricted free agents. While most of them aren’t going to be too expensive, the new deals for Connor Hellebuyck and Jacob Trouba will likely be significant. Altogether you can expect those seven guys to pull perhaps $20 million against the cap, which leaves the Jets with plenty of room this year.

That is, one supposes, a benefit of finding a buyer for Steve Mason’s contract and Paul Stastny bouncing for Vegas with no replacement in sight except probably from within.

But it’s next year that’s the problem. The Jets will enter the 2019 offseason with about as much money in cap obligations as they have this year, but a good chunk of the core likely locked up long-term. However, they will also have to re-sign Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor among their RFAs, and both will probably be quite costly. Laine especially could potentially command at least Leon Draisaitl money, if not more (one supposes this depends heavily on what the Leafs give their pending RFAs). Again, these are deals the Jets can comfortably fit under the cap.

But it’s the UFAs that pose some serious problems. Can they reasonably afford to retain or find replacements for Blake Wheeler and Tyler Myers? You can say what you like about Myers’ contributions to the team, especially vis a vis his $5.5 million cap hit, but he’s at least a second-pair defenseman and those seem to be getting fairly expensive these days; you can probably get an upgrade at the same price point, but not as much as one might think, even if the cap goes up substantially again (which it probably won’t).

However, you absolutely won’t find a reasonable replacement for Wheeler, who’s a point-a-game guy and makes just $5.5 million against the cap. So the question becomes how much do you pay him, since he’ll be 32 to start the new deal, and what do you reasonably expect from him? Because if you’re committing multiple years and a raise to a player that far past 30, you might be in a bit of trouble sooner than later.

And while there will be a few intriguing UFA forwards potentially hitting the market that same summer (Tyler Seguin, Jeff Skinner, Jordan Eberle) the question, again, becomes what you pay those guys to hopefully be almost as good as Wheeler.

The issue for the Jets isn’t so much the salary cap as it is the fact that they’re a budget team. They have a small venue in a small market and have traditionally shied away from really approaching the cap ceiling. Last year they were more than $5 million short of it, and the season before that their obligations were about $6.5 million short. So the question becomes not only if the Jets will be able to keep those guys, but if they have the stomach to push that close to the cap ceiling (likely over $80 million at the very least) to do it. They have never exceeded $70 million in cap obligations, and though they probably will this year, one wonders if there’s a natural stopping point south of whatever the cap’s upper limit is.

If so, that creates some potentially uncomfortable questions for Kevin Cheveldayoff. On the one hand, the Jets are likely to be a top-five team in the league again this season and that carries with it the need to be as competitive as possible with an elite roster. But can this team really afford to potentially let Wheeler and/or Myers walk in free agency and get nothing in return?

There is only one bad contract on the roster that could be moveable, because that ill-advised Dmitry Kulikov deal expires after 2019-20 and you might be able to talk someone into taking your $4.33 million bottom-pair defender if you sweeten the pot or pull off a stunning con.

I don’t know that there’s a comfortable answer in what to do here, especially if there’s an internal budget that must be adhered to. You probably can’t trade a Wheeler-type player if you’re in the thick of a divisional title and potentially going after the Presidents’ Trophy. But if you keep him, don’t win the Cup, and then maybe have to let him walk in free agency, that’s going to be tough to deal with organizationally.

Again, you don’t often get multiple years of a guy scoring a point a game for just $5.6 million, so the Jets have enjoyed a significant luxury. They likely won’t get anything like it again in this league.

This is, to be sure, a rich man’s problem. When you have so many good players it becomes difficult to pay them all, it’s a lot better than the alternative. And Cheveldayoff has really put the Jets in a position where they have relatively few contracts on the books that could even be considered “iffy.”

How he maneuvers out of this fix will be pretty telling when it comes to the future of one of the best young teams in the league.

What We Learned

Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks’ power play wasn’t that good the past few years, but is it really something they can fix?

Arizona Coyotes: It’s good that we’re getting more stories about how it’s not easy to be a person of color and play this sport at a high level.

Boston Bruins: Yeah, pretty hard to disagree with this assessment.

Buffalo Sabres: Jack Eichel has been in the league too long to be able to change his number without also changing teams. It’s unacceptable.

Calgary Flames: If Spencer Foo makes the Flames’ roster, that’s probably not a good sign for the Flames’ depth.

Carolina Hurricanes: You really have to like that Calvin de Haan deal but at the same time, it’s not some sort of huge game-changer.

Chicago: Bowman hasn’t made a move to improve this team’s not-good defense, which seems like it’s not a good idea.

Colorado Avalanche: Where did anyone on earth get the idea that John Tavares might have even considered signing with Colorado? Come on.

Columbus Blue Jackets: That was a nice little extension for Boone Jenner. Can’t be mad at it.

Dallas Stars: If you get the chance to add Erik Karlsson, you take it regardless of what’s being asked. But Jeff Skinner wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.

Detroit Red Wings: It’s possible that Filip Zadina would be able to play in the AHL if he doesn’t make the Red Wings roster, but he’ll probably make the Red Wings roster.

Edmonton Oilers: Who could have seen this Lucic deal turning into a nightmare on the day it was signed? No one!

Florida Panthers: The Panthers are gonna be a cap-limit team. Probably should have kept those Vegas guys, eh?

Los Angeles Kings: The Kings have invested in a startup with four employees and no headquarters that makes it cheaper to make good ice for hockey rinks. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Minnesota Wild: Remember when it used to be a big scandal to suggest the Wild didn’t have a lot of impact talent on the roster? Well…

Montreal Canadiens: This Shea Weber thing is so awful for the Canadiens and Marc Bergevin specifically. There are EIGHT years left on this guy’s deal.

Nashville Predators: The Preds just made a big free agency mistake.

New Jersey Devils: No. Next question.

New York Islanders: This is one of those “whether he likes it or not” things.

New York Rangers: A thing teams with cap space should always do is try to get in on trades as third-party negotiators, take on some salary and get picks and prospects out of it. Always use as much cap space as you can if it gets you something.

Ottawa Senators: This headline is bleak.

Philadelphia Flyers: Based on where Christian Folin went to college, this is a very savvy pickup.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Barring a bounceback year from Matt Murray (possible), the Pens are firmly outside the top five teams in the league but also probably somewhere solidly in the top eight.

San Jose Sharks: Nice little contract for Dylan DeMelo. Term and money look good for both sides.

St. Louis Blues: Dmitrij Jaskin never really panned out as expected, huh? He only had six goals last season.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Pretty amazing how fast you can go from “we might be done for the summer” to “we might trade for one of the best players alive.”

Toronto Maple Leafs: We’re still gonna act like the Leafs have the flexibility to trade for a defenseman of note, huh?

Vancouver Canucks: Im… improve the power play? Am I reading that right?

Vegas Golden Knights: I love this Colin Miller deal. Really good player signed cheap for his entire prime.

Washington Capitals: Real nervous to see how this Tom Wilson deal works out. It’s gonna be bonkers.

Winnipeg Jets: This is bold prognostication.

Gold Star Award

This is very nice from Vegas.

Minus of the Weekend

Just trade Karlsson already!!!

Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Week

User “xNogaitx” has it figured out.

To Montreal: Carl Hagelin (4M) Daniel Sprong (750k) 2019 1st round pick Conditional 2021 2nd round pick *

To Pittsburgh: Max Pacioretty (4.5M) – Retained 2M Paul Byron (1.16M)

Signoff

No mother, it’s just the Northern Lights.

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

Tarantino First Look; Academy Class Questions; Chalamet's 'Beautiful Boy' Trailer; L.A.'s "Influencer-Only" Mural

Tarantino First Look; Academy Class Questions; Chalamet’s ‘Beautiful Boy’ Trailer; L.A.’s “Influencer-Only” Mural

What’s news: Leonardo DiCaprio unveiled the first look at Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . Plus: Lingering questions about the Academy’s record new class, Dana Brunetti launches a new company and an “influencer-only” mural arrives in Los Angeles. — Erik Hayden June 27, 2018 What’s news: Leonardo DiCaprio unveiled the first look at Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . Plus: Lingering questions about the Academy’s record new class, Dana Brunetti launches a new company and an “influencer-only” mural arrives in Los Angeles. — Erik Hayden Academy Class Questions Having sifted through the 928 member list unveiled by the film Academy, Scott Feinberg has a few questions about the direction of the organization: 1. Is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? In order to meet its diversity goals, the Academy — and, in particular, its largest division, the actors branch — is increasingly inviting people to become members who are tremendously talented, but whose talents have primarily manifested themselves in other media. 2. If you’re good enough to win an Oscar, why aren’t you good enough to join the Academy? I do believe that there is one circumstance under which someone who has not amassed a large body of standout work should still be invited to join the Academy, and that is if that person has made a contribution to a film that was deemed excellent enough to merit an Oscar. 3. Is Oscar campaigning about to go crazy? With the latest class added, this will create the highest number of Oscar voters since the period spanning 1938 to 1945, when certain classes of members of outside guilds, including the now-defunct Screen Extras Guild, were granted full voting privileges, bringing the size of the voting rolls to approximately 12,000. Full column. Elsewhere in film… ► MoviePass parent stock hits new low. The company is losing about $45 million a month on its plan that gives subscribers 30 movie tickets for the price of one; it may need to spend $1.2 billion more if it is to stay afloat and keep growing ► Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg reteam for Netflix film. The duo have set their next project (their fifth together) with the movie Wonderland , an adaptation from Robert B. Parker’s detective series. Sean O’Keefe penned the screenplay. ► Pete Davidson to lead indie Big Time Adolescence . The SNL star will join Machine Gun Kelly and Griffin Gluck in the pic. The film, which will begin shooting next month, will be the directorial debut of Jason Orley. ► Annapurna president to exit company. Marc Weinstock is leaving after less than two years in that role. According to insiders, his decision to depart is amicable and he will not be replaced. ^Sony’s Quentin Tarantino Manson drama unveils first still. Leonardo DiCaprio posted an image of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , with him and Brad Pitt featured. First look. ► Amazon unveils Beautiful Boy trailer. Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet and Maura Tierney star in the drama from the streamer that hits theaters Oct. 12. Full clip . ► Dwayne Johnson’s Skyscraper scores rare China release date . Legendary Entertainment and Universal’s action thriller has locked down a July 20 date, securing a spot right in the midst of Beijing’s summer blackout on imported Hollywood fare. ► Lionsgate finds new film group marketing chief. Damon Wolf, currently co-head of marketing at Sony, will join the studio Jan. 1. His recent campaigns include work on Baby Driver and Don’t Breathe . ► Constantin Film buys production group Hager Moss. The Munich-based production outfit is best known for its dramas and for crowd-pleasing films, including Oktoberfest . ► Independent Film and Television Alliance leaders renew contracts. Jean Prewitt and Jonathan Wolf have each re-upped for another three years with the trade association. Prewitt has headed the group since 2000. ► Writers Guild of America East unveils board candidates . It’s election season for the guild, which revealed a list of 16 candidates nominated for 10 open seats on its council. In Heat Vision : Marvel’s wait-and-see LGBTQ character approach. Graeme McMillan writes: Studio chief Kevin Feige recently confirmed queer characters are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which lags behind the comic book publisher. Full column. Mega TV Deals It’s official: Fox will be the new home of WWE SmackDown Live, Marisa Guthrie writes: + Fox: The new five-year agreement will commence Oct. 4, 2019, and will give Fox two hours of live event programming 52 weeks each year. It is worth $205M annually, and $1.025B over the life of the pact. + NBC: The network said that is has closed a new five-year pact to keep the Monday night showcase Raw on USA Network. That deal is worth $265M annually, a big premium over the current pact, which is worth about $150M annually for both properties. Currently both programs air on NBCUniversal’s USA. Full story. Elsewhere in TV… ► Charter greenlights its first scripted series. Bad Boys spinoff L.A.’s Finest , starring Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union, has been ordered by Charter Communications. The 13-episode drama will premiere in 2019. ► HBO casts Jeremy Irons in Watchmen pilot. The actor will topline the pilot from Damon Lindelof. While the pay cabler has remained mum on details, Irons will likely play an imperious lord of a British manor. ► Freeform cancels Famous in Love . Sources say the Disney-owned cabler wanted more money from SVOD partner Hulu for a potential third season amid clashes between star Bella Thorne and showrunner I. Marlene King. ► Lionsgate inks Dear White People showrunner to deal. Fresh off a third-season renewal, showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser has signed an overall deal . Under the pact, Bowser will create new projects for the studio. Quoted: “It seemed like, you don’t need to murder someone that’s committing suicide. I thought the firing was overkill. She’s already dead.” — Jerry Seinfeld to USA Today on Roseanne Barr ‘s firing. ^Can Netflix transform the TV landscape in the Middle East? With over 400M potential viewers, the region has vast potential, but with little variation in programming, audiences are starved for original content. The streaming giant could change all that. Full column. ► ITV COO, CFO to step down. The U.K. TV giant said that CFO and COO Ian Griffiths has advised the board of his intention to retire in the next 12 months. The company is searching for a successor. ► Endemol Shine names head of non-English scripted drama. Lars Blomgren, producer of the Scandinavian series The Bridge , has been hired as the new head of scripted across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. ► Fox Searchlight’s TV division fills out exec ranks. The new arm of the company has tapped Kara Buckley and Danny Samit as vps of television production. The division has yet to launch its first project. ► Sony shutting down Crackle in Canada. The video hub will shift some of its Canadian inventory to two new local ad-supported VOD services, via a partnership with Sony Pictures Television. Dana Brunetti launches new TV and film company. He is teaming with former Relativity exec Keegan Rosenberger to create Cavalry Media with “moderately-priced, premium” programming that includes the Columbus series Hispaniola. The budget for a film will be in the $40M-$80M range. Details. L.A.’s Influencers-Only Mural A stunt: Stroll down Melrose Avenue and there it is: A blue mural with a pink heart and angel wings. A security guard stands out front, next to a sign that reads, “For verified influencers and people with over 20,000 followers only,” Natalie Jarvey notes. What that means. What else we’re reading… — “Comcast hunts for additional cash.” Amol Sharma and Dana Mattioliis report that the company is “exploring tie-ups with other companies or private-equity investors that could provide additional cash as the cable giant pursues a costly acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets.” [ Wall Street Journal ] — ” How’s he gonna react when there’s a scandal?” Joe Pompeo on CNN: “So much appears to hang on the Jeff Zucker-John Stankey bromance. For now, everyone is saying the right thing.” [ Vanity Fair ] — “Hollywood’s instant antihero.” Reggie Ugwu’s Benicio Del Toro profile: “he’s been a strikingly economical player, if not always the most valuable one, averaging an unusually high ratio of memorable moments.” [ New York Times ] — “What does ABC want from The Conners ?” David Sims writes: “The network canceled Roseanne and ordered a rebooted version of the show without its star, but what kinds of stories is the spinoff hoping to tell?” [ The Atlantic ] — “Prince estate signs deal with Sony Music to re-release 35 catalog albums.” Colin Stutz notes: “The deal also includes rights to other previously released singles, B-sides, remixes, non-album tracks, live recordings and music videos recorded before 1995.” [ Billboard ] From the archives… + 10 years ago today: On June 27, 2008, Pixar unveiled WALL-E, a sci-fi adventure that would become a summer hit with critics and audiences. Flashback review. Today’s birthdays: Sam Claflin , 32, Khloé Kardashian , 33, Wagner Moura , 42, Tobey Maguire , 43, J.J. Abrams , 52. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. ©2018 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use June 27, 2018

from Christian David Biz https://ift.tt/2yUPCnN via Article Source

The Perfect Storm Chapter 8

Title: The Perfect Storm Chapter 8

Summary: Jensen Ackles just wanted his ex wife to sign the divorce papers before he married Danneel. He didn't want roped back into the storm chaser life. But once a storm chaser, always a storm chaser. Based off the movie Twister (RIP Bill Paxton)

Warnings: None

AN: Lyrics for this chapter are “Lips of an Angel” by Hinder.

My girls in the next room

Sometimes I wish she was you

I guess we never really moved on

 (Y/n) heard the song playing faintly from the snake bar of the drive-in that they had set up camp at temporarily. Jared was going back and forth from watching the Doppler to watching the movie that was currently on the screen. Some random horror movie. It made her think about the time that her and Jensen had snuck into this very same drive-in once to see the Shining and more time was spent on each other than on watching the movie. She glanced across the parking lot to see Jensen walking out of a motel room. Danneel had rented one, telling Jensen she needed some sleep and some space. Jensen had an idea about what was going on in her head, and he tried to talk to her, but it wasn’t happening anytime soon.

 “Hi, how can I help you?” The sweet girl at the snack bar said. A couple of the boys were listening to music. The girls had a TV on, trying to watch some show that was on TV. Some show about brothers fighting evil and saving the day or something.

 “I need eight coffees to go.” (Y/n) ordered. The women’s eyes widened.

 “Eight?” She asked. (Y/n) nodded and motioned to her crew. They were all just hanging around, watching the movie and working on the equipment. She grabbed her bag and set it on the counter, opening it to get out her wallet and that’s when she saw it. The papers. The one reason Jensen was here. If she signed them, that was it. He’d be gone. But she knew how happy he was with Danneel. And she couldn’t be the person to take that away.

 “She never flew.” (Y/n) whispered as she signed the papers with a pen on the counter used to sign credit card receipts. Jensen walked up to her then.

 “Two coffees.” He told the lady before turning to look at (Y/n), who wasn’t quite matching his gaze. “Long day.”

 “Yeah.” She answered. Jensen leaned up against the counter.

 “I was thinking about the sensors laying out there on the road today. Maybe they won’t fly that way.”

 “Whole thing is too light.” (Y/n) explained. “I don’t know what to do to fix it.” Jensen raised an eyebrow at her, confused as to where her energy had went all of the sudden. The girl comes back with ten coffees, two for Jensen and eight for (Y/n).

 “Thanks.” They both say at the same time. (Y/n) looked into the snackbar, seeing the TV the kids had in there go staticy on and off. As it did, there was a red bar across the bottom of the screen. Her eyes widened and her fears were confirmed as Jared barreled across the parking lot.

 “IT’S COMING!” He screamed. “WE HAVE TO GET TO SHELTER NOW! JENSEN! (Y/N)!” Jensen tensed. He knew that it was serious if Jared wasn’t calling him Jenny.

 “It’s already here!” Jensen called back, running towards where Danneel was as she came out of the motel room. The tornado sirens blared loudly in the dark sky. (Y/n) turned to see the tornado in the distance.

 “Get to safety!” She called to the kids in the snack bar. They all took off running like hellhounds were on their tail.

 “(Y/n) come on!” Jensen was begging her to run as he held on to Danneel, rushing her to a large building where the others had run to. “(Y/n)!”

 “I’m coming!” She called back, turning to run after them. She ran past Colin’s car and turned to see him in there. She ripped open his door, Jensen fighting the urge to go after her. “Come on Colin!”

 “I can’t.” He said. He was just a scared kid. He had taken this job to help with school. He wanted to be a meteorologist and this internship would look great on his resume. But he was terrified.

 “It’s okay. I’ve got you Colin. Come on.” She encouraged him. He reached forward and grabbed her hand. She pulled him towards the others, who were huddled down in a pit in the building. Jensen had his arms wrapped around Danneel.

 “Try to stay calm.” Jensen told everyone as he rubbed Danneel’s back. “It’ll be okay.” The building shook then and debris flew, one of them striking Jim in the head and he fell back against Jeff. (Y/n) crawled over to him and helped Jeff keep pressure on Jim’s cut. (Y/n) looked over at Jensen.

 “I hate this! This is crazy! I don’t want to do this anymore!” Danneel screamed.

 “Just relax. It’ll be okay.” Jensen assured her. But right then, a car came crashing through the building, knocking things down on top of them and a large sign fell down through the ceiling, suspended above them. But as soon as it started, it was over.

 “Is…is it over?” Danneel asked quietly.

 “I think so.” (Y/n) said. “How you doing Jim?”

 “Pretty good actually.” He said as Jeff and Misha helped him to his feet. Felicia had clung to Colin and Jake during the whole thing. Jared helped (y/n) to stand up and climb out of the pit. Everyone slowly made their way out as a couple cop cars pulled up.

 “Holy shit…” Jensen whispered to himself as he looked around. The cars that were parked on the other side weren’t damaged at all, but the screen where the movie had been playing was gone, the snack bar, the coming attractions board. All of that was gone. “The gear should all be good though…”

 “Is this always like this?” Danneel asked quietly, not looking at Jensen.

 “No. It’s not I promise.” Jensen said. He looked over at Jared and (Y/n).

 “Jay, where is it heading?” (Y/n) asked, running her fingers through her hair. Jared looked at the Doppler and froze. “Jay?”

 “It, uh, it looks like it hit Wakita head on…” Jared said, stumbling over his words some. The world seemed to move in slow motion for (Y/n) right then. Wakita?

 “I’m going!” (Y/n) called out, running around like a desperate woman right then. “I need a phone! Someone get me a phone!”

 “I’ve already tried. Nothing is going through.” Jeff said. “We’ll get you there.” Jensen watched (y/n) breaking apart before his very eyes. Her dad was gone, her mom ran off to god knows where, and Meg was all she had left.

 “Jesus.” He whispered to himself. “(Y/n) I’ll drive you!” He called over to her. She looked at him and he could see that small gleam of hope still in her eyes. She smiled some and ran over to the other guys to help them clean up and clear a path to get out and to Wakita. Jensen turned and looked at Danneel.

 “You’re going back out with them…” She said, looking up into his eyes. He placed gentle hands and smiled.

 “Yeah it looks that way.” HE said. She nodded.

 “I’m going back.” She said. He nodded.

 “Yeah that sounds like the best idea. The motel is probably the safest.” Jensen said. Danneel shook her head.

 “I won’t be there.” She said. His smile fell and his arms dropped to his side.

 “What does that mean?” HE asked, already knowing the answer.

 “I’m saying goodbye.” She said. “I can’t compete with this. I don’t even know where to begin. When I met you, you said you chased tornadoes. I thought it was a metaphor or something. I didn’t know that it actually meant you chased tornadoes.”

 “Danni…”

 “And there have been three close calls in twenty-four hours! What happens when it’s not just a close call Jen? What happens when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and there isn’t a convenient basement nearby…” She sighed. “Sooner or later, we both knew this was going to happen.”

 “I’m so sorry.” He whispered. While he had loved Danneel, the pull of a chaser was just too strong. He knew there was no way he would be happy living in a huge city and standing in a studio five to seven days a week. He didn’t want to just report the weather, he wanted to find a way to understand it better. “I never wanted this to happen.”

 “I know you didn’t.” She said, touching his cheek. “And the sad thing is, I’m not even that upset about it.” She laughed a little. “What does that say about us?” She looked down at her hand and slid off the engagement ring, placing it in Jensen’s hand and curling his fingers around it. “(Y/n) needs you more than I do. And from the sound of it, you still need her a whole hell of a lot.”

 “How…”

 “I heard you. Back when you and she went to let that Dorothy out. I heard you tell her about how you weren’t leaving her. You both are just downright crazy.” She laughed again. “And I know that you’re more at home on a dusty back road than you ever were in the city.”

 “I hope that you can find someone who can be more like that for you.” He said. Danneel smiled.

 “If you can find your equal, I’m sure I can find mine.” She turned to walk away but stopped. “If Jared asks for my number, tell him that I’m tavelling to Yemen for business and I don’t know when I’ll be back.” Jensen had to laugh.

 “I’ll do that.” He said. “See you around Danneel.”

 “See you around Jenny.” She smiled and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of emergency workers and displaced people. Jensen sighed and looked down at the engagement ring before looking up and locking eyes with (Y/n) from across the parking lot.

 “Come on Jensen!” Misha called over to him, breaking the look that (y/n) and Jensen had been sharing. “If we leave right now we can get back to Wakita in an hour. Maybe less with the way (Y/n) drives.”

 “Uh, I think Jensen should drive.” (Y/n) said. “If you don’t mind.”

 “You know I don’t.” He said. “Come on people! Let’s move!”

Tag List: @amazingmontse @petrovadixon @soobi89 @smoothdogsgirl @castielspahdehrah @policeofficerdean @theas-bedtime-stories @artprincessbree