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captcas · 3 years

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Worth Fighting For [12/?]

WORTH FIGHTING FOR by capthamm

Killian “Hook” Jones is a dominate up and comer in the UFC while Emma “The Savior” Swan’s career was cut short. When Hook’s manager moves up and the office brings in UFC’s youngest legend to keep him in check, will either of them be able to handle it?

read on ao3 // tumblr: ch 1/ ch 2 / ch 3 / ch 4 / ch 5 / ch 6 / ch 7 / ch 8 / ch 9 / ch 10 / ch 11 [Chapter 12/?]

The three weeks between that and Killian’s fight flew at lightspeed. Between training (together), press conferences (together), and general life (also, together), Emma found herself spending almost every moment with Killian without really knowing what hit her.

He wove himself into her life with an ease she would’ve found scary if she wasn’t so damn happy.

After meeting, Killian and Henry begged to be together daily. It started with short bursts– lunch here, a trip to the park there– and eventually it became week long movie nights with the three of them cuddled up on the couch. Any thought she had of slowing things down was abruptly erased by Henry’s overall excitement just to be with Killian.

The night the two of them fell asleep together in Henry’s bed mid-bedtime story was the proverbial nail in the coffin.

That’s how she finds herself sitting outside the locker room killing time before Killian has to prep for weigh-ins. Henry was already in their seats, Ruby keeping an eye on him while he oogles at the stage being constructed. Emma has been able to mostly ignore the reality of tonight– and tomorrow night– by managing Killian’s social accounts and keeping Regina off her back. (Let’s just say her boss doesn’t know the full extent of their relationship and Emma would like to keep it that way at least until this weekend is over and not just because even she doesn’t know the full extent.)

Emma hears the announcer call for fighters to the locker rooms and it snaps her out of her own thoughts.

Killian has to go. They– mostly Emma– have been dreading this night since the moment they found out it was Neal. It was only three weeks ago, but somehow everything has changed and it feels like a different lifetime. Killian must have resigned to his fate as well, “Duty calls, love.” He kisses her on the forehead and she leans into the contact. Emma nods but is reluctant to remove her arms from their comfortable spot on his hips. She’s about to wish him luck when he pulls a long silver chain from his pocket. Dangling from the end is a beautiful ring– rubies set with diamonds across a twisted silver band.

Oh shit.

“Whoa. Whoa, whoa, wh–”

He rolls his eyes, “Calm down, Swan. I’m not proposing.”

She nods with a tight smile, ignoring the rush of disappointment that floods her mind. It’s barely been a month, she should not be disappointed. He smirks, probably reading her like a book per usual, but continues anyway, “You know I’m good at surviving the octagon, yeah? Well, this ring is why. I’ve had it for many years, it’s the reason I’m alive. The reason I’m here today.”

“Killian–”

“I want you to have it this weekend. Keep a piece of me with you. Tomorrow may be a bloody awful night for me but I can’t imagine the war raging behind those beautiful eyes of yours, love.” He brushes a small piece of hair off the apple of her cheek before placing the ring carefully in her hand. She clutches it tightly before pressing up on her toes to place a gentle kiss against his lips.

“Thank you.”

He smiles, something bright and happy that reaches his eyes but is reserved for her, “Don’t mention it, Swan. I’ve got all the luck I need right here.” He squeezes her waist, eliciting a small giggle as he focuses in on a slight ticklish spot. Killian kisses her temple once more before they finally part.

“Go get him, Jones.” She can’t help the grin that spreads across her face despite the potential danger Killian is walking into.

He turns back to respond, “Aye, love. Tomorrow night, that’s the plan. It’s only weigh-ins, what could go wrong?” With a wink and a smirk he heads into the locker room and Emma notices the ring still clutched tightly in her fist. Taking it gently, Emma places it over her neck, the weight of the ring heavy atop her chest.

It feels like a lifeline.

Emma takes a deep breath before cracking her neck and slipping into her very real position as Killian’s PR manager. Henry is here tonight, so despite her job, she figures she should check on him first– that is if he hasn’t already tried to come find her. As she walks out from behind the stage she bumps into someone solid. Nausea hits her like a freight train as a familiar scent takes over. The hands on her shoulders seer like fire and she looks up only on instinct.

She swears her blood runs cold at the sound of his voice, “Ems?”

Before she can react, another familiar voice cuts through blood rushing in her ears, “Mom?”

Emma can feel the indent of the ring carving itself into the palm of her hand as she realizes what’s about to happen. Maybe lifeline was an understatement? She reached for the ring instinctively as she realized the moment she had hoped would never come was hovering right in front of her.

She closes her eyes and hears Killian’s voice in her head, “ You can do this, Swan.”

Somehow that’s all the push she needs. Turning to Henry, she ignores the close proximity of his father. “Henry! You were supposed to wait by the seats.”

Her eyes never leave her son. “I was going to but Ruby said I could get popcorn and when I heard them call Hook back I figured you’d be coming out soon so I figured I’d wait for you.” He turns to Neal. “Oh my god, you’re The Fire !!!!”

Neal looks like he’s been tased. Emma pleads with him telepathically to ignore the fact that this is his unmistakably his son.

She never was good at telepathy.

“I am! And you must be Henry.” Neal smiles at him and then turns to Emma for confirmation– she nods slightly despite him barely deserving that. Henry’s eyes light up.

“Did Hook tell you about me?! Mom, do you know Neal Cassidy, too?!” Neal’s eyes turn from amusement to confusion before he turns to Emma.

“Hook?” The word sounds like poison as it cuts across the space between him and Emma.

Henry speaks before Emma can form an explanation, “Yeah! Killian is my mom’s client. She helps him run his Twitter and stuff. Does she do that for you too?”

Oh yeah, client, right.

Neal gives her one more look before turning back to Henry, “Nope, not for me. Your mom and I are just old friends.” Acid. He sounds like he’s spitting acid. Emma has to choke back a scoff.

How did Emma ever fall for this shit?

“Oh, Killian and mom are friends too. He’s over pretty much every night. I think he likes me better though.” Emma can’t stop a smile from breaking out across her face. She grabs Henry and pulls him in for a hug.

“I think you’re right, kid.” Emma’s eyes meet Neal’s and he’s about to speak when a trainer comes up behind him and whisks him away. Something in his gaze tells her that this conversation isn’t over, but he says bye to Henry who waves before completely moving on to the veteran athletes he saw while waiting in the concession lines. Once he’s out of sight Emma takes a moment to focus her breathing— the cool temperature of Killian’s gift against her thumb effectively grounding her.

This ring really is a godsend– or maybe that’s just the man who gave it to her.

. . .

Killian is sitting in the middle of the sparring gym when he hears his moniker called by an unfamiliar voice. Whoever it is sounds angry. It’s weigh-ins so this level of hostility is usually a show for the cameras, but it’s also usually reserved for fighters who actually know each other.

“Killian Jones.” The use of his full name causes Killian to stand, coming face to face with Neal. He’s only seen him in photos and on tape, but he’d recognize him anywhere. Ice fills Killian’s veins before turning to white hot rage. He’s got half a mind to knock him flat on his arse but knows better than to fight outside the ring.

He opts for civility instead, “Ah, you must be Mr. Cassidy.” Killian squares with him, sizing him up. Despite his clearly trained stature, Killian knows Neal is a coward.

No man who gives up a boy like Henry could be anything less.

“Stay away from my son.”

That was not what Killian expected, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Neal is fired up for some reason or another. Killian can’t imagine why, unless– Emma .

Neal must’ve ran into Emma and Henry before coming back. Killian drops the niceties, “ Your son? I believe there’s a hefty packet of legal papers that says quite the opposite, mate.”

He watches the rage fill up Neal’s face and his arm begin to form a fist. As Killian responds, Neal’s trainer is coming up behind him. “Not here, Cassidy. Save it for the octagon.”

As the trainer pulls Neal away, Killian doesn’t let the wash of relief exit in a sigh, but he feels it all the same. Neal turns to him once more,“We’ll settle this tomorrow, Jones. You don’t get to steal my life.” He clearly has a compulsory need for having the last word.

Too bad so does Killian.

As Neal approaches the door separating their designated gyms, Killian calls out once more, “It’s not stealing when you give them up in the first place. Finders keepers, mate.” He winks as Neal crosses into the other room, his trainers keeping him pointed in the right direction.

That’s when Robin walks up behind Killian, “What the hell was that about? I thought you two didn’t even know each other.”

“A man unwilling to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets, Robin. It seems Mr. Cassidy is regretting his choice not to fight.” Killian turns to his best friend and finds only understanding in his eyes.

Robin claps his hand onto Killian’s shoulder, “Kick his ass, Jones.”

Nodding, Killian straps his gloves on. “My plan precisely, boss.”

...

@mariakov81 @kmomof4 @superchocovian @pirateherokillian @teamhook @bawley-bug @let-it-raines

#cs ff #emma swan #killian jones #Captain Swan #captain swan ff #worth fighting for #capthamm #im sorry this took so long

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goldenlaquer · 4 years

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Hey ! Adding some Drifters content here : what kind of husbands/fathers do you think Toyohisa and Naoshi would be ? Btw, thank you for the quality content of your blog

Part 2! Part 1 with the husband headcanons can be found here: x

Apologies for the late post! Real life got me a bit distracted.

Drifters Father Headcanons:

Butch Cassidy:

Wild. Bold. Insubordinate. Fine traits for an outlaw, but for a father? Many wouldn’t think so. But it’s Cassidy’s pleasure to prove all them bastards wrong.

Alright, so maybe you’re going to have to be the main disciplinarian in this household because he can’t help himself from jumping into his child’s fun (read: trouble), often helping them reach for another piece of sweets that you had said ‘no’ to by distracting you with kisses while the kid makes a run for it or taking them out for a ride with the horses and coming back all grimy and stinky and in dire need of a bath or two, but who are you to stay mad for long? Seeing your husband and your kid grinning and laughing, it’s going to be so hard to keep a stern, straight expression on your face, the corners of your mouth just threatening to twitch upwards.

Still, as much as Butch Cassidy likes being the fun parent and toeing the line, he never allows any behavior that seriously undermines your authority and respect as a parent, skillfully dissuading their mischievous attentions away from, say, dumping a pail of water over your sleeping head ( “C’mon, let your mama have her rest. Try Uncle Kid.”) or letting them break any promises that you had specifically made with them (“Nope. Nuh-uh. You promised your mama that you’d wash your hands after playing. And your mama trusts you to keep that promise. We don’t go back on our words, alright?”)

And it’s not as if he doesn’t have any ground rules of his own. There aren’t many (he knows better than anyone about the struggles of being restricted), but he still has ‘em: one, don’t go near the horses without anyone present, and two, don’t touch the guns. The horses are well-trained to not spook in the worst situations, but still, it makes you and him breathe easier to be able to watch what your kid does around such large and powerful creatures. And as for the guns rule, Cassidy has seen too many boys and men alike blow off a toe or a finger or their life with careless handling. He’s a daredevil, but he ain’t going to ever stupidly risk his kid’s life like that.

The sternest he’s ever been is when your kid ignores those rules. His sharp eyes immediately picking up the way they inch closer to his guns when they think he’s not looking, hands slowly reaching out for the grip sticking out of his holster. His own hands are quick snatching up his child before they can even blink, setting them down on the ground outside or a crate and looking them straight in the eye, angry, but his voice is low and calm. He speaks to them plainly. He’s disappointed in them. The rules were there for a reason and they had gone back on their promise to not break them. By the end of the lecture and once he’s sufficiently sure that they understand what they did was wrong, Cassidy’s back to being the fun parent, ruffling their hair playfully as they sniffle and wipe away the tears.

Not bad for an outlaw, eh?

Kanno Naoshi:

By some miracle, Naoshi finds it in himself to have patience.

Actually, he probably always had patience for children in general, not just when it comes to his own kids. It’s the adults who he doesn’t hold a single lick of tolerance for, the same adults who do dumb shit and should know and act better than a child. Those are the type of people he doesn’t mind beating some physical and verbal sense into. But kids are kids, and kids they will be. Naoshi, despite many opinions otherwise, understands this well.

That’s not to say that he’s a perfect A+ parent, because sometimes children can get hella annoying and too hard to handle and there’s so much Naoshi’s patience can take before it breaks and his temper takes over. He’s usually good at nipping tantrums in the bud, but when the kid gets especially persistent, he can’t help but to snap out in frustration, which does nothing but make make the kid sob louder. He’ll give you a look, to let you know he needs a break to cool off, and you nod and give him a thumbs-up back to communicate to him to take his time. It’s a tag-team effort. You’re in the ring now, trying to calm down one child who is screaming on top of their lungs.

Food. He’s strict when it comes to meal times. Maybe it’s from being in the military or just being from a time where frugality is necessary, but he doesn’t let his brat mess with their food. Eat your damn fruits and veggies and respect the nourishment it gives you. Don’t like something? Too bad, you gotta eat it anyways. There’s no way in hell he’s raising his kid to be picky eater.

He makes all the toys himself. He’s got the quite the crafty spirit, being able to make some very decent knick-knacks from the available wood and spare metal, some of which are modeled after various aircrafts. In his spare time, he squats down in the dirt and plays with them, barking out commands and obscure pilot lingo that your child easily understands and follows like a mini pro, the both of them roaring at each other and trying to smash each others plane down to the ground, aerodynamics be damned.

AHH but just IMAGINE Naoshi settling your kid onto his lap up in the cockpit, engines turned off, letting them play with the controls and turn the yoke with their clumsy hands, as he grins proudly in response to his kid’s obvious joy being in the fighter jet (like father, like child). He’ll even plop his hat on their head, patting down the flaps to engulf their small ears AAAHHH

Okay, so about the cursing... he tries.

“Fuck!” A small voice pipes up from beside you, and you turn to slowly look at your child, who innocently smiles at you with two missing front teeth. You immediately crane your neck to peer at the culprit, your husband.

“Fuck,” Naoshi mutters, awkwardly coughing and pulling down his goggles to hide from your glare.

Shimazu Toyohisa:

our resident feral is actually? very good? with children?

He’s in tune with their emotions. And that’s GREAT for when they’re experiencing things for the first time and don’t know what to do with their new feelings or how to handle them. Toyohisa is gentle, yet firm as he guides them, his words simple and straightforward, but most importantly, Toyohisa speaks to them like they’re an adult, never belittling them or insulting their intelligence. He knows that children can understand more than what other adults give them credit for.

He’s the type of parent to let his child learn their lesson the hard way. He knows that children get into trouble despite the warnings, and as long as they’re not in any real danger, he lets them figure it out themselves. Saves him the trouble of telling them multiple times, and besides, it wouldn’t do them any favors if he coddled them too much like those overprotective parents do. But if they start crying from fright, Toyohisa’s patting their head with his big palm, comforting them until the tears dry up.

The rough play is insane. Like, Toyohisa is really out here throwing your kid 20 feet up in the air and catching them by the ankles, and he just grins and waves you away when you voice some actual concerns. He’s got it. He’d never let his kid fall. But despite his confidence and your trust in him, you can’t help your mini heart attacks every time your kid waves at you from the tree tops.

Nap time. Toyohisa never says no to naps and your kid inherited the same sentiment. You often find them napping together under the warm sunlight; kid tucked against his chest, drooling on his neck, and the man himself snoring and drooling at the mouth also. It’s so fucking adorable.

likes to carry them on his shoulder, listening to their giggles as he bounces them playfully up and down. and you too. you’re on the other shoulder.

Toyohisa is strict in his values, and he’s strict in passing them down. He is unwavering in his teachings, just as his father had been with him. He tells them once and expects them to remember it forever. To him, it’s not just about morality, but a way of life, a guide to live and let live, a just and straight pathway to follow until the end and beyond. No matter where they are, his child is part of the Shimazu clan and will grow up upholding the Shimazu creed.

Toyohisa want to be traditional in his child-rearing. He doesn’t value sons over daughters or anything like that, but he does staunchly believe that sons should be raised as warriors and daughters should be raised as household caretakers. It’s not something you can easily change his mind on. But if your child becomes an adult and really wants to become someone else than who they were raised to be, Toyohisa is surprisingly not so opposed to it then. By then, he has taught them everything he knows. Toyohisa trusts their judgement and ability to live their own life.

How does writing launch me into baby fever???

#drifters #drifters headcanon #drifters imagine #butch cassidy #kanno naoshi #shimazu toyohisa #unedited #will edit later #answered ask #asks closed

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holidaywishes · 4 years

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It Had To Be You L

Chapter Fifty: Bumper Cars

Summary: You knew the relationship had done all it could for the two of you but letting go of him still hurt so much that you couldn’t breathe. After about two years, you were finally feeling like you were over him but when you run into him in Barcelona one summer, you feel your heart break all over again.

Warning: Angst and crying, so much crying, fluff in the most pure way

Author’s Note: Here it is everyone, the Finale. The last chapter in this series that I never intended to go more than 15 chapters with on the outside. I wanted to explain something about why I ended these two. I’m a sucker for big movie relationships and big movie moments. The kind where the couple end up together against all odds and it’s all romantic and the lighting is beautiful and the music is amazing and everyone is cheering for them because FINALLY! They chose each other. I love those moments and, for a long time, I was leaning to end this series in that direction. But when I looked back at the chapters and who these characters were in each one, I realized it was insane for them to be together. With all of (Y/N)’s insecurities and Tyler’s unwillingness to commit to growing up, the two of them wouldn’t last a month in real life. I thought about it a lot before I wrote the previous chapter. Trust me, I had two drafts made up and the one I put out was what made more sense. Because when you think about it, if you had friends like this, that were a couple like this, you’d tell them that it was incredibly dysfunctional and that they deserved better. Because everyone deserves better than just being with someone because you loved them once and maybe you’ll love them again. Relationships like this, that I created for these two, are toxic and, I don’t know, I guess I wanted this series to end on an optimistic but still realistic note. That you can love so deeply, so completely, and fall in love so fast, that you fall out of it just as fast. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing but staying in something when it’s bad for you, is not what you should be trying to do. So, I apologize if everyone wanted to see these two together after everything they’ve been through together and apart, but I hope this somehow puts your concerns at ease a little.

Song Credit: Bumper Cars -- Alex & Sierra

masterlist

the other masterlist

Tyler’s P.O.V.

You couldn’t seem to stop the tears flowing from your eyes while you crumpled in your moms arms.

“Ty, baby, I am so sorry...” your mom tried comforting you as the crowd around you stayed unchanging, not knowing what to say or do. You tried to say something but your violent sobs stopped any words from escaping your throat

“I--” you heard a voice stutter from behind you while the sound of footsteps came closer to you, “I’m sorry, Tyler. She just-- I can’t-- I’m sorry.” Chris stammered as he put a hand on your shoulder; your body rejecting his comfort by pushing away his hand

“Leave,” you yelled between sobs, “go. Chase after her. I don’t want you here and I don’t care how sorry you are that this girl you raised turned out to be awful and horrible and cruel.”

“Tyler...” Candace tried

“Don’t Candace!” you yelled again, “don’t try to defend her. Not now! LEAVE CHRIS! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!” He finally walked toward his car with Karen following behind him, her head dropped to the ground.

“Why would she do this?” you heard her say to Chris as they got into the car and he just shook his head. You could see the sadness in their faces, clearly confused at the events that just unfolded.

“I need everyone to leave!” You yelled at the people around you, “I need to be alone for a bit.” You waited for a while for the crowd to disburse but when they remained where they were, your anger overcame you, “GET THE FUCK OFF MY PROPERTY BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!” As the guests ran to their cars and your family looked at you with sympathy in their eyes, you ran inside the house, coming across little pieces of (Y/N) with every step you took. You stopped dead centre of the room to catch your breath as Marshall, Cash and Gerry circled at your feet and Lionel stared out the door waiting for (Y/N) to come back for him.

“She’s not coming back, Lionel,” you said angrily, tears falling from your eyes again when the small Australian Shepherd looked back at you, “she left. She didn’t want me.” The anger rushed over you again and you began tearing apart the living room; flipping chairs and tables and destroying everything around you.

“Tyler...” You heard your mom whisper from the doorway, staring at you in disbelief and you were forced to look at the destruction around you. When your eyes scanned the room, you noticed an envelope near the desk that must have fallen out of one of the drawers; realizing it must have been from (Y/N) when you saw your name written neatly in black ink.

“What’s that?” Cassidy asked as she walked slowly toward you and your eyes began to burn from the tears that brimmed when you looked up at your sister

“Uhmm..” you cleared your throat when you tried to answer her, looking back at the envelope, “it’s her writing. (Y/N)’s. It must be from her but I have no idea what it’s gonna be...”

“Do you want us to open it?” Candace said from the doorway, awaiting your response

“No.” You stated, taking the note and walking into the bedroom where you were surrounded by the remains of the Bridal Party; make up covered the counters and silk robes littered the floor while flower petals were scattered over the entire room. You ignored the mess and sat down at the end of the mattress, preparing yourself to read whatever words your ex-fiancée had put to paper.

Tyler;

If you’re reading this, then I ran away again.

The first sentence you read already made your blood begin to boil that you threw your head back and dropped your hands, still gripping the letter, before continuing to read what she had to say

Tyler;

If you’re reading this, then I ran away again. I loved you every minute that I was with you and the life that we made together was beautiful. And I know that it could’ve been beautiful if I had stayed and tried. But you deserve so much more than what I was capable of giving you.

This was not an easy decision to make. Accepting your proposal was exciting and I felt so much love for you and from you in that moment that I could clearly picture our life together; growing old and yelling at kids on our porch. But when you postponed the wedding and lied to me about the girl from your Bachelor Party, I realized I had to think about whether or not we’re good for each other anymore. And if I’m gone, then I guess it means we’re not.

I love you. I have loved you. I will continue to love you until my heart stops beating. Once it heals from the brokenness that I’ve forced upon it, I will love you again. And again. And again. I know this doesn’t make a lot of sense right now because, if I loved you, why would I run away, right? Well here’s the only answer I can come up with right now:

I don’t know who I am without you.

Normally, that would mean that I should stay and be with you because being without you would mean I was lost. Wouldn’t it? But I think I’ve been lost my whole life. Trying to find myself in the people I date or the friends I have or the people I surround myself with in one way or another. I don’t know who I am. I never have. I know I’ve never been comfortable in my own skin and we both know how damaging that can be when your life is as public as it is. It’s something that would’ve constantly got in the way.

My heart is breaking with every word I write to you and I don’t know when you’ll find this letter, but if ever you do, know that you were the best part of my life and I wouldn’t change a single moment of our time together. Trust me when I say I wish I could’ve known you sooner, met you earlier, loved you immediately so we could start our life together right away. Because, as Harry said to Sally, when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. But the truth is, we didn’t meet earlier, we didn’t fall in love right away, it took us a while to find each other and, even then, it didn’t always ‘fit.’ I’m not saying it should’ve been easy but there were definitely times, I’m sure you can agree, when it wasn’t working.

I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through, the pain I’ve caused you and the pain I’m causing you now. I promise it will pass. I promise you’ll find happiness again. I promise you deserve the love I know you’ll find and I promise you will find that love. Maybe by the time you’ve found this letter, you’ll have found the love you truly deserve or maybe you’ll still be looking for it. Either way, I promise you it will come to you and you will be so unbelievably happy. Because you deserve that. And I want that for you.

I know you hate me right now. I get that and I accept that. This is an awful, horrible, hurtful, painful thing I did to you, so please, hate me. Hate me for leaving you, for humiliating you, for wasting your time and money and getting your family involved. You can hate me forever if you need to and I’ll understand that. I hope you won’t but I’ll understand if you do. Someday, I hope that we’ll meet again and can be friendly to each other, I hope that our hearts will have healed and that we’ve both moved on. I don’t know when that day will be or if you’ll ever be able to forgive me but for what it’s worth, I look forward to that day.

I love you and I’m sorry.

Goodbye xx,

(Y/N)

You fell back onto the mattress, crumpling the letter in your hand as you took in the words she had written. Suddenly, you let out a long, low growl before sitting back up.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?!” you said to Gerry who seemed to follow your growl from the other room, “does she just think I’m going to forgive her, Ger?” The yellow lab rested his head on your knees while you talked your feelings out. “She’s damn right I hate her. She’s damn right she humiliated me. She’s damn right I deserve better. She’s damn right I’m in pain. She’s damn right I’ll move on and find happiness!” You stopped suddenly when the three other dogs made their way to you and you caught Lionel’s sad expression that seemed to mirror yours, “But I really wanted that happiness with her...”

“Ty..?” Candace called softly, knocking the door frame when she saw you with the dogs, “can I come in?”

“I don’t want to talk about her if you’re going to defend her” you argued

“I won’t talk at all if you don’t want me to but I want to be here for you.” She admitted and you outstretched your hand to her, handing her the letter for her to read. Her eyes quickly skimmed the page as she read (Y/N)’s goodbye, “she knew she was going to leave?”

“I don’t think so...” you said, “I think this was like.. a fail safe. Like if she got too overwhelmed, she was gonna take off but didn’t want me to think badly of her...”

“What she did was wrong” Candace stated and you looked over at her only to find her eyes puffy and red. Just then, it hit you. (Y/N) was one of her best friends. They’d been that way before you and (Y/N) had even started dating and now Candace was forced to say goodbye to someone she loved so dearly; this was hurting her almost as much as it was hurting you

“Why don’t you talk to her?” you asked, nudging her shoulder, “I can’t. I won’t. It hurts too much. But you’re her friend. She’s your friend. I don’t want you to hate her just because she did this to me...”

“She didn’t just do it to you though”

“She did.”

“I’m so mad at her, for this. For leaving you, for hurting you and mom. For embarrassing us and everyone in the Wedding Party. I hate her!”

“No you don’t,” you chuckled at her words, trying to reassure her, “and that’s okay! Talk to her. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Candace’s P.O.V

You only intended to pick up the phone, ask why she did it, tell her you never wanted to see or hear from her again and then hang up. But when her voice fell flat on the other line, you could feel the pain and wanted to let her explain

“We hadn’t been good in a while. I mean...” she started, “we really were just faking it. I don’t think it would’ve lasted very long and I always wanted to only be married once...”

“But why couldn’t you have pulled him aside? Instead of leaving him standing there alone at the altar... After both of you said your vows?”

“I panicked.” She blurted out, her voice quivering, “honestly, I know it’s awful to keep saying but... I ran into Kate as she was making her way to the ceremony and I didn’t even know she was going to be there. I didn’t know we had sent her an invitation. I knew I didn’t, which meant that Tyler did. Or someone invited her verbally. I was just shocked when I saw her you know? And I guess it brought up a bunch of shit. I’m sorry. I wish it didn’t turn out that way, you have no idea how much I wish I could change it but I can’t.”

“I thought it wasn’t about her”

“It wasn’t”

“So why did seeing her bring up a bunch of shit?”

“I just kept thinking ‘if he lied about inviting her to the wedding, what else did he lie about? How much as he been keeping from me? Does he really want to settle down or is this just some game to him?’” She rambled shakily for a moment before you finally spoke again

“He’s miserable you know”

“I know”

“He’s making the dogs miserable too.” You added, a thought crossing your mind but you weren’t sure if you should even say it because you didn’t think she’d actually do what you were thinking, “you’re not leaving Lionel too are you?”

“Of course not!” she said, a slight rise in her volume but her voice was far from steady, “I just couldn’t spend any more time there. I had to let him stay there until I could come back for him. And so he could say goodbye to Tyler. And so Ty..ler” she corrected herself from using the shortened version of your brothers name, “could say goodbye too.”

“Tyler can’t even look at him. It’s so depressing.”

“What am I supposed to do? If I go there now, we’ll fight and yell and cry and I don’t want that. Not for me and not for him.”

“Well, honestly, I think you need to let him decide what he wants this time. You took off! You don’t get to make the big decisions anymore. Let him decide how he wants to handle it”

“Fine,” she agreed, “but how do I do that? I doubt he’s going to want to talk to me.”

“Let me talk to him and I’ll text you what he says...” You ended the call there and went back to your brother, who you found throwing the letter in the small trash bin by the Vanity in the bathroom.

“How do you want to..” you started but were unsure of how to finish your sentence

“I don’t want to talk to her, I told you that.”

“I know,” you sighed, “but what about Lionel? Technically, he’s her dog. How do you want to handle that situation?”

“Obviously I’m not going to keep her from her dog. She shouldn’t have left him here. Tell her to come get him.”

“Okay...” you hesitated, “but.. when? Do you want to be here for that? Do you want one of us to be here for that? Do you want to tell her you’re leaving him alone for two minutes until she gets there to pick him up? What?”

“I--” he stammered, trying to figure it out himself, “I don’t want to be here for it. I’ll say goodbye to him. Have tonight with him and she can pick him up tomorrow. You can be here but I don’t think Mom should be here. Cassidy’s a wild card so that’s up to you.” You nodded before he pushed past you to head out into the hallway, checking to see if anyone was still there, dismissing them when he found anyone in sight. You sent (Y/N) a text as you watched your brother turn the couch back to its legs and collapse onto it with his head in his hands. You weren’t sure he was ever going to be the same and you couldn’t really blame him; you just hoped he wouldn’t be broken for the rest of his life.

The next day, (Y/N) showed up to pick up Lionel and say goodbye to Cash, Marshall and Gerry.

“I’m so sorry guys,” she said as she hugged each of the labs, “I wish I didn’t have to leave you but I do. I made a horrible mistake and I have to live with it. Maybe one day, we’ll all meet again in the park but for now I have to say goodbye...” You watched her eyes tear up as she said goodbye to Tyler’s dogs

“They really do love you, don’t they?”

“I guess we’ve gotten close,” she smiled before putting on Lionel’s leash and taking a deep breath, “I should go. We should go...”

“Can we just talk for a second?” you said suddenly, stopping her from walking out the door. The two of you sat on the couch uncomfortably for a few minutes in silence, breaking only to say how upset you were, “I don’t know what to do...”

“What do you mean?”

“About us. We’re best friends and I love you but I hate you for what you did. I don’t know if I want to lose you but I don’t know if I can keep you a secret from Ty..” She shook her head as you tried to explain yourself

“Candace, Candace,” she said, putting her hands on yours to calm you, “choose him. It will suck to lose you because I love you too but I screwed up and I need to give him as much space as he needs. If that means that we have to... lose each other then I guess that’s what has to happen.” You furrowed your brow at her confession, looking down at Lionel and the three labs, trying to decide if you should speak or not and she seemed to notice your dilemma, “Look, I messed up. I humiliated your brother and your family. I tried to force my relationship with Tyler to last even when I knew we should’ve cut our losses a long time ago...” she sighed before continuing, “I loved him, that was real. I just don’t think we’re right for each other and I don’t want to hurt him anymore than I already have. You guys are like family to me and I will miss you more than you could possibly imagine but I’ve caused too much trouble. I’m sorry, Candace, but we both know you have to choose Tyler.”

“Why did you have to do this?” you laughed and she smiled weakly at you before you pulled her in for a hug and let her go. It was like a movie, watching her walk away with Lionel into the sunset, and it was a bittersweet moment; she turned when she got to her car, putting Lionel in the backseat and catching your stare before waving goodbye to you.

Two years later

“Alright! Everything is ready to go! Lionel, are you ready to get on your first ever plane?” you cooed at your Australian Shepherd as you gathered your luggage into the Uber. You met up with Lucy and Ethan at the airport, stopping off at an airport bar where Lionel could lay down beside you before they called your flight.

“So...” Ethan started, “you guys excited?”

“YES!” Lucy exclaimed first, “I just got promoted at work so this kind of feels like a celebration trip for me”

“Oh that’s awesome!” you and Ethan said simultaneously

“Congrats Luce!” You added, raising your glass to clink theirs

“Thank you, thank you” she laughed, pretending to bow

“Well, on my end, I’m just excited to be getting out of the city. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to be back here, in Calgary,” you said, gesturing around you with a smile, “but being home just kind of concretes my failures...”

“Hey.. no don’t do that,” Ethan tried, “you didn’t fail. You made the right call, in your heart. Plus you’ve been dating right?!” he smiled, raising his eyebrows to get you to talk about the dates you’d been on

“Oh yeah...” you sighed, raising your eyebrows before taking a long sip of your drink, “In the last year and a half, I’ve been on three dates. With different guys. And they all sucked. The first guy got me drunk and groped me when we were making out, none of that was good. I mean, if he had at least been a good kisser, it would’ve been different but he wasn’t. The second guy was one of the most pretentious guys I’ve ever met. Constantly talking about his favourite philosophers and why his favourite activity on dates is to talk about ethics. That one ended almost as soon as it began. The third one was decent. He didn’t try feeding me alcohol or telling me cheesy pick up lines or acting like he was better than me in some way. He was pretty true to his profile...”

“So what happened?” Lucy asked, confusion covering her face

“He hated dogs...” The three of you laughed and you shook your head as you finished the last sip in your glass, “no but I just don’t think I’m ready to date right now...”

“That’s fair” Ethan said, just as your flight was called for boarding and the three of you made your way to the line. Luckily, the flight was non-stop but it was still almost 13 hours and everyone was in desperate need of walking around when the plane landed.

“Alright! Where should we go first?!” Lucy asked excitedly, encouraging the group to perk up

“Apartment” Ethan replied tiredly

“We gotta drop this stuff off Luce and get Lionel some food” you added

“Fine fine... but I think we have to keep moving so we can beat the jet lag!” You snickered before grabbing your bags and making your way into the cab in front of you. You watched the trees pass you by with Lionel resting on your lap until you got closer into the city, where the colours of the buildings near the port seem to jump vibrantly in front of you. When the four of you finally got to your Air B’n’B, Ethan dropped his bags loudly on the floor while you and Lionel explored the apartment.

“Has your Portuguese improved since you went to Ibiza?” Lucy laughed

“Ibiza?” you said with a sigh of confusion on your tongue, completely locking away the memory of the trip when you and Tyler had officially started dating, “oh.. no. That was years ago...” Ethan and Lucy looked back and forth between each other as you looked at some of the host’s books on the shelf, zoning out from what you were saying, snapping back when you heard the clicking of Lionel’s paws approach you, “so.. I haven’t had a reason to brush up on it. But maybe while we’re here?” Ethan nodded at you, his eyebrows raised as he attempted to reassure you

“Get your pup some water and some food and then we’re going to explore!” Lucy said, clapping her hands together to encourage you and Ethan to hurry up. The time had finally come for you and your friends to take Lionel on an ‘almost too-touristy’ adventure and he was more pumped than your sister, which only shocked you slightly. The four of you made your way to The Basílica de la Sagrada Família, but didn’t go in on account of the dog, before making your way to the beautiful Park Güell for a nice stroll and stopping at a nearby café for a break from the heat.

“I love the Barcelona sun,” Lucy said as she fanned herself while you and Ethan laughed between each other’s glances, “don’t you?”

“It is beautiful here” you added

“I’m just glad there’s some shade!” Ethan exclaimed, “I burn easy.”

“So where to next?” Lucy asked as she opened her phone, completely ignoring any need for yours or Ethan’s opinion

“She’s a woman on a mission” you joked to Ethan

“Casa Milà it is!” she finally said, making everyone, including Lionel, snap their heads up. You sipped your drink while soaking up the beautiful Barcelona sun and relishing the breeze that came along every once in a while -- it had been so long since you’d been anywhere but Calgary, Toronto or Dallas that you forgot how much you missed travelling. When you finally made it to Casa Milà, all you wanted was to explore every inch of it. It was amazing and you were fascinated but Lionel was starting to get tired, which was hard to miss since he kept laying down whenever you tried to walk any further so you ordered an Uber and made your way back to the apartment.

“WAIT!” Ethan shouted, “can you let us off here please?”

“What’s going on?” You asked, concerned, “I really should take Lionel home. Look at his little tired face..” You cooed, trying to get Ethan to stay in the car

“The arch!” he shouted again

“We can see that tomorrow or later. I’m sure it’ll be beautiful at night all lit up,” Lucy tried, eventually turning to the Uber driver to ask him his thoughts, “you agree right?”

“sim, Certo...” he replied and she shook her head

“See... he agrees!” Lucy said, “I think we should give the poor guy a break from all this walking and heat. Don’t you?”

“We need some pictures in front of it in the daytime. When you can actually see our faces... and our outfits... without the awful flash of an iPhone...”

“We can do that tomorrow.. when we’re not all sweaty” Lucy argued

“We totally can!” Ethan replied, some excitement to his tone but you could spot the sarcasm a mile away, “OR... we could do it today and if we don’t like the pictures, we can come back!”

“Ethan.” Lucy stated, “the dog is tired. I’m so full I can barely walk. I’m sweating through everything I’m wearing and I’m ready to give into this jet lag”

“COME O--” He continued to argue

“ENOUGH!” you interrupted with a laugh, “Okay. I agree with Lucy. I’m sweaty, I’m tired, I just wanna take care of my dog and maybe hang out by the pool for a bit. I do think the Arch would be beautiful at night.”

“There you go!” Lucy exclaimed as if she’d won

“BUT!” You continued, “I’d hate if we said we were going to do it another day and didn’t end up getting around to it when we were so close today. We can order another Uber after we get a couple shots. It’s really not a big deal”

“AWESOME!” Ethan shouted in excitement, you apologized to the driver and thanked him for his patience before following your friends out to the Arc De Triomf. Standing there, in front of the arch, you felt a sudden tinge of sadness when you realized that this was one of Tyler’s favourite places, one of his favourite cities that he’d always talked about taking you to that you never got around to, and you knelt down in front of Lionel to stop the tears from showing

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked when she noticed you’d stopped moving with them

“I’m fine,” you said, smiling to hide the quiver in your voice, “I just needed to fix my shoe...” Lucy could tell you were lying, so she knelt down in front of you

“What’s wrong?” she asked in a whisper and you looked over to see where Ethan was, answering her question when she saw him taking pictures

“I forgot.. or maybe I tried to push it aside. How much Tyler loves Barcelona. How he would come here in the summer. How we promised we’d find our way here. Together.” You replied, small teardrops falling from the corner of your eye, “Then I went and ruined everything...”

“Uhm.. guys...” Ethan called to you, stopping briefly when he saw the two of you kneeling on the ground, “you ready to go?” You tried to discreetly wipe away the tears before he could see

“We didn’t even get a picture!” you laughed, standing up and Lionel began to bark, “Lionel! Shh!” you tried to quiet him but he continued

“Lionel that’s not nice! No barking!” Lucy took her turn trying to calm the dog and Ethan joined shortly after but he began to tug on the leash

“Lionel!” you raised your voice but he continued to bark and tug on the leash, “I don’t know what’s going on. He only does this when he sees someone he knows...” The realization of your words forced you to look up and your grip on the leash loosened just enough for Lionel to run in his direction. Lucy noticed Ethan drop his head before her eyes followed Lionel

“Shit” Lucy whispered as quietly as she could before turning back to see your eyes wide as you stared across the square

“Let’s go babe, Lucy will grab Lionel. Let’s just get in a cab and go back to the apartment”

“Maybe we’re just all hallucinating” you said, knowing it wasn’t the truth but hoping it was

“Maybe...” Ethan said, trying to comfort you, “come with me... Lucy has the pup, don’t worry.” He wrapped an arm around your shoulders to guide you to the cabs lining the street

“Ethan...” you stopped, squeezing your eyes shut tight and shaking your head, “we’ve seen him. He’s seen us. Lionel ran to him. We can’t just leave and ignore the fact that we’re both here... As much as I’d like to”

“Are you sure?” he asked, taking his arm off

“No” you laughed before turning around and making your way across the square

“Hi...” Kate greeted while Tyler focused on Lionel and you only nodded in her direction

Ethan’s P.O.V

“So.. you two huh?” you asked Kate as she stood awkwardly in front of you

“Ethan...” Lucy said, shaking her head at you while (Y/N) uncomfortably shifted where she stood

“Yeah...” Kate started, smiling weakly at you and (Y/N), “enjoying Barcelona?” you scoffed

“Ethan stop,” (Y/N) finally spoke, “we didn’t mean to interrupt. Lionel just recognized you and wanted to say hi...” Tyler stood up, a scowl on his face that even you could tell was covering up a little bit of hurt behind his eyes and the group waited for him to speak; the tension growing with every passing second.

“I hope you enjoy your time here...” was all he said before taking Kate’s hand and walking away, leaving Lionel whining and (Y/N) as paralyzed as ever.

“What a bitch!” You said, referring to Kate, thinking it’s what your friend needed

“Stop...” (Y/N) said quietly, pathetically, before pulling Lionel slightly toward the cabs, “I’m exhausted. I want to go back to the apartment.” The ride back was painfully silent but all you could do was wait for (Y/N) to speak first; the creaking of the floorboards in the apartment felt like bombs to you and Lucy as (Y/N) still hadn’t muttered a word and even Lionel’s tapping paws sounded sad.

“We’re just going to go grab a drink at the café next door... you take a nap or a bath and we’ll see you later okay?” Lucy spoke up, grabbing your arm to leave her sister alone but not soon enough to miss the whimpers coming from the bedroom, forcing you and Lucy to stare at each other with heavy hearts.

“What are we supposed to do?” you asked when the two of you sat down at a table, “I mean do we leave? do we get her so incredibly drunk that she forgets he’s here? I mean she’s never going to forget he exists -- getting her that drunk is impossible...”

“We just have to be there for her...” Lucy added, realizing that was the opposite of where the two of you were, “even if we’re not there for her.”

“It just sucks that he was with Kate...” you said, “I mean with his friends, it would’ve been hard enough. But to see Kate there with him. Taking pictures and holding hands. I just about crumbled I felt so bad for her.”

“I know,” Lucy sighed, fiddling with the menu in front of her, “but the thing is... it’s not her problem anymore. She’s allowed to be hurt, we’re not going to tell her she can’t hurt, but she can’t expect Tyler to... not find love ever again.”

“But so soon?” you exclaimed, “and with her?!”

“It’s been two years.” she stated, “And honestly, it probably wouldn’t have been with anyone other than Kate. We all saw it coming..”

“Maybe. I still hate her. I hate him for it.”

“She left him though,” Lucy interjected, trying to get you to settle your emotions, “he’s not the one in the wrong here. Look, I love my sister and I understand why she did what she did. It was the right choice, even if it hurt like hell for the both of them. But she doesn’t own him and she doesn’t have any stake in his life anymore. We can’t hate Tyler for moving on and we can’t hate Kate for being there for him when he needed someone...”

“I hate your logic” you said, scoffing at her sarcastic pout

“Honestly? me too.”

You cried yourself to sleep with Lionel tucked into the back of your knees, waking up only to discover that Lucy and Ethan hadn’t returned. Which meant you were left alone with your thoughts which was a dangerous place to be. You sat up and Lionel moved so he could face you, to which you stared at him and cried as he looked back

“I miss him so much, Li,” you sobbed, “I don’t know what to do...” you dropped your head against the Australian Shepherd’s neck and hugged him while your tears coated his fur. “He was supposed to be... my dude. My person. and he was. Why did I fuck this up so hard?” You asked your dog as violent sobs hurled out of your chest, leaning back to look at Lionel only for him to lick away your tears and you laughed at the action, “I love you too, bud.” Finally, you got out of bed and decided to take a shower to wash the grief off, thinking about how to make this trip enjoyable knowing that Tyler and Kate were in the same city; probably doing the romantic things he’d promised you so many years ago. When it was clear to you that you owed Ethan and Lucy your undivided attention and apology for acting so selfish, you sent them a text to ask what café they were at and made sure Lionel had enough food and water that he wouldn’t get agitated while you were out.

“When you come out of the building, turn left and then when you get to the corner, turn right and then keep walking for about a block,” Lucy texted, “It’s called Firebug.” You had every intention of meeting them there but for some reason, when you got into the cab, you asked the driver to take you to the Arc De Triomf. When you got there, you were surprised how few people were surrounding it but you were instead able to enjoy the beauty of it with the quiet whirring of traffic around you. The moment was perfect that you asked a stranger to take a picture of you in front of the beautiful city sculpture before turning to just be in the moment for a second.

“I thought you might come back here...” Tyler’s voice rang through your ears and chilled your spine as he stood behind you

“I didn’t...” you stood still, facing away from him, unsure of whether or not to look at him

“I shouldn’t have left without saying something,” he added, referring to your encounter earlier, “I was just shocked to see you.”

“I know...” you whispered

“Can’t even look at me huh?” He scoffed, “that’s where we’re at now?”

“If I look at you, I think I might cry and I have such a huge headache from crying already...” you said shakily

“You don’t think I haven’t cried a million times over that day?”

“You think it’s just about that day?!” you yelled, finally turning to him to see him raising his eyebrows at you, “maybe it’s just about that day for you. And I’m sorry. Did you read the note?” The words came out of your mouth harsher than you intended and he scoffed at you before answering

“Yeah. I found the note you hid in the drawer”

“I didn’t think I’d actually have to give it to you, Tyler, so I just kind of forgot about it.”

“Like you forgot about me?”

“Forgot about you?” you said, contorting your face in confusion, “how the hell did I forget about you? I don’t think me writing a note to you in case I left constitutes as me forgetting about you. In fact, it’s the opposite!”

“You forgot that I was there to help you! Everything had to be about you helping you. Not asking anyone for help! We were supposed to be there for each other! BUT YOU COULDN’T DO THAT!!”

“DON’T YELL AT ME!” you shouted, “Tyler, I’m sorry. I hated writing that note but if I left, and I didn’t know that I was going to believe me, but if I did I thought you deserved some kind of explanation. Even if it was a shitty one.”

“Fine.” He said, throwing his hands up in the air before rubbing his face, “but why did you do it in the first place?”

“The note?”

“Leave...” you could see the sadness looming in his eyes, the way his tears were beginning to brim his eyes and you tilted your head to the side to stop yourself from sobbing too quickly

“Because...” you started, a sigh escaping your lips as it had so many times before, “I loved you first.” You stated it so matter-of-factly that the expression on his face seemed to say ‘what does that mean?’ “I didn’t want a relationship. Not with anyone. I didn’t really know what love was and I didn’t want to waste my time in another relationship trying to find it. Especially not with someone who’s reputation walked into a room before he did. But when I wasn’t with you, when I was just starting to get to know you, I wanted to be around you. I wanted to figure you out. Find out if you were who everyone said you were. And then James came into my life and he seemed like the guy that everyone told me to wait for. He was charming and fun and sweet and chivalrous and he texted me that night and called me the next day and he paid for my meals and he made me feel like I mattered. Until he didn’t. Even with all that, there was something missing and I could never really love him. I didn’t know why, truly, I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t let myself fall in love with this seemingly perfect guy. And it was because of you. Because I loved you first. Because you were always on my mind. Because you weren’t perfect but you made me laugh and you understood that I was messed up and you comforted me the best you could and you just.. tried. That’s why It Had To Be You because anyone else would have to do more than you did without even realizing it which would never work because I shouldn’t be comparing other people to you.”

“That doesn’t make sense. If you loved me first, why would you leave?” He questioned

“I wanted to be with you and I thought you wanted to be with me. But the more we tried, the more things got in the way. Ali, James, Marcus, Hockey... all of these things that made it impossible for us to match up at the right time. And for a while, it just seemed like bad timing. But we were just like...” you bumped your fists together as you tried to find the words, “we were like Bumper Cars. We would get so close and then we would crash apart but we tried to fight to be next to each other, as if one of us could ‘beat the system’ because the spark is there between us but it just causes destruction. Every time. And one or both of us would get hurt. I was tired of hurting you, Tyler.”

“Why did you wait so long then? I mean you couldn’t have just all of a sudden felt this way on our wedding day...” he added

“No.. it had been building up for a while. Little things made me think about it. But I thought that we were stronger than my insecurities; it turns out that as much as I wanted to be with you, I wanted you to be happier more. When Kate showed up that day, it made me realize...”

“Nothing was happening with us then” he interrupted, raising his voice suddenly.

“I know. But I realized that maybe she was just a friend, someone who was good to you, and you had to keep that a secret from me because of all of this stuff I was conjuring up in my mind. Which just felt like the opposite person I wanted to be. I thought I was this girl who you’d be able to trust with anything. That you’d know was cool with you having girls for friends and that would be fine with you going out with your guys on the weekends or whatever. But I wasn’t. Your inviting her there, without me knowing, proved that.” He sighed loudly at your confession and you didn’t know what to think. Honestly, you were surprised he had let you explain this much; you thought he would’ve just yelled at you for running away like a child

“Maybe you’re right,” he said when he finally calmed down and the tears burning your eyes overcame you that you couldn’t control any longer, “I was never trying to fix you. I didn’t think you needed to be fixed. But you did. And I was never going to be able to convince you otherwise. So, I tried to keep you happy and secure but things popped up and I got, I don’t know... overwhelmed at the idea of having to be strong all the time for both of us. But I wanted to marry you. I wanted to be happy. With you.”

“Tyler...” you said as your tears seemed to settle down, taking a deep breath so you could continue, “I wanted to marry you, too. I only ever wanted to be happy with you but you have to admit. When I left, and you hated me for what I did, you realized that you could start over...”

“I didn’t want to start over though. You made that choice for me!” he raised his voice and you stepped back, breathing in silently

“You were too good of a guy to hurt me... the way I probably deserved to be hurt. Hating me, as twisted as it seems, was the easiest way for you to move on and find closure so you could find the person or the thing that made you find meaning in your life again. I mean, listen to everything you just said. Your life, our relationship, revolved around you trying to convince me that I was enough for you and that’s not fair to you. You should be with someone who’s secure enough in themselves that you two can live your separate lives and then come together and be whole. And I think you have that with Kate, and I’m so glad that you were able to find that happiness that you deserve. Because you seem happy. Are you? Happy?”

“I am...” he sighed, a smile creeping across his lips that broke your heart into a million pieces because you knew you wouldn’t be the one behind it anymore, “I mean, yeah, sometimes I have shitty days and get really sad when I think about us. You and me. But she.. brings me back”

“Good” you said almost inaudibly as tears began to fall from your eyes again, clearing your throat, “I’m so happy for you, Ty, and I wish you nothing but the best. In everything.”

“Thank you” he said sincerely, staring at you so intensely you could feel your heart in your head. Part of you wanted him to kiss you, just to say goodbye, but a bigger part wanted to keep as much distance between you and him as possible; from now until the day you died. When he leaned in to hug you, you melted into him before quickly jerking yourself away

“I’m sorry,” you stammered as you pulled away from him, shaking your head as you backed up, “I can’t do thi-- I have to go...”

“(Y/N)..” he said, trying to stop you from leaving, which you did just to hear what he had to say, “you will always be my favourite story.” You gave him a strained smile as you tried to hold back your tears until you turned away and he couldn’t see your face as you fell apart. You walked back toward the apartment where you had passed by Firebug in the cab earlier when you got a text from both Ethan and Lucy wondering where you are

“Did you get lost?” Lucy sent

“Everything okay?” Ethan asked

“We’re getting worried!”

“Did you decide to stay back at the apartment?”

“It’s okay if you didn’t wanna come out.. Just let us know”

“Babe?”

“Guys I’m okay,” you said when you walked into the café and found their table, “I went back to the Arch.” You handed them your phone so they could look at your pictures, “it was so peaceful tonight. Much more than during the day...”

“Why are your eyes all puffy?” Ethan asked

“Did you go there to cry?” Lucy chided, taking a sip of her Sangria

“No I didn’t go there to cry,” you laughed, “I went there to think. And then Tyler showed up.”

“What happened?” “What did he say?” The two overlapped their questions

“He wanted to talk so we talked...”

“And...?” Ethan prodded

“I cried” you stated with a giggle

“Well obviously,” Lucy scoffed, “but what else? Did he say he loves you and he’ll come back to you and leave Kate?”

“What?” your voice squeaked at her suggestions as a server asked if he could get you a drink, “can I just get a Coca-Cola please? Thank you. Obrigado.”

“(Y/N)!!” Ethan and Lucy shouted to get you to continue

“No. He didn’t say he loves me and he’ll leave Kate”

“WHY THE HELL NOT? THE BOYS AN IDIOT!” Lucy yelled, clearly the Sangria going to her head

“Luce, enough. Guys,” you sighed, sitting back in your chair, “it broke my heart to see them together. Like seriously, my heart shattered when I saw Lionel run to them and then she was just there... with him. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. But he’s happy. They’re happy. I wouldn’t have wanted him to leave her and come back to me even if he said he would. Because it’s over. We’re over and I’ll be okay with that eventually. Knowing that he’s finally found his person makes it, both, easier and harder. He was my favourite person and we both tried so hard but I think we found our closure.”

“That’s it?” Lucy said calmly, “you don’t think you’ll ever get back together?”

“No, Lucy, I don’t.” you stated, placing your hand gently on hers to ease the idea into her mind, “that’s not the way it works for us. Too much has happened for it all to be forgiven and forgotten. I will love him until my heart stops beating and I think a part of him will always love me, but our story is over...”

“That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard” Ethan added, taking a sip of his Cava, displeased at your statement, and you laughed before taking a drink of your Coke that had been placed in front of you

“Maybe...” you continued, “but at least I know what love is now. You know? So the next time I find a guy and it doesn’t feel like it did with Tyler, I’ll know it’s not love and I’ll be able to make a decision as to whether or not I want to just waste my time or move on.”

“Very... mature?” Lucy questioned and you tipped your glass in her direction

“I wish it would’ve ended like a movie...” Ethan complained. You laughed as the two of them continued to drink before completely changing the topic. You smiled as your sister spilled Ethan’s drink all over him and he unenthusiastically ordered another drink. Your phone dinged once and you were surprised to see Tyler’s name light up your screen

“If you’re free tomorrow, I’m going out sailing. You should come by the Port before it leaves...” Your smile faded slightly as you contemplated answering him but instead you turned your phone on its screen, ignoring his message and promising yourself that you’d let him go and let the two of you move on. It was time for a new story...

#Tyler Seguin imagine #Tyler Seguin #Tyler Seguin fic #Tyler Seguin series #NHL imagine #nhl #NHL fic #NHL Series #It Had To Be You #It Had To Be You series #It Had to Be You Finale #Finale #last chapter #masterlist #the other masterlist

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doof-doofblog · 3 years

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"I've Got Everything Under Control!"

Friday 8th December 2021

Hello again everyone! Hope you're having a good weekend so far! Before we jump into the review of last nights episode, I have a little bit of a spoiler for you! It's been announced that there's going to be some big changed ahead for the Panesar family! What the entails however, remains to be seen! Part of me telling me that maybe we'll get a new member of the family, like the Father? We've heard a lot about Ash, Vinny and Kheerat's Father being in prison - but for what? Is he really a dangerous man, which is why the Panesar family behave the way they do? Who knows? What do you think the changes could be? Will we see a new family member or will the family go down a really dark road? Either way I'm looking forward to seeing it all unfold!

Firstly, let's talk about Sharon, Ian and their party to celebrate their marriage! It is just me or does anyone else actually feel sorry for Sharon? She's having to put on this absolute charade of actually being in love with Ian! Obviously she is doing this to get justice for her son, but something tells me she won't really be able to carry on for much longer. She is hating every single moment of being in Ian's presence, even more so being his wife! You can see the awkwardness in her face as when everyone is gathered in the pub to celebrate with the couple and she's stood behind the bar with Ian and he makes a romantic announcement and gesture of buying her a ring and placing it on her finger. She looks incredibly awkward and a little nervous also, but even having to kiss him must be awful for her, especially when she doesn't love him. When Ian says the words "I love you, Mrs Beale!" you can tell she can't even say the words back to him, she simply can't. Even if she is trying to play him, she refuses to say it! Even though I feel for Sharon, she is clearly a woman on a mission and she won't rest until her mission is complete, as later as she approaches Phil, he warns her that she needs to tread carefully if she's still planning on poisoning Ian. He's insisting that they wait a few more days until they start giving him more pills, however when Sharon reveals that she got pills from Jean, without her knowledge, Phil is stunned and warns her that she can't be stealing pills from other people and there could be a risk of getting the police involved. Regardless of his warning, Sharon makes it perfectly clear that she wants to job done as soon as possible, and if he refuses to help her, she'll do it herself!

The second thing I want to mention is Sonia. After a visibly emotional couple of days, she seems to have taken Ash's advice and come to the decision to take a flight to India and see her daughter, Bex and have a break. I just want to point out that this DOES NOT mean that Natalie Cassidy is leaving the soap for good, she is taking a temporary break and will be back later in the Spring. The only thing that is bugging me really is, we still don't know for sure what was causing Sonia to have her emotional outbreaks? Was it simply due to the fact that, because of her being a nurse and being surrounded by patients suffering and dying from Coronavirus, had it all got too much for her? And I'm still interested in finding out what that piece of jewellery was all about. She did explain it was from a patient she looked after - maybe I'm looking into too much, but I don't know, something tells me there's more to it? Will this break do her some good? How will she be feeling when she returns? All these questions are going through my head, even though I'm pretty sure the answers will remain a mystery. Before she leaves anyhow, she bumps into Martin and she can see he's got his own worries on his mind. With their history, she encourages Martin to open up to her. Before he does, he makes her promise not to mention it to anyone else, she gives him her word and he reveals that Ruby is pregnant. Sonia is clearly surprised by this news, but she can see from her ex's face that he's not at all happy about it, she questions whether they were even trying for a baby and he reveals that they weren't. Is Martin maybe thinking that Ruby cheated on him? Does he believe the baby is? Before she leaves, Sonia warns Martin that he has to speak to his wife about how he's feeling about her supposed pregnancy. I personally believe that Ruby is NOT pregnant, she's only saying that to keep hold of her husband, gain the attention she's desperately longing for, and also to get one up on Stacey! But if she isn't pregnant, it mean she will have to get pregnant pretty damn quick before her lies come to light! But, if not by Martin, then who? My first bet - Kush!!! What do you guys think? Is Ruby lying or telling the truth about her pregnancy?!

Thirdly, the next brief thing I want to mention is Gray and Karen. After a lengthy amount of time of the Atkins children living with her Grandparents, they have now moved back in with their Dad, even though Gray is happy to have his children back, Karen is visibly saddened. She asks her Son-In-Law whether she could still help more with the kids - take them to school, do their dinners etc etc. But Gray is adamant that he will be fine in supporting and being there for his children, however when Karen mentions that she's been telling the kids stories about their Mother, it looks as if he's not very happy with her interference. Later, when they're all sat at the dinner table, the children ask for a story about their Mum, much to Gray's surprise, Karen explains to him that it's been their ritual since living with them, having their dinner together and talking about Mummy. I have to mention though, did anyone see the disgust in Gray's face as his dinner was placed in front of him? I know it's bad but I found it kind of amusing how he wasn't impressed with the potato smilies and dinosaur chicken dippers placed in front of him! Suddenly the children start asking about Tina and where she was and how much they enjoyed her being around, it seems to get a bit too much for Gray, a little bit of anger gets to him and he informs his children that they won't be seeing Tina again and that she walked out on them! Even Karen is surprised by Gray's outburst - should Karen be more careful whilst she's around him? Something tells me he is going to more and more angry with her, of course she's just trying to help and keep the children close to their Mum, but he will end up resenting her for it and grow more and more angry and think she's interfering. Karen had better be very careful, I'd hate for her to be his 3rd victim! Also I just want to mention how lovely it is to finally see Bailey back! Feel like it's been so long since we've seen her!

The next thing I want to mention is Frankie. I'm so glad she's back and it's nice to see her having some screen time! Interestingly, she visits the Carter household in an attempt to see Mick, but unfortunately he's not there and she's left with Linda. I have to say though, this is the first time Linda has seen Frankie since learning the truth about her identity and I have to say how much I loved her kindness towards her, even offering to give her her number incase she ever needed anything. For some reason, I thought Linda would be full of questions for Frankie, but I think deep down, she knows that whatever happened between Mick and Katy, it's not Frankie's fault and she can't take it out on her. Frankie is innocent in all this and is a victim, just as much as Mick is, the only one who Linda's anger should be targeted at is Katy! Something tells me that Linda would be welcoming to Frankie and let her be a part of their family. It'll be interesting when Frankie finds out that Linda knows who she is. Later when Frankie attends the bar, she seems to be drinking her worries away - everything she's learnt about Mick and her Mum, even her Mum's offer to fly her away to Australia, she must feel that there's something not quite right? I have to mention that it's so nice to have Ben and Callum bumping into Frankie again after such a long time! Frankie was such a big impact on Ben's hearing loss storyline - it's nice to see them rekindling their friendship. However, when Ben and Callum share a kiss in the club, a bystander hurls abuse towards them, to which Frankie takes it upon herself to stand up for her friends. But when he suddenly mocks her, Frankie sees red and lashes out, beating the youth to a pulp. Ben and Callum have to rush to drag Frankie off of him, poor Callum though - after witnessing everything and having to follow his job role, he knows he can't simply let her go, even if she was sticking up for him and his boyfriend. Frankie is arrested for assault. Whilst at the station she decides to make a call to Linda, even though Linda knows it's her calling, she can't answer the phone at that current time as she's in the apartment with Mick. If he knew that she has given her number to his daughter, how would he react?! He's mentioned that he wants to try and forget about it, but I feel it's going to be hard for them not to? With Frankie back and Katy likely to make another appearance any time soon, I think it'll come to clear to the Carter family that Katy needs to get her comeuppance. After not being able to get through to Linda, Frankie then decides to call her Mum - what's going to happen next?!

Finally, the last thing I want to mention is Lucas, Denise, Patrick and Chelsea. Following the previous episode after Patrick collapses after having a confrontation with Lucas, it looked as if Lucas was going to leave Patrick to die. However Lucas did call an ambulance, informing the operator on the end of the phone that Patrick is having another stroke, however when they ask for Lucas's name - he simply hangs up the phone, as he knows he can't give that information. Later, after Denise has had a private word with Jack, she returns home to find Patrick alone and slumped on the couch, it becomes clear to her that he's in desperate need of an ambulance, she begins to panic and starts to call an ambulance. Poor Patrick though is trying to tell her something, only he can only muster one word "Lucas!" - leaving Denise even more terrified. She contemplates what he's trying to say - Did Lucas do this to him? Was Lucas in their house? Suddenly, an ambulance pulls up outside just in time and she rushes them in to Patrick's aid. The next big question is - Who called the ambulance?! Later at the hospital, all the family have gathered to hear on Patrick's progress - Denise, Sheree, Isaac and Kim are all waiting to hear news of the man who's at the very centre of their family. Eventually it becomes known that he has suffered another stroke and that he will have to be given more medication. Suddenly, Denise phone rings and it appears to be her daughter, Chelsea on the other line - interestingly she asks how Patrick is. Now this instantly answer's Denise's question - she wouldn't have known about Patrick unless Lucas knew, which means that he was there in their house when Patrick collapsed. Chelsea confirms this and asks her Mum to meet them as Lucas wants to talk to her. Denise seems very reluctant, but agrees to her daughter's request. Eventually she meets them away from the Square in an unknown Cafe .... (Does anyone know what or where this Cafe is? As I've noticed it's been used a lot in recent months for secret meetings and for revels of character's returning!) ... As Denise sits herself away from Lucas, she notices the bruises on his face, instantly he questions her involvement or her knowledge about his attack. Denise is instantly insulted and claims she has no knowledge about it, let alone has anything to do with it! However, when Lucas mentions Phil - it seems that she might know who was behind his attack, Patrick - but of course she wouldn't tell him that! Before she leaves, she warns him to stay away from the Square otherwise she will call the police! After she leaves, Lucas and Chelsea are sat together when her phone begins to ring, when Lucas proposes to buy her another drink, she steps outside to take the call - this is when things start to look a hell of a lot more interesting. It's unknown who she's on the phone to, but she's telling them she's getting the job done as soon as she can and she has everything under control! It becomes clear that she was in fact the one who was behind her Father's attack! Who is she talking to? Is Chelsea also out for revenge on her Father?! What is her secret?!

Oooooo so many questions and I can't wait to see everything revealed. So many things I'm looking forward to! Katy getting her comeuppance! I pray that Frankie will stay in the soap and become part of the Carter family! What's going to happen between Lucas and the Fox family?! Will Patrick be okay? Is Karen going to be Gray's 3rd victim?! When will Sharon's actions towards Ian come to light, and when will he know that she's aware of his actions due to her son's death?! Oh my gosh! There's so much speculation and I'm loving it!! Ha! I hope you've enjoyed reading! I hope you all have a brilliant weekend! I'll look forward to hearing any comments you may have! I'll be back very soon! Thank you all for your on-going support! Love you all xXx

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chaoticnerdreview · 4 years

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Dare Me 06: Spoiler Alert - How I Met Your Faults

In the 3rd season of How I Met Your Mother, we were gifted with an episode called "Spoiler Alert" where all friends point out the flaws in each other and we hear a sound of glass shattering whenever others see the flaw happen. Be it a loud chewer or a walking dictionary.

Dare Me gave us, the audience, that very gift with episode 05. Where it completely shattered our views of certain characters, previously presented as gracious or tough as nails by Addy. After that episode, our views of them will never be the same and, in a universe bending kind of way, one character got that gift too. The others, as I'll talk bellow, are starting to see the small cracks in the veneer but haven't heard the breaking glass. Not yet, at least.

(gif by @klexacru )

The same way I did for episode 05, I'll break it down in parts 3 parts, one for each of our main characters. I could do it by alphabetical order, A B C, but I like to turn things upside down.

COLETTE FRENCH:

After seeing how broken she actually is, this episode shows us two sides of Colette: The mother and wife who's trying to fit into her husband's work life but fails to see or hear his real needs. A husband who, in a scene later on, defends her with everything he has despite being angry at her lack of respect for him and the one favour he asked of her. You know. The one she said was beyond being a favour.

And then it shows us the other side of Colette, the one we saw on episode 05. The woman who wants to scream every 5 seconds. The woman who is losing her grip on her squad and subsequently yelling at them for failing to achieve the standards she wants to set. The woman who is losing the control of her affair and allows it to enter her home. The woman who is losing herself every time she looks at the one girl she sees herself in, the girl with the potential to rise above everything but that wasn't brave enough to ask for what she wanted.

Colette is a puzzle and we only have the frame pieces. We know her edges, we get a clear image of what she is and what moves her but the centre? Her true core? A mystery to us all. So much so that she even hides it from herself. Convincing herself that Addy is a young friend rather than a reflection of what she could’ve been and that’s what attracts her to it. Convincing herself that she has everything under control when she can barely keep a lighter in her purse. This 999 pieces puzzle will be impossible to crack and, at the end of the day, the mystery of trying to makes everyone miss out the bigger picture.

BETH CASSIDY:

I’ve seen pain depicted in countless ways over the years but never quite like this. Never a kind of pain where the character is so aware of it that she drowns in it, suffocates in it, but refuses to ask for help. At first I wondered if it was a matter of pride, not let others see her weakness. But after the glass was shattered to us, it shattered for Beth too. The same way we can’t ignore her pain anymore, she can’t either. It even enters her dreams and I loved how they shifted the dream from the book to this new version because, while both made perfect sense, this hurts in a different way but I still wonder if it’s as filled with premonitions as the book was.

In episode 06 we see Beth juggle all of her problems in a circle so fast that you stop seeing them as separate but as one cohesive domino line about to fall. If she wasn’t so in love with someone that doesn’t seem to love her back, she wouldn’t have looked for fulfilment somewhere else, and if Kurtz hadn’t hurt her, she would be able to lead the squad with the drive she had before, and if Colette hadn’t taken her love and her squad away, she wouldn’t have lost herself. And the circle goes on and on and on. To the point where her in-between intoxication’s mother holds her face and says “you’re heartbroken and I wish I knew why”.

But then again, it takes one to know one, right? Beth is in a downward cycle and she can’t believe that no one can hear her fall, so much so that she dreams about it. About being alone in the fog with no one to hold her. And when she wakes up? She only sees change and pain. Will she able to bounce back? Will she be able to grip her love? Only time will tell. Until then, you can catch her running around after midnight.

ADDY HANLON:

Sometimes, and if you’ve ever had a best friend who you think is more talented than you in a sport/craft you both participate, you hold yourself back. Not because you don’t want achieve greatness but because you think, in your gentle mind, that seeing your friend succeed will be enough for you. But spoiler alert? It isn’t. And if, like Addy, you’re met with an opportunity to rise, if your eagerness is strong enough, it’ll break every safe hold you created to keep it pushed down and it will make itself heard.

With RiRi’s misfortune and Coach seemingly giving her every tool to rise, Addy takes the chance, even if she retracts and feels strange about doing so later on. The same way that peacocks show their beautiful feathers in front of the object of their desire, Addy too shows her eagerness and talent in front of Coach. “If you get strong, you rise” and to her, Coach makes her strong. Their connection makes her strong. But she fails to see, because the glass hasn’t shattered yet, how Coach doesn’t make her anything that she wasn’t already. She had the talent, the drive, she simply didn’t want to use it despite feeling it was the only way to get her out of that town.

However, the moment she steps into Coach’s world, the veneer starts to crack ever so lightly when she sees that her superwoman hero is actually weak, confused and easily manipulated. She gives Addy a sense of security while at the same time asking her to be the security she needs to break every law. And while Addy might think that’s what friends are for, more often than not, your real friends wouldn’t ask you for the things Coach does. Still, when push comes to shove and everything is spinning out of control, you do the one thing that will guarantee you a clear mind: you run home after midnight.

HONORARY MENTIONS:

Beth’s mother, for seeing the heartbreak in her child but failing to stay around long enough to fix it because there’s only so long you can go without your own pain becomes unbearable.

Sarge Will, for taking matters into his own hands in a brief moment of clarity and attempting to punch some sense into the unforgivable.

Final notes:

These three women are more intertwined than one of those friendship bracelets we all made in our youth. Their tightness around each other suffocates one more than the rest but influences all of them just the same. The question is: how far will it go? How far can you pull the strings until one of them breaks the fri from the end?

#dare me #colette french #addy hanlon #beth cassidy

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eddie-delacruz · 3 years

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I Don’t Want to Fight You Forever | Eddsidy

Pairing - Eddie De La Cruz & Cassidy Stabbington ( @cassidystabbington )

Time - End of School/Early Summer

Setting - Cassidy’s dorm room

Summary - After months of not speaking, Eddie shows up at Cassidy’s to confess his feelings.

Eddie:

Eddie clearly didn’t have a clue what his next step would be. He was standing at Cassidy’s dorm room door, like a fucking idiot. Obviously, he should’ve planned something to say but he didn’t. He was too nervous to think about it anytime he tried. There were several crumpled up papers with sorry ass words written on them. He knew that whatever he would put into paper wouldn’t help with the absolute mess of a way he left things.

Why he didn’t immediately go to Cassidy as soon as he broke up with Dizzy was as much a mystery to him as anyone who knew the situation. Which was currently just Maya. She’d tried telling him to go small, be genuine and meaningful but what the hell does that mean? Anything he did was meaningful because he meant to do it. Whatever it actually means, all he knew was that he couldn’t go big.

He’d already written a song, that didn’t go over well. He thought about doing something public— because where else besides Crownflicks is he supposed to get his “romantic” ideas from? That one is as good as anything to blow up spectacularly in his face. On the off chance she doesn’t believe him, he’d get rejected in front of the entire school. Not exactly the backlash he’d need after a not so greatly planned breakup.

So what impossible thing do you do when you want to tell the girl you have feelings for that you like her? Eddie finally knocked on the door to her room, clearing his throat as he tried to push back every single thought that was telling him this was stupid and that she probably hates him and doesn’t want to talk to him ever again. His hands burrowed themselves in the pockets of his jeans. If he can’t escape this maybe at least his hands can hide away for a while.

Cassidy:

If Cassidy thought long months of watching Eddie date a simpering child had been hard for her, they had proved to be nothing compared to the time after he and Dizzy had broken up. She’d been so stupid on Valentine’s Day, almost believing that he really cared for her the same way that she cared for him, letting their kiss haunt her until she’d hoped that maybe this was really it. Maybe the thing she’d wanted for so long was within her grasp, and Eddie would leave Dizzy behind and things could be different between them.

Hope was for suckers, though, and what a fool she’d been for letting it creep in, slipping past her hard exterior and into the softer pieces of her heart. It had taken months for Eddie to break up with Dizzy, and when he had, she hadn’t heard a single thing from him. She’d learned of their relationship ending through the rumor mill, right as she’d been working on her own song, one she’d recorded without even Diego knowing. It had been too raw, too real, and had revealed entirely too much about how she felt, watching Eddie with the wrong girl… only he wasn’t with the wrong girl anymore. She’d thought to give him the recording on his birthday, but he and Dizzy were already broken up then, and he hadn’t said a single word.

She was through hoping, now. Eddie’s silence had been deafening, and she’d gotten the message loud and clear. She wasn’t the one for him; he’d probably just temporarily lost his mind the last time they’d talked about stupid feelings, just like he’d lost his mind when he’d decided to date that stupid freshman at all. He’d probably gone running back to Maya like he always did, and somehow that hurt worse. Dizzy, she at least knew, couldn’t possibly matter that much to him. But even Cassidy cared about Maya; it was stupid to think anyone would want to stick around and wade through all her issues when someone like that was the alternative.

Cass had tried for years to get these stupid feelings out of her system, and though it hadn’t worked yet, summer was starting. She had three whole months to hide and throw herself into music with Diego, and maybe, just maybe, she could finally put her feelings to rest. Only she flung the door open at the sound of a knock, expecting to see her dumb cousin, or her musical partner, or even a friend like Maya.. only to find Eddie standing there instead. “I think you got lost somewhere,” she said immediately, her defenses automatically up. She’d spent so much time being mad at him, she didn’t really know how to act now that he was here, in the flesh, and not just a figment of her imagination, a figure haunting her daydreams.

Why was he here? Now, after so much time had passed? It hurt too much, and she had a feeling this was only going to hurt her more… She didn’t immediately retreat from the sight of him though; instead, Cassidy crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself too tightly.. She shouldn’t want to see him, after all her mental anguish, but the pull was still there, and she’d never been very good at ignoring it. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t slam the door in your face right now.”

Eddie:

It was stupid to think that just because of that Valentine’s day, her birthday, that things could change. But that’s why he did everything he did… right? When they kissed, finally he was able to put every single bit of feeling he had into action. The feeling he would get when she would just be in a room. When she would yell at him. When she’d challenged him. When they made music together. It was the best feeling he never could’ve described. Cassidy made everything go away that afternoon.

He didn’t care about what he was supposed to be doing, who was supposed to be with because it didn’t matter. She did. The whole relationship thing was a dud from the beginning, and Cass knew it before he even told her what was going on.

That was the whole reason he even had the incentive to break up with Dizzy. Other than, of course, trying to avoid having sex. It was already hard trying to hide what he’d been feeling and once he and Cassidy kissed he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide it much longer and before it got out he had to end it with Dizzy. How was he supposed to keep from saying that he didn’t want to spend whatever free time he had making music with her, “the enemy”.

Cassidy deserved better. She didn’t deserve his silence yet he put her through it anyway. Because no matter what he told her, she never believed him. He wrote the song for her and she wouldn’t believe it. He’d tried telling her so many times how he felt, but it was all meaningless over text. If there was one thing he learned from their many many arguments and countless text threads, is that she hated him. Eddie had caused so much grief for her, and yet he still showed up at her door. Without any preparation on how he could possibly convince her that everything he’d ever said to her was true.

Eddie was speechless when he saw her standing in front of him. What could he say? There was no excuse he had for completely ghosting her. How could he have texted her or talked to her right after he broke up with Dizzy? He didn’t know what to say then and he sure as hell didn’t know what to say now. He’d felt a rush up his spine. His face running cold while his hands gradually heated. Finally, his hands pulled from his pockets and he began to rub them together to try and ease the discomfort. For the first time he couldn’t speak, he cleared his throat to recover it from it’s drying state. “Cassidy, we have to talk.” Was all he could muster up. Really? No shit. You disappear for weeks and now you want to talk? He repeated to himself before shaking his head. It has to be better than that. He can’t screw this up again. “I should’ve called.” Godmother, why was admitting this so hard? “It was stupid, but I need to talk to you. Just give me 5 minutes.”

Cassidy:

We need to talk? Cassidy had wanted desperately to hear from him for months now and all he could muster up were the most generic and lame ‘relationship’ discussion words in the English language? Cassidy’s fingers itched with the desire to slam the door in his face and keep him out, to stop him from having another chance to disappoint and underwhelm her… but instead, she rolled her eyes and stepped back from the door, leaving it open for him to come inside.

“You know, usually people say that when they’re breaking up with someone,” she pointed out once her back was turned to him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “But since I’d…” Cassidy began, wanting to toss something biting and hurtful his way so that he could feel a fraction of the pain she’d been in during the stretch of silence. He’d asked why she still talked to him if she hated him so much, but it was impossible not to talk to him. It was so much worse than the fighting, a gaping absence in her life where he was supposed to be, and she only hated him so much because of how much she really didn’t hate him at all.

What if he really was here because he felt the same way? Was she really going to take whatever small step he was trying to make and throw it back in his face? That was her usual way, her usual method, and God knew it hadn’t gotten her anywhere so far. So instead of being defensive, Cassidy’s voice was small as she corrected her statement. “But since you’d never want to date me, obviously it’s not that kind of conversation, so what do you want?”

She didn’t like this feeling, the weak and uncertain one. She didn’t like giving him the upperhand when she usually tried so hard to fight and claw for it, but she had to know. Cassidy wanted so desperately to close this chapter in her life, to get over these feelings that never seemed to be on the same page as Eddie’s… but he was here now, and she was still just taking whatever little pieces he would give her. She hated herself for wanting all of him, and more for settling for just parts of him, but she hadn’t been able to change that yet, and it wasn’t suddenly going to change now.

Cassidy tapped a timer onto her phone as she waited for him to close the door and join her, settling on her desk chair instead of the bed so that he couldn’t sit next to her and make her brain all fuzzy with his closeness. She clicked start and set the phone down face-up on the desk, looking at him pointedly, trying to hide whatever flicker of hope she was sure was showing in her eyes. “Five minutes, go.”

Eddie:

Eddie never was that great with words. It was why he’d worked so well with Cassidy before. She always knew exactly what to say, the exact right words to fit whatever he wanted to sing about. Sure he could handle writing on his own, but if he was being honest with himself, he’d say his music never sounded more real when they came from her. He wondered if he ever gave her enough credit for that. Instead, he’s here giving her the most basic lines because no other words could come to mind.

She didn’t think he wanted her, and that was pointedly on him. He felt her words ring very loudly in his ear. Of course, he wanted to be with her. So why was this so hard? To say those words and tell her how he felt. Just hoping he doesn’t go back and repeat that pattern of breaking her heart.

Eddie walked into the room, turning to close the door behind him. This would have to be private. He’d spent the longest time talking to Maya about everything he should’ve been telling Cassidy and he was going to fix that now. Since she’d sat at her desk, he stood in front of her. Rubbing his hands on his pants, they’d suddenly gotten very hot and sweaty. “It is,” he simply stated before clearing his throat. ‘It is that kind of conversation.”

This was getting a little easier. Piece by piece he was letting the truth out with here. And this time it wasn’t over a text message. He was saying it to her face. His eyes darted to the timer. Okay, a little bit of added pressure. There was no way he could tell whether she would actually kick him out after 5 minutes, but there was a large chance she would. It’s not like he didn’t deserve it.

His throat was dry and he needed another second to gather his words. Everything Eddie wanted to say was becoming a jumbled mess in his head and he was just hoping he wouldn’t screw it up again. Where does he even begin? “Cass, I never should’ve dated her.” Admitting he was wrong, one of the things he was told to do. But it wasn’t like Cassidy didn’t know that already. He needed more, to tell her directly. “I wanted to be with you- I mean..” He shook his head, his eyes on hers. “I want to be with you.”

Cassidy:

Cassidy shifted in her chair as Eddie spoke, putting her hands underneath her so he couldn’t reach out to touch them. It took all her willpower not to have them go to her pockets, where she typically had some kind of pocket knife on her, but listening to him had her even more on the defensive than she’d already been. What the hell did that mean, that it was that kind of conversation? She’d heard his silence loud and clear; she didn’t need him to come here and stomp on her heart a final time.

Or… did she? Maybe all she needed was a straightforward no, an unequivocal rejection. Maybe then her heart could stop belonging to him, no matter how much she wanted to have it for herself, to give away to someone better instead. Only no matter how many people she met, none of them ever seemed better. God knew Eddie drove her crazy, but she also never felt more alive than when she was with him either. Even when they were fighting. Sometimes especially when they were fighting.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek to keep from instantly fighting him now, though. She’d heard him out without interrupting his five minutes, or at least she’d try. Her eyes darted towards the timer again, a distraction so that they couldn’t well with tears as she waited to hear what came next… only what came next wasn’t him telling her that she needed to leave him alone, or that he wanted nothing to do with her once and for all. Instead, her head snapped back towards him, her eyes wide as she stared at his face for some kind of indication that he was fucking with her.

He looked sincere, though, and Cassidy really wasn’t sure what the hell to say to that. Of course he shouldn’t have dated Dizzy. Not just because of how much it broke her heart to see him with someone else, but for so many reasons. He deserved so much better than someone so simple-minded and immature, and Cassidy could only nod slowly in agreement, not trusting herself to say anything else. And thank God for her ability to shut up for once; if she were as combative as she usually was, if she were fighting him every chance she got, he might never have gotten the chance to say his next words.

I want to be with you. It was so simple, and it was what she’d wanted to hear for so long. Now that she was hearing it, she should have been elated, but instead a knot formed in her stomach, and what she was actually feeling was much more akin to dread. “You can’t mean that,” she said, taking one hand out from under her to hit pause on the timer. It wasn’t fair to take away from his five minutes just because she couldn’t stay silent and listen. She had to ask, though. She had to know if he really meant it, or if he’d just temporarily lost his mind now, without Dizzy in the picture. Still, even without Dizzy, there was Maya, and it just didn’t compute to her.

“I’ve wanted to hear you say that for so long,” she finally admitted, taking her other hand out from under her and wringing them together in her lap. “Probably since even before I broke up with Emmett. But now, I just…” was terrified, she finished mentally. She was terrified that he’d take the words back right away, or worse, that she’d finally get to have him only to lose him all over again. She was always scared of everything, of things that didn’t even mean anything; Cassidy should have known she’d be even more frightened when it came to something that mattered so much. “I’ve always been here, you idiot. I’ve always wanted you, so… why now? What the hell changed?” She unclasped her hands just long enough to hit ‘unpause,’ and then wrung them together again, unsure what else to do with them to combat her nerves.

Eddie:

Eddie was more than shocked himself at how long he'd been lying to himself. But as soon as the words had left his mouth he'd known it was something he'd wished he said so much sooner. Instead of being the stupid idiot he'd been before and letting his fame dictate his every move. "I mean every word of it, Cassidy. I should've known-" He stopped for a moment just to gather his thoughts. If he was going to give her an answer, he needed to make sure he said the right thing.

It nearly broke his heart to hear how long she'd been waiting on him to get his shit together. To hear that she'd felt this way about him for so long and he had no clue. Or maybe he just wouldn't let himself believe it. She was always too good for him. "I didn't think I deserved-" No that's stupid. They were just excuses. He cleared his throat trying to think of something better to say. "That's the thing...I don't think anything's ever changed how I feel about you. I was just too fucking stupid to ever realize it."

Cassidy:

Cassidy snorted softly and agreed, "You are pretty fucking stupid. But I don't exactly make it easy for you, I guess, so uh... maybe that makes us even?" She shifted slightly, wringing her hands together once before letting them rest gently in her lap. She itched to reach out and touch him, to make sure that this wasn't all some crazy fantasy, but if it was make believe, she wasn't ready for it to end yet. She turned it over in her head, trying to figure out why now? She'd bottled things up for so long that she'd hit a breaking point, and he said nothing had changed, but... "Maybe we both just finally grew up a little," Cassidy posited, licking her lips to wet them. They'd gone dry hearing Eddie's words and trying to get herself to believe them, to understand that what she'd wanted for so long was actually within her reach.

"Or maybe how we felt about each other didn't change, maybe it was how we felt about ourselves. I don't know, maybe I'm just thinking too much." She'd seen enough cheesy Auradonian movies to know that this was usually the part where the girl threw herself into the guy's arms and kissed away all the problems they'd had along the way to finding each other. She normally wasn't that girl, always tempering her emotions and fighting her feelings, but she'd fought them for so long, and she was so tired. There were so many things she was feeling that she didn't know how to put into words yet, and for once, she was going to let herself act instead of just think. "Come here, you idiot," she conceded, reaching for his hands and trying to tug him down to her level. "Words aren't your thing, why don't you show me how you feel instead?"

Eddie:

Eddie wasn't entirely sure if he could convince that he was dfferent, that something about him had changed. He'd spent so much time trying to hide his true self from everyone. Cassidy had been one of the few people to ever fully see through it. To see who he actually was and despite everything she still was always there. She was right, maybe they both did just grow up and were finally able to let go of the things that were holding them back. And thank god he didn't have to. "I think you're right....with all of it." His head shook slightly.

"All I know is that I can't keep the feelings in anymore." He felt a rush of relief wash over his face with everything out in the air. His hands meet with hers, letting himself be pulled down to meet her. Who knew his heart could be racing this much. All he wanted to do was sweep her off her feet and embrace her in his arms and to kiss her like he'd never get another chance to. A smile finally was placed on his lips as he closed the space between them, pressing his lips against hers. His hands moving so they were on either side of her face, holding the kiss.

Cassidy:

Cassidy's eyes widened. He thought she was right. How far they'd come, that either one of them was willing to say such a thing. There had certainly been times in the past when she'd thought Eddie might have a point about something or another, but she never would have conceded it to him. She was so tired, though. Tired of hiding from her feelings, tired of pushing him away, tired of seeing him with other people when all she wanted was for him to be with her... It felt good to let her guard down. To finally give in.

"I don't want to fight you forever," Cassidy agreed softly in the moment before their lips meant. Their kiss from her birthday was still burned in her brain, but no matter how much that had made her feel, that angry, tension-filled kiss had nothing on this. It wasn't a battle for dominance or a grudging chance to act on dammed up feelings; this was her finally letting herself have what she'd wanted for so long. It felt like coming home, and Cassidy's lips against his were soft, yet insistent, as she let the bitterness wash off of her under Eddie's touch. A part of her didn't want to stop; the old worries that if this moment ended, there wouldn't be another one creeping in.

They had to try to be different now, though. Otherwise, it would all amount to nothing, so with a reluctant sigh, Cassidy broke the kiss to take a breath, keeping her forehead resting against Eddie's. "I lo..." she began unthinkingly, the true depth of her feelings for him bubbled up to the surface. It was too soon, though; too much, too fast, so instead she whispered, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. Can we not wait like five years before we do it again?" she asked with a nervous laugh.

#{ Cassidy }#{ para }#{ cassidy ; para }

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shireness-says · 5 years

Text

Swan’s Seven (1/?)

Summary: After two years behind bars, Emma's out, and she's got a plan in mind. Now to put together the perfect team... Let's stage an art heist. (A CS Ocean’s 8 AU) 1.9K. Rated T for language. Also on AO3.

~~~~~

A/N: Thanks for joining me for another MC! It’s going to be a fun one. Turns out, I hate posting schedules when I’m the one being scheduled, so these will be up when they’re up. Hang in there.

Thanks to my wonderful beta, @snidgetsafan. Love ya bunches, babe.

Tagging: @optomisticgirl, @spartanguard, @profdanglaisstuff, @captainsjedi, @thisonesatellite, @thejollyroger-writer, @let-it-raines, @teamhook, @kmomof4, @snowbellewells, @searchingwardrobes, @winterbaby89. Shoot me a message if you want to be added/taken off the list.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

~~~~~

It feels odd, changing back into regular clothes after two years in a prison jumpsuit. Not bad, obviously - orange was never really Emma’s color anyways — just… odd. The black leather dress still fits like a glove, she’s pleased to note, and her arms are looking better than ever. That little tidbit is almost enough to keep Emma from slipping her treasured red leather jacket over the top — almost. A girl’s got to have her armor and a signature piece, after all.

“You gonna behave yourself, Ms. Swan?” the guard posted at the release desk asks as she hands over the last of the possessions Emma was arrested with - a pitifully small handbag. Emma resolves to burn it as soon as possible — less for the bad memories, more because it barely holds two cards and a hundred dollars cash.

Not that she’s been blessed with such a generous sum. “Don’t I always, Marcie,” she chuckles darkly. “Besides, how much trouble can I get into with $32.17?”

$3.17 of it is in change. She’ll be lucky if she can get a cab to a train station with that kind of money.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Marcie grumbles. She looks like she’s suppressing a smile, though; she always was one of the guards Emma got along with. “Get out of here, and don’t let me see you next year.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The sunlight feels different, too, as Emma walks out the front doors and down the path to the parking lot. It’s not that she hasn’t been outside in two years; even in New York, they get time in the prison yard, so that’s obviously not the case. But knowing that she can enjoy the sunlight in longer than one-hour spurts is a different thing altogether, and wholly intoxicating.

She’s so busy soaking in the sunshine and her new-found freedom that it takes Emma a moment to notice the figure waiting where the fence gives way to cars and asphalt: lean, dark haired, dressed to kill. Regina.

“Hot date?” the other woman drawls, not even bothering to look up from where a perfectly manicured thumbnail navigates her phone. Emma wouldn’t expect anything less from her partner in crime. Emma and Regina met six years ago while both attempting to con the same mark, and had been criminally inseparable ever since (and she’s still particularly proud of the fake charity cons they used to run on wealthy, pervy men, happy to toss a few thousand dollars their way without checking their credentials too closely in hopes of getting into Regina’s pants). In all that time, Emma’s never seen her look anything but immaculately put together in perfectly tailored garments, expertly paired with that air of casual boredom she’s perfected. Beneath the cold exterior, Emma knows, lies a terrifying loyalty, however. It’s probably not a coincidence that that fucker Neal Cassidy wound up arrested mere months after setting up Emma to take the fall for his crimes, still landing her an accessory conviction after his stupid watches were found in her trunk despite the police’s inability to put her at scene of the crime — and indeed, surveillance video proved she hadn’t been the one breaking into cases. But Emma went to prison, and Regina… well, Emma wouldn’t be surprised if Regina got a little payback, even if she’d never admit to it.

“I don’t know, depends on who’s at the insurance convention you’re attending,” Emma shoots back. The perfectly matched trousers, blazer, and vest certainly suggest business more than a casual afternoon; an uninformed bystander would certainly be forgiven for thinking Regina was Emma’s lawyer instead of a fellow conwoman.

Despite the teasing introductions, Emma still doesn’t hesitate to wrap her friend into a tight hug. “Missed you, Reg,” she whispers.

“Me too,” is the barely audible response, before Regina pulls back to briskly brush at her precisely creased pants. “That’s enough of that. I thought prison wasn’t supposed to make you go soft, E, control yourself. I’ll still give you a lift into the city, if you want.”

“I’m counting on a lot more than that,” Emma comments as they climb into the black Volvo — nice, but not flashy, hovering just below the radar. Just the way they both like it. Emma idly wonders who stole it. “I’m gonna need a place to crash.”

Regina shoots her a sideways glance, full of skepticism. Regina Mills doesn’t do confusion. “Not running off to see brother dearest and whatever disgusting fairy tale he’s living in backwoods Maine?”

“Not yet.”

Regina hums in sudden understanding. “Ah. You’ve got a job in mind.”

“And I don’t want him involved,” Emma finishes.

“What’s the job?”

“I’ll tell you when we get back to your place,” Emma promises. “You’ll like it, though, it’ll be a fun one. And besides, it’s a favor for an old friend.”

Most of the rest of the 90 minute drive into the city passes in silence — not that Emma minds. It gives her a chance to run over the plan in her head again before she has to tell Regina. Still, they’re pulling up in front of the warehouse space that always manages to look just this side of abandoned. Regina had the business savvy at some point to buy up the building with some of the money she’d accumulated over the years, and last Emma heard, it was a thriving nightclub. Poison Apple. Terrible name, in Emma’s opinion, but she’s not the one running the place.

The inside is the same as always, full of exposed metal beams and carefully cultivated rust. Emma knows that at night, when this place is packed with revelers, the lights (what few of them exist) illuminate in bronze and gold shades, really encouraging the steampunk fairytale feeling in here. The unusual wishing well on one side of the room helps with that too, as does the apple tree growing under the grimy window panels that make up the slant of the roof. Emma finds those touches just as ridiculous as the name, but you can’t deny that there’s a theme going. And anyways, they can make good money pulling change out of the wishing well after the end of the weekend.

The apartment upstairs is much the same, minus the ridiculous fairytale decor. It’s been shined up, however, in a way that the club hasn’t been. Regina’s taste has always tended towards the luxurious and ornate, in a way that should be anachronistic against the metal and brick, but isn’t. The scrolled and gilded furniture is more comfortable than the minimalistic metal and leather Emma would have expected of an industrial space anyways, so Emma doesn’t have much space to pass any judgement.

“There’s a spare bedroom upstairs,” Regina says, tossing her keys onto the kitchen counter. Dark wood, white granite. Nice. “Make yourself at home.”

“What, with all my baggage?” Emma snorts.

“Fine, don’t then,” Regina snipes back, opening the fridge to toss Emma a beer. “Don’t come whining to me later about how I’m not being hospitable or some shit.”

“I’ve got a drink, what else do I need?” Emma collapses onto the couch. It feels good to finally toe her heels off, even if she can’t kick them across the room with a polished wood coffee table in the way that definitely cost more than the $32.17 in her wallet. God, what was the Emma of two years ago thinking with these torture devices?

Oh. Yeah. Horribly in love, planning to maybe use the heels to coax her date into a wild night of sex. That’d explain it.

“Oh, well, now that you’re here, what about that explanation? You said you had a plan in mind for some job?” Regina, of course, has somehow managed to conjure up a glass of wine for herself. Beer is for the peasants or something.

“The job of the century,” Emma promises.

“Yes, that’s great. The details?” Nothing is more entertaining than an impatient, pissed off Regina. It’s probably a miracle they haven’t killed each other yet.

Emma savors the moment for one more sip of her beer before finally spilling. “Zelena West. You know her?”

“Personally? No,” Regina snorts. “But Zelena West, pharmaceutical titan and socialite? Yes, Emma, I know of her. You’re the one who’s been in prison, not me.”

Emma ignores the jab. “You’re aware about her art collecting, then? The gallery she runs for the public?”

“Again, I haven’t been living under a rock, E.”

“And you know about the upcoming collaboration between the West Collection and the Big Apple Ballet? Big exhibit in BAB’s gallery about the intersection of dance and art?”

“Yes…” Regina trails off as the details finally sink in. “You’re planning an art heist.”

“Bingo.”

“A classic, certainly. Seems a bit of a risk, though, especially since you’re fresh out of prison. Why would you want to go after such a big fish right away?”

“Like I said, it’s a favor for an old friend.” She takes another swig of her beer. “It’ll be fun, besides. And it’ll work.”

“Yes, well, that’s left to be seen,” Regina grumbles. “Tell me everything, start to finish. Every motive, every step, every player, or so help me god, Emma, I won’t lift a finger to help you with this. I don’t intend to be caught attempting a fool’s gambit.”

So she does. Emma’s had a lot of time to think through this, and has run it in her head countless times. She knows every inch of this plan inside and out — and by the time she’s done speaking, Regina does too.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I think it might work.” The wine has long since been consumed in the course of their conversation, but Regina sounds like she needs another glass after being conned into that admittance. “You’ll need a crew though. This isn’t something we can pull off on our own, I can tell you that now.”

“Oh, I know that,” Emma readily agrees. She’d been prepared for this. “We’re definitely going to need a xerox, a code wrangler, and a can opener. Maybe a fairy fingers, for good measure.”

“Never know when you’re going to need a good fairy,” Regina agrees. “You’re going to need a good garage sale, too.”

“For sure. Someone who’s already tapped into that world.”

“So five, plus you and I… you really think we can pull this off with seven players?”

“I really do.”

“I’ll put out feelers tomorrow, start collecting resumes.” Regina stands, carefully straightening out her pants. “It’s good to have you back in the game, Emma. I was worried that once you got out, you’d run off to live some boring Rockwell life with your brother.”

“Not me. Once a con, always a con,” Emma toasts before finishing off her beer.

And that’s the truth of it, really — this is in her blood. The one thing Emma Swan is better at than anything is conning people out of their money. It brought her a family, and a purpose, and a challenge to face every morning. She’s not sure she can imagine any other kind of life, or that she’d want to. Day after day crammed into a cubicle just isn’t for her.

“Let’s go stage an art heist,” it’s easy to declare, easier than riding a bike, almost easier than breathing.

Emma Swan is back in the game.

#Captain Swan #cs ff #my writing #Swan's Seven #Ocean's 8 AU #the razzing on David will continue #because it's kind of fun

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irwinkitten · 5 years

Text

home | m.c

pairing: none summary: michael found three brothers within his best friends as they toured the world and made names for themselves, but he never knew about being an brother until he was one. or michael discovers he has a sister notes: so lowkey inspired by the fact i found out that my great aunt’s older sister ran away when she was 20 and disappeared. so we could potentially have more family out there and i kinda got inspired to write this and yeah. warnings: mentions of death, smidgen of angst and fluff word count: 8k!

---

Most parents were able to talk to their children about their families, about their history. But Cassidy never knew about her dad, apart from the fact that she had been born from a summer fling.

Whenever she’d asked, her mum would only smile wistfully before changing the subject and Cassidy realised that she would likely never learn of the other side to her family.

But then when her mum had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, the world seemed to be pulled under from her feet as she tried to prepare herself, to plan ahead for her life. And for the most part, she could enjoy the time with her mum, the two of them going on outings. But then she deteriorated to the point that she needed to be in a hospital and Cassidy never left her side as the days slipped on by and the breathing became more shallower and rattling.

Weeks after a new year rolled in, the day that her breathing stopped, Cassidy felt her heart break. She felt the ache in her chest as she was picked up at two in the morning by a family friend, bringing her back to their home as she sat in the kitchen and sobbed, being held by the people who had helped her mum raise her.

When she was contacted by the solicitor regarding her mum’s will, Lyn stayed by her side, holding her hand as he read through what had been left to her.

She’d gained all of her mother's trinkets, as well as a substantial amount of money and a house that she could do as she pleased. And finally, she was given a letter.

Going back to Lyn’s, a cup of tea in hand, she sat in the kitchen by herself, reading through the letter and felt her heart drop. She was finally learning about her father.

Cassidy,

My sweet, sweet girl. As I write this, my health is getting worse. We both knew this moment was coming. I know you’ve been talking to the carers about getting me to the hospital. I just hope that you are not left to go through this alone. But I know Lyn, she won’t leave you.

In my last letter to you, I want to tell you about your father, a man who I loved only for a summer. His name was Daryl. We knew it would amount to nothing more, he was visiting from Australia and it was the 90’s. Technology was still moving along and letters were so much effort for us. We agreed that our summer fling would be just that. But then, my sweet girl, you surprised me. You were always the best reminder of that summer. You were the greatest gift I was given.

I know you asked for him, but I could never be honest and tell you that he was just a summer romance. I didn’t want to lie to you and say we were madly in love but he left me or didn’t want you. Truth be told, I don’t know if he knows you exist. We exchanged a handful of letters and when I discovered I was pregnant with you, I forgot about him.

I know that maybe I should have helped you reach out to him as you got older, or even told him of your existence. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It will be my greatest shame to bear, even after I pass to the next life. You deserved better than that, and I can only apologise.

With this letter, I’ve included the letters we exchanged before I discovered my pregnancy. I know the address and name is not much to go on, but it’s all that I can do now. The rest is up to the universe. I hope that she will be kind and give you the opportunity to meet him, because the man that I met, the charming and witty young gentleman, would have loved you to pieces.

I am sorry, my sweet girl that we part like this. But I hope you can rest your soul that even though my bones are growing tired and my soul is lifting to meet my maker, I am so so proud of who you are and the woman you’ve become.

All my love,

Mum

Lyn found her in the kitchen, tea long gone cold and body slumped over the table, dry tear tracks indicating she’d cried herself to exhaustion. So after calling for her husband Joe, he easily shifted her body into his arms, carrying her up to the guest bedroom and tucked her under the covers.

Lyn folded the letter back up without looking and placed it on the bedside table before letting her sleep peacefully.

The next morning when Cassidy stumbled into the kitchen, greeted with Joe’s coughed giggle, she rolled her eyes and made herself a tea, leaning against the counter as he continued to make breakfast.

“Mum left me a letter. She told me about my dad.” Joe paused for a moment before he finished up their breakfast. She didn’t argue as he marched her into the dining room and sat her down, his eyes filled with concern.

“And what do you want to do Cassie?” She hesitated at his question. What did she want?

“I want him to know me. But I’m scared. I’m twenty five years old and I’m fucking terrified.” She finally got out and he reached a hand out, resting it on hers.

“You know that Lyn and I will be here with you regardless of your decision.” She nodded her head at that and the discussion was shelved for when Lyn returned home from work.

The day was filled with appointments, getting the death certificate and making phone calls to either get things transferred or cut off. It was a tiring day of Cassidy and when Lyn returned home later that evening, she was already nursing a glass of wine, her eyes rimmed red and a tissue in her lap. Joe could only offer so much comfort, but he was more about practicality, Lyn dealt better with the emotions.

Grabbing her dinner that had been left on a warming plate in the oven, Lyn joined the two in the living room, choosing the spot next to Cassidy. The younger girl seemed to shift in response, her body curling into Lyn’s side and she didn’t protest, knowing that comfort was needed.

They discussed the day, Joe going over what had been done before her usual sharp green eyes snapped up at the mention of the funeral.

“It’s got to be colourful. She loved life and bright colours.” Joe nodded in understanding and Joe finally brought up the conversation she was still unsure about.

“Cassie has found out some information about her dad from her mum.” With Lyn’s plate long since cleared and set on the floor, she’d allowed the younger woman to curl into her side completely, accepting the offered comfort. Her arm squeezed around Cassidy’s shoulders.

“Do you want to find him?”

“Yes.” The answer had left her lips, the uncertainty tinging in her tone, but she knew that it was something she needed to do. There wasn’t much left of her family any more. Cousins scattered across the country with aunts and uncles, but even then they were slowly passing away.

“We’ll start with a letter to the address that we have. That way we can open a communication and see where to go from there.” Relief flooded through her bones. Someone was helping her and taking charge.

---

After the funeral, they’d written the letter and sent it off. Cassidy hadn’t thought much of it as she slowly began to pack up her mum’s belongings, the small trinkets staying in the house whilst the clothes went to charity shops or she sold on. It was easy to fall back into the routine of going back to work.

Her boss had been kind to her, giving her the time she needed, getting cover for the shifts and telling Cassidy not to worry about the coffee shop. And so she didn’t. When she returned to work, her regular customers who lived locally and knew what had happened, passed their condolences and things slowly began to return to normal.

It was two months after the letter had been sent off did an email ping into her inbox, the only thing stopping from deleting it was the subject of the message ‘greetings from Daryl’ and her stomach dropped as she stared at the words before taking a deep breath and closing the laptop lid.

“I’ve got time.” She murmured, heading upstairs to shower and get changed, scrubbing herself clean until her skin was slightly pink and she didn’t feel like her chest was caving in.

Cassidy eventually returned to the laptop, hands shaking as she clicked open the email. Her eyes scanned over the contents, a short explanation saying how that he didn’t live at the at address any more, but he’d always kept in touch with the previous owners. He sent his condolences about her mother and the slight disbelief that she hadn’t told him about her.

Along with it was the agreement to the paternity test, for his own reassurance and then maybe they could talk about it more. And she understood that, she understood that he was worried for whatever reason that it wasn’t true.

So with trembling hands, she typed her reply out and realised that everything in her life was about to change.

---

Cassidy had done her swabs and sent the test off weeks ago.

Lyn had helped her, and when the results arrived, she didn’t bother to open them, heading over to Lyn and Joe’s instead. Every emotion seemed to be crashing through her body as she tried to figure out how she felt about this. Was she excited, was she nervous? When she pulled up to their driveway and headed on in, she realised that a lot of the feeling was fear. Fear of the unknown.

“The test results arrived.” She held up the envelope once she greeted Lyn. Without being prompted, she handed the envelope over.

“Are you sure you want me to open them?”

“I can’t.” And one look at her trembling hands helped Lyn understand as they sat down on the couch together. The house was quiet, Joe having gone into work for the day.

The opening of the envelope sounded louder than it should’ve done, but also Cassidy could hear her heart thundering in her chest. Everything felt louder as she could feel herself holding onto her breath, waiting for Lyn to read the letter.

“Congratulations, kiddo. He’s a match.” The breath escaped her and she could feel herself lost for words. Her mum hadn’t lied and he really was her dad.

“I don’t know what to do now.” She finally whispered and Lyn patted her arm comfortingly.

“You talk to him. Work it out from here.”

So she went home and opened her emails. She typed and retyped her email until the words didn’t look right to her. And eventually she clicked send, praying he could make sense of her garbled nonsense, terrified of the biggest change in her life.

He replied within the hour, having read his own results and it felt like a weight was settling on her again. She didn’t know how to reply to his curious questions, wondering if she should just be flat out or try to open the conversation.

That was when Cassidy realised that she wanted this relationship with her dad, and she wanted to be able to talk to him about the mundane stuff without it being a chore.

So she kept herself open, talking about what she did, but asking him if he was working at all. She told him snippets of her life and in return he told her that he had a wife and a son.

The second she read that, she could feel shock ripple through her as she stared at the word until she pushed the laptop away and took in a sharp breath.

“Holy shit I’ve got a brother.”

That was when a startled laugh escaped her and she could feel every emotion fighting to push first, overwhelming her until she just cried for everything, the tears coming as a relief and helping her sort through the various emotions.

She was absolutely elated that she had a brother, and that was when she found herself craving for more information.

And so he told her everything that happened after he’d left her mother. He told her about his marriage, his son who was a musician, his friends, his family, her family.

And over the following weeks and months as they exchanged emails and soon texts, she found herself wanting to meet him.

‘I’ve got holiday time coming up. Do you think it would be possible to meet up?’

‘Of course! What dates do you have off, I’m sure we can work something out.’

---

Daryl knew that the subject needed to be approached carefully with Michael. Both he and Karen had decided whilst he was on tour, they wouldn’t worry him about this.

He knew his wife had been so understanding with the subject of Cassidy, especially when the results had confirmed she was indeed his daughter.

“I may understand that you two had been together long before I was in the picture, but Michael necessarily won’t. Not till we sit down with him properly.” Her voice had been reason and he agreed that whilst he was on a world tour, they didn’t need to add to his stress load.

So they agreed to have her fly out to Australia, to spend time away from everything but give her a chance to meet the rest of his family too. His parents were still alive and deserved to know they had not only a grandson but a granddaughter as well.

Daryl’s arms wrapped around Karen, pulling her tight as he placed a kiss to her head.

“Thank you for being so understanding.”

“She’s your little, well, not so little but my point still stands, but she’s your little girl. I’ll hold my judgement till I meet her but I won’t turn her away. She’s family now.” And at his wife’s words, he could feel the stress slip from his shoulders.

“We’ll need to tell Michael eventually.”

“Before or after the tour? This is a big thing and we can’t drop it on him unexpectedly.”

“We’re going to their LA show, right?” Karen flicked through the calendar that sat on the fridge.

“You want to tell him then?”

“I’m certain they have a few weeks off before the European run of the tour. It’ll give him enough time to get his head around the fact he has a sister. He’ll have Crystal with him as well.” Daryl countered and she hummed in agreement.

“That’s only a few months away now.” She moved back to table as they finished up lunch.

“He’ll understand.”

When Cassidy arrived in Sydney, she was a lot more nervous than she was letting on. Thankfully, Daryl had offered to pay for a hotel for her, so she had her own space to decompress. He understood that staying with complete strangers wasn’t really ideal.

He’d offered to pick her up from the airport, but she’d declined, wanting to meet somewhere that wasn’t rushed or overwhelming. So they agreed to meet for dinner on her second night, giving Cassidy a day to adjust to the time change but also to explore the city by herself.

She loved every second of her first day, visiting the more local spots for food and letting her feet enjoy the feeling of the sand between her toes.

By the time it came around for the dinner, she was the most relaxed she’d been since long before her mum had gotten ill.

When she arrived at the restaurant, she was greeted by a server and she found herself smoothing down her dress nervously.

“Uh, a table under the name of Clifford?” The server smiled.

“Two of the party have already arrived, if you’d like to follow me please?” And she did, her eyes darting around the, for the most part, empty restaurant.

Eventually they headed in the direction of a couple who were conversing between themselves and it was the woman who looked up first, her lips curving into a reassuring smile. The man turned his head and Cassidy found her breathing hitch.

She could see her features in his face so easily. She knew that she took after her dad, her mum had always told her so. But to see his face, she could pinpoint the similarities and her found her words frozen as the server brought her up to the table and Daryl stood.

“All grown up and beautiful. Definitely from my side.” And she laughed, her nerves easing a she leaned forward into a hug and the way he held her tightly, like he was holding pieces of her together. And she closed her eyes, holding on for that second longer, before they pulled away and his hands cupped her face, thumbs wiping the tears that had fallen.

“Let me introduce you to my wife, Karen. Karen, this is my daughter Cassidy.” Karen stunned her, pulling her in for a warm hug that she practically melted into. Her nerves were for nothing apparently.

As they talked through the evening, Karen and Cassidy swapped places, the father and daughter duo talking about what she did growing up, what she studied and her current job.

“Let me take a photo of the both of you.” Karen finally piped up during a lull in the conversation. Cassidy gave her a curious glance.

“Sure.” She leaned closer, a bright grin on her lips as the photo was taken and their food arrived.

The conversations continued as both Karen and Daryl told her about their own lives and about her younger half-brother.

By the time that the dinner was over, Cassidy felt a lot more comfortable but Daryl understood that she was still adjusting to this massive change in her life.

“I know it must feel surreal for you, it’s still surreal for me to think about that I have a grown up daughter. But I want to make this work for all of us.” His words were quiet as they exited the restaurant, Karen just behind them. Cassidy had her arm looped through his.

“It feels strange, to know that I have a dad after so long of it being just mum and I.” Cassidy admitted. They split off, Karen indicating she was heading to the car to wait whilst the two of them moved to the park just across the street, the streetlamps beginning to light up the place. It was peaceful as they walked through.

“Did she not find anyone?” Cassidy shook her head.

“She had a couple of boyfriends when I was growing up, but none of them liked the fact she had me and prioritised me over them. That was when she figured that she was better off raising me by herself.”

“She did a stellar job with it.” A smile cracked across Cassidy’s lips.

As they walked through the park, the question that had always been something she’d wanted to ask, ever since she was a child, fell from her lips before she could stop herself.

“Did you ever love mum?” He glanced at her, the way her cheeks flushed before her eyes turned from him down to the floor in embarrassment. He chuckled softly.

“Don’t fret about asking such questions. I’ve been married to Karen long enough at this point, it’s not an unreasonable question. I did love your mum, but we both knew that it was only going to be a summertime romance. She was always a delight to be around and when I first came back home, I missed her. But I moved past it, choosing to remember it as a sweet summer romance, and by the time I met Karen, she was but a memory for me.”

And Cassidy couldn’t fault him. He moved on with his life. He got married, had another child.

“I there somewhere we could go tomorrow? I’ve been looking at the tourist stuff and not all of it is appealing to me.” She finally spoke after moments of silence and he laughed.

“If you’re anything like what your mother was, I know a few museums that would interest you. How about we make a day of it tomorrow and you come around for dinner?” She nodded her head at his proposed plan.

“Sounds ideal.”

---

Michael felt like he was on top of the world. Playing the LA Forum as the final night of their North American tour and all of their parents had flown out to see it. He knew that his parents had opted to stay in a hotel and he knew they were going to be staying in LA for the next few weeks for his birthday before flying back home, where he’d be joining them for the awards show.

After the show, the post-show euphoria setting in after the four had showered and changed. It felt surreal. Tour was nearly over and he could focus on the future, the next record.

“Son, we need to talk to you.” His dad’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet, devoid of the normal jovial tone that he was used to.

“Is-”

“Your mum’s waiting for us, we figured to talk away from everyone.” His eyes strayed to his brothers in all but blood and Michael felt a frown form on his features.

“Is Crystal included in the statement about everyone?” His dad gave him a sharp look and Michael had to stop himself from apologising immediately.

“For this time, yes. You can tell her and the others, but we want to talk to you first.” He tried not to flinch at the harsh tone from his dad, but he watched as his face softened, a smile crossing his lips. “We wanted to tell you this news first is all, it’s nothing against her or your brothers.” Michael grinned before holding his hand up as a signal to wait a moment, turning towards the group.

“Mike, we’re heading out, you gonna join?” Luke posed the question and Michael shook his head.

“Sorry, but not at the moment. The folks want to talk to me about something, but we’ll catch up with you later if you text me where you guys are gonna be at?” Luke nodded as he placed a soft kiss to Crystal’s cheek, arms wrapping around her waist.

“I’ll let you know what they’re telling me later. I’ll text you if it’s serious. Love you.” He murmured under his breath and she chuckled.

“Love you too. And well done baby, I’m proud.” She hummed, turning her head so that her lips met his.

A variety of gagging noises erupted from the other three and Michael stuck his middle finger up in their general direction before pulling away and following after his dad.

Once he was in the back of his parents hired car, the chatter was idle and he realised that they were heading back to his.

“I could’ve brought my stuff back with me.” He groaned and his mum laughed.

“Like that would’ve helped you do your washing any quicker.” She teased and he gave her an impish grin in return as they climbed out. Once inside, his parents sat on the couches and suddenly Michael felt like a guest in his own home as he took a seat on the opposite one.

“So we wanted to tell you this news when we first found out, but you were in the middle of a world tour and I realise this is going to make no sense to you, but I didn’t want to distract you from your job.” His dad started off and Michael could only give his parents a confused stare in return.

“Found out what?”

“You have an older sister.” The words from his dad made his gut drop.

“Surely mum would’ve remembered giving birth to another child.” His tone was cold and he could feel his heart race. “This has got to be some kind of bad joke.”

His mum shook her head.

“She’s your half-sister. Before your dad and I met, he had a summer romance back in England. It was never something we considered happening because we met long after he’d returned from England.” This wasn’t making Michael feel any better, his emotions warring.

“How did she get in touch?”

“Letter first. Then we texted and emailed and eventually she came out to Sydney-”

“Wait, how long ago was this?”

“She visited mid-year.” Michael couldn’t stop the feeling of betrayal and anger flooding him, not realising he was on his feet until he was pacing.

“So you kept this from me for almost half a year?” His tone was venomous and his mum flinched, but he was too incensed to care.

“She sent the letter months before-”

“So nearly an entire fucking year?” He fired back, struggling to keep his voice from rising. Part of him was screaming that he was being irrational, but the other was beginning to bubble with an anger that he’d not felt in a very long time.

“We didn’t want to distract you from the tour! You’ve been so excited about it and I felt it wasn’t something you needed to worry about too much.”

“She says she’s my fucking sister, but it’s not something I need to worry about? Are you even hearing yourselves right now?” His incredulous tone was met with raised eyebrows and he scoffed.

“We had a DNA test done to be sure. The results are accurate.” His dad said quiet and Michael felt a sarcastic laugh escape him, no humour in his tone.

“Real fucking reassuring for me. Just drop it on me that I have a sister, telling me that yeah you’ve met her and had the DNA results-”

His father handed a photo to him, cutting off his words. The photo was taken at a restaurant. A girl, who he would’ve placed at his age sat next to his dad. He couldn’t ignore the screaming similarities. She shared his natural blonde hair colour, eyes the same as his and he felt his breathing catch.

“Get out.”

“I know this is a lot, but please understand I felt it was what was best for you. I’m sorry if my decisions hurt you, son.” His dad hummed. Michael didn’t acknowledge the words, looking away as his mum placed a hand on his cheek.

“We’ll see you soon.” Was all she said before the door slammed shut and Michael could feel his breathing get shorter.

Tears blurred his vision as he fumbled for his phone, trying to pull himself together, unsure of his emotions. Part of him felt elated, overjoyed. But the stronger, more angrier side felt panicked and hurt.

Abandoning the search for his phone, he felt the burning in his chest as he tried to calm himself down before he gave up on that notion.

He knew he was drowning in the panic, but he repeatedly told himself that he was okay, that he was alive and he wasn’t really burning. It didn’t take much longer before he could feel the steel bands that were wrapped around his chest begin to loosen up and breathing became easier for him.

He finally picked up the photo, his eyes taking in the features of the girl-his sister.

“Where the fuck were you so many years ago?” He finally muttered before tossing the photo onto the coffee table, heading upstairs to get changed. He needed to drink and he knew the others were still going to be out

When he woke up the next morning, the taste of cotton in his mouth and the headache increasing, he buried his face into the pillow, trying to remember what he drank last night to get such a hangover.

Then he remembered why he’d drunk so much.

Pulling himself from his bed, he had a shower, washing the smell of alcohol and sweat off of him before he finally got dressed and made his way downstairs. Crystal was sat on the sofa, the photo in her hands as she studied it.

Nothing was spoken as he went to make himself a black coffee, draining the first mug before making another one and finally venturing into the living room, sitting next to his girlfriend. The silence was easy, but he could hear her unspoken question.

“She’s my half-sister according to my parents. My dad had a summer romance with someone from England, way before he met my mum. Apparently, she was the result of that fling.”

Crystal remained quiet, her hand rubbing soothing circles on his thigh.

“Why now? Why not years sooner? Why has this got to happen now, just as we’re about to fly out to the fucking country for tour?” Getting it off his chest felt therapeutic and he knew he couldn’t let this fester. “I mean, mum and dad met her in the summer. He’d been in contact with her for longer. Nearly an entire fucking year and not one word passed to me about her.”

They lapsed into silence and he tried to push the bitterness to one side, his head falling to rest against Crystal’s shoulder. She shifted her arms to wrap around him and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“Give her a chance, but don’t bury your feelings. Talk to your parents and we’ll work something out.” She murmured softly and he sighed before nodding.

---

He was nervous.

For the last part of the tour, the guys knew that something was up, but didn’t pester him about it. He hadn’t told them of his sisters existence. He was still trying to understand it himself. But a month hadn’t been long enough for him.

When he arrived to his parents empty home, he felt confused for a second. He knew they’d travelled back a few days before him.

“They’re out shopping.” A voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to see the girl he’d only seen in the photo his dad had left with him.

“I didn’t ask.”

“You didn’t have to. The question was practically scrawled across your forehead.” She replied calmly. For some reason, the calm reply only irritated him further and he tried not to scowl.

“I guess you’ll know why they didn’t text me to let me know?” The sarcastic response was rhetorical as she shrugged in return.

“Your mum said something about taking a while clearing customs and collecting bags. Dad didn’t disagree with her observations.” The casual way she spoke ‘dad’ seemed to set something off and he scowled.

“Why don’t you just go back to your own parent and leave mine alone?” He snapped, eyes finally meeting hers.

Cassidy recoiled back from his words as if she’d been slapped, eyes filling with tears.

“That’s what you’re doing right? Trying to weasel in and maybe get your-”

“My mother is dead.” She barely breathed out before storming past and fleeing from the house, a loud slam echoing around the empty home.

Guilt immediately ate him up and he suddenly found himself feeling very small as he realised that every selfish assumption he’d had was entirely wrong.

He wasn’t too sure how long he’d been stood there, but upon hearing the door shut once more, he jolted back and was greeted by his parents carrying through the grocery bags.

“So you cleared customs quick then?” His mum enquired as she carried on through to the kitchen.

“Yeah, not too much luggage or equipment.” He replied dully.

“Have you met Cassie yet?” Guilt flooded him once more as he nodded his head.

“She, uh, went out. I’m not feeling particularly hungry right now. So I’m just gonna head up to my old room and crash out for a bit.” Michael jammed his thumb towards the stairs and hoped that his parents wouldn’t interrogate him.

He did not need that argument to increase his guilt. He needed to find his sister and apologise at least, for his words.

“Sure thing sweetheart. If you’re not down for dinner later, I’ll plate you up some and you can eat it when you’re ready.”

Michael didn’t respond as he picked up his luggage and disappeared upstairs, falling face first into his pillow as the unease settled in his stomach.

For the first couple of days, it was awkward. He couldn’t figure out how to apologise to her and then he had the awards show. From what he gathered from his parents, she was staying behind. They hadn’t announced to any of their friends about Cassidy yet and wanted the two of them comfortable.

This only made the guilt in his stomach grow.

He tried to push it from his mind as they went up for the awards, plastering a smile on his lips for the cameras and fans. It took more effort than he thought, but by the time the night was over, he was ready to just collapse.

It was another two days of awkwardness before Michael had had enough.

“C’mon, we’re going out.” He startled Cassidy from her spot on the couch, a book tucked against her legs.

His parents were at their jobs so there was still a few hours left and he did not want it to be spent so awkwardly and uncomfortable. And the guilt was really beginning to eat at him.

“Going out where?” Her tone was cautious, understandably so.

“The beach.” Came the prompt reply and she hesitated before shrugging and ditching her book, grabbing her bag and flip-flops before heading out to his rented car.

He didn’t know how to fill the awkward silence in the car with idle chatter, he was never good at that. So he let the radio music fill in the background silence as he drove away from the tourist spots and moved more towards where the locals congregated, avoiding the overcrowded beaches.

When they reached the beach, part of him wondered what the fuck he was doing, but then one glance to his left was a solid reminder of why he was out there with Cassidy.

The silence was deafening as they began their walk along the sand. Both of them had ditched their shoes once they hit the sand, Michael pulling a face whereas Cassidy simply grinned.

Ten minutes into their walk, he finally found his words.

“I’m an asshole of a brother.”

“Yeah, you kind of are.” Came back the response and he found a small smile creep up on his lips.

“I know it’s no excuse, but it felt like they were trying to replace me. Their only son, off in LA and around the world, living the rockstar life with his girlfriend. Part of me wondered if they didn’t like being so far away.”

“But you know I’m only-”

“I know you’re dads. But mum, she’s taken a real shining to you. And I got scared thinking that you were there to, I don’t know, break them up so he could be with your mum.” He could feel his cheeks growing warm as she snorted at his words, but she didn’t argue them.

“I get the anger, the frustration. But you've gotta work it for you.” She hummed softly, fingers running through her hair. “You need to talk to dad about this, or at least your mum so one of them understands why you’ve been so distant this trip.”

“I’m sorry.” He finally admitted and they finally stopped, sitting down on the beach, facing the sea. “I’m sorry I hurt you like that. I went too far and it wasn’t fair.”

Cassidy let the silence sit between them, her eyes watching a few of the locals on the waves. The breeze seemed to play with both of their hair, pushing it from their faces as she finally turned her head towards him.

“Apology accepted.”

“But I’m not forgiven yet, am I?”

“Yet being the keyword.” Her lips were curved into a small smile, and Michael reciprocated.

“Can we start again? We got off on a really bad foot and you don’t deserve that.” Both of their smiles grew into matching grins.

“Hi Michael, I’m Cassidy, your older half-sister.”

“Nice to meet you Cassidy,” his arm wrapped across her shoulders, “I hope you like sushi and video games. That’s all I’m useful for as a brother.” The two shared a laugh, continuing to watch the surfers and asking questions about each other.

---

After Cassidy had flown back to the UK, their relationship seemed to flourish, despite the time differences.

As she worked, she got updates from him, exchanging jokes and talking about his engagement announcement that was coming up.

She’d met Crystal and seeing how the two were, seeing him so happy and in love, she was more than happy to welcome her to the family, despite having only been apart of it for such a short time.

The two of them had hit it off quite well, and it seemed to cement the sibling’s relationship further.

They’d agreed to keep her appearance quiet, even though there were photos floating around of her hugging Michael goodbye at LAX when she headed back home. She was just grateful that they hadn’t managed to get a shot of her face and thanks to a quick change, she was able to blend in with the crowds.

Despite feeling more relaxed about the start of the year, as her mum’s anniversary came up, she knew that she was struggling and told Michael and their dad as such. What didn’t help was when she tried to take time off to visit them, if only to get through the awful day with her new family, her boss had given her a written warning.

She’d exploded about it to Michael, ranting about how she had holiday to take but he wasn’t letting her.

It left her very drunk and very alone on the anniversary of her mum’s death and when Michael finally called her once he’d finished up in the studio, she’d burst into tears at the simple ‘how are you doing?’

He realised then that he was prepared to drop everything and fly out to her just to be a shoulder for her to cry on, but he knew he couldn’t. So he got in touch with Lyn, asking her to check in on Cassidy.

He’d quietly asked the others, because he felt so new to these different emotions. He felt overwhelmingly protective of his sister, even though she was older. That’d made Calum laugh when he’d admitted it.

“With siblings, time together doesn’t matter. When one’s hurting, it’s shit to watch them in pain and you want to do whatever you can to help. Don’t beat yourself up because you can’t, you listened to her and I can bet she appreciated it.”

And he was right. She called him a few days later and thanked him for not only being on the phone with her, but also for calling Lyn.

“You’re my sister. I wasn’t about to hang up and leave you by yourself, drunk.” He’d scoffed in return, but they both understood. He was relieved she was okay.

When the new single dropped and they began doing promo, that was when Michael felt the pressure of the questions from interviewers about the photo of him hugging Cassidy. But it was one where they were being recorded for a video that he finally snapped.

“So whilst you guys have significant others on the tour, apparently there’s a new girl on the scene.” The others could feel the temperature drop drastically, despite it still being warm in the room. Michael’s look was wary and defensive.

“And what about it?” Ashton asked hesitantly and the interviewer smirked.

“Well we were wondering if there’s a reason for this new girl? Especially when she seems to be around the member who’s engaged.” Michael’s jaw twitched as he stopped himself from spouting off, waiting for the actual question the interviewer seemed to be digging for.

“Is there an actual question?” His tone was icy, and either the interviewer didn’t realise or ignored it.

“Well, who is she? Is she a side piece or is she dating one of the last two free members of the band.” Both Ashton and Calum stiffened and Michael’s temper snapped.

“Considering it’s none of your business who she is, I’ll tell you regardless because I really don’t need any rumours flying about her or my bandmates or myself. She’s my sister who could probably kick your ass and is definitely going to kick mine for this, but I really don’t appreciate how you were talking about her.” The interviewers eyes seemed to light up, no shame in his features.

The interview continued, but it felt a lot more difficult to relax. Once the cameras were off and the interviewer was shaking their hands, he handed Michael a slip of paper.

“Pass that onto your sister for me, mate. I’d love to have a one-to-one with her.” The smirk on his face told Michael exactly what he was going for. Michael stared him down.

“I know my sister well enough that she wouldn’t go near you with a fucking barge pole. Next time you decide to do interviews of anyone, do your fucking research. And maybe don’t degrade women, you might get a date, asshole.” He dropped the paper on the floor and headed out, a low whistle escaping from Ashton.

“That interview is going to blow up, you realise this, right?”

“Fans have speculated that she’s just a friend, so we’re going to have to post something before that interview goes live.” Michael groaned before they piled into the car that took them to the next location.

“At least we’re not doing any kind of interview on Fallon. I don’t think I could take another grilling like that.” He groaned and the other three laughed.

When they reached the rehearsal studio, Cassidy had already arrived and was tapping away at her laptop, looking up and greeted the group with a grin.

“You could maybe be a little bit more excited to see me.” It took Michael a full second before his brain registered and she’d already ditched her laptop by the time he’d pulled her from her seat, pulling her into the tightest hug.

“Holy shit I didn’t think you were able to make it?” She laughed as he finally let go and she greeted the other three easily.

“My boss got fired. Something about a complaint being made to HR about his treatment of his staff.” She eyed him carefully and he shrugged.

“You had the time off and he wouldn’t give it to you. It’s bad treatment.” She grinned.

“Well, I spoke to my new boss the other week and explained the whole situation to her. She sat with me as we went through my projects. Anything that needed to be done as a practical side was pulled forward and completed, the others are mostly research. I’ve gotten the bulk of the list done whilst on the twelve hour flight over which means that I can work whilst you guys are rehearsing and then hopefully it means I get more time with you knuckleheads.”

Once Alex and Drew turned up for rehearsal, they all seemed to knuckle down whilst she tapped away on her laptop, smiling at the jokes and rolling her eyes at the childishness. She didn’t move from her spot, seemingly ignoring the group whilst the occasional click of the camera could be heard in the lull of the sound.

At one point, whilst Ashton was on the drums, him and Matt going over the song, she felt someone sit next to her and turned her head to see it was Michael.

“So, how’s work coming along?” He asked quietly, his eyes flickering to the laptop. She smiled, scrolling through the few pages.

“Just a few conclusions to write up. I’ve cited most of the documents, so I don’t have to do that ballache later tonight either.”

The two shared grins.

“So, you know that we wanted to keep your connection to me, quiet...” Michael knew it was better to tell her now rather than her finding out later on.

“You told?” Her tone wasn’t accusing, simply questioning.

“The interviewer was an asshole about you. Making you out like you’re some sort of side chick for me,” both of them cringed, “or dating Calum or Ashton, since they’re the only two available members of the band.”

“So you put him in his place?” He nodded and she let her head rest on his shoulder. “I’m not upset. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“We’ll need to post something officially, before the interview goes out.” He murmured after a moment and she just hummed in response as they watched the others for a while.

“Who knew that being a Clifford would cause so much drama?” She finally mused, making him laugh.

“Well us Clifford’s have got to stick together in these trying times.” The tease was clear, but she understood his words and nudged his side playfully.

“Too damn right. And hey, if it means having to look beautiful for the both of us, I’ll gladly do so.” It took Michael a solid second to register her words and she was off the chair like a shot, laughing as he followed.

“That was mean!” He whined as he chased after her, catching her into a headlock, the others pausing to watch the duo.

“You left it wide open Mike. I simply took the invite. Don’t ruin my hair!” Cassidy tried to pull away as his hand ruffled her hair, yelping as she elbowed his side and released her.

“Try not to kill him Cassie, we need our guitarist alive.” Ashton called over to her and she gave him a thumbs up before wrapping her arms around Michael.

“If I got the beauty, you got the talent, that’s for sure.” She muttered, making him laugh as he hugged her back before she pulled away and headed back to her spot, feeling contentment settle over her as she watch the group rehearse and goof around.

She was home, finally.

tag list: @cals-babylons , @glitterprincelu , @calumspeachy , @wrappedaroundcal , @cosmocalum , @monsteramongmikey , @talkfastfletcher , @hereforlukescruff , @astroashtonio , @catchinqcalum , @roselukes , @5saucewho, @babylon-uncrowned , @dontstopisagoodsongchangemymind , @therainydays4 , @asht0ns-world , @silverchainbee , @hidd3nfangirl , @doodleasouarus , @empathycth , @mylovehes , @songforhema , @kinglyhood , @youngblood199456 , @makecoffeenotwars , @sunny-sos , @negative-love , @softboycal , @kinglycalum , @you-of-ghost , @meetyoutheremgc , @lmao5sosimagines , @lietoash , @aw-hawkeye , @drummerboy794 , @itjustkindahappenedreally, @mycollectionofnuts, @abitloudforanaccousticset, @boytoynamedcalum , @teampreator , @dukehoods , @dweebluke , @calumculture , @lashtoncurls , @wildhearthood , @gigglyirwin , @blue-skies-are-alright , @hearts-to-the-sky , @tiddlerrr , @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you , @zooniah , @cakeassx-blog , @dancingonanemptywallet , @rotten-kandy , @vipclifford , @musiclover1263 , @rosecoloredash , @jpgluke , @cathartichaoss , @5secondssofssummer , @cozyfivesos , @balsamichood , @cliffordstxngue , @lukesbellas , @myloverboyash , @cxddlyash , @gabiatthedisco , @rosesfromcth , @gorgeouslygrace , @calumsssparkle , @valentinelrh , @meetashthere , @softforcal , @cakesunflower , @hotmessmichael , @fangirlforever0704 , @caswinchester2000 , @long-termplanwithshort-termfixes , @josierosie , @ashtoniwir , @raabiac , @burncrashbromance , @c-sainthood ,

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captcas · 3 years

Text

Khristmas Karaoke

Khristmas Karaoke by capthamm

Their annual Khristmas Karaoke sheds light on relationships, old and new. read on ao3

“Come on, Killian… She does this all the time. Aren’t you better off without her at this point?” Emma slaps Neal’s arm at his shitty attempt to comfort their friend after Milah ended things… again. She won’t admit her boyfriend is 100 percent correct, because that’s not the point. Killian has alwayshad a thing for Milah no matter how awful she treated him and each time she ends things, Emma knows it breaks him a little more.

She keeps waiting for the time it breaks him entirely.

It’s their friends’ annual Khristmas Karaoke– Mary Margaret insisted on the alliteration– and Milah just didn’t show. It’s a big deal when someone invites a significant other, effectively indoctrinating them into their core group of four– David, Mary Margaret, Killian, and Emma. This is Neal’s second year, which really, truly only freaks Emma out a little (a lot), but it was supposed to be Milah’s first. Killian, Emma’s ever cautious best friend, refrained from inviting her last year, but when Emma said she was bringing Neal again, Killian jumped in immediately and said he was bringing Milah.

Milah chose tonight to tell Killian she didn’t want to see him anymore.

Figures.

With Milah, it was always about her and Emma is convinced Milah’s selfishness is the only reason she was still with Killian. He treated Milah like a queen without so much as a birthday wish in return. (Seriously, she forgot one year and Emma was left to pick up the pieces Killian so gallantly insisted were nonexistent, but Emma could tell– she can always tell with Killian.) Either way, Milah’s lack of interest in anything to do with Killian always made Emma uncomfortable. She wants more for her friend; knowing he deserves more than to be someone’s puppy dog.

But Emma would never say that to Killian. She looks over at him and he’s clearly sulking, so she does what any best friend would do, “Come on KJ, we’re singing.” He goes to protest but Emma grabs his arm before shouting her drink order to David who mock salutes. “Ok go pick something, I’m going to run to the bathroom.” Killian nods, still seemingly unwilling to play along but too nice to deny Emma anything. She shoves him towards the stage and heads towards the bathroom.

After freshening up, Emma heads back towards the stage only to run directly into another woman. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry!”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” The woman looks up and a flash of recognition crosses her face. Emma recognizes her too, but she can’t put her finger on it. They both wave awkwardly before Emma heads to the stage and the familiar woman heads into the bathroom.

Killian is standing next to the stage flipping through the song book when she approaches, “Anything look good?”

“Hmm?” Emma can tell he’s in a different universe and she figures now is as good as any to tell him how she really feels about his Milah .

“Killian, I know you loved her… or love her… whatever. But she keeps you on this retractable leash so she can use you when it’s convenient for her.” Killian doesn’t look at her but she knows he’s listening. “I’m not saying her being a shitty person makes this hurt less, but Neal asked to come tonight… just something to think about.”

It’s her last comment that makes Killian turn towards her, “So you love him then?”

Emma should know how to answer that– she and Neal have been together almost two years, it should be easy– but when Killian poses the question, the correct answer seems to fail her completely.

“He’s here, isn’t he?”

It’s a non answer, and Killian knows it, but Emma doesn’t have time to unpack her sudden stumble when posed with what should’ve been an easy question. She’s told Neal she loves him hundreds of times... so, why can’t she say she loves him to others? Something in the back of her mind whispers it’s because Killian is the one asking, but she shoves it down. They’ve had their chance– maybe hundreds of chances– and the timing just… never lined up.

She’s so deep in thought, she almost misses Killian’s answer, “Aye, that he is.” He looks at her intently, maybe expecting her to elaborate, but Emma is coming up short. She doesn’t understand why she couldn’t give him a straight answer– in truth, she doesn’t want to admit why. Somewhere deep down Killian knows this, because Killian knows her . He concedes after a few moments of silence, turning back to the task at hand, “Let’s sing the Grinch.”

Emma smiles, memories of their yearly Grinch Binge, echoing through her mind. Mary Margaret and David can be… a lot. They are very in love and don’t mind showing it off, so ever since they finally got together, Emma and Killian sprouted a few traditions of their own. Neal never liked Christmas movies, no matter how hard Emma tried to get him to watch even the easy ones like Elf with her. Killian loves them– especially the Grinch. So every year, on the Saturday before Christmas, Emma and Killian hunker down and watch every version of the Grinch they can find. When the new one came out last year, they went and saw it in theaters before watching the rest of them. It’s silly, and some of the versions are old and awful, but it’s their thing and Emma looks forward to it every year.

As the first chord hits, Killian still seems to be in his head, so Emma starts, “ You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.” She accents the words by singing in the lowest voice possible, and directing them at Killian. He’s clearly holding back a smile so she continues, “ You really are a heel. You’re as cuddly as a cactus,” she wiggles up against Killian causing him to burst out laughing before joining her for the rest of the song.

They sing it awfully, but neither of them even needs to look at the prompter. When it’s over they bow obnoxiously as Mary Margaret and David cheer. They break into a fit of laughter before hugging tightly. She finally composes herself when over Killian’s shoulder Emma sees something that makes her blood run cold. She must noticeably react because she hears a concerned, “Swan?” in her ear, but she can’t focus when it feels like the entire room is underwater and she’s drowning.

The name of the woman from the bathroom comes rushing back to her as she watches Tamara kiss Neal in the back corner of the bar. She recognizes her as the secretary at Neal’s office and suddenly all the pieces are coming together: late nights and business trips paired with a suspicious lack of increase in income. How could she be so stupid . If Emma hadn’t gone to hug Killian, she never would’ve seen them, her view blocked by the bright lights of the stage. But she did hug Killian and she does see them.

She’s going to be sick.

For a brief moment, she hopes Tamara just came onto him, and waits for him to push her away. He doesn’t, in fact Emma’s pretty sure Neal leans in further. Emma feels her face turn beat red. Before she can think about what she’s doing, she lets go of Killian and leans into the microphone, twisting her body so she can still see Neal and Tamara, “Neal Cassidy, we are done. Tamara, once a cheater, always a cheater but he’s alllll yours. Merry Christmas everyone!”

She feels Killian go stiff at her side when he realizes what just happened. She grabs his wrist, knowing full well his instinct would be to go beat the shit out of Neal.

It’s her instinct, too.

But, in an attempt to be a bigger person, she drags Killian (and herself) back to the table. As they approach, Killian is stoic, David is hiding his head, and Mary Margaret looks like she’s about to explode. Both halves of the annoyingly happy couple begin to talk, but hesitate as they clearly look for the appropriate words for a completely inappropriate situation. Emma cuts them off, “Shots? Shots. Bartender, please put these on Mr. Cassidy’s tab.” Killian goes to protest, but Emma practically pours the whiskey down his throat, subsequently ending their pity party for the night.

. . .

Mary Margaret and David are long gone, but Killian has been a worthy partner to avoid self-pity with. Somewhere between the three shots of Fireball and her third Captain and Coke, he assured her she deserved better while they threw metaphorical darts at each other’s significant others. She knows she should be sad about Neal, but the longer she spends with Killian, the less she seems to care. Maybe it’s the drinks, or maybe it’s the company, but Emma finds herself up on stage, one more time, with Killian cheering her on... much to the chagrin of the rest of the bar.

Emma isn’t sure what song she’s singing, when the host called Mary Margaret’s name Emma subbed in enthusiastically; she’s feeling good despite the events of the night and she’s ready to go. It takes two seconds for her to recognize Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and only two more for her to start serenading Killian obnoxiously from across the bar.

But it’s all fun and games until the words you’re singing sink in.

“ I just want you for my own,

More than you could ever know”

The more she sings to Killian, the more she realizes the words aren’t very far off from how she feels about him, no matter how cheesy this song truly is. She’s always ignored her feelings for Killian, brushing them off as inconsequential and platonic– due to proximity and nothing more— but they’ve been nagging at her since he asked her if she loved Neal. Somehow, telling Killian she loved someone else would feel like the final nail in the coffin for any chance she had with him.

What is she thinking?

Emma feels the emotions bubble up inside of her until she’s practically overflowing– and then she’s literally overflowing… all over the stage.

It doesn’t take long for Killian to rush to her side, scooping her up and hauling ass to the bathroom. If she didn’t feel so sick, maybe she’d have room to be embarrassed. Killian doesn’t speak, just springs into action– holding back her hair, and keeping her comfortable until she’s entirely emptied out. She sits back, finally feeling well enough to register how embarrassing this situation actually was, but Killian doesn’t miss a beat, “Alright, Swan. Let’s get you some water. I’ll be right back, aye?”

He helps her lean against the wall and hurries out of the bathroom. Emma hangs her head in her hands while she lets the wave of emotions wash over her.

She’s very thirsty.

She’s very embarrassed.

She’s very in love with her best friend.

Fuck .

Killian returns with a glass of water and a toothbrush– how the fuck did he find a toothbrush? She finds she doesn’t really care and is just grateful to have someone looking out for her at all. Killian stands patiently in the corner while she brushes her teeth and downs the water. She turns to face him and maybe it’s the hydration, but she already feels better. “Well, now that I’ve topped off a perfectly shitty night. Are you ready to go home?”

Killian chuckles and nods before reaching out his hand to lead her from the bathroom and out of the bar. They walk hand in hand, swinging their arms between them until it gets a little colder and Emma finds she still has just enough of a buzz to go for it. She wraps her arms around Killian’s, hugging him tightly before resting her head on his shoulder. They’ve done this a million times, but tonight it feels different– she wonders if he feels it too as their pace slows and they walk in silence.

Emma’s always been on the search for that missing piece, the part of her that will undeniably make her whole. For a while she thought it was Neal, but she sees now she was trying to fit a corner piece into the center of her puzzle. She’d like to think, as they walk arm in arm in a comfortable silence, that Killian could be that piece, but she’s not sure. When she’s with Killian, she doesn’t feel like there’s a part of her that needs to be filled at all– not because he filled it, but because he sees her as complete.

Maybe this is how it's supposed to be– not loving in spite of the missing, broken, or faded pieces, but because of them.. Killian has loved her through everything. She’s just been to blind to see it as anything more than friendship– just happy enough to even have that. But what if she could have more. Mariah Carey starts singing in her head again and Emma feels like maybe she’s let her thoughts get out of hand, but when Killian’s thumb brushes gently over hers, she thinks maybe he’d understand, “This isn’t all I want for Christmas.”

Killian stops abruptly, “I’m sorry?” When he automatically apologizes, Emma realizes she needs to elaborate. Nerves course through her— years of heartbreak playing like a broken record in her mind telling her to put up her guard and run the other way. She’s not sure she’s ready for this— to share her entire self with him, but is anyone ever ready? Is there anyone she’d rather tell? The the resounding “no” that echoes through her train of thought which encourages her to continue on,

“No, no, I mean… You know when you’re a kid and you write out your Christmas list with everything you could possibly want and send it to Santa, and you are sure if you get everything on that list you’ll be truly happy?” Emma is positive she looks insane right now, but Killian is nodding and seems to be following along. “Ok, then Christmas morning comes and maybe you get one or two things off the list, but you already forgot about all the other things because just having this one thing is enough to make you happy. It’s not complete, and it’s not everything, but it’s everything to you at that moment?”

Killian nods, moving closer to her, brushing a stray snowflake out of her hair as the sky begins to open up making the everything around them feel a little bit more magical.

“Well, you’re my entire Christmas list and having you as a friend was the gift I was happy with. Just having you in my life was enough. From the time we were thirteen and you punched Robin for calling me a bitch, to the Grinch Binges, and junk food nights where we eat til we’re sick– I never wanted to give up any of it. I mean… 15 years of friendship...” Something in Killian’s eyes shifts and Emma starts to feel nerves rise through her body. She has to keep going before she chickens out again, “It’s not enough anymore.”

Killian looks like he’s about to apologize again, his eyes drooping in confusion, clearly not understanding her confession, “I’m sorry, Swan– I can try to be better– I know Milah she–”

“No, you idiot. I want more. I want the whole list. The entire Christmas list. All of it.” As Killian processes what she said, Emma stands there for what feels like eternity, heart more on her sleeve than it’s been her entire life. She’s about to speak again when he lunges forward into a kiss that can only be described as Christmas magic.

(Any other day she’d hate how cheesy that sounds, but right now her nerves are on overload and her lips feel like they’re on fire so she’s over it.)

They finally break and Killian rests his forehead on hers, cold from chill in the night air, “Swan, I’m s0r–”

“Killian Jones don’t you dare apologize.” He laughs and leans in for another kiss, this one softer but still affecting Emma just as much. They break again, and Emma feels Killian smile against her lips. She silently wonders if she’s too old to send a thank you note to Santa, or the universe, or whoever placed her right in this moment. Kissing her best friend is not where she thought she’d end the night, but now— in a crazy turn of events—it’s the only place she can imagine being. “Wanna head to my place, put on the Grinch, and make out a little?”

Killian laughs again before answering enthusiastically and taking her hand. “As you wish.”

And she does. As it turns out, Killian Jones satisfies every Christmas wish she has for the rest of her life. He also has the tendency to blast “All I Want for Christmas Is You” every year on their anniversary, even four years later when Emma knows for a fact the small onesie wrapped somewhere under the tree is sure to be Killian’s favorite Christmas present to date.

Even after opening the surprise gift, Killian assures Emma his favorite present will always be her, but when she hears him hum their song to little Hope in the middle of Spring she knows that’s not entirely true. (Still, Emma finds she doesn’t really mind.)

@mariakov81 @lfh1226-linda @kmomof4 @superchocovian @pirateherokillian @teamhook @nikkiemms @bawley-bug

#emma swan #killian jones #cs ff #cs au #Captain Swan #captain swan christmas #capthamm

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wefoundloveunderthelight · 3 years

Photo

Marco’s Home for Lost Boys

Read on AO3 - Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Tagging:

@lfh1226-linda

Chapter 5: Grief

Summary:

“I’m in. Let’s go get your dad’s stuff back.”

“Em, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bullshit, if you can do it, I can do it. Besides, I asked to do something exciting.”

Notes:

Warning for Character Death and also violence.

6 months later

“Come on Ems, one more?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get me drunk,” she giggled.

“Only if it’s working” Neal slides the glass toward her.

Her laugh was sloppy and loud, a snort escaping her nose.

“One more!”

She tosses the shot glass back as the warm liquid burns down her throat.

“You are so hot.” His hands are on her hips, pulling her toward him. She drinks in his lips, tasting of whiskey and peanuts.

As if on cue, her phone begins buzzing on the table beside them.

“You probably shouldn’t answer that in your condition, Ems.”

“Hello Captain!” She giggles into the phone.

“Swan, you need to come home.”

“Well, I’m quite busy right now sir…”

“Emma...”

“And honestly I don’t feel like coming home so I don’t quite think I…”

“Emma, it’s Marco. He had a heart attack. They did everything they could, but…”

Emma feels like the whole world has started humming in her ears, her knees buckle under her, phone slipping from her hand onto the table.

She can’t comprehend what Neal is saying on the phone to Killian before he hangs up and picks her up off the floor.

“Ems, Jones is going to come pick you up. Lets just sit on the couch until he gets here. I’ll go get you some water.”

This can’t be happening. Marco can’t be dead. Not her Papa.

She’s an orphan again.

Neal opens the front door on the second knock and he immediately smells the whiskey on the boy’s breath. Killian pushes past him to find Emma sitting on the couch, staring at her feet, a glass in her hand.

He grabs the glass and sniffs it to find it is water, but she smells like she rolled in a barrel of booze.

“Underage drinking? Bad form, Cassidy.” He scowls at Neal standing in the doorway.

“Save the lecture Jones, we were just having a good time.”

He looks down at Emma, “Swan, you alright? Can you walk? We gotta go.”

She stares straight ahead, and he kneels so that his eyes meet hers. “Hey,” her eyes meet his. “let’s go home ok?”

She blinks, recognizing him for the first time since he walked into the room.

“He’s gone.” She whispers and his heart breaks for the second time that evening.

“I know, love. Can you stand?” His hands cup her elbows as he stands and pulls her with him. She wobbles on her legs and leans into his chest.

“Seems like a real good time you two were having.” He peers over at Neal. “We’ll talk about this another time.”

He ushers Emma outside and opens the door to David’s truck, helping her into the seat.

Climbing into the truck himself he sighs and looks over at her. “I’ll try and cover with your brothers as best I can, but you’re gonna need to shower when you get home to wash the smell of alcohol off.”

The hot water numbed her face, standing under the stream in the shower. Killian had moved her quickly through the house and past her brothers before they even got the chance to console her or realize that she was anything besides utterly broken with grief.

The next few days went by in a blur.

The house was buzzing with activity with Arthur and August returning from college for the funeral. Robin shut down his bar for the week to be at home and help with the arrangements.

It was weird having so many people at home. Even though she knew it was only temporary.

Soon Arthur and August would go back to Boston and Seattle, Robin would go back to working 7 days a week at the “The Sleeping Lion”, David was on his way to building a life with Mary Margaret and she was sure overheard the two of them whispering about him moving out in the near future.

Killian was hardly around anymore either. He began working as a Boat Captain on the “Jolly Roger”, a tourist attraction where you got to sail with pirates on a real pirate ship, guyliner and leather included. But even when he wasn’t working, he was always out doing “something”.

It would just be Will and her. They had just started their senior year in high school. She was a couple months to her 17th birthday. What was she going to do now as everyone was leaving her?

She did everything she could during those few days to ignore the shouting in her brain. She packed up boxes in her father’s room, cooked dinner for her brothers, cleaned up the messes they left behind while they ran here and there trying to prepare for their father’s funeral.

She did everything, except cry. No matter what she did, the tears wouldn’t come.

Even as she stood in front of her Papa’s gravestone, rain coming down and bouncing off the freshly moved ground, David’s arm wrapped tightly around her, she found no tears.

Once they returned home that evening, she was starting to feel like she was suffocating. She wanted to yell at the next person who apologized for her loss and asked her how she was doing.

I’m fine.

“Swan, you should eat something.”

“I ate.”

“Swan.” She looked up into his narrowed blue orbs. “I happen to know you have not eaten anything since breakfast, and that was a piece of toast.”

“Geez, are you keeping a tracker or something? I’m sure I ate today.” She tried to push past him, but he held firm and his hand wrapped around her arm.

“Emma, I know there is a lot going on in that pretty little head of yours, but you need food if you wish to remain on your feet.”

She reached over and grabbed a cracker and cheese off the tray in front of them and shoved it in her mouth. “Happy now?”

He rolled his eyes but allowed her to move past him toward her room, slamming the door behind her.

Run.

E. You busy? I need a drink!

She clicked her fingernails on her phone waiting for the response which came quickly.

N: Come on over.

Emma grabbed her jacket, lifted the window upward and jumped to the ground outside. She was across town in her yellow bug in no time and running up the stairs to Neal’s home.

After the second knock on the door, it opened with Neal’s father standing in the frame.

“Emma, I’m so very sorry about your father.”

Emma smiled weakly. “Um thanks, Mr. Gold.”

“Please come in, my son said you would be stopping by.”

Neal appeared behind him and Emma stepped into the house.

“Please ensure you and Ms. Swan are responsible.” He nodded at his son and pulled on his jacket. “I apologize but I have business to attend to and cannot stay to entertain.”

“Oh well, it was nice seeing you.”

When the door closed, she turned toward Neal. “Um is he cool with me being here while he’s gone?”

Neal laughed. “Yeah, he even gave me a nice bottle of whiskey for us to share.”

“Woah.”

“Yeah, he can be cool sometimes. So, what do you say we crack this thing open?”

Emma was finally feeling a bit less claustrophobic being in Neal’s house. No one to mill about or force food upon her. In fact, Neal hadn’t even asked her how she was doing.

She grabbed the glass from his hand and quickly tipped her head back, feeling the warmth hit her stomach immediately. She grabbed the glass and poured a second shot.

“Woah, not messing around.”

“I just need to drink and not have people ask me how I am.” She sighed.

“Ah feeling suffocated then?”

“How do people think I’m doing?” She rolls her eyes. “Oh, I’m just fine, I’m great, who needs a father anyhow, I’ve done it without one before.” She parroted.

“Woah, Emma.”

“Don’t, Neal. I don’t need someone to comfort me. Just someone to pour the damn drinks.”

“I can do a lot more than pour your drinks.” His hand lands on her thigh.

She stands up and starts pacing the room, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and taking a swig. “I want to do something exciting.”

“Well, I was just trying to do something exciting but you’re now over there and I’m still sitting here.”

“Not sexual. Exciting, dangerous. Something that reminds you that you are alive.”

“Ok I think you’ve had enough to drink.” He tries to take the bottle, but Emma yanks it away from him.

“I’m serious. I just want to feel like I’m still here.”

“Well, I do have to do an errand tonight that might fit in that category.”

“Errand? How does that even fit in the category of exciting.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a… shall we say legal errand.”

Emma sits down next to him wide eyed. “Neal what are you talking about?”

“Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

She takes another long drink of the whiskey. Why would Neal be doing something illegal?

“What exactly is this errand for?”

“Ems, I shouldn’t talk about it.”

“No, I want to know. Maybe I’m interested.”

“That’s the thing Em, you are not the type to be interested in this sort of thing.”

“Hey, I can be the type.”

“That’s the whiskey speaking.” He pauses. “Look, it’s not a big deal, I just have to pick something up that was taken from my dad.”

She stares at him. “Oh my God someone stole something from the pawn shop?”

He nods. “Uh yeah, something like that. And my dad asked me to get it back for him.”

“Well, if it belongs to your dad, then whoever took it should just give it back.”

“Exactly but well, they don’t actually want to give it back, so I have to kind of…” He looks at his feet, as if he doesn’t want to proceed. “I gotta go steal it, Em.”

Shit.

Her phone buzzes and she looks to see that she has missed a lot of messages.

K: Everyone is going to bed.

Will: Are you going to sleep all the bloody time now?

K: Are you alright in there?

David: I know you are taking this hard Princess but know that we are here when you want to talk.

Will: I was going to come talk to you, but Killian is being an arse and told me to leave you alone. Just checking to see how you are doing. I’ll talk to you in the morning.

K: I guess you aren’t coming out of your room anytime soon so...

K: Goodnight, Swan!

She takes another long swig. “I’m in. Let’s go get your dad’s stuff back.”

“Em, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bullshit, if you can do it, I can do it. Besides, I asked to do something exciting.”

“Ok but, you can’t tell anyone we did this ok?”

“Well duh.” She jumps off the couch and puts the whiskey down. “So, do we wear all black or?”

He laughs, digging into a small cabinet and putting something in his jacket pocket. “Nah what you are wearing is fine.”

She frowns. “Oh bummer.”

He grabs a black beanie from the cabinet and tosses it to her. “Fine, wear this so your hair doesn’t stand out so brightly. It can be your disguise.”

She giggles and pulls the beanie on, not sure exactly what the hell she is getting into. But she needs this. She needs to feel like this isn’t the end of her. That she is still breathing, and life goes on.

He can’t stop tossing and turning in his bed. His mind won’t turn off. It’s been a whirlwind for the last week since their father had passed. Everyone had stayed busy to ensure that all the tasks were completed.

Grief was tricky.

Everyone had a way of coping with it. Robin and Arthur had thrown themselves into work by getting all the details and chores done, August was slowly drowning himself in a bottle, David chose to drown in love by spending every moment with his girlfriend, and Will had cried until there was nothing left. He had been taking it hard after having found his father on the floor of the kitchen.

For Emma, she seemed to choose avoidance. He had barely seen the girl cry since their father’s passing.

Killian found that for him, grief was about figuring out your next move. Where it would take you from that exact moment in time.

And his next move was going to take money and a fair share of it if he was going to get his own place with Milah and ever have hopes of buying that ship.

He was already working 5 times a week at the harbor as a bloody pirate captain on the “Jolly Roger”. He got to wear some authentic leather pirate gear and he had to admit he looked dashing in the guyliner. But the job wasn’t going to get him the ship he needed to get out of here.

So, he got desperate.

He knew working as bag man on the side for Gold wasn’t exactly a hero move. Tossing his lot in with Gold was suicide to many who had done so before him. But Gold paid him double what he was making on the Jolly and offered him an extra bonus a few times to muscle some blokes who had refused to pay what they owed Gold. Gold was a private man, so his services had stayed out of the public eye which was exactly how Killian had wanted it.

Besides, as soon as he had the money he needed, he was done with Gold. He wasn’t proud of what he was doing, but it was a means to an end. And he would leave this town as soon as he had the money he needed anyway.

Everything he had planned was moving along except for one piece.

Emma.

Emma had gotten herself involved with Gold’s son, Neal.

Killian needed to make sure she got away from him before he left town. Neal was trouble. He was cocky, reckless, and selfish. Traits that were only going to get Emma hurt.

But he didn’t know how to tell Emma the truth about Neal without exposing himself to his own lies.

He looked over at the clock, 1:15am.

He groaned and pushed his covers off, sitting up on the bed and rubbing his eyes.

Maybe he could drown himself with that bottle for a little bit. Maybe it would allow him to find sleep.

Tugging on his boxers, he quietly padded through the house and opened the cupboard door, pulling the bottle of rum from the shelf.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Killian almost dropped the bottle to the ground at the sound of David’s voice.

“Geez, mate, not a good idea to sneak up on a man in the dark.” He stepped forward to see David sitting in a chair by the fireplace, a drink in his hand.

“Guess we had the same idea.” He held up his glass, the dark amber liquid swirling at the bottom.

“Aye.” Killian took the seat opposite with his own glass in hand, taking a sip of the liquid.

“Can’t believe he’s gone.” He sighed.

“What will become of this place?” David continued. “Everyone will be graduated adults next year.”

Killian’s raised his brow. “You really think Will is going to graduate?”

David laughed. “We’ll get him there.”

“Aye.” He nodded and then took another drink.

“We should probably talk about that though. You know, Will and Emma. They are both almost 17. Old enough that they will let them still live here, but I guess one of us will need to be their guardian until they graduate.”

“Hadn’t thought of that, but I haven’t the means to move out yet anyway.”

“Yeah, I was actually going to talk to everyone about this before Marco passed but,” He paused. “I had planned to move out in a month. I’m going to start working at the station for Sheriff Graham and they offered me a place close by in town.”

“Oh, wow that’s great news, Dave.”

“It was. But now.”

“No, you should still stay on your plan. Besides, I know you and Mary Margaret would love some privacy now and then.”

“Well, there is that.” He smirked.

“I’m happy for you, mate. You deserve happiness.”

“So, do you brother.”

He swirled his glass before taking another sip. “I’m a pirate captain five days a week, what more could I ask for?”

David stood to refill his glass. “You make a good point there…” he paused at the window. “Did Emma go out?”

“No, she’s where I left her hours ago, brooding in her room.”

“No, she’s not.” He turned, gesturing to the window. “Bug’s gone.”

This was the dumbest idea she had ever had.

Emma’s hands were numb from standing in the cold. Neal was hunched over the door, with small tools sticking into the lock as he jiggled them, but nothing was opening the door.

“Do you even know what you are doing?”

“Of course, I do, but I can’t do it with you yammering in my ear.”

“It’s just that you’ve been at this for a while and the door is still closed. I thought the point of this mission was for us to get inside.”

“Ok smart ass, you think you can better?”

She laughed. “Um no. I mean. I’ve never broken into anything in my life.” She stared at the tools sticking out of the lock.

Live a little Emma.

“Ok fine, move over.” She shoved his hands away from the tools. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

“I was joking.”

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Ok that wrench there, you push that in. Then take the pick, you need to move the pins around until they click into place and you can open the door.”

Emma pushed with her hands and could feel the pins moving around like a puzzle in her head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt lost in her thoughts when she felt the door push.

“Ems, you did it, you’re a natural.” He beamed.

“Great, I have a future in criminal behavior.”

He pulled her up to him and kissed her before tugging her into the dark of the building.

“Just stay here ok. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait Neal, you aren’t just going to leave me here are you?”

“I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the black and Emma stood silently in the corner of the shop they were in.

Suddenly she heard voices coming from the direction Neal went.

“Neal?” she whispered.

She stepped forward into the dark. “Neal?”

Suddenly she heard his voice and saw him running toward her, “Run Emma, Run.”

Emma turned to leave but felt something grab her from behind. She kicked backward, making contact with whatever had grabbed her, knocking them backwards, the shimmer of something long and silver in the man’s hands.

Neal ran past her, grabbing the door and yanking it open. “Emma let’s go.”

She tripped as she tried to run to the door, falling into something that caused her to land on her knees. She knew she would have bruises tomorrow. Dragging herself up, she stumbled forward in the dark before hands grabbed her ankles and she fell forward again. “Neal! Help!”

“You can’t steal from me.” She heard a gruff voice coming from the man holding her ankle and she kicked at his hand with her free foot. It was enough to free herself and she clamored to her knees and onto her feet to grab the door handle, yanking it open.

Just as she stepped into the alley, she felt a pain in her side, a burning sting that made her scream out in pain. She shoved as hard as she could with her hands at the man standing behind her, a long silver knife falling to the ground as his back hit the concrete wall behind him.

Run Emma, Run!

She didn’t look back; she didn’t stop running until she got to the road. She looked around and realized she was completely alone. No man trying to grab her. And definitely no sign of Neal.

She knew she needed hide. To get out of the open. She looked around until she got her bearings and headed toward where she had parked her car on the back street.

She expected to find Neal at the car, but he was gone.

He left me.

She pulled the door open and locked the door behind her, looking around to make sure no one had followed her.

She breathed heavily, her hand clutching her side which was still burning. When she pulled back her hand, all she saw was blood.

And then everything went black.

#my fic #stacy's fics #Marco's home for lost boys #killian jones #emma swan #captain swan #captain swan au #captain swan fics

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holidaywishes · 4 years

Text

It Had To Be You XLIX

Chapter Forty Nine: It Had To Be You

Summary: It’s finally time for you and Tyler to get married. But what’s a wedding without some drama?

Warning: Angst, language, maybe some fluff but not likely, trigger warning for mention of ED

Author’s Note: Y’all I was literally bawling as I wrote this. Like so much so that I had to stop and save it, so I could finish crying and then return to it. I don’t know how many of you saw it coming, but here we are. One chapter left and I can honestly say I didn’t really see it coming. The length of the series that is. I really do appreciate everyone’s love for this series; it’s been up and down for me where some days I love writing it and other days I just can’t bring myself to make these characters co-exist. I wanted there to be closure, because at the very least, it’s what these two deserved but I also needed a good dose of angst to send this series off -- since that’s pretty much what it was built on. So, yes, this chapter is INCREDIBLY, EXCEPTIONALLY, almost OUTRAGEOUSLY long and it took a lot of time to write but it was extremely necessary! Enjoy these last two chapters and thank you again for all your support.

Song Credit: It Had To Be You -- Frank Sinatra

masterlist

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Tyler’s P.O.V.

You woke up in your mom’s guest room and, for a second, thought it was just another day but when your sisters came barrelling into the room to wake you up, you jumped up in excitement.

“YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!” Candace shouted

“I KNOW!” you replied. Candace made some joke about how normally she would expect you to stay calm, cool and collected and that it was typically the girl in the relationship who was this excited on their wedding day.

“I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s adorable,” she laughed, “I just didn’t expect it I guess”

“Well what can I say?” you smiled, “I love (Y/N) and I’m so lucky to be the one she chose. The one who gets to marry her.” Candace smiled at you as you cooed over your fiancée just as your mom walked in

“What are you still doing in here?!” she exclaimed

“What?” you answered

“You should be getting ready!”

“I’m getting there, Ma,” you chuckled, “don’t worry!” She huffed as if to say ‘you’re not taking this seriously’ before walking out of the room, throwing her arms up as she did so and your head fell back while Candace followed her out of the room. Shortly after, you made your way to the kitchen for some breakfast

“So...” your mom started, Cassidy and Candace looking at you, “how you feeling?”

“Good,” you smiled, a blush creeping on your cheeks, “really good.”

“Aww” the girls shrieked, making the dogs jump up from where they were sleeping and head to where they were

“You guys are scaring the dogs!” you chirped and they laughed

“You’re just so cute!” Cassidy cooed

“I never thought you’d be getting married...” your mom started to tear up

“Mom...” you started, waving your hands to get her to stop as you walked over to her, “don’t start crying now. Please. There’s so much day left.”

“I’m just so happy,” she sobbed, “that you found the person you want to be with. And I’m so happy she is so amazing to you and to us. I just love you both so much.”

“Okay, mom,” you said, hugging her as she continued to cry into your shoulder, “I have to go take a shower now. I love you. Save the tears for the ceremony okay?” She nodded once and you kissed the top of her head to comfort her before you walked away.

You woke up with a huge grin on your face. Even after seeing Kate on Tyler’s story last night, knowing that she was with him, you had managed to put it out of your mind and you were back to being excited about marrying the man you loved. You rushed into the shower because your day was planned to the last millisecond, from hair and makeup to making sure the catering, décor and everything else was set and ready to go.

“Alright...” Karen said through the door as you showered, “we’ve got your hair and makeup at the same time, Diana is taking care of all the Bridesmaids dresses and their hair and makeup. You’ll be in separate rooms here while you get them done and then we’ll do pictures. Your flowers are on their way from the florist and caterers will be here by the time you're ready to get dressed.” She continued to talk at you but you had to put your head back under the water to wash out the conditioner in your hair that you didn’t hear what she said.

“Okay, I’m going as fast as I can” you laughed as you opened the door, noticing people walking around behind her. Once you had put on some lotion and the silky robe with ‘Bride’ embellished on the back, you followed Karen into the room where you would be getting ready.

“If you need anything, call me,” she said, “but hopefully you won’t need anything. I’ll send the photographer in once the hair and makeup people are here and they’ll kind of just roam around you and take some shots. They’ll do the same outside.”

“Got it.” You smiled, letting out a sigh of relief when she finally walked away. The next two hours were a whirlwind of photos and makeup and hair and gifts for your Bridesmaids before finally getting into your dress so you and Tyler could exchange notes.

“Do you still want to keep everything a secret?” he asked from where he stood behind the door, handing his note to you without looking over the door

“What do you mean?” you smiled to yourself as you handed him your note

“The dress? Is it going to be a surprise until I’m at the altar?” he laughed

“You really think you can handle it right now?” You looked at Jackie who had brought over the photographer to capture the moment that you and Tyler were reading your letters

“Oh I’m ready,” he smirked, “are you?” Jackie seemed to tell the photographer that you two were going to look at each other first before reading the letters and just as you stepped forward he stopped you

“It would be a much better picture if you two revealed yourself to each other after you’d read the letters. Much more romantic.” You nodded and asked if Tyler was ready

“More than you know, babe.” You could hear the smirk on his face and you chuckled to yourself as you opened the envelope and read his note to you, while he stood silently reading your note to him.

(Y/N);

I never thought I’d meet someone who made me reconsider so many of my life choices but from the moment I met you, I knew you were going to change my life forever. From thinking I never wanted to get married to never wanting to let a minute go by that we weren’t with each other, you’re the one for me. You’re it. The sound of your voice over a call when I’m on the road, the smell of your favourite perfume, that little giggle you make when you watch dog videos on Youtube; these are the things that I cherish and crave when we’re apart and when we’re together. I’m so thankful to be part of your life and I feel so immensely lucky to get to call myself your husband, or I will be once the ‘I do’s’ are done. I know we’ve had our ups and downs and I know our life together won’t be without it’s challenges if for no other reason than our schedules but I wouldn’t want to face those challenges with anyone but you.

I love you so much,

Tyler.

Tyler’s P.O.V.

You opened the letter from (Y/N) and took a deep breath before reading it while you listened to her silently sob as she read your letter to her.

My Dearest Tyler,

I’ll admit when I first met you, I didn’t think too much of you. I knew your reputation in Boston and I let that sway a lot of my opinion of you but you soon proved me wrong and I have never been so grateful for anything in my whole life. Because it gave me you. Yes, I ignored my feelings for you because I was with someone else, but for so much of my life, you’ve been one of the only people who have made me feel safe and loved and who I could fully trust. It took us a long time to get where we are today -- bad break ups, family tragedies, things I’d like to never speak of again -- but we’re here, we made it. It’s you and me, babe. And I couldn’t be happier. I know I can be a lot to handle most days and I know that I drive you crazy more than you’d probably like to admit, just know that it’s all done out of love. Because I do love you. No matter what I might say or do, I’ll always love you.

You’ll always be the one who changed everything.

You’ll always be the one I never want to lose.

You’ll always be the one I love the most.

To the sun and the moon and the stars, I love you, baby.

(Y/N), xo

You wiped away a few stray tears as you folded up the piece of paper, your mom soon telling you it was time to reveal yourselves to each other.

“You two ready?” she asked

“Just give me a minute,” you heard (Y/N) laugh, “I think I’ve ruined my makeup!”

“You look great!” your mom replied and (Y/N) laughed again, taking a deep breath before finally agreeing to come out. The photographer clicking photos continuously as both of you stepped out from where you stood, your hand quickly raised to cover your mouth; you couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked and that the day was finally here.

“You look...” you stammered, “gorgeous.” She blushed at your words, the smile on her face growing each second before she took your hands lightly in hers.

“You look so handsome” she smiled, moving closer to you for a kiss which your mom and the photographer both stopped.

“Not until the ‘I Do’s’!” Your mom yelled and (Y/N) laughed

“She’s right.” (Y/N) added, squeezing your hands, “I should probably go check on the girls anyway.” You didn’t want to let her go just yet, so you held onto her hand as she walked away.

“That’s a great shot” you heard the photographer say to your mom and she was quick to agree so you decided to give your opinion on it.

“It looks beautiful,” you said, furrowing your brow as you continued to examine the photo, “but she looks kinda sad doesn’t she? I don’t know... it just looks like she’s leaving me...”

You walked back to find your Bridesmaids getting their finishing touches done before being taken to an area by the lake where the photographer wanted some shots of the entire wedding party as guests made their way into the backyard where the ceremony would be; Tyler gathered his Groomsmen and your Bridesmaids mirrored their positions beside you when the photographer began rearranging everyone. You and Tyler laughed at the commotion surrounding the two of you but were eventually able to reel everyone in for a few good photos.

“Okay,” Tyler breathed, “I think it’s time. I’ll see you up there.” He kissed your hands before walking up the hill toward the house, looking back only once to smile at you and you smiled back before taking a deep breath of your own as your Bridesmaids started their journey to the house

“You coming?” Lucy asked

“Of course. I’ll be there in a second,” you laughed, “I just wanna practice my vows once.” Lucy nodded and continued up the hill with the other girls. You looked out at the horizon, smoothing the front of your dress to calm the nerves you were starting to feel.

“You look beautiful” Chris spoke softly, leading you to look over your shoulder to meet his smile. You slowly turned around to let him see you and dropped your eyes to the ground, catching glimpses of the dress as your eyes scanned the ground.

“Thank you,” you smiled before finally looking up at him, “you look very handsome.”

“Thank you.” he replied and outstretched his hand to you to get you to walk up with him, “It’s time for you to get married.” Just as the two of you reached the front door, Chris said there was something he forgot to give you but it was in his car so he went to grab it, your eyes following him as he ran to where his car was parked; turning around and bumping into someone hastily

“I’m so sorry!” you exclaimed

“No it’s my fault. I must not have...” Kate replied, trailing off when she saw it was you and realizing that you might not have known that she was going to be there

“Kate..?” was all you could muster and she gave you an awkward closed mouth smile before making her way into the backyard to find a seat. You stayed still for a moment, waiting for Chris to come back, until Kate turned around once more

“You look lovely,” she said, “Tyler’s a really lucky guy...” The words sounded sincere so you thanked her and watched as she disappeared around the corner when a sudden rush of doubt washed over you and you ran into your bedroom. You stood in front of the floor length mirror, examining the intricate details of lace and tulle and beading on your custom-made dress, training yourself to look at yourself in the dress. When you finally met your eyes in the mirror, you couldn’t connect the beauty of the dress to the girl you saw wearing it. Your mind kept wandering to what everyone would think when they saw you, or what you convinced yourself they’d think

“Hey,” Chris called, running to find you, “where did you go? I was only gone for a minute and I come back but you’re not...” You turned to him with a slow tear running from the corner of your eye

“Is this a mistake Chris?” you cried and he shook his head

“No.” he stated simply, but sympathetically as he walked slowly toward you, “This is not a mistake.” You dropped your head, shaking it to clear your thoughts, and Chris pulled you in for a hug that you could only melt into. When he pulled away from the hug, he handed you a small box, “this belonged to your dad.” You opened the box to find an old guitar pick

“I didn’t know he played guitar?”

“Oh yeah. He was pretty good too. But this one pick was really special to him. So when he had you and Lucy, he wanted to make sure it would be special to you both as well.” He said and you furrowed your brow when you looked up at him, “turn it over.” You did as he said

“I love you” the words on the pick read, in your dads messy writing and you brought your hand to your mouth to stop from sobbing.

“He would be so proud of you.” Chris said, leading you to look up at him and frown

“I miss them so much” You replied while Chris encouraged you to grab his arm and start to walk to the altar. The two of you stopped just in front of the door before you were met by your bridal party.

“Didn’t think you were gonna make it” Katie joked

“Well I did. I’m here” you smiled

“Alright. Let’s do this” Cassidy exclaimed

“Let’s get you married!” Candace added while the girls lined up with Tyler’s Groomsmen to walk down the aisle. As they made their way two by two to the altar, you took a deep breath before biting your lip

“You ready?” Lucy asked, Jesse trying his best not to butt into the conversation as her arm was interlocked with his

“Yes” you smiled, a small sigh leaving your voice

“We’ll see you up there” Jesse winked as he nodded to Lucy so they could walk down the aisle to meet Tyler at the altar; she mouthed a quick ‘you got this’ before walking down and just like that, the music changed and it was finally your turn. When the door finally opened, you looked up and saw Tyler smiling back to you. And the whole world faded away.

Tyler’s P.O.V.

You had no idea what had taken so long but when you finally saw her standing at the end of the aisle in her dress, about to walk toward you, you didn’t care about anything other than how beautiful she was. And how much you loved her.

“Hi,” you whispered when she finally met you at the altar, “I missed you.” She reciprocated your smile before mouthing ‘I’m sorry’ to which you just shook your head before the ceremony officially started. The two of you gazed at each other while the officiant spoke about marriage and what it meant to make this commitment to each other. Your eyes never left (Y/N)’s, even when she began to blush and press her lips together to stop herself from laughing.

“(Y/N) and Tyler have written their vows today. Have you decided who would like to go first?” The officiant asked

“Ladies first, always.” You chuckled while (Y/N) fumbled with her note card

“I had to bring it with me or I knew I’d forget,” she confessed, “I’m nervous. I didn’t think I’d be this nervous.” She tried to catch her breath and you smiled at her nervousness

“It’s okay, love, take your time.” You said, reassuringly, allowing her to slow down and steady herself and her breathing.

“Tyler; I wrote and rewrote these vows a million times. Trying to make them perfect. Trying to make them the most amazing words you’ll ever hear and the most beautiful vows anyone, anywhere, will ever hear. Which only made them cheesy and full of things like ‘I’ll make you laugh when you’re sad,’ and ‘I’ll walk the dogs when you can’t,’ which is true. I’ll do both of those things, but I would anyway,” the room laughed and she smiled at you before continuing, making sure to look at you as much as she could, “so when it came time for me to really write my vows to you, I scrapped everything and wrote five words.

It Had To Be You.

There was no one else in my life that I would ever find that made me feel the way you do. No matter how many times we fought or disagreed or ignored our feelings for each other, you were always the person I imagined myself with. I never thought that I... I would find someone who looked at me the way I wanted to be looked at, someone who made me feel seen. Until you. You changed everything for me. You changed the way I looked at myself and the way I looked at relationships. You’ve become this amazing person, you’ve grown into such an amazing man and I’m so proud that I’ve gotten to be part of that journey. Through the ups and downs, the fights and the make-ups and everything in between, you’ve been so wonderful to me. And I love you for that. It was never going to be anyone else. I can’t imagine a better person to share my life with, to be in love with. It Had To Be You. I knew it from the second we met, It Had To Be You.” She tilted her head to the side and smiled sheepishly at you before clutching your hands to steady her

“Tyler...” the officiant continued, “it’s your turn.” You laughed at his statement but cleared your throat to say your vows.

“(Y/N)...” you started, “falling in love with you came suddenly and unexpectedly. Loving you, however, was slow and sometimes infuriating.” You smiled as she gasped at your words, jokingly pulling her hands away from yours for a moment, “but I know,” you continued, “that love is worth fighting for. So, I fought. and fought. and begged. and hoped. and wished that I could keep fighting forever. Because I loved you so much it scared me to not have you with me. When the worst would happen and I thought we wouldn’t make it, my heart broke. Only to get put back together again when you showed up at my door and fell into my arms. The place where you fit so perfectly. I loved you before I even knew that I could love again. Before I even knew I wanted to love again. You snuck into my life when I was trying to figure out who I needed to be and how I needed to change and you were like this breath of fresh air. Exactly what I needed. You stayed with me when I lost the people I loved most in the world and you held me when I needed to be held. There’s no one else that I would rather argue with or make-up with or share every moment of my life with. There’s no one else I could ever love more and no one else I could imagine myself with. I love you. Now, yesterday, tomorrow, forever and for always.”

“And with that, I have a few last questions and responsibilities...” the officiant said. You watched (Y/N) look out at the crowd, examining the guests reactions, when she stopped suddenly and you followed her gaze to where Kate sat; solemn look on her face before dropping her head, “so, if no one has anything they’d like to say. No objections...” the officiant added and you smiled, starting to jokingly get him to continue when (Y/N) spoke up quietly

“I’m sorry...” she said and you furrowed your brow at her before she looked up, “I love you, Ty, but I can’t... do this. I can’t marry you. I’m sorry.” You were left in shock, your mouth gaping slightly as she ran down the steps and into the house. You ran after her once you composed yourself, calling out to her but she kept her back turned to you

“What’s going on?!” you yelled

“We can’t get married”

“We can. We almost did. What happened?”

“I’m sorry. I just can’t do this. It’s all too much”

“Too much?”

“I’m sor--”

“STOP!” You yelled, interrupting her apology, “stop apologizing. Stop saying you’re sorry and just help me understand what you’re thinking.” She finally turned around to look at you and you noticed the tears streaming down her face as she tried to get the words out. But she couldn’t seem to make the words leave her throat.

Your eyes burned with tears as you tried to explain why you left the altar. Why you left him standing there alone. Why you couldn’t marry him. All you could do was whimper, all you could say was ‘I’m sorry’ but Tyler wanted more.

“No,” he argued, “tell me what’s going on. Talk to me.”

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers”

“You’re the only one with the answers right now”

“Tyler please...” you sighed, tears still falling from your eyes

“I love you,” he replied, moving toward you so he could brush his hand along your arm, “I want to be with you. Maybe today isn’t the right day. Maybe we rushed into it. Maybe you’re feeling pressured. Whatever it is, tell me and we can work through it together.”

“I guess...” you sobbed, dropping your head to the ground in defeat, before picking it up to find his eyes again, “I don’t know... I thought if I could be this perfect person for you then all of my... pain, my insecurities would just go away. Because I loved you and I wanted you and I wanted us but from the second I walked into your life, I’ve felt so incredibly out of place. I don’t belong in this life. With the fancy cars and the beautiful people and the big houses. I don’t belong here. I wanted to. I thought I could, despite everything and everyone trying to convince us we weren’t meant for each other. But you can’t tell me you don’t see it. That I grew up in a modest house with a modest family of modest means--”

“I told you that I didn’t grow up with all of this stuff, I worked for it” he interrupted you to argue, furrowing his brow at your confession

“I know! I know,” you sighed, trying to compose your sobs in such a way that your words could be understood and not just heard, “but I can’t get past any of it. I... you deserve someone who can keep up with this life. Who can keep up with you and someone who doesn’t feel... threatened at every turn. I have tried so hard to trust you and honestly, I have trusted you. What I wrote to you was true. You have made me feel so safe and so loved and I have put my entire trust in you. You’ve been as close to perfect as perfect gets. But then something happens, something small, and I lose track of everything. I lose track of how far I’ve come, how far we’ve come and I just... my heart breaks because I have this overwhelming feeling that I don’t belong with you. That, no matter how much I love you or how much you say you love me, we don’t match.”

“Not this again” Tyler dropped his hand from your arm, lobbing his head back and sighed before finally stepping back

“I’ve never loved anyone the way that I love you. So purely and intensely, so all-encompassingly. All I ever wanted was you, even when I was with someone else, even when we were just friends. All I ever wanted was this. Us. But I went through a lot of crap to get you, to lose the old me and find this girl who would be good enough for you. Because, truly, It Had To Be You. It was always going to be you. I just don’t know if I can keep doing this. Keep worrying about the girls you meet here or on the road, the girls that you’re friends with, the girls who are friends with your friends and show up at parties with them. I can’t keep thinking that you’re always keeping me at arms length because you don’t want to give up your old life just yet. I don’t want to feel like I have to be someone else just to be with you. All of our problems, everything that existed before today, will continue to exist. Getting married just means we have more to lose”

“(Y/N)...” He sighed, a look of heartbreak creeping across his face as his eyes began to tear up at your words

“I wish I could say this was just wedding day jitters,” you said as a new batch of tears streamed down your face, “I wish that’s what it was but I don’t think it is. I think that this has been boiling under the surface for a while now and I don’t want you to be the one that suffers when I blow up. Because I will. I’ll cry and scream and blame you for things that aren’t your fault--”

“And we’ll make up like we always do. That’s what love is... It’s staying together through all the shit and the crazy parts and working through it... together.”

“No see...” you sighed, stepping back when he stepped forward, almost tripping on the long train of your dress, “we shouldn’t have to stay together to ‘work out all the shit.’ We should want to see each other through hard times because we want to see each other grow. I want to see you grow. I want to grow with you. But I have too much... shit that I have to work through on my own that you don’t deserve to be dragged down by”

“Don’t do this (Y/N), I love you and I need you to understand that I’ve changed. I’m not the same immature kid I was when we met. You’ve made me a better man”

“And that’s great!” you smiled, tears still cascading down your cheeks, “I know you’ve changed. I see that. And I am so proud of you, Tyler. Uhm...” You hesitated, your voice stabilizing for only a second, “But I haven’t. I’m still closed off and distant and hurt and insecure and... broken because of the things that have happened to me.”

“I want to take your pain from you. You’re not broken, not to me.” He admitted and you squeezed your eyes shut at what his words meant. That he actually loved you as much as you hoped he did

“I can’t keep doing this to you. In time, you’ll see that, you’ll understand,” you tried to recover from everything that you had to say, straightening your posture and wiping away the mess of tears on your face, “I hate that I’m doing this, especially now. But I know I should’ve let you go a long time ago.”

“Is this about--” he started and you shook your head

“It’s not about Kate,” you finished his thought. Even though that may have been the catalyst, it really wasn’t about her, “this is about me. Before you, before James, I was sick. Like really sick--”

“I know... you were in the hospital” you nodded

“But after I got sick, the first time, I met someone. My first boyfriend. He didn’t know about my ED, he didn’t know about me being in the hospital, he didn’t know about my parents. It was a completely blank slate. I could start fresh with him. But after he tried to get me to open up, I shut down again. I had a panic attack thinking about how to tell him everything I thought I’d never have to. He freaked out at me freaking out and I ended up going back to being sick. Back to who I’d always been. And then I was fine, for a bit. Until I met James. And then Marcus happened,” you stopped for only a minute to gather yourself, “and I realized, I never stopped being the girl who would shut down whenever something went wrong. Whenever I had to be honest about who I was or what I was feeling. I have too much baggage”

“I don’t care!” he yelled, his body moving forward but his feet staying put

“But I do!” you shouted in return, the tears brimming your eyes once more, “okay? I do. I can’t ask you to commit to someone who’s scared all the time of you doing something just because you’re living your life. I can’t ask you to change everything just because I love you. Or because I want you to love me back.”

“What if I’m doing it because I love you?”

“You deserve to be loved, Tyler. Truly, honestly, completely, uncompromisingly loved. I want you to have that. Even if that means it’s not with me...”

“It is with you!” He tried

“I’m sorry,” you said, beginning to walk away, “I have loved every minute of my life with you. I wish I didn’t have to hurt you like this. It’s the last thing I want to do”

“Then don’t do it!” he pleaded

“We can’t get married, Ty”

“Fine” he tried, “we don’t have to get married. we’ll call this off, go get some pizza, change out of these clothes and go home. To our home. With our dogs. And our life together. We’ll just be together.” You dropped your head, shaking it as you did so, letting the tears bead off the tulle of your skirt and fall to the ground

“I love you, Tyler, so much you couldn’t possibly know,” your voice hitched as you kept your eyes on the ground, “but I can’t be with you right now”

“Why?!” he shouted, your family and his finally coming around the corner to see the last of the argument, “because you think you’re going to hurt me? like you don’t think this is hurting me?”

“You’ll get past this!” you shouted back, raising your head and catching a glimpse of Chris’ face, his sadness for you clearly evident in his expression, “you will get past this wedding not happening. You will get past me hurting you today. You will move on and be happy and fall in love and have the life you’ve always deserved. But if we get married, if we go through with this now, I will drag you down with me and I can’t allow that”

“You’re not going to drag me down...” he said calmly

“STOP!” you yelled, squeezing your eyes shut in frustration, eliciting a small string of tears from the corner of your eye, “I’m selfish. I’ve been selfish for the past six years. You and me have argued with each other and yelled at each other so many times because of me. Because I can’t let you in. Because I can’t just let myself trust you completely.”

“I’ve--” he stammered, finally taking a step to move closer to you

“No, please” you started, outstretching your hand so he didn’t get too close, “you are so wonderful. and you have been so wonderful to me. You’ve grown so much in these last 10 years and I am so happy that I’ve been able to see that and be there for some of it--”

“I haven’t outgrown you...” he replied, as if those were the words you were going to say next and you tilted your head to the side when you looked at him, following his eyes with yours while you prepared yourself to say goodbye

“Maybe you don’t think you have but we both know that we haven’t been moving together, at the same pace, for a long time. This isn’t your fault, Tyler, please don’t put this on you. Please don’t try to find some mistake that you made -- because you didn’t make one. I’ve chosen person after person because I saw something in them that I didn’t see in myself. Something I thought I could have for myself if I were just close enough to them. But I just-- I can’t... I don’t want to do that to you anymore. I--” you whimpered, trying to keep yourself composed but the rest of the guests beginning to circle and the look in Tyler’s eyes made it impossible for tears not to stream down your face, “I need to choose me this time. I need to find that something in myself that makes everything else worth doing...”

“You’ve said this before. We got through it then, we can get through it now,” he tried, stepping toward you once before you turned to walk away, “please.” His voice was soft now, filled with sadness that made your heart ache, almost too much for you to bear. You turned your head just barely so he could hear your voice one last time

“Goodbye Tyler” you whispered to him, picking the skirt of your dress up as you ran from him, stopping only when Jackie stood in your path. She stared at you, with your mascara staining your cheeks and your eyes still flooding with tears, and you feared what she might do; slap you, curse at you, say she was disappointed.

“You were part of our family” she said, small tears escaping her eyes, “we loved you. Why... how could you do this?” You couldn’t bring yourself to give her an answer because the look on her face said everything her voice couldn’t

“I’m sorry” you managed to mutter before you ran to the car waiting in the driveway. You hoped that someday they would all come to forgive you, and that the pain you’d caused would simply be a memory, but for now you could only watch as Tyler crumbled in his Mother’s arms as the tears he’d been containing were finally set free.

#Tyler Seguin #Tyler Seguin fic #Tyler Seguin Imagine #It Had To Be You #It Had To Be You Series #Tyler Seguin series #It Had To Be You fic #masterlist #the other masterlist #NHL Fic #NHL #NHL imagine #Dallas Stars #Dallas Stars imagine #next to last #second to last #penultimate

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eirian-houpe · 4 years

Text

Disparate Pathways Chapter 3

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold

Characters: Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle (Once Upon a Time), Maurice | Moe French, Gaston (Once Upon a Time), Spinster(s) (Once Upon a Time: Think Lovely Thoughts), Mad Hatter | Jefferson, Blue Fairy | Mother Superior, Black Fairy (Once Upon a Time), Baelfire | Neal Cassidy, Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan, Colette (Once Upon a Time), Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Widow Lucas | Granny, Dove (Once Upon a Time), Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Wicked Witch of the West | Zelena

Additional Tags: Abusive Parents, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Violence, Gun Violence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Dubious Consent, Eventual Smut, UST, First Time, Drama & Romance, Kidnapping, Extortion

Summary: Gold has a past, a past that he has rejected, but it seems one that will not let him go. Belle, daughter of Governor Maurice French has been kidnapped, along with her mother, and just as the authorities raid the organization that is holding her hostage, decides to make her own bid for freedom, unknowingly derailing an undercover sting, and Agent Milnor has not choice but to take her into 'protective custody,' but is he all that he seems? As the threads of the story grow more tangled and the threat to Belle, and to Gold, her appointed protector, grow ever more real, a growing, mutual attraction makes everything far more desperate and far too personal for Gold to ignore what he knows to be the truth.

Read on AO3

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2]

Chapter 3 - Sins Of the Father

Everything hurt. Belle had no idea how long she’d been locked in the room she was in, and fear gripped her with piercing talons that she couldn’t ever remember feeling, at least not since she was a little girl. That didn’t count. It was different then. She was a child.

Now, she was an adult, and she would not give in to the fear no matter how hard it bit, couldn’t give in… if she did… if…

Belle sat down on the only piece of furniture in the room - a wooden slatted bed, with a mattress that was barely thick enough even to be called a mattress, with a grubby pillow and a threadbare blanket thrown over it - and gave in to the tears that were making her chest hurt to hold them inside.

She forced herself to stop abruptly, rekindling the nausea in her belly, when she heard the metallic rasp of the key in the lock. In spite of her wanting to be strong, she scooted back into the corner of the wall against which stood the bed, and curled into a protective little ball.

To no avail.

The man that entered the room wasn’t one she remembered seeing before. Not that she’d seen many people since they’d marched her off the steps of city hall and into the waiting car…

“I really don’t think that’s what he meant at all,” laughed Coleltte, slipping her arm though Belle’s and Belle leaned briefly against her mother.

“I know,” she said and let out a laugh of her own, “but it was still funny.”

The two women had laughed together as they descended two or three of the steps, but the laughter petered out as two large men in ill fitting suits - although that observation was one of hindsight - came to either side of them, taking a hold of their arms in grasps that were a little too tight to be protective, as they sometimes had to suffer.

“Keep walking,” one of the men hissed. “Let’s not draw any attention to ourselves.”

Collette frowned at Belle, and tightened her arm against hers, and Belle bit her lip, her eyes telling her mother that she didn’t believe that this was quite right.

“I wasn’t aware of any current threat to--”

“Keep moving!” the other man said, and Belle gasped as she suddenly felt the press of something hard against the side of her ribs. She felt her steps falter, and her fear mounted.

Just like that. It had been that easy for the two of them to be taken, and no one the wiser. They’d been frogmarched to a waiting car and bundled into the back, still sandwiched between the two men; brought to this place, and had been here ever since.

At first she and her mother had been together, but then, a few days ago, Belle had been dragged away from her mother, and thrown into a room of her own. That was when she felt the fear beginning to sharpen, to mount, but as much as she feared, she also felt anger, and along with it, a certain degree of defiance.

It had earned her nothing but rough treatment from the people that came to her, to check on her, to bring her the food that passed as her meals, and to take her for her scheduled ‘bathroom breaks.’ The longer it went on, the more fearful it was making her.

The newcomer crossed the room with rapid steps and she shrank against the wall. It seemed he didn’t care, because he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her upright, barely giving her a chance to get her feet under her, and she stumbled, scraping her knee against the floor before he hauled her upright again.

“Enough of your nonsense,” he said. “It’ll be much easier if you don’t fight.”

She pulled against him at that, as if his words triggered her to do the exact opposite. For her troubles he suddenly swung her until her back hit the wall beside the closed door and stepping in close, he wrapped a large fist around her throat to pin her in place. She clawed at his hand, fighting for breath.

“I told you,” he said unkindly, and leaned down to look into her face as he snarled, “No more nonsense. If I had my way, I wouldn’t have waited this long, but I did, and now my patience is thin indeed.”

Belle’s struggles began to fade as she started to feel light headed from lack of air. Patience… she shook as she wondered why he needed to be patient, what did he have to do with her, or she to him. She assumed he was merely another one of her captors.

Just as the edges of her vision began to darken he released her, as though he knew exactly what she was feeling. He caught her in his arms only to turn her and drag her out, drag her away and through the door. Her legs felt like jello, the rest of her limp and she felt tears prickling behind her eyes, but was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing them fall.

“Where are you taking me?” she managed to ask, and he chuckled. It was not a pleasant sound, but otherwise, he did not answer her, just manhandled her up a flight of stairs to the uppermost floor of the house, and into a sitting room where, in addition to the regular furniture, a desk with a large computer monitor stood ready, showing an office, and an empty chair at a desk.

Her attention, however, was immediately drawn to one of the other figures in the room. Her mother. She looked as beaten and downtrodden as Belle felt, and she immediately began struggling against the hold of her captors, just as did Belle, each trying to reach each other.

“How touching!”

From the far side of the sitting room, beside the window, came a voice that made Belle shiver. It was a voice she’d heard before, a long time ago, when she was only a child, and hearing it in the present threw her right back to the terrified girl she had been that night.

“You!” she gasped, and her voice shook. “You… you can’t be here. You can’t…”

“Oh, but I am.” The red haired woman began to walk toward her, then nodded to the man holding her, and to the chair. “I’m flattered that you remember. Perhaps that will make this so much easier.” There was a pause as the woman crossed the room. She sighed then, and as she tapped a number of keys on the laptop, she added, “Such a pity. I do so prefer difficult.”

Belle was about to answer, trying to come up with something suitably snarky, but the breath was knocked out of her as the man still holding her pushed her into the chair facing the computer, and when she tried to rise in defiance, thrust her back down into it again, and this time kept his hand on her shoulder to keep her in place.

The flash of movement on the computer screen pulled her attention from the bull of a man that was still pinning her in place and she finally stopped struggling with him as a woman addressed them all.

“Everyone’s here. Excellent, that should save time.”

“Mother Duneach.” The redhead greeted the woman that was settling herself into her seat at the other end of the live feed.

Belle’s already chilled blood ran colder yet, as she recognized the woman from her childhood transgression of peering through cracks in the door, and she did not appear to have changed, in spite of the intervening years. The woman’s hair still swung around her shoulders, as dark as ever, as were her eyes. The wide smile that didn’t fit her face was still framed by full red lips, and her cheekbones were sharp and pronounced, painting her as shrewd as ever she had seemed to Belle, even at a tender age, and she remembered the words the woman had spoken, "There’d be a price of course. Something like this can’t be arranged without there being… a sacrifice.”

Belle shivered. Was this the price? Was she the sacrifice?

As if the other woman knew what she was thinking, she turned her attention immediately to Belle, ignoring the greeting that the redhead had offered.

“Hello, dearie,” she said. “Well, look at you… all grown up…”

#rumbelle #fic #au #angst #ust #eventual smut

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mauriooo · 4 years

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Tell us your OCs. I. Have. Intrigue

oh okay um-

first off here’s a link to the masterlist

second a quick explanation of all my non-fandom ocs’ universes i guess? putting them under a cut cos they are LONG… sorry if you just wanted a brief summary of the characters themselves i just saw an opportunity to info dump about all the worldbuilding i’ve done and i took it

the universe with all of the animal ocs (Skye-Inklii on the masterlist) is definitely my most worked-on universe to date cos of all the semi-connected stories in it, the complexity of the world, and the pantheon i’ve kind of come up with? basically it takes place on a continent that has yet to be named but it’s a big place in the middle of an ocean called the Sparkling Sea. the continent is divided into multiple “Kingdoms,” all surrounding the Royal City (where the most important families live) in the middle of the continent. these kingdoms include the Ocean Kingdom (basically a huge gulf connected to the Sparking Sea filled with water-dwelling people, who aren’t mermaids but do have gills and stuff along with the general frame of land-dwellers) and the Smoldering Kingdom (formerly a prosperous matriarchy that was a hotspot (hah) for trading, next to a volcano. almost completely desolated by a conflict commonly known as the Brushfire War, with Ka being the only survivor. residents here were often confused for actual fires from afar, considering their particular subspecies often had small flames all over their body, which could not be snuffed out.). the Royal City is surrounded by an area known as the Outskirts (working name), where people like Skye, Pine, and Lavender who didn’t really have any particular elemental traits of any kind or came from a different kingdom lived. this area is known for having a bustling market and a diverse populace, unlike the other kingdoms whose residents almost always look similar. also there’s a royal family in the Royal City that rule most of the continent (each Kingdom has their own government but really the royal family is up top). the royal family has a royal scientist (undertale influenced a bunch of this ok), currently Hawthorn, previously his father Bramble. Bramble did a bunch of bad stuff so I’m not gonna dwell on him. garbageboy stinkman belongs in the toilet

the universe with Hazel and the ghosties is a universe where basically it’s almost the same as real life but magic, ghosts, demons, and angels exist and it’s not as technologically advanced (phones exist but color tv does not and people don’t rely as much on technology) Hazel and Michael/Virus both have some angel and some demon blood, Michael having more demon than angel and Hazel with vice versa, both having wings of some sort due to this. both their parents are basically human but their descendants (from a time where demons and angels were free to walk the earth) had children with demons/angels and some of those traits got passed down. it’s very rare to pass down traits from one of these entities (about 1 in 1,000 for just one) but Ezekiel/Chance got very lucky and got a little of both, compared to his siblings Cassidy/Jinx and Lisa/Boo who got nothing (but after becoming ghosts Jinx did get some demon traits and Boo got some angel traits). not all ghosts are friendly so those with an affinity for locating the undead are hired to exorcise houses and whatnot, called “ghosters.” Michael was one of the more famous ghosters and so he’s commonly called upon to help in areas, so he and Hazel traveled a lot. i should also mention that with certain rituals one can summon a ghost to help with something (finances, love, etc.) but it’s very hard to pull off (to stabilize a ghost and keep it from returning to the afterlife you have to make a very special necklace from specific gemstones depending on the ghost, and one for yourself to make sure the ghost can’t hurt you and it has to obey your orders (although you can free it to do what it wishes if you want)) anyways there’s a really dangerous demon that broke free from a seal placed on it hundreds of years ago commonly referred to as the Stalker, the Nothing, and things like that. Michael unknowingly accepted a job to rid an abandoned house in a quaint little town of this thing, and brought Hazel with him. it uh… didn’t go well :D this thing HATES angels cos a half-angel sealed it away so it attempted to kill Hazel because she bears a strong resemblance to the being that sealed it away. Michael didn’t like that so he barely managed to seal it away for a few more years but got like,,, a LOT of vital organs ripped out in the process. this, understandably, traumatized Hazel cos that was her last living family member being ripped to shreds in front of her so she went back to the town where she, first, scared 99% of the population cos she was DRENCHED in blood but then she got cleaned up and sent to a nearby orphanage where she was immediately adopted by a p mean family cos they thought she could summon a ghost to make them rich? she ended up summoning Virus (who didn’t recognize her cos ghosts lose most of their memories except for their moment of death, Chance is an exception), and then Jinx, Chance, and Boo all at once cos they died within a few minutes of each other. this took a hard right into backstory territory so imma move on

Gardenia and Ashe live in a world where, rarely, children will be born with their souls basically attuned to an element of nature (often with different subclasses) or creature. these phenomenons are called elementals and mutants, respectively. even rarer, however, is a child being born as both. Gardenia was born without eyes, with the left side of her face being just smooth where her eye should be and the right having a, well, gardenia growing in the place of an eye. also when she bleeds small flowers grow in the wound, which was assumed to be a sort of defense mechanism to plug the wound. because of these, when she was born, she was designated a plant elemental of the flower subclass. ashe was born part-fire elemental, part-salamander mutant. they both ended up at a school specifically for elementals and mutants where they could learn not to destroy things, which is where these two met in about 7th grade? they stayed friends since then and eventually fell in love (even if Gardenia couldn’t see Ashe, she loved her personality and her voice). probably the only universe with no murder so far

Meredy and Connor are robotic entities known as “mechae,” Meredy being made to entertain while Connor was made to fix. these entities were mass-produced to help humans in a futuristic society. they are made with 6 chips: Empathy, Ethics, Functionality, Memory, Intelligence, and Personality. if one of these chips break the entire mecha basically breaks and has to be recalled. Nikki is just a reclusive mechanic who works with Connor because xe saved him from being scrapped after faulty wiring and a broken Functionality chip were discovered upon his activation, causing him to frequently experience small shocks that either overload his system and shut him down or just make him unable to move for a few minutes. Nikki is trying to fix him up but for now just hides him from the public because xe doesn’t want him to be taken away from xir. Meredy is just a broken entertainment mecha whose Functionality and Ethics chip went haywire during a performance, causing uh... not great things? no one died but they got p injured cos metal is heavy and she ran away, eventually getting to Nikki’s shop after they met in a back alley while Meredy was hiding and Nikki was fishing for parts. that’s basically all i have for now

oh christ where do i start with the zodiacs. okay lady fate got sick of having to look after EVERYONE after they died so she basically chose 15 random people (1 for each zodiac sign except for Gemini and Pisces, who got 2) and made it so when they die (mostly by unfortunate circumstances) they go to a special place in the afterlife where every dead person is called their Dominion (i. e. Aquarius Dominion, Taurus Dominion, etc.), and every person in this world goes to the Dominion corresponding to their zodiac sign where the corresponding Zodiac... doesn’t exactly rule over them but controls the Dominion in a way? they basically get to decide what everything looks like and stuff and they get to live in a big ol mansion with everything they could ever need. all of the Dominions are spread in a circle around a central area known as the Hub where people from different signs can intermingle. the entire area has this neat little feature where once you die and get there, any physical ailments are gone. couldn’t walk while you were alive? well now you can! missing one or more limbs? you can choose to get cool substitute limbs made of sparkling ether that function like normal limbs! were you experiencing gender dysphoria in life? your new body fits your preferred gender! finally, you get a necklace or other piece of jewelry that designates your sign so people can tell what you are! i haven’t worked on this world as much cos i didn’t have too many ideas at first but i really like it :o

Endris and Kyu are demons under service of the Demon King. Endris is a demon species known as a Kahre, a genetically engineered soldier race, but his test tube broke and it was too dangerous to put him in a new one so he’s just smol and ended up as a personal servant to the king. Kyu is a Senru, a general/advisor race, who’s like... a giant suck-up. he mostly refers to Endris as “defect” unless he’s saying that Kyu needs to go speak with the king for a bit because then he’s all sunshine and rainbows. there are also the Erina, small scientists and doctors, and Wisps, tiny lil servants that are often formed when a new soul enters the Underworld. i really liked designing all the demons for this universe and i’m prolly gonna make more uwu

Carrie and Zade just live in a normal world? like they could totally be real people in real life and their stories wouldn’t change. Zade, who is Carrie’s best friend since they were toddlers, is a trans guy, so he was having all sorts of anxiety when he had to explain to her why he would rather not be called the name she’s been referring to him as for 10 years. she was definitely fine with it though. as long as he’s happy, she’s happy! but Zade started transitioning in like 8th grade so most other people weren’t as nice cos middle school sucks, and Carrie was basically his only friend for a while. Carrie eventually figured out (mistakenly, i might add) that she was the reason Zade was getting bullied so she assumed that if she was gone he would be happier and have more friends so uh... she did a self oof? her assumption was wrong, obviously. but people did leave him alone for a while to let him grieve.

sorry for the dark turn at the end? but yeah that’s a basic explanation of most of my original universes \ ( -ワ- ) / if you have any questions feel free to ask! also PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know if i’m being offensive in any way in any of these??? i really don’t want to offend anyone but i’m an idiot so yeah i probably screwed up a lot

#mauri speaks #mauri answers #floralianspiderboynova #ocs #my ocs #mauris ocs #came up with a lot of this on the spot :D #didn't want to disappoint #but also did want to eventually come up with location names #this took a really long time i hope you're happy #tw suicide #tw suicide mention #tw implied suicide #tw implied transphobia

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