I think that if Miles Edgeworth were to ever have a Tumblr blog it would be entirely Steel Samurai based with a carefully organized tagging system. He posts lengthy formally worded analysis about Steel Samurai and nothing else. He doesn't check his notes. He does check his asks, because they're kind of like emails. He has anon asks and dms turned off. Someone sends an ask about his interests outside of Steel Samurai and he immediately blocks them. He doesn't have pronouns or a name to be called by in his bio. The only hint about Edgeworth's personal life is that when he refers to the death of Jack Hammer or the conviction of Matt Engarde he only refers to Phoenix as "that man".

Maya definitely has a tumblr and it has a canon Pink Princess url. She actually hoarded a bunch of Pink Princess urls long before the character was officially announced because she knew she needed to have them. Her tumblr header is "the real pink princess ask sal manella". Her pinned post has these

[ID: Two blinkie banners. The first has a lesbian flag background and says "Pink Princess is canonically gay." The second is light pink and says "PinkSteel shippers dni". End ID] (thank you @princess-of-purple-prose)

Maya follows him and sends Edgeworth asks periodically. He thinks she's a wonderful conversationalist. He has no idea of her identity. Maya is fully aware he's Edgeworth.

Sunday- cafe Recht Chpt.7

Return to File

Recovery date: September 14th, 2020

Description: Miles owns a cafe with Franziska, and Phoenix and Maya are famous actors. Their daughters go to school together, so what happens when they want a sleepover?

Notes: A entry series involving a descendant of a traveler, following the death of her mother it was determined Sky would be better off staying with Miles Edgeworth. This is an OC insert, the fantastical technobabble is just for looks

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Word count: 798

Back to directory

“Good morning Mr.Edgeworth! How are the girls? They weren’t too much trouble, I hope,” Maya asked as she walked into the cafe.

It was around nine in the morning on Sunday, and the cafe was open for business. Unlike during the week, it was almost packed with students studying for exams, and old friends catching up. Simon, a man she didn’t recognize, Franziska, and Miles were working. Franziska was bringing out a tray of cookies from the back, while the unknown man manned the register, and the other two made drinks.

“Good morning Ms.Fey, they were no trouble at all. They’re up stairs right now if you want to go get them,” he smiled, before handing a drink to a customer.

“Thanks!”

With that, she headed through an employees only door that he’d pointed out. It was a small stair well, with a short all at the end and four doors. Finding Sky’s door wasn’t hard, it had a garden themed sign with her name on it. Although she couldn’t name all the flowers, she was pretty sure most of them were white roses. As she approached the door, she could hear the girls talking on the other side.

“See, it’s really funny.”

“One time, there was a bunch of screaming and laughter, and it turned out aunt Maya had done something to daddy’s chair. But it was really confusing to listen to, and I got really worried.”

“It sounds like everyone is really close.” That was a voice she didn’t recognize.

“I’ll have to listen to it with papa and everyone else. Is there one from last friday?”

“Nope, everyone was busy filming. They don’t usually record it during filming, unless it’s for promotional stuff.”

“Guys,”another voice she didn’t recognize said, and everything went silent. 

Maya knocked on the door and waited, but no answer came. Carefully, she opened the door and popped her head in. The room was “empty”, aside from the usual things you’d find in a young girls bedroom. A pile of stuffed animals, a dresser, a bed that she was probably going to outgrow soon, and a pile of conspicuously placed blankets giggling. 

Looking around, she let out a sigh, “Where did everyone go? I could have sworn I heard voices coming from this room.” She turned and left, leaving the door open a crack. As soon as she left, the giggles turned into full on laughter. “I caught you!” She yelled, as she flung the door open, making all the girls scream. Sky had moved to cover Athena’s ears, and accidentally hit her in the face while doing so. “Oh, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” the girl with orange hair said, holding her nose. She removed her hands and twitched her nose a bit. “Yup, my nose is all good. ”

“So, you two ready to go?” Maya asked Pearl and Trucy.

“Can’t we stay a bit longer?” Trucy whined.

“Please, Athena and Junie aren’t leaving yet either.”

“No, come on Trucy. Apollo misses you, and Pearl, Iris is coming by today.” This caught Pearls attention, and her eyes lit up.

“Iris? Wait! As in Iris Fey the actress?” 

“Yes!” Pearl said, nodded her head, “She’s my big sister, but I don’t see her alot because she does alot of movies far away.” Sky let out a long whine.

“Why do you guys know all the cool people?”

“You know some pretty cool people too Sky,” Juniper laughed.

“Ya, how many people can say their aunt is the star of Piece of cake? Or that their uncle is a famous director?” Sky shrugged.

“True.”

“Okay, time to go girls,” Maya clapped her hands, and Trucy and Pearl grabbed their bags before heading to the door.

“Wait!” Juniper called. “Don’t forget these,” she said, handing them each a small wooden sign. It was similar to one Sky had on her door, except the flowers were different. 

“Thanks,” the girls hugged Juniper before waving at the other two. “Bye bye!”

“Bye! See you tomorrow!” The other three said, as the door closed.

As they headed back down stairs, Maya asked, “So, you girls have fun?”

“Yup!” Maya held the door open, and they stepped into the cafe again. “Bye Mr. Edgeworth! Bye everyone else!” They called as they left the cafe.

“Bye girls!”

“Oh,” Maya stopped the door from closing behind her, and popped her head back in, “Mr. Edgeworth, Franny, would you two like to have dinner with Nick and I tomorrow night?”

Both adults seemed rightfully taken off guard, but Miles still answered, “That sounds lovely.”

Maya grinned, “Great! Just give our numbers to Franny, and we can work something out. Bye!” The door closed behind her, and Miles turned to Franziska.

“Franny?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut up!”

Dear Asexual-Deesasters,

Mod Edgeworth: 

If you want to know the answer to that question, go to this link.

Dear Skibot99,

Co-Mod: I’m fairly certain it was The Mod, but I don’t know for sure.  He actually had another one before it, made from an old Ace Attorney musical animation.  I haven’t been able to locate that video, unfortunately, but here’s the old banner:

Ah...  Those were good days.  Good days.

Dear Dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: It’s fine.  Besides, it won’t be too long before those letters are accepted, so maybe we’ll hold onto them until that time.

Dear skibot99 again,

Mod Edgeworth: The Lost Turnabout hands down. All logic is thrown out the window the moment Phoenix had amnesia. It’s clear the Judge knew something was wrong with Phoenix, so why didn’t he call for a recess or check on Phoenix? Not to mention Wellington was annoying. He’s probably the only character I would be hesitant to play as when answering letters, if only because he was so unbearable.

As for Turnabout Ablaze, I do agree that it is a drag to get through in the end, though the entire game of AAI was boring, aside from the game mechanics. As a case by itself, I wouldn’t put it as my least favorite, if only because I did get some funny parts out of it.  It also contributed to the overall story, whereas The Lost Turnabout could just be taken out and it wouldn’t effect the overarching plot.

Co-Mod: I’d probably have to go with Turnabout Big Top.  I honestly couldn’t figure out the part where you have to present Max’s poster without consulting a walkthrough.  Why couldn’t we just present Max himself?  Besides that, the ending was largely underwhelming -- the murder weapon was hidden under Acro’s blanket the entire time, but instead of seeing a screenshot of it there, we just have to imagine it.  Maybe it was a filler case, but that was no excuse for it to end so poorly.  Not to mention one of the witnesses was a literal puppet.

It’s hard truth, Trilo.  Live with it.

Dear skibot99 and Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: I… think I heard from her when the localization of DGS was announced? I know Mod Kristoph and Mod Maya introduced themselves when I came into the group. There’s a third person, but I only heard from her once. As for what’s going on with her… I don’t know.

As for the flooding the inbox, it’s fine. I won’t promise a letter or two won’t be deleted, but we may make an exception and I’d hardly consider 4-5 different letters flooding the inbox. However, I do highly suggest lowering your letter sending to no more than three a day to prevent deletion of your letters. The only time I’d say your letters are flooding the inbox is when you’re sending 10-20 of them, especially of the same letter, and we have to scroll down for a while to get to the next letter. We will only choose three out of that pile and delete the rest.

And yes, we do have a few that send us 10-20 of the same letter to multiple characters in the span of five minutes. Geez.

Co-Mod: Mod Paups has had to remain absent for personal reasons, and sadly, has recently communicated to me that she wishes to leave the blog entirely.  Thanks for all you’ve contributed to this blog, Mod Paups, and best of luck in whatever you do next!

(Referenced Letter)

Dear mungeondaster,

Mod Edgeworth: Since I answered this one, I shall answer your letter.

(^ Why do I always use this sprite? ^) Actually, the localization never specified if Manfred Von Karma was born in Germany or not. In fact, we never knew the German part until Justice For All when Franziska Von Karma was stated to have flown all the way from Germany. It never specifies any reason for this and fans were quick to jump to the conclusion that it means the Von Karma family were German, which… isn’t entirely true? Manfred Von Karma never said he lived in Germany and, for all we know, Franziska could’ve lived in Germany to study law or something.

Now, the OG does give us more specific detail on this, being why I answered this the way I did. In the OG, both Von Karma’s were born Japanese, but lived in America or at least have an estate there. It specified that they were originally born in Japan, which would be translated to LA, California in the localization. While using the OG canon isn’t normal here, I will use it, if the localization doesn’t specify things. In this case, it never specified if the Von Karma’s were born in Germany or if Manfred Von Karma lived in America. Since he had to wait out the Statue of Limitations for DL-6, we can assume he lived in LA for 15 years or more. That means he’s American.

I am still getting the hang of writing letters, but I try to stick to canon as much as possible. If you believe we’ve made an error in our letters, feel free to let us know, but also show proof, if we go against canon. We’ll be sure the letter is sent to the right mod or else fix it.

Dear  Bluedragoncody,

Mod Edgeworth: I... don’t know how to feel about that.

Also, I accidentally deleted your previous letter before this one when trying to post it on here. I’m so sorry about that. If you could remember it, would you send it again?

Co-Mod: I’ll just respond to this with an old classic:

Dear Aceattorneyismyjam,

Mod Edgeworth: I-I’m not a pro! I accidentally deleted an important mod question from bluedragoncody, because of my inexperience. Oof! Again, so sorry!

Granted, I am good with digital art and writing essays, but I’m still trying to get the hang of being a mod here. Believe me, I do get corrected on several mistakes I do here. I can’t really call myself a pro just yet. I’ve only just started becoming a mod here last month lol

Dear Dahlia,

Mod Edgeworth: I thank you for your support of this blog and my essay. Manfred Von Karma is also my favorite villain and someone I do feel is underestimated as a one dimensional villain. I think people hate him so much, because of how he ruined Miles Edgeworth’s life without looking at the bigger picture. They focus on the bad things with their black colored glasses without dissecting Manfred Von Karma’s character as a whole. 

One thing I love about this blog, even before becoming a mod, is that no one here ever portrayed Manfred Von Karma as the one dimensional villain. He can be snappy at times, but as proven in many of our previous letters, he’s also portrayed as being calm when threatened, polite at times and absolutely loves his wife and children. Yes, he’s a terrible person, but that’s what makes him so interesting. He’s a bad, evil person that does good things from time to time. It doesn’t justify any of his horrible deeds, murder included, but it does make him human.

Co-Mod: I’m...going to assume you’re a different Dahlia.  (I’m grabbing a Magatama of Parting just in case, though.  I’m sure you can understand.)

Anyway, thanks for being such a loyal follower!  This blog’s been through a lot of changes since it began, and since I joined it back in 2017, so I’m glad it’s still a good source of enjoyment for you.  I’ve seen all sorts of cringe by now, by the way (some of which I wrote myself), so don’t worry about it.

I’m also glad that the characters still sound like themselves and not like us.  The hilarious personalities and quirks given to them by Capcom’s writers, as well as the humanity in so many of them, make them easy to relate to, and thus fairly easy to mimic.  I may have said something like this before, but I see myself in a lot of them -- in Athena’s fear of inadequacy, in Apollo’s desire for justice in a world where it’s hard to find, in Sebastian’s confusion about where to go next after his world falls apart, and possibly even in the von Karmas’ desire for perfection.  I of course identify with their positive feelings as well -- Phoenix’s smugness when he gets things right, Athena’s joy after pulling off a victory in court, Adrian’s pride after her self-confidence is restored, etc. -- but there’s something about the struggles they face that make them easier to relate to, on top of being that much more awesome in the end.

Unfortunately, I can’t promise anything about this blog continuing on in perpetuity.  For one thing, I don’t plan on being around forever (I’m fairly certain the other Mods don’t, either), and for that matter, there’s also no telling how long Tumblr will be around.  All I can promise is that I’ll give my best while I’m here, and that the love from you and everyone else who shares it here is sure to be what keeps us going.  Thank you for your contribution!

Dear TurqouiseJavelin,

Mod Edgeworth: Hm... not bad ideas. Though, we mods choose our own mod names under the condition that it doesn’t match anyone else’s mod name.

Co-Mod: What Mod Edgeworth said.  Choosing the name “Mod Athena” may or may not increase your chances of being hired, though.  *wink, wink*

Dear Anonymous, 

Mod Edgeworth: Actually, Gregory was stated in the Autopsy to have died by a gunshot. However, you do bring up something interesting. If Gregory Edgeworth realized he was dead and last remembered Robert Hammond strangling him, he wouldn’t think “I died by the shot of a gun.” Since the Detectives weren’t aware that victim had died unconscious, they’d assume the victim would recall being shot and killed. This makes me wonder if Gregory Edgeworth was channeled, but never brought to court to be cross-examined.

There are still holes, but I do like your aspect on DL-6.

Co-Mod: Dang...  No matter how many times you come back to this game, there’s always something new to think about.  I honestly hadn’t considered those details about Yanni Yogi’s trial.  Your explanation makes the most sense to me, but there’s one other possibility regarding Gregory’s testimony -- he may have chosen to lie about who murdered him in order to protect his son from a murder charge.  That’s all open to interpretation, of course, so your guess is as good as ours.

It’s a good thing we’re not actual defense attorneys, huh?

-The Mods

Self Control

Perfect Match

Pairing: Damien x MC

A/N: After a long, LONG time, I finally managed to write something and its a short, naughty drabble 🙈I apologize if it’s kinda rusty! I am also participating in this week’s Wacky Drabble Challenge (#74). The prompt is “What do you want me to say?” It will appear in bold.

Choices Fanfic Archive version

Rating: 18+, NSFW; If you are reading this, then you acknowledge that you are 18 or older and consenting to read written portrayals of sexual encounters.

Word Count: 935

Content Warnings: Not exactly a smut scene, but it’s heavily implied. And leads to it. Also contains dirty talk and sex toys.

You can find my other stories in my Masterlist. Let me know if you’d like to be on my tag list!

Summary: Damien accidentally finds some very . . . ‘intimate’ items of Maya’s. It would seem she has a lot less self control than he originally thought.

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

Maya was lounging in the living room, sipping her coffee and browsing the internet on her phone. She was waiting for Damien to finish showering so she could ask him for something she'd forgotten in there. Even though she'd already spent forty five minutes getting ready earlier.

When she heard the shower turn off, Maya tilted her head back lazily in that direction. "Damien?" She called to him. "When you're done in there, can you find my makeup bag?"

"I thought you were done in here," he called back. "What do you need makeup for now?" 

She just snickered at his mild irritation. "I don't. Sloane wanted to borrow my eyelash curler for her date!"

"Oh, okay. I'm looking now."

Maya sighed. Maybe it would've been better to just walk to the bathroom herself and look for the bag. As a bonus, she would then be greeted by the sight of her incredibly hot boyfriend post-shower. The thought itself sent tingles southward and she shook her head, forcing back any inappropriate thoughts. Nope. I have more self control than that.

Seconds. later, she heard his voice from the bathroom again, followed by a screech! of one of the drawers opening. "Hey, there's a small blue bag in here-"

Oh fuck. Her eyes widened at that and she bolted out of the couch, rushing towards the bathroom. "That's the wrong one, don't open that!" She was just in when the sight of her opened bag stopped her in her tracks. "Damien wait-"

There he was standing on the mat, only wearing the towel wrapped around his waist, his bare chest and abs in plain view; a smug grin spreading on his face as he took in the contents of her bag. "Why Miss Park," Damien reached in and pulled out what appeared to be her purple vibrator. "What is this?"

"D, put that back!" She yelled, her face growing hot with embarrassment. Of all the things he had to find, why did it have to be that?! Maya lunged for it, but he held it out of her reach, chuckling at her futile attempts to match his height. 

"When were you gonna tell me you had this sitting around?"

"It's not my fault some guys I used to date didn't know an ass from a clitoris!" 

Damien laughed at that. "Hey, I never said I was judging you." He looked back in the bag, ignoring her protests. "This is one hell of a collection, Maya." He held up another object that was strangely curved. "I'm guessing this has more of an internal use?"

"Oh god,” Maya put her face in her hands, blushing furiously now. "Look, I only tried that one once, okay?!" 

"I can tell. This one still looks new. Now this on the other hand. . ." He took back her vibrator, pressed a button and a VERY faint buzzz emanated from the device. "And it looks like the battery's almost out." He changed to a faster speed, resulting in an even softer beeeeeep! Damien raised an eyebrow, letting out a soft whistle. "Damn, Maya. You really wore this thing out."

"That was long before we got together, I'll have you know."

"Funny you should say that." Damien looked at her with a smirk. "I actually would like to know.” 

"Damien, it's not important. I don't need it anymore, I only want you." 

"Oh I know." Then his arms were around her waist, pulling her close. "I just can't help wondering how that vibrator ended up servicing you that many times." She scoffed at him in mock offense and shoved him back playfully, but he just held her more tightly.

"Ugh seriously?" Maya was giggling despite herself. "What do you want me to say? It's not like you were around to cure my sexual frustrations at the time!" 

There was a twinkle of pride in his eyes at that. "Interesting." Then Damien leaned into her, nuzzling his face against her cheek. "Are you frustrated now?" He whispered into her ear, then proceeded to kiss his way down, teeth scraping gently at her throat.

Fuck self control. This is all I wanna do all morning. "Oh Damien . . ." She moaned softly, burying her fingers in his damp hair and relishing the attention. "Like that's even a question." Then she tugged his hair back, forcing him to look her in the eyes before their lips met in a rough, passionate kiss.

He chuckled wickedly at her answer. "So that's a yes?"

"God, you're irresistible." Maya felt up his chest and abs, loving how he shivered underneath her touch. "You don’t know how many times I turned that thing up to max, then imagined you going down on me until I-"

"Hold that thought," Damien stepped back abruptly and walked out, pulling her along the hallway, then leading her into the bedroom.

"Okay, I know you did not just interrupt me in the middle of dirty talk to-" He released her wrist and Maya let out a surprised cry as she fell back onto the bed. She propped herself up and watched, intrigued, as he rummaged through the drawers and then rushed back to the bathroom. "What are you doing?" 

"There we are! Good as new." Damien was back within seconds holding a single battery, which he inserted into her vibrator. Then he joined her in bed, brandishing the newly-charged device as he hovered over her. "I think it's time you showed me what you had in mind for us," Damien tugged at her shorts, grinning devilishly. "What do you say?"

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

@wackydrabbles @darley1101 @jlpplays1 @lizeboredom @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @walkerismychoice @burnsoslow @otherworldlypresents @missameliep @enmchoices @eileendannie @adamdusmortain @walkerduchess @rainbowsinthestorm @mysteli @aworldoffandoms @pixelsandkink @ofpixelsandscribbles @kinda-iconic  @wonderfulwitchoftheworld @park-nazario @desireepow-1986 @odetomars @moonlightgem7 @stillafictosexual @mskaneko @lovehugsandcandy @mrswalkerwritesagain @hopefulmoonobject @jovialyouthmusic @kimmiedoo5 @princess-geek @argylemnwrites @poorchoicesplayer @choicessa @lovablegranny @choicesfanaf @silverofdreams @kat-tia801 @callmeellabella​ @jessiembruno​ @drakexwillow​ @dcbbw​ @mfackenthal​ @choicesficwriterscreations​​​ @saivilo​​

Dead Dad! Au pt. 2

Ok! So some more things I wanna add to this little au of mine.

Warning: Mentions of suicide, character death, and all around angst.

First things first! Garmadon’s appearance. Obviously he’s incredibly pale, seeing as he’s basically a walking corpse. He still has his oni markings since that's what he was supposed to be, as well as horns because why not. I like to draw him in more casual clothing rather than his gi because I refuse to draw anyone in their gi lol. He wears bandages around his neck and right hand because reasons…..

(I’ll put up a reference pic later)

Secondly, since Garm can cross the realms of the dead and living, (don’t question it) he kinda becomes Ninjago’s Grim Reaper. Helping the deceased to the after life. Though he typically changes his appearance to look how he did when he was alive thanks to his Oni abilities.

Thirdly, the Garm family and what happened to them afterwards.

So for Wu, as I mentioned before, he becomes incredibly guilty. All he can think about is all the things he should have done or said that could have prevented what had happened. So he closes himself off, becoming colder as the years go on. He only loosens up later down the line when the ninja start to become his family, but it’s for this reason he tends to come off as cruel or cold. He can’t bear the thought of possibly being the fault of their demises as well.

Misako still leaves. However this time is out of grief instead simply abandoning Lloyd. The thought of raising Llyod by herself scares her, so she leaves him at Darkley’s. (I think it’s pretty clear how much I don’t like her so we’ll move on)

Now for Llyod. Here’s the thing, Garmadon died when he was still very young, so poor Llyod doesn’t really know how to feel. Of course it saddens him that he never really got to meet his dad, and the only memories he has are pretty limited. But that’s the thing, Llyod was never really told who his dad was or what he was like by ANYONE. So he kinda just moves on through life. And since there’s no Lord Garmadon, Llyod has no reason to want to be bad. So instead he runs away. He probably still accidentally unleashes the snakes, but probably more out of wanting a place to stay rather than revenge.

As you can imagine, Garmadon took great care in watching over Lloyd and Wu. (he quickly realized how much Misako sucked) He would carefully watch from the shadows, even though no one could see him, he still tried his hardest to let them know he was still there and that he loved them dearly. Though nothing ever worked. He especially felt guilty when around Wu. Watching his little brother blame himself made Garm feel like he was dying all over again. And watching his baby boy being forced to grow up and take on the whole world broke him to pieces. He wanted so badly to help them, to let them know he was there for them. But he could do nothing but watch.

Now here’s a few characters that were also affected.

Krux. Bet you weren’t expecting that!

See, me and a friend always headcanons that Krux and Acronix were actually really close with the other EMs. However their quest for power broke that bond. And when his brother was banished, Krux’s need for revenge only strengthened. Which is why he took Ray and Maya captive.

So you can imagine how much he understood the pain of losing a brother. 

In response, he let Ray and Maya go, knowing that they too were close to FSM bros, and would be heartbroken at the news.

However, it allowed Kai and Nya to grow up with parents instead of Kai having to raise Nya himself. And Krux still ran the museum, but he became someone the EMs grew to trust again rather than fear. 

Morro! I’ll explain in another post. ;)

And of course since there’s no Lord G, other villians rise to fill the role. I’ll expand on this later lol.

Now here is the main premise of the story. 

Ever since the day of the departed, Cole was still able to see spirits and entities beyond the land of the living. 

What he didn’t expect was to notice some dude following around Lloyd and Master Wu.

Now, when Cole confronts the strange man, he didn’t expect the guy to get so excited.

HOLY SHIT SOMEONE COULD SEE HIM!!!!!!

Garm was ecstatic! He immediately explained who he was (a bit too quickly for Cole to understand) and practically begged this kid to summon him.

But unfortunately, Garmadon made one mistake. 

He mentioned he was a demon.

And Cole was not cool with that.

Cole immediately doesn’t trust him and instead refuses to summon Garm. There was no way his story could be true! 

So the story goes on with funny shenanigans of Garm trying to convince Cole to summon him, but Cole keeps refusing until he’s sure Garmadon is actually who he says he is. Which is kinda difficult since he can’t really ask anyone...

Humans are Space Orcs “Baptized in Blood”

A bit of a gore warning for this one :), But I was fulfilling the request of a few readers.

As always, I would love to hear your questions, comments, and requests. Always willing to answer writing questions as some of you have come to me for advice. :)

I will be covering this same topic in one of my short reports later on, so wait for that.

They were holed up inside the, “grocery store” The lights were off and snow had piled itself to almost two feet deep outside the glass doors, trembling from the powerful blowing of the snow. The humans milled about in confused packs.

Apparently blizzards of this power weren’t common, and the human’s hadn’t expected the storm to be as bad as it was. Now they were help up in the powerless store, thought the emergency lights and backup generator kept the place marginally lit and livably warm.

Krill could feel his body working to heat itself, but he wasn’t half as efficient as the humans. Captain Vir had given him his coat. It still had some of the human’s body heat, and so warmed Krill nicely.

Captain Vir sat by the checkout counters head resting back against the wall eyes closed.

Krill panicked silently to the side.

“Adam!” his one eye popped open and looked towards the sound of the voice.

Krill looked to find Captain Vir’s nest-mate or sister waddling towards them. She was even bigger than Krill remembered, and was impressed that she didn’t just fall over from the weight of her stomach.

Captain Vir stood, “Maya, what are you doing here?” He glanced down at her swollen belly, “Where is Jack…. Shouldn’t he be the one out doing this stuff…. You’re due in what? Two weeks?”

She waved him away with a hand, “If I avoided doing thigs just because I was pregnant, than I wouldn’t be doing anything. Besides, I needed to get up and walk around.”

Captain Vir tilted his head to the side, “Why?”

With a sigh, she rested one hand on her stomach and the other on her lower back, “I have had a backache all day. Besides this is the first time in days I haven’t been exhausted, so I wanted to get things done.”

From the corner of his eye, Krill saw Captain Vir tense lightly….. “Um…. I know I’m not like an expert or anything, but. Isn’t increased back pain a sign of labor….?

Krill was alerted by the sudden palpable tension in the room. Nearby humans turned to look at them worried expressions on their faces as they turned to glance at the blocked glass doors.

Maya went white, “I…. didn’t even think about that.”

“Any contractions?”

“Well no, not really.”

“What is that supposed to mean.” Vir was sounding frantic now, not something Krill understood. On his planet a mother laid her eggs in two minutes flat and then they were done…..

How big was a human larvae again?

Suddenly the female human stiffened up and closed her eyes resting a hand against the purchase lane taking a slow deep breath.

“Are you kidding me Maya? You’re in labor in a F***ing blizzard at the grocery store.” It was Vir’s turn to panic.

She frowned at him, “Excuse me for not timing it right.”

Captain Vir looked down at Krill, “Um…. You’re a doctor.”

Krill stared at the two of them, “You aren’t serious.” He looked back at Maya and the encouraging smile on her face though her eyes were very, very worried. He sighed, “Yeah, I am.”

It was almost impressive how fast Vir whipped up some extra support. Doing their best, they turned one of the back offices into a passable medical room wiping down all the surfaces, binging in anything soft and Pillow-shaped for support. Any useful tool was rounded up on Krill’s instruction. Maya insisted on helping despite being racked by pain every 45-60 seconds. She took it like only a human could with an easy smile and a pleasant request for some water.

Despite offering to let her sit down, she insisted that walking would probably be better.

Krill honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, and the true horror wasn’t really foreshadowed until, a few hours later, Maya went suddenly very still doubling over in pain eyes closed teeth gritted. Vir came over to support her arm as she whimpered through her teeth. She was there for almost sixty seconds standing back up face streaked in sweat eyes wide.

“F***k.” Vir muttered, “Krill, she’s getting closer.”

They transitioned her to the other room having her lay down. Krill did what he would do during surgery, though he was setting up for a procedure he had never performed.

The true horror hadn’t exactly been revealed yet. Upon request, captain Vir said that a baby could be anywhere from three to ten pounds whispering that it was very possible for the baby to get caught the wrong way, or break the pelvis, or get wrapped up in the umbilical cord.

Krill felt cold. Pregnancy wasn’t supposed to be dangerous…

Vir Knelt next to his sister’s head holding her hand, he kept his eyes very intentionally focused on her face stammering out instructions for breathing and reminders to try and keep relaxed.

Then it was like a switch was flipped, and the human began to scream…

Krill had never heard such a terrible grating noise, like an animal being tortured to death. Under her protective covering, the human writhed in absolute, and complete agony hands becoming claws nails dug into skin and Vir yelped in surprised pain drowned out by the terrible sound of her agony.

Sixty seconds…. And she collapsed back down eyes opening wide, bloodshot, face red body drenched. Those eyes turned on her brother, and the sweet human female bared her teeth at him, “F***K you…. Adam.”

He blinked, “What.”

“You heard what I said.” She snarled, “Now shut up.”

Krill was shaking. Did human females…. Kill people during labor.

She threw her head back and screamed again. The tone could have shattered steel like glass. It rocked the room as if the gates of hell had opened. Vir whimpered in pain, blood trickled down his hand, but that was…. That was absolutely nothing….. this was…. This was horror.

More than once he was forced to dodge out of the way as something was thrown at his head. The human screamed abuse at him, she screamed at Vir, and then she just screamed. Rivulets of sweat ran down her face, and she huffed in exhaustion.

He was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

Vir was shaking with him. For once the human and Krill were in agreement. This was just…. Horrific.

By his calculations, they were close. He ordered her to push.

She snarled at him, but did as told.

Her scream could have ripped the fabric of the universe body straining as if she were about to spontaneously burst or rip in half, and then he was covered in blood struggling to maintain a grip on the slimy wriggling creature bright red and screaming. The human shrieks died away replaced by the screaming of the slimy, maggoty, blood-covered, thing he held in his arms.

A dull thud followed the sudden transition.

Vir lay collapsed on the floor to the side completely passed out.

Hm…. Weird?

In shock, and still shaking, he cut away the slimy red cord before washing away the blood.

The tiny human shrieked in indignation.

With the way his arms were shaking, he just prayed that he wouldn’t accidentally drop it. He felt as if he were in shock, the room moved in slow motion around him. And there was the female human, she had crawled to her hands and knees and was concernedly peering over at him. Her hair was in tangled wet ropes around her face, but her eyes were wide, the anger was gone.

In pleading, she reached out to him, and he gladly handed the mess over to her.

She smiled at the ugly creature in her arms cooing and stroking at its red-screwed-up face as if she held a bar of gold or the secrets of the universe, but no…. it was more than that, it was the kind of expression that expressed her willingness to walk through fire if only to hold that which she now held in her arms.

You didn’t walk through fire for gold.

***

They had moved her to the next room over and piled all the used materials into a trash bag. They would need to be taken away with medical waste when the blizzard was over.

Captain Vir had originally woken up. He was shaky, and shell shocked, which Krill would have found funny if he didn’t feel exactly the same way. The two of them sat in the hall together one of them looking nauseous and the other trying very hard not to scream and run away from the humans. Through the open door, they could see the human resting quietly next to her sleeping larvae: resting in a large plastic container robbed from the store shelves. Both of them slept quietly now.

“You’re species is horrifying.”

“Tell me about it.”

***

The “Miracle” of birth, you absolute batshit crazy idiots. That isn’t a miracle, it’s not beautiful. That’s like calling a potful of intestines beautiful. How have your species survived? Why would your females willingly CHOOSE to continue your species?

Terror germinates inside of them, slowly growing upwards, getting bigger feeding on the nutrients of the body. It saps your strength and steels your livelihood, it forces you to eat and gain wait so it may subsist on the food you eat. Then it crawls its way from your body, ripping itself from the womb squalling and screaming. It tortures you as it exits, what kind of thanks is that?

And when it is all over, you love it, you keep it, and you feed it. You hold it for hours on end and sing to the monster that rests quietly in your houses.

In reality, it is a fitting way for a human to come into the world. Everything you do is dangerous, being a child is dangerous, being a mother is dangerous, and continuing your species is a sacrifice uncomprehended by the rest of the galaxy.

Though all of you participate in war, dance with pain, only your women fight with death to bring life, at cost to their own health and their own sanity.

As deathworlders, you are pulled from the blackness, children of death.

 Humans are born in pain, heralded by a chorus of screams, and baptized in blood. 

Day 2: Hold Me Tight

Ship: Farkle and Lucas, still not dating but super cute fluffiness. Could be in the same universe in the last one or read on its own. *Smiles* Also I’m almost an hour late, I’m sorry... *Pouts* Day 2: Cuddling Somewhere Summary: Again these two are just being hopelessly in love without realizing. And they’re at a sleepover. And there’s cuddling, also I don’t know if it was supposed to be cuddling intentionally or accidental while asleep. So I gave you a little bit of both. *Awkward Smile*

  When Riley realizes Smackle has never had a sleepover, she decides the girls are having one this weekend. Which causes Zay to request the boys have one too. Farkle reluctantly agrees after Zay asks him for two hours straight.   The girls' sleepover goes on without a hitch. Well, it goes like every sleepover Riley and Maya have. And that brings us to the boys, all sitting on Farkle’s bedroom floor. Just sitting there after their third round of Call of Duty: Zombies.   “What do we do now?”, Lucas asks setting down his controller and turning to look at Zay.   “Don’t look at me, I don't know what to do”, Zay says shrugging.   “You’re the one who wanted to have a sleepover, how do you not know what to do”, Farkle asks him, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.   “Well I just assumed that we do whatever the girls do, they always have fun”, Zay says crossing his arms, mimicking Farkle.   “Well there’s only one way to know what the girls are doing right now”, Lucas says turning to Farkle.   “Bay Window, Bay Window right now” Farkle answers Lucas’s unasked question, jumping up he’s already at the door before Zay even registers what they’re doing.

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  At first, the boys crowd the window and peer in, trying to see what the girls are doing. It looks like Smackle’s reading something and Maya and Riley are talking. The scene looks just like any other time the group would hangout.   Farkle and Zay both trying to get closer and hear what’s being said at the same time. Causing Farkles knee to hit the window and all the girls to look to the noise, in confusion. Both boys jump and hide behind Lucas, as Maya opens the door, hairbrush in hand.   “Huckleberry?”. Maya asks putting the hairbrush down and raising an eyebrow, mirroring Farkle’s from earlier.   “We were wondering just what it is you girls do at a sleepover”, Farkle says popping out from behind Lucas, after Lucas just stared silently at Maya.   “And boringly it’s just sitting around and talking and reading”, Zay says popping up from behind both boys.   “Actually boys we were just taking a quiz on How to Know If the Boy Is the One”, Smackle says walking up to the window, holding a Seventeen magazine.   “Oh let me see”, Farkle says climbing through the window, and squeezing past Lucas. Lucas just shrugs and follow as Farkle tries to grab the magazine from Smackle.   “You can come in too, Zay, Riley calls from her spot on her bed.   “Thank you”, he says as he bows and comes through the window.   “We actually just finished that quiz and now we're going to start another one and paint our toenails”, Riley says jumping off her bed and grabs a basket full of nail polishes. She grabs Farkle’s hand and pulls him onto a spot on the floor.   “Well Huckleberry, I’m not doing yours, so you might as well make yourself useful”, Maya says shaken her barefoot in front of Lucas. Lucas rolls his eyes and goes to grab a polish from Riley.   “Well, you heard the women, Huckleberry.”, Zay says as he sits down next to Maya, in front of Lucas. Farkle giggles at the sight and from the cold of the polish touching his toenail, as Riley gets started with her masterpiece.  “And I’ll read the next quiz”, Smackle says holding up another magazine. As they all nod she reads off the title, “Should Your BFF Continue to be your BFF, Become Your BF, or Should You Just Get a New One.”

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 “Riley you and your best friend are BFF goals, stay that way for as long as possible”, Smackle says after they all finish answering the quiz. “Which means Maya got the same thing”, she continues. Maya reaches over to high five Riley. “Farkle and Lucas, both got your BFF should become your BF”, Smackle reads, scratching her head.  “Huh, must be because they’re both boys”, Riley says shrugging.  “Yeah, but Zay got is your BFF even a guy”, Smackle reads squinting.  “Hey, does that mean it thought me and Riley were boys”, Maya asks scowling.  “And I got that I need a BFF period”, Smackle finishes setting the magazine down.  “See the quiz was just dumb, now let's see all your toes”, Riley says smiling at the group. Maya holds up her foot, it’s perfectly painted in a deep red. They all nod and then Zay holds up his perfectly painted hot pink toenails. And everyone bursts out laughing. Farkle holds up his toes which are each a different color with flowers and hearts drawn on each one.  “Wow, Riles that really is amazing”, Maya says and they all agree, clapping.  “Now we braid hair since the boys can’t do this, you guys can sit here as I expertly braid Maya and Smackle’s hair”, Riley says clapping her hands excitedly.

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   When Cory and Topanga enter Riley’s room, they did not expect to see what they are seeing at all. Farkle and Lucas are laying on the floor, Lucas’s arms around Farkle. And in the bed, Smackle and Maya’s hair are both braided but end in one hair tie between the two girls’ heads. Which causes Smackle to be wrapped around Maya and Maya to be wrapped around Riley.   “Hey there”, Zay says as the pair look at him eating a bowl of cereal, sitting in the bay window.  At the looks he continues, “No funny business went on as you can see, we came over wondering what to do at a sleepover. And then everybody fell asleep, except me I ate cereal”. Topanga whispers in Cory’s ear and walks away back to their room.

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 Cory and Topanga decide the boys need to go home but don’t want them to walk home in the middle of the night. So after waking up Lucas and Farkle, which made Farkle blush like a fire-hydrant, they all piled into the back of Mr. Matthew’s car. Farkle, being the smallest, was sat in the middle. He obviously was trying to sit as far away from Lucas as possible, sitting as close as he could to Zay. His head keeps bobbing as he starts to fall back to sleep.  Lucas looks over at his friend and sighs before wrapping an arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders. Farkle looks at the taller boy, stunned.  “It’s okay, buddy, I got you”, Lucas says reassuringly. Farkle looks timid as he lays his head on Lucas’s Shoulder. Soon he’s back to sleep, breathing even. Lucas’s other hand is sat on his own thigh, resting there, as he wonders if he should grab the other boy’s hand. He decides to just tap his fingers to a soft beat in his head. He makes sure to move his arm just so, every time they hit a bump, so Farkle never feels anything.   “By the way Mr. Matthews, you’re out of milk”, Zay says as they pull up to Farkle’s house.

the one where Trucy accidentally finds out

a fic I wrote start to finish today, based on this conversation yesterday and two very great comments from @anza-redstar and @runningwolf62​

--

It’s ten years, to the day, April 19, when Daddy and Uncle Miles come into the office with a box so big that Trucy has no idea how it fit into Uncle Miles’ sports car. “What is that?” she asks, tucking the book she was reading back onto the shelf so it doesn’t get lost in the mess, and scampering over to look at the box. “A new microwave?”

“No such luck, kiddo,” Daddy says. “We’re using this one until it explodes.”

Uncle Miles glowers, like he expects that the office microwave will indeed someday explode. (It’s not as old as Trucy, but it’s older than her time with Daddy. It’s older than his friendship with Aunt Maya. So is Charley. So are most of the things in the office that aren’t related to magic.) Then he fidgets, awkwardly -- Uncle Miles is a very awkward man, and when he isn’t in a courtroom or on a crime scene, most of his movements are awkward -- and holds his arm like it hurts, because that’s what he does when he’s uncomfortable enough to realize that he is being awkward. “These are items that the police held onto related to… to the case ten years ago. Your grandfather’s death.”

“Oh.”

“It’s mostly papers,” Uncle Miles continues, still awkward, and Trucy does him the favor of looking away from him and prying open the box. Whoever taped the top wasn’t trying very hard. “Anything the police hoped could help enlighten them on the case. Personally, I think it was unnecessary for them to seize all of this, but I was not on the case. I saw your parents’ wedding certificate, in there, for instance.”

“I wonder if this is where your birth certificate went,” Daddy says. “I had to pay a lot for a copy.”

Uncle Miles rolls his eyes. He almost smiles. Then the moment is gone and he is frowning. “Usually this wouldn’t be released for another five years -- the statute of limitations is fifteen years -- but considering that this case is… sort of solved, as best as it will ever be, I pulled a few strings.”

“Thanks for that, Edgeworth.”

There are two more smaller boxes inside the large box. Other papers are piled up haphazardly. It would give Uncle Miles a headache if he tried to sort through it for very long. At the top of the piles there is a small book that Trucy picks up and flips through. It’s handwritten -- a diary -- her grandfather’s handwriting, she recognizes from his book of tricks, the one that he left her father and he left her. She reads a page. Mundane, daily things. She’s glad for that. Life with the whole Troupe is fading from her memory, no matter how she tries to hold onto it. Maybe this will help refresh her memory. She flips through the pages and watches the words go by, until abruptly, the pages are blank. She runs her finger down the torn margin of a page. Something was ripped out, what might have been the last page.

She sets it aside. Daddy looks at it and his eyes widen. He looks a little sick.

“I don’t envy you having to decide what to keep,” Uncle Miles says. “Especially since you’re almost well-known enough to have cases, now.”

“Oh, come on.” Daddy shoves Uncle Miles in the shoulder. “One of these days, you’ve got to stop heckling me like I’m a newbie.”

“Hardly,” Uncle Miles says.

“Once I’ve had my badge again for as long as I did the first time, then you’ll be sorry.”

Trucy leaves them to argue and starts to shove the box out of the way. There’s almost a path clear enough on the floor for her to follow, and there’s space behind Polly’s desk for the box to sit. She picks up a stack of papers at random and plops them on the desk. There’s enough space on his desk and his chair for her to remove most of the loose papers from the box and get down to the other two, and a few folders. The first folder looks like insurance stuff. She gets up and walks over to Daddy’s desk and sets it down there. Hopefully it won’t disappear forever.

The smaller boxes look like they hold loose, non-paper memorabilia. Those will probably be the most fun to look through and so Trucy closes them and grabs some papers. She will save those as a treat for the end.

-

“Is that for a case?” Athena asks, absolute horror frozen on her face, stopped dead on the threshold. She would probably turn and sprint back through the office and out if Daddy weren’t standing right behind her.

He puts a hand on her shoulder to move her forward and aside. “Yep!” he says, cheerily.

Athena’s eyes are wide and she does not blink. She has not blinked for fifteen seconds. “You… you can take this one, Boss,” she says. “I’ve got, uh, another client, definitely -- Trucy looks like she’s got that covered as your co-counsel--”

“Athena. I’m kidding.”

The look she gives him, and then Trucy, is one of pure betrayal.

“It was from a case, a long time ago.” Daddy glances at Trucy, trying to gauge how much she’s okay with Athena knowing. Trucy shrugs. She likes Athena. She doesn’t care if Athena knows. She knows everything about Athena anyway. “When Trucy’s grandfather died, and when I adopted her.”

Died, not was killed, and while the latter is implied by it becoming a trial and a spectacle, Trucy always said died too because she never believed that either her father or Uncle Valant could ever have killed Grandfather. In her heart she knew that. And Daddy told her that was true, that Uncle Valant told him that was true.

Athena tilts her head. She must hear something. Trucy always knows if Daddy is lying but beyond that he is hard to read and that’s why he’s so good at poker. Athena has a better time figuring out what he is feeling. Sometimes Trucy asks her. “You had me scared for a minute there, Boss,” Athena says.

Trucy turns back to her papers, Athena sits down at her desk, and they both work in silence for a little while. Athena isn’t good at sitting still and eventually she is up on her feet, bouncing around the room to burn off some extra energy. “Anything interesting?” she asks.

“I’m looking at the boring stuff first,” Trucy replies. It isn’t boring, actually, not in her opinion. She’s a magician and a businesswoman and she knows now where she got it, her grandfather’s meticulous financial record-keeping. Maybe the police kept it because they thought he owed money to someone and that was why he was shot. There could be lots of reasons.

“Huh.” Athena stoops to examine the inside of the box and reaches in to poke at something. “Oh, boxes within boxes. Fun. That’s -- hey, who’s this?”

Trucy looks up. Athena is holding a small and rectangular page, a photo, examining it curiously. She must have pulled it out of one of the other boxes; Trucy doesn’t remember anything left lying in the bottom. “Let me see,” she says, extending a hand.

She knows the woman in the picture not by memory, but by the old Troupe memorabilia that she keeps carefully framed up on her walls, because she didn’t have photos her family together -- maybe this is where they all went -- and that was the best thing she had to remember all of them at once, Grandfather and Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Valant, because one was gone and then the other three were in quick succession. Athena should probably recognize her as well. She’s seen the old posters. “That’s my mom,” Trucy says.

Thalassa looks young, really young. How old was she when she had Trucy? How old was she when she disappeared? (Not died, because Trucy knows that disappeared can be a euphemism to shelter a little girl, but she also knows otherwise in her heart the way she knew that neither her father nor Uncle Valant killer her grandfather, and the way she knew that her father was only disappeared, not dead, until he was.) In the photo, she is more relaxed, posed naturally, than the posters, without any of the magician’s trappings. She has a smile like the sun, as bright as the bangle bracelets she has.

“Oh,” Athena says. Moms are a fraught subject for so many of them, Trucy (disappeared), Athena (dead), Apollo (gone), Pearl (jailed), Maya (dead).

“I don’t really remember her,” Trucy says. She turns the photo over in her hands looking for a date and finds the back is blank. “She’s been gone most of my life.” She avoids dead again, the way Daddy avoided was killed about her grandfather. “She was a magician. The brooch I have was hers. Blue was her color, too.”

“Oh, really?” Athena sits on the floor. She probably wanted an excuse not to do work and now she has one. “I thought it was blue like Mr Wright.”

“It’s blue for both of them,” Trucy says, because she can’t parse out what came first, looking again at the promotional material with her mother’s face or at the dusty suits in her new daddy’s closet. “You know, it’s funny, now. I’ve lived with Daddy longer than I ever did with my other daddy and the Troupe.”

She’s eighteen. It’s been a full decade. She grew up without any of the Gramaryes. It was why she was so excited to welcome Mr Reus to her performance, because she had dreamed of performing on stage with her family, and he was the closest thing left around. And then that went south, and she got Polly instead.

“Yeah,” Athena says softly, touching her earring. “It’ll be -- another year, year and a half, and then I’ll have lived half my life without my mother.” Her hand remains on her earring. “What was her name?”

“Thalassa.”

-

After a few days, bleary-eyed sorting through pages, more finances and ancient stage diagrams and bookings for performance venues that have been renamed and renovated, she sets the remaining stacks of papers aside and cracks open the box that Athena found the photo in. There are dozens of newspaper clippings of reviews of performances, some old TV Guides that mention the Troupe, and some more photos. There’s a few of the four of them, a few of five of them with Reus, and she quickly sets those aside beneath some papers to figure out what to do with. They’re valuable, important, but she can’t stand to look at his face, can’t stand to see him with them after what he did. She wonders why the police kept these, either -- maybe looking for other suspects. Maybe they just boxed up Magnifi’s life and didn’t bother to think about what might be important for his granddaughter to have.

She and Athena go out and buy frames for every picture of her family, her mother and her parents together and them and Uncle Valant and all of them, happy, smiling, and all of them and little baby Trucy. At the bottom there’s a photo of her mother and baby Trucy, but there’s a date written on the bottom and it’s years before Trucy was born. How did someone get the date so wrong? Was it thoughtlessly added later? There’s another picture of her mother, so young, so young, laughing with a man with brown hair and a guitar. Who is he? Another reject of the Troupe? Some friend outside of it? The Troupe was pretty insular, Trucy knows that much -- they had a lot of practice and performing to do. Of course it was always just them.

The two mysteries go in one of Apollo’s desk drawers.

The other box, at the top, has a certificate of marriage for Thalassa Gramarye and Shadi Enigmar. Trucy stares at it for a long, long time.

Beneath that, her birth certificate. She goes to wave it in her daddy’s face. “Look what was in there!” she announces.

He doesn’t look up. “A magic dove.”

“Daddy!”

He grins and takes the paper from her. “Now we’ve got an extra copy of it. Good to know.” His eyes travel over the mess on his desk. “As long as I don’t lose it here.”

Her grandfather has another diary, even older, some of the pen and pencil scratches starting to fade. She shelves that with the other one, intending to read them but not sure what she’ll find, almost afraid after Reus that there might be something dark in them. Or maybe she’ll learn for sure why he was kicked from the Troupe. What if it isn’t what she’s sure it was, that he didn’t have the attitude for it? What if it is like he thought? She doesn’t have the certainty that she does for other things.

When she comes back to the box, after standing in front of the shelves for a long time and then running off to Eldoon’s with Athena, she thinks for a moment that she for some reason put her parents’ marriage certificate back in. Why would she do that? She can’t afford to be absent-minded. She has a business to run. She has almost tossed it aside in annoyance when the name catches her eye.

It isn’t her father’s.

Her heart sits in her throat. Her mother was married before? No one ever said that. Is there anyone alive who knew that until Trucy found this? The name is Jove Justice. JJ. It’s a name Trucy has never heard before. There’s a wedding photo beneath it that looks like it was taken at a courthouse. The man in the photo is the brown-haired man. Her mother looks still so young. How young was she when she was married the first time? Would it be like if Athena got married now? If Trucy did? She hasn’t removed the photo from the box, just stared at it and stared, and beneath it she sees hints of another certificate, another birth certificate, probably, certainly, and she is ready to yell over to the next room where her daddy and Athena are working on a case, but first, she looks at it. She looks at the names.

That isn’t her father’s name either.

A sibling? An older sibling, going by the date on the marriage certificate, and she is afraid of what she will find next. A death certificate? That would explain why no one ever spoke of this, why she grew up with no one her age around her, why when all the adults were gone she was alone --

She looks at the names again, not just Thalassa Gramarye and Jove Justice, but the baby. Baby boy. Her brother. Baby, her older brother. Her brother --

She’s losing her mind. No, she lost it, completely, finally, and it’s been six months since she’s seen Apollo, she’s only seen him once since May when she was sure he would be a fixture in her life for the rest of it, when she was sure she would always have him around to tease and annoy, and it’s because she misses him that her mind is doing this, is putting that name there, and she touches the words printed on the certificate and wonders when her eyes will refocus and she will actually learn the name of the brother she lost, her half-brother, son of Thalassa Gramarye and Jove --

Jove --

Justice.

Not sure what else to do, not sure how to react -- how did Pearl react when she learned about Iris? She was young then and maybe it made more sense then, maybe this would have made more sense to Trucy when she was little -- she screams.

-

This is, to put it mildly, not the best idea when the two people she shares the office with are two twitchy people who have had loved ones murdered and are still paranoid or traumatized from it, two people who go together to crime scenes and see bodies and piece together murders and are doing that right now and are in the worst mind frame to hear screaming.

Her daddy’s face is bloodless, and Athena has her fists up, and they barrel into the room together and find Trucy sitting on the floor surrounded by loose papers and photos and boxes and holding one in her hands and screaming.

-

Athena does not have the time to parse out what exactly the emotions of the scream are, because that can wait until they are out of danger, so when she finds the danger is apparently the written word, she stops and listens. It isn’t pain, or fear -- there is no fear in Trucy’s scream. If she had Widget analyze this, they would be spinning out of control with shock, not fear. And no anger. Sadness, blue cold sorrow, and joy, too, something red and warm, butting up against each other and drowning together in shock.

“Trucy, what’s wrong?” Mr Wright asks, crouching down to her level. His voice holds pain, of a sympathetic sort, pain and sadness. It’s written on his face, too, plain enough that Athena doesn’t need Apollo to see it. (Mr Wright sort of can notice things like Apollo did, and Trucy a little better, but neither of them are like Apollo.)

“My -- my mom -- my brother my brother -- he’s my half-brother – he’s my brother!”

Mr Wright doesn’t ask. She can’t hear anything when he’s silent. Something Athena can’t name flits across his face.

“Trucy, you don’t have a brother,” Athena says gently, sitting down next to her, moving to put an arm around her shoulders, wondering what words written on a paper could turn bright, composed Trucy into a gibbering mess. Trucy pushes her away and shoves the paper she is holding at her instead.

“My brother!”

It’s a birth certificate, dated twenty-four years ago. Athena starts to read it off. “Born to Thalassa Gramarye” – that’s Trucy’s mother’s name, but this can’t be Trucy – “and Jove…”

Oh, god, she’s heard the name Jove before, and it was in Khura’in, and it was the story of a dead father and a lost child who was never returned to his mother–

“Jove Justice,” she says, her voice finally unsticking, and it trembles, and anyone without her ears could hear her shock. “And – Apollo Justice.”

That’s Apollo, that’s their Apollo, twenty-four years old and a father named Jove but that’s Trucy’s mother, their Trucy, Gramarye, and her mother, Thalassa.

“He’s my brother,” Trucy says softly. “Polly’s my brother – Polly’s my brother and that’s – that’s why – that’s--” She springs up, runs out of the room, comes back a moment later with a photo of her mother. “Bracelets!” she shouts. “Look, look, it’s like – like his!”

Golden bangle bracelets with a thin lined pattern encircling them. Athena’s head is spinning. She looks at Mr Wright, waiting for shock. Surprise. Anything. He has a good poker face but big surprises, he doesn’t quite hide. This, he’s hiding, and he’s still not saying anything, not moving, not reacting, and Athena can’t hear anything. Maybe Apollo could. Maybe Trucy could if she weren’t too torn up by her own shock to concentrate. Hers hasn’t faded; it still permeates her voice, entirely.

“Apollo’s your brother,” Athena says. “Apollo is – Mein Gott, Apollo’s your brother.” She laughs. She doesn’t know what to do but laugh. She looks back down at the names on the paper. They haven’t changed. “He’s not going to believe you when you tell him!”

“Can I see that?” Mr Wright asks, quietly, gesturing at the certificate. Athena hands it to him. “Thanks.” There’s only the barest amount of shock in his voice, buried deep, and there’s some other things, more complicated, a little too complicated for Widget. Some sadness that isn’t quite sad, not sorrow or grief, but something like regret. “Huh.”

He hands it back to her, and she runs for the scanner – it was a gift from Prosecutor Edgeworth that Mr Wright doesn’t know how to or want to use – so she can email proof to Apollo, while Trucy runs for a phone.

-

Apollo wakes to the buzzing of his cell phone beneath his head. It’s dark when he opens his eyes. What time is it, he wonders, knocking his phone to the floor with a thunk before he can manage to pick it up. Three am. Three am, and Trucy is calling. He fell asleep still fully dressed on top of the covers because he and Nahyuta were compiling their evidence for an overly complicated case until midnight, and when he went upstairs to the living quarters – after nearly a year, he still thinks of it as Dhurke’s, not his – and now, for whatever reason, he is being awoken by Trucy, who really should know what a time zone is at this point. “Hello? Trucy, what the hell--”

“Apollo you’re my brother!”

“Trucy, it’s three am.” Apollo sits up and regrets it. “I don’t know what conversations you’re having over there that – adopting people into your family -- but--”

“Apollo! I’m serious! Your mom is my mom! We’re half-siblings, Apollo!”

“What.” Maybe he’s still asleep. Does it really work to pinch yourself? Is that really a thing? “My – my mom--”

He doesn’t actually know what happened to his mother, just that Dhurke never found her. There are a thousand things that could mean in a country in turmoil.

“She’s my mom! Thalassa Gramarye! We’re siblings, Apollo!”

“Check your email!” That’s Athena’s voice, and some squeaks of a squabble. She probably ripped the phone from Trucy’s hands. “We sent you a copy of your birth certificate!”

“My – my birth certificate?” Apollo rolls onto his feet. There’s a little bit of moonlight spilling in through the windows. It had only recently, last year, occurred to him, after seeing Nahyuta again, that his birth certificate, all of his documentation, was forged. Dhurke didn’t even know his father’s first name. None of it could be real. He’s tried not to think about it since he came to Khura’in, about how he’s basically going to be immigrating back to his home country, the country of his birth, because his passport is built on a forged document, because all of it is, and he can’t in good conscience keep using it. He has a Khura’inese passport now. The birth date listed in it is still made up. “You’ve got to be kidding me with all of this -- if this is a joke -- it’s three am-- where’s my laptop?"

It’s downstairs. He isn’t good at taking these stairs in the dark. They’re slightly different heights halfway down.

“Apollo, we would not do this to you,” Athena says. He believes her. She was in the gallery last May as his family history was laid bare for everyone. She should know well what this means to him.

But then that means – and that’s stupid. Right?

He realizes too late that Nahyuta did not return to the palace and instead passed out at his kitchen table, and no matter how low Apollo keeps his voice, he has already woken his brother up. He remembers Nahyuta sleeping like a log when they were children, but there is so much about Nahyuta he remembers from when they were children that no longer applies, because even free of Ga’ran’s chains, the years apart, with the revolution, gave time for his brother to become someone else, someone who can personally help update prison security because he knows the best ways to break out of them, someone who can throw a knife almost as well as Datz. Someone who awakes at the slightest sound, because that might be the regime’s forces come to arrest them all.

Even if he lives in a palace now. Even if he rules the country now.

Apollo grabs his laptop off the couch. Nahyuta’s pale eyes are open. “What is going on?” he asks.

He lowers the phone from his mouth. “I have a sister.”

He says it automatically, even though he has no confirmation; he has only Trucy and Athena’s words at three am.

Nahyuta does not lift his head off his arms. Apollo can’t see his mouth but the skin around his eyes looks like he might be smiling. He definitely sounds like it. “I am glad you have finally accepted that you may call Rayfa such, but why at this time--”

“No, I mean, blood-related.” It can’t be -- she can’t be. But -- but this would be the cruelest joke to play -- and they wouldn’t. They aren’t like that. “A half-sister. My mother.”

Nahyuta raises his head.

“Apollo? You still there?”

He brings his laptop to the table, where Nahyuta has shifted aside crime scene photographs and copies of testimony to clear a space. He gestures at the lamp, giving Apollo enough time to brace himself for the light. “Okay, I’m checking my email now.” Sure enough, there is one from the main office email, with an attachment, and the subject line a keysmash. Either Athena or Trucy could have written that. “It’s loading… slowly…”

He helps Nahyuta reorganize their evidence while he waits. He wonders how long his brother was awake after Apollo went up at midnight. Maybe he wasn’t ever actually asleep. After about a minute, he returns, scanning what does indeed appear to be a birth certificate. And the names – Thalassa Gramarye, yes, Trucy’s mother – and – Jove Justice –

Apollo slumps down in his chair. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he says. “There’s no way – there’s no fucking way--”

“We found it in a box of my grandfather’s things,” Trucy says, breathlessly, but she isn’t shouting like she was. “With my birth certificate, and my parents’ marriage documentation, and yours – it’s got to be real, Polly, it’s got to be! Your bracelet! Your power! Mine’s like it – like how I taught you what to do – it’s a Gramarye thing – the bracelet is our mother’s! There’s a picture of her – I’ll send that – Athena--”

There are more sounds of distant scrambling. Apollo stares at the screen. Apollo Justice. His name is there, Apollo, and Jove, and Thalassa Gramarye –

Nahyuta leans over his shoulder. “Your birth certificate?” he asks. Apollo pushes him away until his hair isn’t falling in his face. “Yes, your father, Jove Justice” – he’s reading it the other way, right to left, because that is how Khura’inese is written – “and Thalassa…”

“Yeah.” Apollo says. He doesn’t hear anything on the other side of the phone now. They probably dropped it.

“Gramarye,” Nahyuta says. “Gramarye, as in…” He presses his hands over his eyes.

Gramarye, as in the trial where they met for the first time in fifteen years. Gramarye, the trial where Nahyuta tried to get Trucy – Apollo’s sister, his sister – convicted of murder.

“Yeah,” Apollo says.

It’s quiet, nothing but the sound of the wind and the creak of the house settling. Or maybe a rat. Probably a rat.

“Now we know your real birthday,” Nahyuta says quietly. He sits on the table, still leaning over the screen to look at it, like he still can’t believe it either. “We’ll have to tell Datz.”

“Now we have proof that I’m an American citizen,” Apollo says. Now he has a sister. That’s hardest to believe. He said it earlier just fine, but now, with proof, with something real, something with those names, Gramarye and Justice, side by side, his tongue freezes. “And my mother’s name -- I have names for both of them. I have…”

A sister. A sister. He had his sister for two years and then he left to help his brother. When Phoenix told him about Magnifi’s death, that was the death of Apollo’s grandfather. And when he told him about Trucy’s mother being shot -- that was Apollo’s mother’s death, too.

His heart sinks. She’s dead. He can’t meet either of them. He saw the last moments of life of his father by blood; he reunited with his father who raised him in time for him to die; he found his mother to know that she already died without having to look for that information.

A faint noise arises from somewhere to his right and a few seconds later he realizes it’s voices through the phone. “Polly! Polly! Did you just abandon us? Apollo!”

“Sorry,” he says. “I was talking to Nahyuta.”

“Oooh, three am, you sounded so mad like I woke you up, and now you’re like, nah, I was hanging out with my brother instead.”

“We were working on a case, and you did wake me up--”

“Oh! If he’s your brother then is he also my brother?”

“Maybe? You’d have to ask him. He says that his sister is my sister, so I guess it would work backwards…”

Nahyuta is frowning. He probably can piece together what Trucy’s question was by Apollo’s answer, and his expression might either mean that he doesn’t want Trucy as his sister (unlikely) or that he is once again remembering how harsh he was in her trial and grappling with the fact that she is not only his brother’s dear friend, but now his own sister (much more likely).

“Does Mr Wright know this?”

“Yeah, he was around when I found the stuff. He hasn’t really said much. Maybe he’s trying to figure out whether he’s your dad or not, since he’s my dad and I’m your sister so you’re sort of, like -- maybe?”

Apollo wants to say that historically, being his father is something like a curse, but he wouldn’t say it to Trucy, who also has a dead father, or in front of Nahyuta, when that shared wound has not yet closed. (Apollo got the closest thing to closure. Nahyuta’s last conversation with him was while they stood as enemies in the detention center. Rayfa never knew him.) “Maybe,” Apollo says, and his mouth is dry.

A second email pops up, again from the office address. “Just sent you a picture!” Athena chimes in. Apollo can picture her leaning over Trucy’s shoulder to shout into the phone, the same way that Nahyuta is leaning over his shoulder to look at the laptop screen.

“It’s our mom!” Trucy adds. Our. Our mother. Apollo doesn’t know what to do with that phrase.  

The picture that loads is of a woman with braided light brown hair, wearing a white dress. Her hands are visible in the image, and around her wrists, two golden bangle bracelets. Two bracelets just like one that sits on Apollo’s wrist. He tears his eyes from his mother’s face -- his mother, his mother -- and looks at Nahyuta, whose eyes are on Apollo’s bracelet as well. “Oh,” Apollo says. He tabs over to google for an old Troupe Gramarye poster, to compare the face of Magnifi’s daughter there, to the photo with the bracelets. Like he expects to see it’s a different person. Like he expects somewhere, this will fall apart, and it hasn’t. It doesn’t. Trucy is saying something and the words don’t make it from his ears to his brain.

“Trucy,” he says, and she falls silent. “Can you give me… like, an hour to process this, and then I’ll call you back?”

“O-okay.” She doesn’t sound happy. Apollo’s heart sinks further. He hopes she’ll understand that this isn’t anything against her.

“You know we have a trial in the morning,” Nahyuta says.

“Yeah, and our strategy from the start was already just ‘fuck it’.” Apollo uncovers the phone. Trucy and Athena both know that’s always their court strategy, but he doesn’t want them to rag on him some more. “All right. Talk to you in a bit, Trucy.”

“See ya, Polly.”

Apollo pushes the laptop away and rests his forehead on the table. “How can one family have so many secrets?”

“The Gramaryes?” Nahyuta asks. He knows the tangled web woven beneath the surface. He saw it in the trial. Apollo doesn’t know what additional else he knows, how much he researched -- knowing Nahyuta, back when Trucy was on trial, he looked up the transcript of the trial that’s ten years ago now, and the ones three years ago.

“The Gramaryes, and -- our family -- every family I’m a part of, murder and -- secret siblings and -- long-lost siblings, and -- more murder.” Even if Nahyuta read everything on-record, he wouldn’t know how Thalassa died. “I just wanted a normal life, I -- god, I couldn’t have been normal even if my father wasn’t killed, or even if Dhurke found my mother, if I grew up with her family I--”

“Would have been a magician, or a singer, perhaps,” Nahyuta said. “Could, perhaps, have grown up with your younger sister.”

Athena would be able to figure out what he is feeling when he says it, but Apollo doesn’t have much to go on. Nahyuta can keep his voice level too easily. Apollo can guess, though: sorrow, longing, regret.

“I wouldn’t be here now, though,” Apollo says. “Wouldn’t have known you, and Dhurke, and--”

Couldn’t have helped you. Couldn’t have saved you. Nahyuta glances away. He must be thinking the same.

“I wish Dhurke could’ve seen this, at least,” Apollo adds. “That sending me back would, eventually, let me find my family. And that--” He stops. Something has crawled its way back to the front of his memory, something that he blocked out that then disappeared behind more important things. “Oh, god.”

“What?”

He must sound horrified, because Nahyuta looks incredibly concerned. “Dhurke met Trucy, when he -- when he came over with Maya” -- if he phrases it like that it’s easier to not have to relive the moment the truth hit him -- “to get the Founder’s Orb, and -- god, he was like, ‘hey, son, nudge nudge, this girl would be good bride material’ -- eurgh.”

“Ugh.” Nahyuta puts his face in his hands. “Why did he have to be like--”

“Dhurke, why?”

It’s a question Apollo asked a lot -- it’s a question he still asks -- but it usually hurts more than this. Even if he does still sort of want to die.

“By the Holy Mother, there had better be an earthquake at the palace,” Nahyuta says, “from Father deservedly turning over in his tomb.” Nahyuta pauses. “Isn’t she seventeen?”

“Yeah.”

Nahyuta sighs. “Too young for that. And too young to be framed for murder.” He doesn’t say much about that trial, always gets a sick guilty look on his face whenever they skirt close to the topic. “Perhaps he meant she seemed a good kid and would be a welcome addition to our family, which is in itself a new sort of irony, that she already is, no marrying her off to one of us necessary.” He isn’t looking at Apollo, clearly pondering something else too. “You know,” he adds after a minute, “Mother was only nineteen when she had me. Ga’ran… used that against Dhurke, at the trial. She could claim that she was still young and naive and easily-duped, even though Dhurke was only twenty then. And twenty-two at the trial.” His eyes are vacant. “They were too young.”

Apollo hadn’t done the math on that. “She was only twenty-one when her sister tried to kill her.” When he was twenty-one, he was studying for the bar. When Nahyuta was twenty-one, he was already under Ga’ran’s thumb trying to protect his little sister. “I wonder how old my mother was. When she had me, and when -- when she lost her husband.” Too young to have lost so much, without question. “And when she died.”

Nahyuta doesn’t ask how Apollo knows that she’s dead. They sit in silence, looking at her picture. His mother. His half-sister. Sister.

“Apollo Gramarye,” he mutters. He shakes his head. “Doesn’t have quite the same ring.”

Nahyuta doesn’t respond, but after about a minute, he starts laughing. “What?” Apollo asks. Is he finally having the breakdown that probably, honestly, he probably needs to have? Is Apollo the one losing his mind? Did they both lose it?

“That damned murderer -- the magician, Retinz, Reus -- what karmic justice he faced.” Nahyuta shakes his head, still chuckling. “He was convinced that, though his plots were exposed, he had won against the Gramaryes, because he fooled Trucy and she needed you to save her. But you are a Gramarye by blood just as well as she. So he did, ultimately, lose to the Gramaryes.”

“Huh.” Apollo only vaguely remembers Reus saying that. He just remembers how relieved he was that Trucy was safe. He just remembers the sick feeling in his stomach listening to Nahyuta. His sister, and his brother. What a shitshow: the Gramaryes, the Khura’inese royals, and the two families together. “Man, what were the odds? That my law career would start like that, that I’d end up at the right place--”

“The Wright place.”

“It wasn’t a pun, Nahyuta, shut up. -- The place where I just… my sister’s there. I end up working for the man who adopted my sister. What are the odds?”

“I think the Holy Mother puts people where they need to be,” Nahyuta says. “You, to find them -- you, to find us again.”

“She was definitely putting me through some trials, there, at the start.”

“Perhaps this is another sign from Her.” Apollo shrugs when Nahyuta does not immediately elaborate on the thought. “That your sister has discovered this, now. It’s been nearly a year you have been in Khura’in, helping me, has it not? Perhaps this is a sign that you are due to return and spend time again with your other family.”

Maybe he’s right. Maybe it is.

His sister.

“Once you finish your current docket of cases,” Nahyuta adds.

Apollo punches him in the shin.

-

Please leave your message after the tone, and I will return your call.

“Hey, Thalassa, it’s Phoenix. So, funny story about the kids…”

I *just* saw the Bellarke holiday prompt post, and I *just* was chatting with a friend (hi, @pepperf!) who accidentally gave me a good idea for a Bellarke AU. So if I can get it in under the wire... some museums do sleepovers, but they're kind of expensive and always seem rather crowded, so maybe you just need to find someone who works at a museum who'll sneak you in for free, after hours! (Either one can be the museum employee, up to you.) Thanks!

Happy Holidays to you and @pepperf both! Thanks for the awesome prompt, hope you enjoy :)

Bellamy couldn’t believe it. It was two days before Christmas, and his ex girlfriend was really calling in a favor with him.

He and Gina had broken up amicably, and given that they had been friends before they started dating, they remained on good terms. Sure, it might look a little weird from the outside, but they still got along very well, so he frankly didn’t care how it looked. The thing with staying friends with your ex was that the line between what you’d do for your friend and what you’d do for a girl you used to sleep with were somewhat blurred. But Gina was sweet, and had always been much too good for him, so he didn’t mind.

Funny thing was, it wasn’t even a favor for Gina. It was a favor for Gina’s girlfriend’s best friend. Two days before Christmas.

“I don’t understand,” Bellamy ran a hand over his eyes and adjusted the phone between his shoulder and ear. “You need me to keep the museum open late on Christmas Eve just because a friend of Raven’s is a shitty mom and forgot to book a tour in time?”

Gina sighed deeply on the other end of the line. She knew Bellamy got a little testy when he was tired, and in his defense he’d been working overtime lately to get a newly bequeathed collection ready for exhibit by the new year. “You don’t have to stay open late, not to the public anyway. I know in the past you’ve done after hours events for school aged kids. I was hoping you could help Clarke out, as a personal favor to Raven. It’s a hard time of year for Madi, and she missed out on the school field trip earlier in the year because she was sick, and Clarke really wants to make it a fun day for her. You’re really going to like them both, I promise. ”

“Fine,” Bellamy replied, grimacing at his own inability to say no. “But I hope you know that playing the kid card with me is cheating.”

Gina laughed. “I know, I know. But when you meet them you’ll understand, I promise.”

“Whatever you say. How many people is it going to be?”

“Just four, including Clarke. There are a couple other kids in Madi’s class that didn’t make the trip either.”

Bellamy glanced up to see Maya gesturing at him from the other side of his office door. “Sounds fine. I gotta go, Gina. Email me the details, ok?”

“Thanks again, Bellamy. You’re a good guy for doing this.”

“Yeah, ok. You owe me one.”

“Clarke owes you one,” Gina said, and hung up.

Maya had a large stack of holiday cards for him to sign. She had been working as the curatorial assistant since before Bellamy had been hired. Her previous boss had never given her any credit, but when Bellamy replaced him he was happy to discover she was smart, capable, and extremely reliable. They worked well together, and Bellamy gradually gave her more and more responsibility. It was a small museum, containing a few privately owned collections, and often times the curators would be responsible for assisting with docent duties. Maya had been a little reserved at first, less used to talking in front of large groups that Bellamy was, but she became more comfortable as time wore on. This would be a good opportunity for her to take the lead on a full museum tour.

At closing time, Bellamy sent the rest of the staff home, and he got to work on some informational packets for the kids while Maya made paper snowflakes to decorate the entryway.

“You ready to give your first full museum tour?” Bellamy asked, as he checked his watch. “They should be here soon.”

Maya smiled. “Yeah, thanks. Hopefully they don’t die of boredom.”

“You’ll do great,” Bellamy reassured her. “Besides, this is going to help me lobby the board to get you the raise you deserve in January.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Maya agreed. “They just raised our rent, but Jasper and I can’t really afford to move anywhere else at the moment.”

Bellamy nodded. “I know the feeling. But I’ll make it happen for you, I promise.”

“Thanks. I think that’s them!”

Three middle schoolers and the woman Bellamy presumed was Clarke joined them in the lobby. Everyone’s cheeks were red and their eyes watering from the cold wind. The woman pulled off her gloves and stepped forward to greet them.

“Hi, I’m Clarke Griffin,” she shook hands with both of them, “Thanks so much for doing this, we appreciate it so much. I know it was very late notice. We’re all excited, aren’t we kids?”

The kids nodded, with the exception of the dark haired girl who stuck by Clarke’s side. She was staring at the vaulted lobby ceiling with wide eyes.

Clarke placed a gentle hand on the dark haired girl’s shoulder. “This is Madi, Reese, and Aden.”

“Hi everyone,” Maya’s warm smile seemed to put everyone at ease. “Are you ready to get started?”

Madi’s eyes lit up with fascination as she spied an elaborate tapestry hanging across the way. Bellamy hid a smile. She looked just like Octavia had at that age.

“We’re going to start with the ancient Roman collection since that’s on this floor. Follow me, this way.” Maya led the kids into the next room. Bellamy hung back slightly, just close enough to observe Maya’s technique. Clarke hung back as well.

Clarke Griffin wasn’t exactly what he had expected. Raven had all sorts of cool and interesting friends with all sorts of varied backgrounds, but Clarke seemed different. Most of their friends were still in their early thirties and didn’t have kids yet, but Clarke seemed about that age yet she had a middle schooler. Pretty unusual. He wondered what the story was there. Her eyes were bright blue and her cheeks still flushed from the cold. She was certainly much prettier than he had anticipated as well, but he was sure that had nothing to do with Gina’s assurance they would get along.

“So, you and Gina used to date, huh?” Clarke asked casually, glancing over at him and making him aware that he was sort of staring.  

“Yeah, we broke up a while ago, but we stayed friends.” Bellamy shifted on his feet a little awkwardly. Was she fishing, or just making conversation, he wondered?

“Clearly you’re still on good terms if she talked you into doing this,” Clarke said in a teasing tone. “Thanks again, you really have no idea how much this means to me and Madi.”

“It’s no problem. This some sort of special Christmas Eve tradition in your family?” It was his turn to fish.

“Not really.” Clarke shook her head, eyes fixed on Madi from across the room. “We’re sort of a new family, actually. I was fostering Madi for the past year, and I just officially adopted her a few weeks ago. Her birth mom overdosed,” she continued in a low voice, “on Christmas four years ago. It’s always a really hard season for her, and she was really bummed she missed the field trip, so this was kind of a hail Mary attempt to salvage the end of her year.” She bit her lip. “Sorry, that was all kind of personal. I’m just not sure it’s working.”

Bellamy smiled gently. “I think it’s probably working more than you think.” The kids were currently laughing at a joke Maya had just told. “They all seem to be having a good time.”

Clarke sighed with relied. “You really have no idea how good that is to see. Madi’s such a loner. She talks to the doorman in our building and Raven, those are the only people she’s connected with since moving in with me. I’ve really been trying to make sure she has some friends her own age.”

Bellamy chuckled. “Well, in your daughter’s defense, being a doorman always fascinated me as a kid. Plus, Raven is probably the most badass person on the planet.”

Clarke smiled brightly. “She really is. She told me you didn’t have Christmas Eve plans, by the way, or I never would have presumed to have Gina ask. I hope we’re not ruining your evening.”

“No plans, Raven was right. My sister lives in California with her husband and kids, I’ll see them around New Years. We’ve never really had any Christmas traditions, my mom always worked too much this time of year.”

Clarke nodded sympathetically. Her parents, it turned out, had always worked too much around the holidays too. So when she got Madi, she had no idea how to make the holidays special.

Maya led them into the next exhibit, and the kids perked up as she explained with enthisuasm the various types of ancient weaponry and their uses. Clarke and Bellamy continued to get to know each other.

He and Clarke had a lot in common, it turned out. They may have grown up in different parts of the city, but they both suffered the loss of a parent in high school and ended up putting themselves through college (Bellamy because he had to, and Clarke because she felt compelled to make her own way). They’d finished grad school just a year apart, and she’d been teaching fine arts to high school kids ever since. She’d been a foster parent for a few years and with a few kids before Madi, but Madi was special and Clarke adopted her as soon as she could. It hadn’t been easy, but they were slowly make progress. They made a good team, Clarke said.

Madi was a good kid. Understandably a little apprehensive, but she tried hard in school, even though most subjects were difficult for her. She’d been in danger of falling a grade behind, but Clarke had put in the time with her the past year and she was solidly in the middle of the class now. Clarke relayed it with such pride, Bellamy couldn’t help but smile. Gina had been right. He liked Madi and Clarke a lot.

The tour wrapped up just as Bellamy was gearing up to ask Clarke if she was single. Honestly, he never would have gotten up the nerve to actually do it, but he pretended that he would have if the timing had been better. It was for the best, he told himself. Clarke had a lot going on, and it was Christmas, and he didn’t want to impose.

The other kids parents arrived to pick them up, and Maya headed home to show Jasper the concert tickets Bellamy had given them as an end of year gift.

From the lobby door, they could see it had just started snowing. Madi lingered for a minute in front of the tapestry that had caught her eye earlier. “That was fun, right?” Clarke asked, trying to gauge her daughter’s reaction. She’d given Maya a hug goodbye, which by Clarke’s expression seemed like a big step.

Madi nodded, turning back to the adults. “I had fun. Thanks, Bellamy.” She glanced up at Clarke. “Can we go home now?”

Clarke smiled. “Sure thing, kid.” She adjusted Madi’s hat affectionately. “Thanks again, Bellamy.”

“No problem. Merry Christmas. I’m sure I’ll see you both around sometime.”

Clarke smiled. “We’d like that. Merry Christmas.”

Before setting the alarms, Bellamy stopped by his office to find a poster of the tapestry that had caught Madi’s eye. He didn’t know if he’d see them again soon, or at all, but he thought he could get Clarke’s address from Raven and maybe mail it to them. He planned to text Raven later that week.

Raven, of course, preempted that. Her text message woke him up Christmas morning.

R: Merry Christmas. You’re coming over for dinner tonight. Invite Maya and her boyfriend too. We’re going to watch cheesy Christmas movies and make hot chocolate and all that dumb shit.

B:  Sounds like you won’t take no for an answer. Need me to bring anything?

R: Just yourself. And maybe dessert, if you can whip something up. Clarke likes chocolate.

B: You’re not as smooth as you think you are, Reyes.

R: Hmmm sounds fake. See you at 6:00.

Bellamy grinned and laid back on his pillows. He had a feeling this would be his most memorable Christmas yet.

Secrets in Rileytown

Summary: Lucas catches Riley in a lie and he’s determined to find out the truth but the truth is definitely not what he was expecting.

Word Count: 4236

♥ ♥ ♥

Freshman year is nearing it’s end and Riley and Lucas’ relationship is beginning to warm up, although recently Lucas has felt like he’s hardly spent anytime with his girlfriend. 

It’s a Thursday afternoon and the final bell sounds at school. As Riley approaches her locker she notices her boyfriend Lucas waiting with his backpack already slung over his shoulder. 

“Hey,” Riley wears a smile as she meets him in the hall. 

“Hey back.” Lucas grins too as he waits for Riley to collect her things. 

“Shouldn’t you be with Zay right now?” Riley asks after planting a sheepish kiss on Lucas’ cheek. 

“I thought we could walk to the bakery together?” Lucas suggests with a cute smile.

“I can’t.” Riley frowns. “I have to take Auggie to soccer practice today.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lucas says with his bottom lip slightly pouted, “It’s Thursday, I forgot.”

“Sorry.” Riley is apologetic. 

“Are you sure your parents can’t take him?” Lucas asks. 

“Yes.” Riley lets out a quiet but nervous laugh. “Do you think I’d take my kid brother to soccer practice every Tuesday and Thursday if I didn’t have to?” 

“I suppose not.” Lucas nods. “Why don’t I skip the study session today and come with you now?” 

“No.” Riley says quickly. “I mean... Aren't you trying to bring your grade up in English? You should study.” 

“It would be a lot easier if you were there to help me.” Lucas gives Riley a puppy dog face. “You are top of the glass.” 

“Well if you go to the bakery now you can stop by my window after dinner and I’ll help you then.” Riley smiles. “That way you get twice as much studying in.” 

“Sounds fun.” Lucas says less than enthusiastically. 

“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Riley says before giving Lucas another quick kiss on the cheek. “I have to go, Auggie gets annoyed when I’m late.” 

“Okay, I guess I’ll see you later?” Lucas waves as Riley quickly disappears down the hall. 

Shortly after, the group of friends - minus Riley - sit around their usual spot at the bakery. The skies outside are a dull grey colour as light rain falls from the sky. 

Maya throws her history book on the table with a sigh. “Doesn’t this kind of weather make you feel like doing nothing?” 

“Is there any kind weather that makes you feel like doing homework?” Zay jokes. 

Maya fake laughs in response. 

“I’m having trouble connecting with this book.” Lucas looks up from the pages of his English novel with a frown.

“You mean you don’t relate to the shunned adulteress?” Zay asks dramatically.

“You’ve finished it?” Lucas asks his best friend with surprise. 

“You haven't?” Farkle asks with equal disbelief. Lucas shoots a mild glare at the genius. 

“I read the spark notes version.” Zay shrugs a shoulder. “I’m going to watch the movie tonight, you want to come over?” 

“No thanks.” Lucas shakes his head. “I’m hoping Riley will be able to help me make sense of it later.” Lucas says. 

“No fair.” Maya whines. “I thought Riley was busy with Auggie.” 

“She is but I’m going over...” Lucas trails off once he notices the shaggy haired boy come barreling into the bakery with his blonde haired best friend by his side. Cory comes in a few steps behind. “Try not to track water through the store guys.” Cory instructs as he heads for the counter. “I’m just going to pick up a pie and then we’ll get going.” 

“Hey Augs,” Maya gives the younger boy a head nod. “You’re done with practice pretty early.”

“It was cancelled because of the rain.” Auggie shakes the water droplets off his uniform like a wet dog. Ava sends him a glare for the water hitting her. 

“Where’s Riley?” Lucas asks politely. 

“Home.” Auggie shrugs unsure. 

Lucas is confused for a moment but excuses himself from the group and makes his way to the Matthews’ apartment. Lucas beats Cory and Auggie there and  Instead of using the fire escape he buzzes from the front entrance. It’s Topanga that answers him. 

“You can come up, Hon but Riley’s not home.” Topanga says through the intercom. 

“She’s not?” Lucas is surprised and the light rain was starting to soak through his hoodie so he shivers in place.

“No, I thought she was at the bakery with you.” Topanga says. “Did you want to come upstairs and wait?” 

“No that’s okay Mrs. Matthews, would you tell her I stopped by?” Lucas asks. 

“Sure thing, Lucas.” Topanga’s voice calls through one last time. 

As Lucas steps back from the intercom he notices Riley approaching. She's huddled under her purple umbrella.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Riley asks as she lifts the umbrella to shield Lucas too.

"Auggie stopped by the bakery with your dad. He said soccer practice was canceled from the rain."

"Yeah it was." Riley says quickly.

"I thought your dad was busy on Tuesdays and Thursdays?" Lucas asks.

"His meeting got cancelled. He showed up just as they canceled practice so he took Auggie and I was coming back here to get my books and come study at the bakery." Riley explains.

"Oh..." Lucas knits his brows. "Well how come I beat you home?"

"I stopped to talk to two shoes Louis." Riley says. "Lucas, why are you asking so many questions?"

"Sorry," Lucas shakes his head and settles with a smile. "Can we just study here? This book report is killing me."

"Uh, sure." Riley nods before letting them into the building.

After Riley helps Lucas with his boook report the two are just hanging out in her room.

"Do you want to see a movie tomorrow night?" Lucas asks.

"Sounds like fun but I can't." Riley half smiles. "I'm babysitting Auggie for my parents date night."

"We could bring him with us?" Lucas suggests positively. "I know you don't mind seeing kids movies."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Riley smiles. "But believe it or not Auggie is grounded."

"What for?" Lucas laughs with surprise.

"He's been running a double allowance scam." Riley says. "He'd been asking both mom and dad for three weeks before he got caught."

"What a smart kid." Lucas chuckles.

"So we can't go, sorry." Riley gives an apologetic smile. "But I'm free Saturday, we could spend the day together?"

"Sounds perfect." Lucas grins.

The following afternoon Riley's at her locker collecting the books she'll need over the weekend when her phone rings.

Riley answers without a hello, "I know I bailed on you yesterday I'm sorry, I got halfway there when I realised I forgot my bag and when I went home to get it Lucas was waiting so I couldn't leave..."

"Why don't you just tell him, or Maya or any of your friends? It would be a lot easier if we didn't have to be so secretive." The voice on the other end says.

"I can't, they wouldn't understand." Riley shakes her head. "For now this has to be our secret, please?"

"Yeah fine." He says. "We’re free tonight, did you want to just meet up later?"

"Yeah that could work but would you be able to come to my apartment?" Riley asks.

"Yeah that works. We’ll swing by after dinner." He says.

"I'm actually ordering pizza if you-"

"Say no more," he cuts in with a laugh, "We’ll be there."

"See you later." Riley chuckles as she hangs up the phone.

When Riley turns around to walk the hall she spots Lucas and jumps in fright. “Lucas!” She says with her heart beating fast, “How long have you been standing there?” 

“Not long.” Lucas lies. He’d heard most of Riley’s side of the phone call. “What was that about?” 

“Nothing.” Riley smiles nervously, “It was just my mom checking that I’m coming home straight after school.” 

“Sure.” Lucas says not buying it. “So I was thinking I could come over tonight and keep you company while you babysit?” 

“Oh that’s very sweet but my dad doesn’t like us to be alone together in the house.” Riley fidgets nervously. 

“Auggie would be there.” Lucas states. 

“I know.” Riley nods quickly, “But Auggie gets upset when I ditch him for you guys, not even Maya’s coming tonight...” 

“Okay.” Lucas says and Riley could tell his mood was off. 

“We’re still hanging out tomorrow though.” Riley says with a small smile. “But you can walk me home if you want?” 

“Nah it’s okay.” Lucas shakes his head. “I’m meeting our friends at the bakery.” 

Lucas doesn’t go to the bakery instead he goes home feeling very uneasy about the phone call he overheard Riley having and their interaction afterwards. It sounded a lot like something he didn't like. Sure he could only hear what Riley was saying and not the unknown person on the other end of the line but Riley's responses were enough to raise Lucas' suspicions. But this was Riley, his Riley, there was no way it could possibly be what it sounded like... Could it?

It's just after six when Lucas finally couldn't handle the thought spiral he was stuck in any longer. The Texan pulls out his phone and calls Maya.

"Hello?" The blonde girl answers.

"Maya," Lucas lets out a breath of relief that she answered.

"Who's calling?" She asks.

"Very funny." Lucas rolls his eyes.

"Not trying to be." Maya says seriously.

"It's me Lucas!" He says offended, "You really don't have me saved in your phone?"

"Saving contacts is too hard." Maya says in a whiney voice. "I have Riley, my mom and Shawn and when I saved his number I accidentally saved it as Shaw but I was too lazy to go back and add the N so now I'm trying to convince him to just legally change his name it to Shaw Hunter so I don’t have to make the effort."

"Cause that's less effort than adding the N?" Lucas questions.

"Don't judge me." Maya says. "Anyway Huckleberry, why are you calling me, it's Friday?"

"It's about Riley." Lucas takes a deep breath. 

"If you're calling to ask me for her hand I'm going to have to strongly suggest you wait until we're graduated, or at least seniors." Maya jokes.

"I'm being serious." Lucas frowns to himself.

"So am I." Maya says dramatically. "I have to think of my little birds future."

"You don't think I could be in her future?" Lucas snaps defensively.

"Whoa Lucas, I was kidding." Maya says. "What's got you wound so tightly?"

"I think Riley's keeping a secret from us." Lucas says.

"She hasn't told me she's keeping a secret." Maya knits her brows.

“That’s not how secrets work, Maya.” Lucas says.

"For us it does.” Maya says as a matter of fact. 

“I heard her on the phone today, she’s definitely keeping something hidden.”

“You don’t think it’s another Rileytown thing do you?” Maya questions, “You don’t think someone’s bullying her again?”

“No I don’t.” Lucas states surely. “It sounded like… It sounded…”

“Spit it out already!” Maya huffs.

“It sounded like she was.. Cheating on me.” Lucas says and it feels wrong coming out of his mouth. 

Maya lets out a loud laugh at how ridiculous that sounded.

“Maya, I’m being serious.” Lucas chews on his bottom lip. 

“You’re being paranoid.” Maya says. “You’re wrong, Riley would never.”

“It sounded like she was inviting someone over to her apartment and then she lied and told me she was just spending the night with Auggie babysitting.”

“Whatever you think you heard, you’re wrong.” Maya states confidently. “I’m telling right now Riley would never do that and honestly I’m offended for her that you’d ever think she would.”

“You didn’t hear the phone call. Riley’s been acting strange lately, she’s sneaking around- Yesterday she wasn’t with Auggie at his practice when she said she was and I bet her parents aren’t even going out tonight-”

“Lucas stop.” Maya says firmly. “Mr. and Mrs. M are going on date night, double date night with my parents and Riley is babysitting tonight.”

“That doesn’t explain why she wasn’t with Auggie yesterday.” Lucas says. 

“Practice got cancelled.” Maya shrugs to herself. “I know for a fact Riley takes Auggie to practice because on Tuesdays we all walk together because my art class is on the way. Do you really think she’s using Auggie as a cover to have secret rendezvous?”

“On the phone she said she was on her way to meet someone when I showed up-”

“How about you just ask Riley what’s going on instead of bugging about what I’m sure is nothing?” Maya asks. “I’m positive you’re just misunderstanding something.”

“I’m not so sure..” Lucas mumbles.

“I’m bored of all this talking,” Maya groans, “If you’re not going to listen to my rational advice can we call it a day please?”

They hang up shortly after and Lucas thinks about what Maya said. Maybe she was right, maybe whatever he heard was just a big misunderstanding and it was all innocent. Maybe he should just go over to Riley and sort this whole mess out calmly. Lucas exits his appartments with the intentions of doing just that. He uses the fire escape today expecting to find Riley reading in her room or something but when he climbs through the unlocked window she’s not there. 

Lucas notices a mess on Riley’s bed, he inspects it further and realises there are developed photos scattered over her quilt cover. Lucas picks up one, a photograph of some flowers and a statue, it takes Lucas a moment to realise it’s a park not too far from Riley’s apartment, they’d go there together sometimes. There was another picture of Auggie and Ava dressed in their soccer get up with orange wedges in front of their teeth. Lucas looks at a few of the other photographs before hearing some noise drift up from downstairs.

Lucas makes his way past Auggie’s room where he hears the boy chatting to Mr. Googly about how much being grounded sucks and Lucas is hit with a wave of guilt for thinking Riley had lied to him. He continues downstairs and the noise becomes louder. At first Lucas thinks it’s the television but then he hears a guitar clearly and once it fades out her hears Riley say how beautiful that sounded followed by a guys voice thanking her. Immediately thinking the worst Lucas storms into the living space. Surprised to see her boyfriend Riley jumps up like she’s been caught in the act.

“Lucas, what are you doing here?” Riley asks.

“I was just about to ask the same thing.” Lucas says quickly getting worked up. 

“I live here.” Riley laughs nervously.

“I was talking about the college boy behind the guitar.” Lucas motions to the guy sat in his purple NYU jumper. The boy waves nervously.

“The boyfriend I assume?” He asks.

“Lucas I can explain.” Riley holds her palms out defensively.

“No need.” Lucas shakes his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Maya.” 

“Maya?” Riley knits her brows. “What are you like having secret discussions about me or something?” 

“I didn’t know who else to talk to.” Lucas says. 

“How about me?” Riley questions. 

“How can I trust that you’d tell me the truth?” Lucas folds his arms. “I know for a fact you’ve lied to me at least twice in the past two days.” 

Riley shifts nervously in place. “I just didn’t want to tell you yet.” 

“So you thought dating some college guy whilst your still dating me was okay?” 

“What?!” Both Riley and the guitar holding boy both say in unison. 

“You think I’m cheating on you?” Riley’s eyes grow wider and an expression of hurt shows on her face. 

“What the heck is going on down here?” Josh emerges from the stairwell. “I go to the bathroom for two seconds and all the sudden there’s shouting.” 

Lucas turns to Riley’s college age uncle with confusion and back to Riley who's still looking hurt. 

“You think I’m cheating on you?” Riley asks again, this time the hurt transfers into her voice. 

“Oh boy.” Josh grimaces. “Schnoopy, what do you say we see what the little squirt is doing upstairs?” 

The other boy didn’t need another out he quickly passes the two teens and joins his roommate upstairs. 

“Schnoopy as in Schnoop-a-loop?” Lucas asks and suddenly he’s got a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach knowing he’s probably made a huge misjudgement. 

“Yes.” Riley says quietly. “His name is Jeremy but, yes.” 

“Riley, I-” Lucas starts but the intercom interrupts him. 

“It’s Camille!” A female voice enthusiastically says. 

Riley strolls over and buzzes her in. “Come on up, Cami.” 

“Camille?” Lucas questions. 

“A girl Josh and Jeremy have class with.” Riley says. 

“So what is this?” Lucas asks. “Like some college party you didn’t want to invite me to?” 

“No.” Riley says offended by these accusations. 

“Then what is it that you’re hiding?” Lucas asks. “Why didn’t you want me over tonight.. Why are you being so secretive?” 

A knock at the door. “Come in, Cam.” Riley calls over and seconds later a pretty college student is in the living room. “The guys are upstairs..” Riley says and after instantly feeling the tension in the room Cami heads up there to find them. 

“You really thought I was cheating on you?” Riley asks for a third time. 

“Can you blame me?” Lucas sighs. “You’ve been finding excuses to not hang out with me and you’ve been lying about where you are.. Yesterday with soccer practice and today with spending quality time with Auggie and in my defence your phone call this afternoon didn’t exactly sound innocent and then I came over here to talk to you about it because I felt like a jealous jerk but I find some college guy serenading you with his guitar-” 

“I was on the phone to Josh. I know I lied,” Riley cuts in but she’s still quiet, “but honestly I’m hurt that you'd think I could ever do that to someone, to you.” 

“I know. I’m a jealous idiot but you are lying to me. Why are you lying?” Lucas huffs. 

Riley looks very anxious and suddenly Lucas realises his approach is terrible. He wasn’t be aggressive with her but huffing and puffing about Riley being a liar wasn’t productive at all. Also, even if Lucas didn’t already know in his heart that Riley would never be up to something bad he could tell by her presence now that something was really bothering her. 

“I’m sorry.” Lucas softens completely as he apologises. “I worked myself up before coming over here and I don’t mean to call you a liar.” 

“But I am lying.” Riley lowers her gaze. 

“Yeah but I know you wouldn’t lie unless you had a good reason to.” Lucas takes a step closer to Riley. 

“I couldn’t tell you.” Riley sits herself on the sofa and buries her face in her palms. Lucas takes the space beside her and gently reaches out for Riley’s arm. 

“Why not?” Lucas asks, his voice still gentle with his new approach, the approach he knew he should have had all along. “I thought we agreed on the nature trip that we’d talk to each other.”

“I didn’t think this was one of those important talks.” Riley lifts her head. 

Lucas just holds Riley’s gaze for a moment before saying, “I consider everything about you to be important.” 

Riley’s smile curls slightly. She takes a deep breath. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was taking Auggie to soccer practice- Well, not at first. For the first few weeks I was taking him Tuesdays and Thursdays but then my dads regular meetings got cancelled so he could take Auggie on Thursday’s.” 

“So you started hanging out with your Uncle Josh instead?” Lucas asks. 

“It sorta just happened.” Riley shrugged. 

“You could have told me that, I would have understood that you wanted to spend time with your Uncle?” Lucas knits his brows. 

“It’s not exactly hanging out...” Riley shifts in place. “For a while I had been thinking about what I’m good at. Maya has her art, Farkle and Isadora have their brains and science, Zay dances, you have your baseball... I have a goofy personality.” 

“Riley-” Lucas starts with a frown but Riley cuts in. 

“Saying I’m a good person or a good friend is just a nice way of saying that I’m not good at something. Being nice shouldn’t be a talent it should be the way the world works.” Riley clearly feels very strongly on the matter. 

“Okay.” Lucas nods understanding her point. “How does Josh fit into this?”

“It was the first Thursday that my dad took Auggie to practice and I was thinking about how I don’t have a talent and I was on my way to the bakery when I bumped into my Uncle Josh and Jeremy. Josh saw I was upset about something and he pressed until I came clean.” Riley explains. “Then Josh said he’d help me find a talent. I wasn’t sure how you could ‘find’ a talent but Jeremy chimed in and explained that talent isn’t always something you’re born with. Talent can be learnt or discovered later in life. For example Jeremy was fourteen when he started to play guitar, he said he was terrible in the beginning but he stuck with it and now he writes music.”

“So you’ve been hanging out with them trying to find a talent?” Lucas tries to make sense of it. 

Riley nods. “They both know a lot of people in college who do a lot of different things. I just hang out in their dorm on Thursday’s and practice.” 

“Practice?” 

“All sorts of things.” Riley shrugs. “Jeremy has taught me a little on the guitar, Uncle Josh has taught me some coding on the computer, Camille has helped me with a few cheers... I have been shown how to do magic tricks and random party tricks and truthfully I’m awful at all of it.” Riley laughs. “I know if I focused really hard on one thing I could learn to be - at the very least - good at it but it all just feels wrong.” 

“Because they’re not you?” Lucas asks. 

“Exactly.” Riley nods. “I like being able to share these random things with new people I’ve met but I’m appreciating them the same way I do with art, science, dance and baseball.” 

“How long has this been going on for?” Lucas questions. 

“About two months.” Riley says. “I have been using my free Thursday as a cover...” 

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Lucas asks. “I could have helped.” 

“I was embarrassed.” Riley admits. “I didn’t think you’d understand.. You’re one of those people that are just good at everything. I’m one of those people that try really hard at things and is mediocre at best!” 

“That’s not true!” Lucas nudges Riley with his arm. “You’re smart. Top of the class in English, above Farkle and Smackle and I don’t care what you say, if being a good person is the standard you're the example.”

Riley smiles at his comment.

“You’re wrong about one thing,” Lucas says, “You’re not horrible at everything you’ve tried.” 

“Oh you haven't been there to witness my fails.” Riley laughs as she picks up the guitar Jeremy left in the room and she tries to strum a few cords. It sounds less than pleasant. “And this is after six lessons. SIX.” 

“Okay so maybe guitar solos aren't in your future.” Lucas chuckles as he plucks the instrument off her lap. “But there is your photography. Whose been helping you with that?” 

Riley wears a puzzled looked. “Nobody.” 

“I saw the photos on your bed, you were the one who took those, right?” Lucas asks. 

“Yeah... I’ve just been playing around with the camera my Uncle Shawn gave me a couple years back.” Riley shrugs. 

“Riley,” Lucas smiles, “You found your talent.”

“No.” Riley shakes her head. “You think so?” 

“Yes. The photos are amazing and if that’s you just ‘playing around’ I’d love to see you try.” Lucas says with such honest positivity. 

“You really think photography could be my thing?” Riley asks sheepishly. 

“I think it already is.” Lucas smiles. “Do you enjoy it?” 

Riley nods. 

“Then why not?” Lucas grins. “I already think it’s such a great quality to see the  beauty in the world the way you do, now you have a way of showing other people your perspective.” 

“I never thought about it like that.” Riley’s smile grows wider. She holds Lucas’ gaze for a moment. “I’ve been feeling awful about this for months and you somehow make me feel better in the space of fifteen minutes.” 

“Talking is what we do.” Lucas shrugs with a cute smile. 

“I’m sorry I lied.” Riley says genuinely. 

“I’m sorry too, for the way I handled things.” Lucas matches her tone. 

“That’s okay.” Riley holds his stare. “From now on I think we can just talk things out.”

“No more secrets in Rileytown?” Lucas asks with a soft smile. 

“No more.” Riley nods with a gentle grin of her own. 

“Should we tell your Uncle Josh he can come down now?” Lucas laughs. 

“Oh right.” Riley laughs. “I kinda forgot anyone else was here.”

♥ ♥ ♥

End Notes: Hope you all enjoyed this one shot! Hopefully I’ll be back at you with another one soon!!!

The prompts that inspired this: 

(I asked @ragemecutie what she meant and she clarified that she meant secret talents/hobbies! Hope you enjoyed girlie ♥)

((Hey! Here’s the fic of the fun rp I had with Grace/ @maximus-schreave thank you so much, girl. Hope you all like it. I wasn’t sure about the edit, but there it is. The date challenge is next :) ))

If it doesn’t open... someone is behind that door

They say that time runs fast when you are doing something you enjoy, but that morning it wasn’t working. I was trying to copy the beautiful design of a vase full of flowers I had in front of me, it looked expensive, maybe King Spencer bought it in one of his trips, or maybe it was a present from some other Royal.

I wasn’t really interested in any of that, but I was working hard to keep my mind away from Loretta’s messages. Since I decided to stop answering her calls she had been settled on sending nonstop messages that she knew wouldn’t get a reply. But there was something else that got me intrigued, the last message my subtle mother sent read:

“DON’T DARE TO RUIN THE OPPORTUNITY YOU HAVE TONIGHT.”

That notification got me on edge all morning, even during breakfast I couldn’t stop thinking about anything else. How does Loretta found out I was going to have my first day with Nate that night? Has she hired someone to keep an eye on me? I looked around the Women’s Room as if some kind of stalker was going to appear right behind me, but I could only see some of the ladies reading or chatting. One of the Ladies! … I shook the idea out of my head, I only knew about one of them that could have had some communication with my mother, and she wouldn’t even care to do it, anyway.

The point of not answering her calls was not letting her ruin the selection for me with her ideas, demands, and pressure, but it was being hard for me to ignore all that.

After almost an hour of useless drawing session and tired of waiting for Maya to casually arrive, I picked my notebook and pencils and head back to my room. Unfortunately, when I opened the door, I felt it got stuck with something… or that’s what I thought until I heard someone complaining.

“Oh man”

I frowned and let the door closed behind me, revealing Prince Maximus grabbing his nose, pain showing on his face.

“Oh Dio! I’m sorry! .are you okay... your highness?” I hesitate of touching his nose to check if it was any blood, but in the end, I didn’t. Of course, he wasn’t okay, but when you are worried, is normal to make stupid questions.  

He regained his position footing and looks at me “I’ve been hit by an angel”

“...but I bet it still hurts. I’m so sorry.”

“It's not my nose that hurts. It's something else” He said between moans.

“Maybe I should walk you to the doctor …” Even when it was an accident I felt terribly worried and I wanted to be sure he wasn’t broken.

“The love doctor?” He managed a couple of winks, which made me believe maybe he wasn’t as injured as he seemed. I had heard stories about the flirt personality of youngest Prince, from the ladies that had met him, but I didn’t expect him to maintain it after such a strong hit.

I scoffed at his line, I couldn’t tell if he was mocking me. “Hey, I’m really worried here, I’ve never hit a prince in the nose before”  

“My eyes have never been hit with... with s-such beaut-” He hit the floor before he could finish the sentence, fainting.

My heart filled with concern, but almost instantly I remembered I had the reputation of being a prankster and I won’t be the first to fall in one of them.

I frowned staring at him “Are you sure I didn’t hit your head ...?”  I extend one hand to help him to get up “My name is Stephanie, by the way…”

He mumbles words that I didn’t understand, I wasn’t even sure if they made any sense.

Should I be worried…? Beside my suspicious thoughts, I couldn’t just leave him laying on the floor like that. What if he’s not faking? I tried again. “Hmm... so bad you are unconscious because I was hoping you to the kitchen for some snacks…” I pretend to walk away taking two steps, but I looked at him with the corner of my eye.

He just moved to mumble, again, but this time in a louder tone and I panicked

“You are not responding…” I mumbled nervously.

I knew it, I broke King’s Spencer younger son! I looked up to the heavens  Is this a punishment for ignoring my mom? … I deserve an award for that, in my opinion… but, I’m sorry!!!

Maybe Loretta was right to think I was going to ruin everything.

I kneeled by his side and looked around the place hoping to see some guard who could help us, there. That place was always filled with men in uniform all the time, how come they were not around when I really need them?!

That’s just my luck.

It was carrying him by myself or CPR, so...

“I- I will try to carry you to the hospital wing okay? Can you lean on me?” I asked, hoping to get real words this time or some sign that he was getting better by some miracle, but he just looked at me and made some sounds followed by a gesture that intended to be a smirk, but turned out to look like a drunk duck.

After trying a few ways to carry him correctly I finally find the most practical way, placing his arm around my neck and lifting him with all my strength. Suddenly the gym sessions didn’t sound so bad.

“I thought you were lighter, but it’s okay... Let’s try to walk slowly” Suddenly I felt optimistic. The hospital wing wasn’t so far away and I wasn’t doing a bad job bearing the Prince’s weight. Suddenly he started mumbling and playing with my hair

“Look, I’m really sorry I hit you, but, you know for future references is better not to put your face so close to the doors... aaand you might stop with the hair because I don’t want to accidentally drop you”

“I've already fallen for you.”  He said slurring his words as he spoke

“I wish it hadn’t been so literal... “I muttered with a complaint tone “but hey!  I understood what you said, that’s a good sign. Are you feeling a little better?” I asked with heavy breathing.The little moment of optimism made me lose my grip for a second, but fortunately, I hold him tight again before he falls.

Damn it!

“Wait, we are almost there” Honestly, at that point I said that more to cheering myself than to let him know he would be safe soon

Fortunately, we arrived to the hospital wing and I could let him rest on the first couch I spotted. I let a deep breath out and looked around the place. The few nurses hadn’t even noticed us. “So… I need a doctor here!” I said out loud… almost shouting.

One of the nurses rushed over “What happened?” She asked grabbing him, without any effort and taking him to a bed.

Now that’s a strong woman.  I stared at her agile movements, feeling kind of embarrassed and at the same time relieved of having someone helping me, while I was massaging the back of my neck and try to recover my posture.

I follow her and Prince Maximus laying on the wheel bed, into a room. I tried to explain everything to her as we walk, making clear that it was just an accident. “Is he going to be okay?” I asked when I finished the explanation.

The nurse shines the young Prince’s eyes with an intense flashlight and did a general checkup, like the blood pressure and stuff … "It seems to be a minor concussion". I already knew that but, okay.

I looked at my cellphone, it was getting kind of late, but it wouldn’t be polite to leave him there unconscious, I just have to make sure I wasn’t going to get in the way of any procedure. “Can I stay here or I come back later?” One of my foot was unconsciously preparing to go out

"You might as well stay."

I waited for the nurse to do her job, then she left and I remained there, sitting at the end of the room, scrolling through my phone. Almost all the entertainment websites were centering their articles in The Selection, some speculations, some lies, some trivial facts, and a few really interesting ones.

“Wha... What's going on?”

I recognized the voice from before, but this time it sounded less… drunk. I stand up and find my place at the foot of Maximus’ bed.  “You are awake! Hi”

“Am I in heaven?” Normally I would be kind of annoyed by his words, I mean, couldn’t he have a normal conversation? But I was so happy to see him awake that, I even found them funny.

“I really hope heaven doesn't feel like this” I said, remembering all the anguish and effort of the last pair of hours. “How are you feeling? Still dizzy?”

He reached up to touch my hair. “You're so beautiful, my head is spinning” Well, at least I had got a real answer this time.

“Yes, yes  I know I am, thanks anyway” I said letting a small laugh out, at my own statement while I filled a glass with the water pitcher on the table beside his bed. “You scared me to death! You have to promise me you won’t stand so close to the doors from now on... or at least not to the ones of the rooms I’m in!” I handle the glass to him

He took it “I just couldn't stand being away from you, uh... What's your name?”

I tried hard to hold a laugh and pretend to be offended “I’m disappointed on you, even professional flirters have to do some research work...My name is Stephanie”

“Stephanie. What a beautiful name... The name of an angel” He said with a mastered dreaming sigh.

I scoffed “You know, the good thing is there are witnesses that can tell you were like this before I hit you, so, I’m safe.”

“I don't need a witness to know my love for you is true”

“I bet it is, but unfortunately I have a date with someone else tonight”

“Playing hard to get, huh?”

An inevitable loud laughed came out. “I like you, you are funny and you fall with style, but now that you are so much better” I checked the hour on my cell phone. “I’m afraid I have to go…” I hesitated for a second “You will be all right here, right?”

“My heart shall ache, but I think I should be fine.”

“Okay” I pat her shoulder. He wasn’t like the other ladies have told me, he was so much worse, but after all, he was a teen, and surprisingly, instead of annoying I found him hilarious.

I remembered Nate’s words days ago. “You’ll be lucky if you don’t run into him” Of course he was joking... or maybe he wasn’t, but it must be fun to have a little brother. I wish I had one. I would love to.

“I’m sorry, again, for hitting you. See you later” Once my two feet were outside the hospital wing, I rushed my step towards my room. My sketchbook and my pencils were still on the floor right behind the Women’s Room door. I picked them up and run upstairs, feeling some kind of excitement inside...  It was time to get ready for my first date with Prince Nate.

2 DATE|CANON VERSE|RUCAS WEEK

Day 1. Second date. Hi all. Day one of rucas fanfiction week and I have vowed to myself that I will make very one shot 3000+ words. This is incredibly hard for me so ahhhhh!!!! Wish me luck. DAY ONE - CANON VERSE - SECOND DATE. Riley sat down in front of her vanity and brushed her long brown hair. She turned on her phone and clicked her music app, ED Sheeran blasted through her room and she sighed. She looked down at her makeup and moved her stuff around trying to figure out what she wanted to put on. She grabbed her too faced palette and decided to not put on anything too heavy. She knew Lucas liked her for who she was and that she shouldn't do anything too drastic. She grabbed an eyeshadow brush and started putting a transition in her crease. She put a glittery shade on her inner lid and a darker shade On her outer corner. She picked up her liquid eyeliner and went to start her cat eye. She made the movement just above where she wanted it and just as she touched the liner to her eye she heard a knock, she flinched backwards scared and her hand moved and the liner went into her eye. She groaned in pain and she heard laughter come from the window. Riley grabbed a q-tip and hair brush, using the q-tip to clean up the liner and Riley threw the hair brush at a laughing Maya. 'Ow.' Maya screeched grabbing the other stool and sitting next to Riley. 'Well you ruined my cat eye.' Riley groaned reapplying her eyeshadow. 'Well Lucas doesn't like over the top makeup anyway. So I did ya a favour.' She joked standing up and prancing over to the closet. She stammered through all of Riley's clothes and tried to throw away all of the colourful things. Realising that Riley was super colourful and that she never wanted her to change she picked out her favourite colourful items. 'Riley where exactly are you going again.' Maya called out to Riley who was finishing up her contour. 'Movies. It's a cuddle bunnies special I think.' She yelled back her smile growing at the idea. Riley was so smitten about the idea of what they were doing, it was so Riley and Lucas. It was just them and that made her happy. Riley couldn't dismiss the knotting in her stomach though. She was incredibly nervous that she would stuff up or scare Lucas off. 'I'm done. I found the perfect outfit.' Maya sang as she walked back out of Riley's closet. She set out the purple top and black jeans and a denim jacket on the bed and smoothed it out for Riley to wear. 'So I'm assuming you have underwear but the bra you have on won't do.' Maya spoke to herself darting back into her closet to Riley's bra collection. She looked over all them and decided that Riley needed something more, uplifting. Maya darted back over to her backpack and picked up a push up bra. 'This.' Maya spoke showing Riley. Riley turned away from her makeup and turned the bra Over showing Maya the endless amount of push up. 'Maya no.' She seethed rolling her eyes. 'Maya yes. Now go put your stuff on. I want to take a pic for my snap story.' Maya rushed bundling the clothes up and throwing them at Riley as she pushed her into the bathroom. Riley rushed to get changed and looked at her outfit in the mirror, she liked the how it wasn't over the top but it was nicer than normal. It was pretty but it wasn't try hard, and no matter how much she hated it, the push up bra looked good. Riley quickly brushed her teeth and made sure her hair was still looking nice. She stepped out of her bathroom and was hit by the flash of something. She death stares Maya but Maya just smiled and added the snap to her story. 'Ok so now shoes. Converse or boots.' Maya spoke thinking out loud. Before Riley could answer they heard another knock at the door. They darted their eyes over to the door and saw smackle walk in. 'Converse now Riley out.' Smackle demanded pushing Riley out the door. Riley stumbled into the living room and saw Lucas facing her father. He seemed to be quite calm but Riley knew better. 'Dad let him go.' Riley called walking over to Lucas as she tried to put her converse on. Lucas spun around and took one look at Riley and instantly felt weak in the knees. He tried to choke his words out but his mouth felt dry looking at the girl in front of him. Riley felt the same way as she looked at his tan slacks and his maroon button up. She smiled a little and went over to hold his hand. He returned her smile and rubbed his hand on his pants before grabbing her hand. 'Sir I'll have her home by 9:45.' He formerly spoke and mr Matthews grunted and walked away. 'So you ready.' Lucas croaked and Riley rubbed her thumb over His hand. 'As I'll ever be.' She soothed and they walked out the door. Riley tried not to move weirdly and focused on walking as stiff as normal. Lucas looked over to Riley and saw her moving a bit weirdly and he realised what was happening. He sighed and squeezed her hand slightly, Riley looked up at him and saw his concerned face. 'Riley. Why are you walking like that.' He questioned and Riley's gaze stiffened. She looked down at her feet and still tried to walk normally. 'Umm. I. Umm.' She stammered but she couldn't get the words out the way she wanted. 'Riley I like you for you. I like klutzy Riley, I like every Riley there is. You don't need to act different for me.' He ranted and Riley felt tears well up in his eyes at his sincere words. 'Thanks. I just- you know- get worried.' She spoke quietly and Lucas removed his hand from hers and moved his arm around her shoulder. They sat down on the subway and hesitantly Riley put her head on his chest. 'Yeah I know. I understand you have anxiety thing. I remember when you kinda told us when we put the labels on out forehead.' He sighed and Riley snuggled into him. 'Thankyou for understanding. So how do you feel about Katy and Shawn getting married, oh and Maya and Josh finally sailing.' She asked and Lucas furrowed his brows. 'Sailing?' He laughed and Riley hit his chest lightly. 'Like the ship has sailed.' She spoke in a duh tone. Lucas looked down at her and laughed not understanding teenage girls at all. 'Well I'm happy for both of them. It's gonna be great.' He cheered and Riley burst into laughter at his tone. she noticed the weird looks she was getting from people on the subway but she couldn't Seem to restrain herself. They both left the subway at their stop and Lucas put his hand in hers again. They chatted about little things while they walked to the theatre and Lucas couldn't be happier. 'We're here.' Riley Beamed happily and bounced into the theatre. She ran over to the front desk and asked for two tickets but she saw Lucas step in front of her. 'I'm paying.' Lucas insisted and Riley rolled her eyes sneaking over to the condiments. She asked for two popcorns and two cokes and quickly payed before Lucas could insist. She scrambled her way back over to Lucas and gave him a popcorn. Lucas looked down at her and sighed before reaching for his wallet. Riley waved her hand In front of him and Lucas sighed once again. 'I know it's a very white feminist thing to do. But I have to pay, it's a me thing ok. We have to deal with it.' She ranted and skipped off towards their screening. Lucas jumped behind her trying to get some of her happiness into him, which was successful by skipping, it was the safest way to travel. The reached their area and they sat next to each other in the third row. Lucas positioned himself closer to Riley. 'So is this the point where I put my hand over your shoulder while I'm pretending to yawn.' Lucas jokes and Riley giggled, she had really hoped he wouldn't do such a cheesy move and was glad he thought it was funny. 'Yeah you can just do it without the yawn. It's only 7:30 I hope you aren't tired yet.' Riley joked back and felt a buzz on her butt. Seeing as it was only the ad she took out her phone and saw a text from Maya. "Have you guys made out yet." She read and Lucas peeked over her shoulder and almost spat out his drink. 'Lets trick her.' Lucas suggested and Riley looked over at him feigning interest. 'Well what shall we do.' She asked her eye brow raised. Lucas smirked a little at his idea. 'We send her a photo of us kissing. I mean we don't really have to kiss we will just have to put a hand over your mouth, how about to Jexica ?' He joked and Riley thought about it for a second before deciding it was a good idea. Riley nodded and picked up her phone and turned on the camera, Lucas faced her and Riley faced him. 'Ok 3,2,1.' Riley spoke and went to put her lips on his. They both realised a little too late that they both didn't know who was putting the hand up. Before they knew it there lips were touching and Riley had pressed the camera button. She meant to pull away but she was so intoxicated by the kiss that she couldn't pull away, she deepened the kiss slightly by opening her mouth and Lucas followed. He wasn't sure how far she wanted to go so he pulled away her forehead on his, Lucas smiled at her and kissed her lips lightly one more time. 'Again.' Riley whispered and Lucas was happy to comply, Riley had accidentally hit video on her phone and deleted the previous Picture. They made out intensely before they heard someone cough behind them. Abruptly they broke apart and saw that the movie was starting anyway. Riley quickly clicked sent on what she thought was the photo and focused her attention to the movie, Lucas cuddled Riley and she cuddled back into him. --------------------------- Riley and Lucas both stood up and walked out of the theatre. Riley quickly excused herself to go to the bathroom and Lucas happily sat down on the seat. Riley waited in line and went to be bathroom. Once she was done she washed her hands and quickly checked her phone. Immediately she saw 10 calls from Maya, 32 texts, and 30 calls from Zay. Confused she opened her texts and read through them, her eyes widened when she saw what they were about. She quickly scrambled outside and tackled Lucas before he could read his messages. Lucas sat upright once again and looked over at Riley who was fretting. 'What.' Lucas questioned to his girlfriend who was fretting again. 'I kinda accidentally sent Maya a video of us making out and I think Zay has seen it too and wants a great Riley and Lucas story.' Riley scrambled and Lucas' eyes widened but then he just laughed. 'Riley they know we are dating. It's natural for us to do these things. I mean from now on it probably should be private but who cares. Plus Zay is just bored.' Lucas soothed rubbing Riley's back, Riley was instantly relaxed and realised that she had done absolutely nothing wrong. 'Thanks for that.' Riley beamed and Lucas smiled standing up and taking her hand. 'Dinner?' He asked and Riley nodded. 'But somewhere other than Topanga's.' She begged and Lucas smiled and nodded. They walked two blocks in comfortable silence and decided to go into a pizza place. Once they were seated and Lucas had ordered them a pizza Riley decided to start quite conversation. 'How are you liking high school? I mean other than the rough start.' She questioned and Lucas rolled his eyes. 'Hey the start was my fault and I'm kinda liking it. It's a challenge but I like an actual challenge.' He responded and Riley nodded. 'Where do you want to go to college for your vet course. I've heard Texas a&m was really good.' Riley suggested and Lucas furrowed his brows. 'Wait you've been looking up colleges?' He asked her and she looked down in shame. 'Well you know how I told you about that whole sandwich drink and cake thing?' She asked and Lucas nodded. 'Well I was also thinking about future future. Like other than bunny farmer future. I just have a lot of free time.' She tried to save herself and earned a laugh from Lucas. 'Tell me about it.' Lucas asked dazed by Rileys eyes. 'Well we go to different colleges. You get into Texas a&m and I encourage you to go but you don't like what Texas did to you. So I go to Columbia and you go to nyu but then you transfer for your masters course. We get a place together and one year before you graduate I end up pregnant. It's a surprise and all but with me working anyway it turns out to be amazing. Half way through the pregnancy we find out there's two babies, my dad Almost dies of a heart attack but in the end they help us find a bigger apartment. You end up graduating with high marks and co-own a business, we give birth to two beautiful twins and live upstate, but we don't buy things in bulk. I haven't really thought too much about anything else though.' She ranted a bit embarrassed that she had probably just creeped Lucas out a lot. She Finally gained the courage to look up and saw Lucas' smiley face. 'What about names though, I've always like the ideas of Violet and-' 'Bailee.' Riley cut him off. 'Sorry I jut have always kind of liked violet and bailee.' She looked down her cheeks heating up. Lucas' heart nearly pounced. 'I'd always thought of violet and something starting with b to be honest. What do you think you'll work as.' Lucas answered honestly. The waitress came over and gave Lucas and Riley their margarita. 'Bachelor to become a social worker. It's a short course so I'd have time to raise the kids. And maybe if you want after we have the twins we could have 1 or 2 more.' She asked hesitantly. 'As many as we want. And we'd have a big yard and a dog.' Lucas finished for her and she smiled. 'OOO and bunnies.' She yelled making herself giggle. 'Maya and Zay would probably live very close and smackle and Farkle would be making millions across the country. Your mum and dad would be like a 20 minutes away and my parents would come visit every so often. Sounds perfect doesn't it.' Lucas dazed and Riley found herself daydreaming as well. 'And when ever you were stressing about your permanent record, or going through an identity crisis, or wanting to follow the big seniors. I would be there to support you.' Lucas continued and Riley beamed, she needed that. 'And I'll help you with all your choices and when you feel like you aren't as good as others I'll help you through that. Why can't we go there now.' Riley sighed and Lucas squeezed her hand while eating his pizza. 'Because we have to get there first. We have to live through all this high school lovely dovey to get to our amazing future.' He breathed and Riley hummed finishing off her second piece of pizza. 'Oh shit it's 9:30 we better get going princess.' Lucas insisted and quickly payed for the bill. Riley and Lucas ran to the subway and just as they were about to reach the cover rain starting pouring from the sky. Riley couldn't help but laugh and start singing Galway girl. 'MY PRETTY LITTLE GALWAY GIRL.' Riley sung and Lucas watched her from afar awe'ing At the girls beauty. 'COME ON LUCAS.' She called out to him, she ran over to him and grabbed his hand pulling him out to the rain. He spun her around her top moving around slightly. Lucas had the biggest smile on his face as he watched her spin the rain dripping down her forehead. Not being able to resist he pulled Riley in and kissed him passionately. Riley popped her foot up and smiled into the embrace. After a few moments Lucas pulled away slightly. 'Ok princess we really have to go otherwise you'll have another shoe to add to your bucket.' He perked and nodded fiercely remembering her deadline. They raced on to the subway and stood by the door impatiently waiting for their stop. Once the doors opened for bleeker street they raced off hand in hand. They arrived at Riley's door at 10:42 and Lucas pulled her in for one last kiss. The electricity pulsed through there body and they both sadly pulled away. 'Those kisses give me even more adrenaline than when I snuck off to Shawn's with Maya.' She whispered and Lucas laughed. 'Yes and you left me to talk to your mum. All about my choice.' He retorted and her smile grew. 'All about you choosing me ?' She asked and Lucas kissed her lips again. 'Fishing for compliments are we.' He jokes and Riley rolled her eyes. 'By the way it was about you. Of course.' He finished and opened the door for her. Riley walked in and Lucas followed behind her. 'Goodbye Cory. Goodbye Topanga. I'll probably see you on taco day.' He fretted ready to leave when a hand stopped him. 'Riley head to bed doll.' Cory called and Riley stomped her way to bed. 'Yes sir.' Lucas spoke looking down. 'Thankyou for taking my daughter out.' He answered sincerely and patted Lucas on the back. Lucas looked at him confused and then he popped his bottom lip a little, happy about the outcome. 'Anytime sir.' He answered and then he walked out going home. Thinking about her.