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#run away and just kind of changed my mind when i found out my mom was working

thesuperiorrobin · 7 months

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𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

Pairing: Damian Wayne x Florists!Fem!Reader

Word count: 570

Warning: Damian and reader are in their twenties, mentions of flowers and their opposite meanings(hatred,Stupidly, etc) this post was on Pinterest that was taken from tumblr but lost it and now I can’t find OG creator. If you know the OG creator of if this looks familiar please let me know so I can tag them. Mentions of the word skank.

A/n: i never realize how horrible 2000s magazines were until I read some my mom kept😭 Also this is all Bs. I’m sure all of these are not right bc I looked them up.

the flower shop was quiet today, it was nice but boring. When the shop was running slow time I’m the place slows down too. And you hated it. You were stuck making sure the flowers were perfect even if they were and you were just trying to make your shift go faster. But none of that seemed to work.

You somehow find yourself reading old magazines from the two-thousands you found in the back of the shop. Your elbows are rested up against the top of the displaced case, flipping through the reach page as you read every box and bubble carefully.

“What makes a girl a skank? Huh?” Your eyebrows are furrowed as you flip the page “Two thousands magazines are something else”

(and trust me they are).

The sound of the bell ringing makes you perk up, indicating someone entered the store. You close the magazine before you walk around the display case to face the customer who entered. You stand there surprised, eyes coming in context with green ones that you recognize from pictures and the news—also ones you see everyday when you go to sleep and when you wake up in the morning.

Damian Wayne stands in front of you and he doesn’t look happy. You smiled at him, welcoming him in. You bring him in a small short hug before pulling apart. Your lips lock for a short second before pulling away again.

“Hey. It’s a surprise seeing you here today. Do you need something?”

He gives you a nod “Do you have anything—flowers, that are symbolic of hatred? Maybe stupidity?” You were taken aback by the question.

Not that many people come in asking for flowers with bad meaning towards them—normally they come in asking for flowers that mean love.

You cleared your throat. “I believe I do, follow me”

You take him further down the shop. In the back laid different kinds of flowers, separated by name and by color.

“There’s a couple I know by heart that have both good and bad meanings to them” You start off eyeing every flower carefully as you try and remember the bad. You point up at the orange butterfly weeds, and Damian follows your finger “Those are very beautiful ones but no one gets them because they literally mean ‘be warned’. Which is shameful because they always die out here”

“Is that why you have so many back at home?” Damian asked softly, placing a firm hand behind your back.

You hum “or orange lilies maybe? They mean hatred and other rough emotions. There are also carnations, which mean disappointment. You can also get black roses. Those work too. What do you think?” You look up at your lover waiting for a response as he looks over the flowers.

He pulls out his wallet “How about all that you just named?” You give him a grin. Collecting the flowers and putting them together to make a beautiful bouquet.

You ring him up. “Are these for your wife Mr.Wayne?” You tease playfully.

“Nonsense, my wife deserves better flowers that do not mean hatred” he scuffs as he plays along.

“She’s a lucky girl”

“Yes, she is” he smiles down at you lovingly. He hands you a fifty dollar bill for a bouquet that cost thirty-five and seventeen in change. He refuses the extra amount left over.

“Keep it. Use it to bye more butterfly weeds” you sigh.

When Damian made up his mind he’s too stubborn to change it.

“Who are they for anyway?” You asked. Tilting you head as you put the rest of the money away.

“Tim was being idiotic during patrol and landed himself in the hospital”

“Oh”

#damian al ghul #damian wayne #damian wayne x reader #damian al ghul x reader #damian x reader #robin x reader #damian wayne x female reader #damian wayne one shot #damian wayne fanfiction

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mins-fins · 6 months

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I WISH YOU WOULD (P.WB)

SUMMARY . . . there's so much more he could've done, so much he could've said. he hates what a stupid mistake he made, and how ashamed he was. what does scrutiny matter if he couldn't even get his feelings out in the first place?

PAIRING . . . park wonbin x male!reader

GENRE . . . angst

WARNINGS . . . internalized homophobia, homophobia in general

WORD COUNT . . . 0.9k

NOTES . . . HAPPY FRIDAY!!! 1989 tv comes out today and i wish you would has always been my favorite song on 1989 so um this is what spawned because of it 👍 i'll be back in half an hour im gonna go watch that scary robot movie lol‼️

. . . lomls @partiallyderived and @jinkiseason asked to be tagged (they wanna make me cry so bad thats so crazy 🤣) (im listening to cherry bomb)

"i love you".

if wonbin could go back, trust he would.

there's something disappointing about falling in love with your fellow trainee, your fellow trainee who is also your best friend, your fellow trainee who is also a boy. he wishes he could rewrite time and not convince his mom to change his class at school, because then he would never have met him.

and now that sounds downright ridiculous, it can't possibly be that bad can it? i mean— falling in love with your best friend as a whole is an entire kind of situation that happens in books and usually has a happy ending. what's wrong with his best friend?

nothing, there's nothing wrong with him.

it's wonbin that's wrong.

having conflicting feelings is normal, obviously, everyone experiences it when they have a crush, but wonbin didn't want to have feelings for his best friend, wonbin didn't want to have a crush on a boy.

y/n was probably one of the best people he's ever met. he's kind, and understanding, and beautiful, and humorous and pretty much attractive to anyone with two pairs of eyes, he's the perfect boyfriend material, he's just perfect.

and maybe that's what felt so wrong about having feelings for his best friend, intimidation.

well, wonbin liked to lie to himself.

yeah, that's the reason your afraid of having feelings for your best friend, your "intimidated" by his perfection, not because your scared of what others would think, other trainees, management, your parents, the world, that's not the reason your afraid of having feelings for him.

wonbin had never really spent a lot of time thinking about it, and he hates how he can practically hear the responses from people the moment he realizes his feelings for y/n.

they're staring at him like he's disgusting.

and what's worse than having people judge you? judge you for something you yourself can't control?

it's what keeps him up at night, those worries used to be planted at the back of his mind, because how would it even become something of relevance in his life? it'd never actually become real.

and maybe he's wrong for thinking such a way; after all, he can't just let others dictate who he loves or doesn't love.

but it's the thoughts in his mind slowly eating away at him that make him feel like everything's spiraling out of control. he can't date y/n, in a company like sm, in a country like korea, where if someone ever saw them together he'd be scrutinized and black-listed from the idol industry despite how hard he's worked?

it all makes him feel sick to his stomach.

how was he even supposed to tell y/n? he knew y/n wasn't homophobic but.. then there's the fear of rejection, he can't even imagine the kind of look y/n would give him if he found out. not out of disgust, but out of surprise, shock.

somehow, his mind thinks of every bad possibility as an outcome.

and just staring at y/n, sweet beautiful y/n who has no idea what he's fighting in his head, makes him fear confessing even more.

the two of them are already what i guess you'd dub "over affectionate". they do a lot of couple-y things like have matching rings, cook for each other, help run errands together, cuddle, steal each other's sweaters, cling onto each other like they were lifelines.

if everything stayed like that, wonbin would be just fine.

but of course, when has life ever been nice to him?

wonbin can't really stare at y/n without feeling like he wants to break down into tears and sob, they could be having the best time ever and he'll still have this overwhelming wave of sadness wash over him when he remembers his feelings.

it disappoints him in a way that it shouldn't..

and y/n clearly picks up on his sudden change. his flushed cheeks, mutters, and the way he seems to enjoy avoiding eye contact with him these days.

is his unusual clinginess noticeable?

wonbin usually isn't self conscious about things that like, but he guesses falling in love with your best friend makes you begin seeing things in a whole different light. he can't help but notice the uncomfortable shift in the air between him and y/n.

nothing has even been said.. so why is his anxiety through the roof?

wonbin finally snaps out of whatever dream he was having when he feels nails dig into his shoulder, squeeze them like his life depends on it. that's all it takes for wonbin to flinch, and he hates the way his reaction is so immediate, it's just more obvious that way.

y/n blinks, startled by the way he suddenly flinches. "you okay?" he inquires, and wonbin wants to kiss him so bad it infuriates him.

he shouldn't want to kiss him.

he feels like he's being pinched, and somehow he forces out a response; "yeah i'm just tired".

y/n doesn't buy his lie, it's evident in the way he stares at him for a specifically long time. "you should be fine".

wonbin pauses. "what?"

"your gonna debut, i wouldn't worry about it" y/n mutters, and he brings his knees to his chest as he rocks back and forth.

wonbin stares, hopefully not for too long, because then he'd just be looking too obvious and then y/n would ask more questions.

he really wants to punch himself at the moment.

he shouldn't feel so disgusted about being in love with y/n.

but he does.

#park wonbin #riize #riize wonbin #wonbin riize #park wonbin imagines #riize imagines #riize scenarios #riize drabbles #park wonbin x reader #riize x reader #riize x male reader #𑁍 ࣪˖ �� isa's works!

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lostbetweenvampiresandmusic · 1 month

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Hii could I request Paul and Marko with a reader who is like Lisa Frankenstein? Just some head canons if you don't really know who she is

Okay, listen, I just finished watching the movie, and I can't stop thinking about it - that last scene? Beloved wife? I told you I would hold your hand - iconic. So yeah, eh there are some spoilers here for Lisa Frankenstein.

It has gotten a little bit linger than i thought, and it's a bit more Marko x reader than Paul x reader x Marko, but the pairing is definitely there! 😅 Hope you like this!

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

"Where are you going?" Trent looked at me. His schoolbag was hanging from one shoulder, his sunglasses slowly sliding down his nose. I shrugged. "For a walk."

"Mum said you had to be home by five."

I rolled my eyes, sighing. Ever since my dad had decided to not only date but marry Trents mom, my life changed. Of course, it had already changed before. That kind of tends to happen when your mom decides to leave. And then die.

"Fine." I walked away from Trent, away from the stuffy schoolbuilding filled with people I didn't want to know. I didn't want to move here, I had liked my - miserable - life back in Santa Cruz. But, with dad being married and all, I had little choice. Moving to Santa Carla, it was. Trent was okay, I suppose. He didn't force me to hang out with him, and he'd let me be - mostly. His mother, however, was overbearing, always wanting to know everything and controlling everything. It gave me an odd, almost claustrophobic sense. And dad? Well, he was more focused on keeping his wife happy than he was worried about me. Luckily for me, it wasn't all bad. I had found a small little sanctuary hidden within the woods.

"Hello again," I said softly as I found my way through the woods. Hidden between several thick trees and bushes was a headstone. The stone itself was rather sober, only a name etched into it. On the ground in front of it, however, was a small bust of a devilishly handsome face. I assumed the face and name went together. It was a shame, really, that this guy had been dead. Had he been alive - well, damn... But he wasn't, and besides, there was this guy in my history class - Michael Emerson? - who was actually kind of cute?

I sat down next to the stone, making my homework, reading in some books, and finally feeling a little at peace. I looked up when I felt a raindrop fall on my nose, quickly grabbing my stuff. "I'll see you later, Marko!" I said softly before running off. The rain started to really pour, and I ran as fast as I could to make it back home to my place.

That night, a storm raged over Santa Carla. Rain, winds, and heavy thunder rolled over the small town. Lightning striked multiple times, but there didn't seem to be any fires anywhere. I lay on my bed, ready to go to sleep. I stared at my window. Lightning flashed again. In the bright flash of the light, I saw a shadow appear in my window, a silhouette. I shot up, looking straight straight my window. Red eyes stared back at me.

I screamed. The red eyed silhouette waved at me, motioning for me to be quiet. Who was he to tell me to be quiet? Angrily, I stepped towards the window, ready to give him a piece of my mind, when suddenly my window flew open. The man stepped inside. I froze. I wanted to scream, but nothing came out. I just looked at him. He looked at me, then at my room. The bed that was slept in, the clothes laying on the chair, the walls filled with drawings and sketches...

He slowly but surely moved towards my art wall, tilting his head as he looked at one of the drawings.

"What is it?" I asked, not sure what to do.

He just pointed at it. It was the drawing I made of Marko's headstone and the bust. I frowned. "So? What about it?"

He pointed at it again, then at himself. I frowned. Surely he didn't mean that-

"You're Marko?" I asked in a whisper. With a sly grin, he nodded. I froze, frowning. "How? Why are you here?"

This time, he gave me a genuine smile. He made a C with his hand and then waved. Puzzled, I looked at him. "Because I said see you later?"

The next morning, I was woken up early by dad. "We need your help."

Once again, he nodded. I took a deep breath.

"I- Hiw? I didn't mean for you to come and see me? I mean - you're dead! I meant I'd come back to your grave?"

Marko looked at me, a hurt expression on his face.

"Sorry! I'm sure you're an alright guy if you were actually - you know - alive?"

I could have sworn I saw his expression turn even more sad. I sighed, deciding I could deal with zombie emotions later. Right now, Marko - or whoever he really was - desperately needed a shower and some clean clothes, and I was in desperate need of some sleep.

I sighed - the woman he married had been working in the meat industry, selling blood. I didn't know why, nor did I want to know why. I had tried to tell my dad that I didn't want to help with the work on the farm, what with me not eating meat anymore and all, but apparently that was not a conversation I could have. I had no say in the matter, I had to help.

Thirty minutes later, I showed up in the barn, begrudgingly starting the work of cleaning them, when a loud metallic clang caused me to look up. One of the many pipes through which the bodily fluids moved had made the sound. I looked up, screaming when the pipe snapped and gallons of blood were poured on top of me. I dropped the shovel I'd been holding, running out of the barn, leaving bloody footprints everywhere I went. I quickly went into my shower, cleaning the blood off of myself.

When I got out of the shower, dressed in my bathrobe, I noticed Marko sitting in a dark corner of my closet. He had changed his muddy clothes for some bright coloured pyjama trousers and an old band shirt I'd gotten from Trent. He looked at me, a certain hunger in his eyes.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded, then shrugged.

"Oh! You need food!" I was already halfway through my room towards the door when I stopped and turned to look at him. "Eh - what, what do dead guys eat?" I asked.

I froze when Markos hand grabbed my wrist, finding the one spot of blood I'd missed, and slowly licking it up. I pulled my arm away from him, disgust written all over my face. "You can't just lick people!" I hissed before realisation dawned on me. "Wait, you need blood?"

That evening, Marko and I sneaked out of the house towards the barn. I had spent the whole afternoon dragging an old and rusty bathtub into the barn, placing it under the broken pipes. I told Marko to wait by the tub as I opened the faucet. It didn't take long, or blood ran into the tub, filling it quickly.

Marko nodded, grinning. I sighed. "I can get you some blood tonight, alright?"

The more Marko drank, the more handsome he became somehow. I couldn't help but feel a warmth inside me when I saw him drink, heard the moans of delight...

"What the hell are you doing out of bed, young lady? And turn the faucet off! It's bad enough that you made us lose so much product today!"

I jumped, freezed, and looked at my stepmother, not sure what to do.

"And who the hell is that? Is he drinking blood? I told your father that I didn't want you to bring your kind over to this place. He wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I knew that morbid loving people like you would only bring trouble, you freak!" She was about to scream, but before I could do anything, Marko was already upon her. Her neck was ripped open, her blood was drunk, and then her lifeless body fell to the ground. I stared at Marko, not really knowing what to say. 'Thanks' felt wrong in this situation. And yet, it was somewhat right?

"You just killed -" I stopped talking, not sure what I was going to say. "We need to bury the body," I decided, grabbing her feet, smiling shyly as Marko easily lifted the dead weight in his arms. I lead the way to the forest, back to where his grave had been - and I couldn't help but feel rather content when he dropped her body in the grave.

"Is it bad, down there?" I asked. He shrugged and then nodded. I grinned. The woman deserved it. Just a little bit. "Good."

One night, he stopped me when I was about to enter the barn. I stopped, puzzled, before realising what he wanted. "You want human blood?"

In the days that followed, every single night, I sneaked him out of the house unseen, making sure he could drink more blood. The more blood he drank, the more whole he became. The more time I spent with him, the more I realised I liked him beyond his looks. And yet, he was still dead. And yet, I still fancied Michael Emerson.

"You know, at the party two weeks ago, he spent a lot of time talking to me? And you'd think it was great, because at the time it was, but then at school he just ignored me? As if we didn't spend three hours connecting? Like, who does that?"

Marko looked at me, clearly telling me that it was Michael Emerson who did that.

"Maybe it was because I was drunk and ran off to throw up, but still. How hard is it to get a guys attention?"

Marko shrugged. I agreed - it shouldn't have to be so hard. But even with his presence, even with his clothing suggestions - no matter what I did, Michael ignored me. I sighed as I pulled the bathtub into the barn again.

He nodded.

After that meal, Marko finally began to talk. His voice was hoarse, but he could tell me about him. How he enjoyed art, how he had been turned into a vampire in the early 1900s, how his vampire family was probably still alive. In the four hours that followed Michael's death, I couldn't help but realise I had never loved Michael. It was Marko. I wanted to make him happy. It was him I wanted by my side. I took his hand in mine as we walked down the forest towards his old grave.

"Shit. I can't just give you human blood, I mean, I wouldn't even know where to get it and -" he was already gone. Quickly, I ran after him, not wanting to abandon the creature I'd come to see as a close friend. He ran towards the boardwalk, the beach - and he found a lone man. Before I knew it, he had bitten the man, draining the blood out of him. It was over surprisingly quick.

The next evening, we spent some time outside the house, lounging on the roof, when I saw Michael riding up to the house on his bike. "What's he doing here?" I asked out loud, looking to see what was happening. Downstairs, the front door opened, and Trent stood there, grinning. Not only that, but within seconds, he was kissing Michael. I looked at it with wide eyes, before jumping off the roof and screaming.

"You motherfucker!" I launched at Trent. "You knew I liked him you fucking piece of-" I stopped when I heard a pained groan beside me. Marko held on to Michael's body. His teeth latched onto his neck, draining him dry. I looked at Marko, a small smile appearing on my face. I then looked at Trent, who was about to either scream or faint.

"You're going to be fine. Just don't tell anyone about this, alright?"

"We can try and find them?" I offered.

"They'd kill you upon sight."

"But you'd be reunited with them."

He chuckled. "You may not value your life, but I've come to value yours quite a lot."

I froze. "You do?"

"You saved me."

"I didn't mean to," I admitted. "It purely happened by accident."

"Happy accidents do exist."

I smiled, laughing when he pulled me close. "I think they do."

"Are you going with?"

"Sure. Do I need to bring the shovel?" I asked, a bit enthusiastically. Of course, killing was bad, I knew that, but there was something about it that gave me an indescribable thrill.

"Nah, we'll find a bonfire." He grinned as he took my hand, leading me towards the boardwalk and the beach.

I'd started a fire while he fed, enjoying the warmth of the flames when I suddenly felt a strange presence behind me.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing all alone?"

I looked at him. "Waiting for a friend."

"I can keep you company if he's running late."

"Don't worry, he's right on time." I grinned, knowing that Marko wouldn't say no to a second meal.

"Shame he isn't here yet, " the young man chuckled, "he might have enjoyed the sho-"

I screamed as he grabbed me, pulling my head to the side, feeling his teeth grazing my skin. I struggled in his grip, moving as much as I could, trying to hold him off when finally I heard his voice.

"Get the fuck off of her!"

Within seconds, I was freed. Marko was standing protectively in front of me, staring at the other vampire. "Paul?"

"Marko? You - you were dead, man! How did this happen?"

"Lisa did. She's a bloody Saint-" I groaned at his pun. "- If it hadn't been for her, I'd be buried still."

"So you saved my mate?"

"Your mate?" I spat the words out. Marko could have told me something about that before leading me on. For weeks he'd been sharing a bed with me, for weeks I'd helped him kill and cover up, for weeks we'd been circling around each other, and now?

"You didn't tell her?" Paul asked, and then he looked at me again, a look of compassion but also curiosity in his eyes.

"Tell me what?"

"Only a mate can save a vampire from the death." Marko said. His eyes softened as he turned towards me. "I didn't want to overwhelm you more than I already did that first night."

"What does it mean being your mate?"

"So, how is he-" I pointed at Paul, "- connected to us?"

"You're one of the loves of my life."

"Aaawh!" I grinned. "That's why you killed Michael? For us?"

Marko chuckled and nodded.

"He's also my mate. And yours."

I grinned. Sure, him almost eating me was quite bad - but if you looked past that, he seemed to really care about Marko, and maybe he could also do that for me?

"So... we - the three of us? We're a thing?"

"We can be," Paul said with an enthusiastic grin. "If you want that is."

"How about I get to know you first?" I asked, smiling as Marko stood next to me. Paul chuckled. "Want to go out for a kill?"

#the lost boys #marko #david #paul #tlb #dwayne #the lost boys 1987 #tlb 1987 #star #the lost boys x reader #lisa frankenstein #lisa frankenstein spoilers #marko x paul x reader #marko x reader

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ghostflowerhotpotch · 10 months

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"A token to remember you by"

I know this topic has been talked a lot, and I sadly don't think I can make a proper analysis because there isn't much to say.

But I'm one sappy bastard and this blogs primarily focus was always to me to gush at stuff.

You know? When I saw the movie for the first time, I thought she really came to talk to her dad, and then chicken out at the last second.

Don't ask me what the heck was going with my eyes that day because it literally show straight up. Specially since is establish from the first movie that this picture is important to her.

You know I think is a testament of something that when Miles is talking about how every time he feels alone, he remembers the friends who get him.

And Gwen is doing the exact same thing.

This sentiment translates into the next movie, with Gwen remembering Miles constantly, and deciding to turn the picture into a polaroid.

I really found this interesting because nowadays people rarely have physical pictures (My mom had tons of photo albums back home, so the importance of keeping a token of a moment has always been present in my mind.) I have no idea how easy would be to turn a digital picture into a polaroid, but the fact that she put that effort when nowadays is doing it says a lot to me.

But even that pales in comparison to the moment I am actually talking about.

I think everyone has been asked at least once, "If your house was burning and you only have time to save one thing, what would you save?"

I always had a bit of a hard time answering that question myself; what has more meaning to me? What is the thing I knew if I lost tomorrow, I would regret not keeping it with me?

For Gwen, is obviously this picture, and I think once you reflect about the context of the situation, this just becomes more obvious.

Let's remember in what kind of situation she is, or at least the one she thinks she is trapped in right now.

At this point? She is homeless, OFFICIALLY homeless. To be fair I think she already was the moment her dad pointed a gun at her and needed to run, but even then I hesitated to call it that since she probably had a room or something at the Spider Society.

But at this moment? She has nothing; she doesn't have any friends (She has never referred to her band as such, even if I honestly think they would had been there for her if given the chance,) nowhere to go, and is stuck in a dimension where she has been accused of murder.

She doesn't have a way to travel to another dimensions (as far as she is aware,) meaning she cannot contact Hobie or Pav, or go out looking for Miles.

And what she does in this situation?

Get Miles' picture, and that's it, that's literally the only thing she went to get.

I wouldn't discard that she would get more of her stuff once the apartment was alone, to be honest it would probably make more sense to get some civilian clothes at least so she could have a change with her. Going into the apartment when she knew it was alone, so she wouldn't had a chance to get arrested would be more logical.

But none of this is about logic.

In a moment of desperation, all she cares about is getting that picture back, she is risking so much by doing this but none of that logical danger matters to her as much as it is having that back.

Because at her lowest moment, she looks for Miles for comfort, even if it would probably hurt like hell look at his face knowing what happened the last time they saw each other; she clings to that picture and the memory of him as the only comfort she has left.

Not her father, not Peter, him.

That last line was a good way to end, but while rewatching this scene, I realize that at any moment, we see Gwen putting the picture away, meaning she may be carrying it with her when she goes to other dimensions.

I wonder if Miles would have the chance to see it, and know, how much he matters to Gwen by how much that picture means to her.

#ghostflower #gwiles #gwen stacy #miles morales #captain stacy #atsv spoilers #across the spiderverse spoilers #across the spiderverse #atsv #ghostflower files

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kelcemenow · 9 months

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Out There.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 1343

Warnings Strong language and mentions of smoking weed.

I got a request from my Queen! Thank you for sending this in @killatravtramp and I really hope you like it! "Hi! I have a request for you! Would you be willing to write a fic where Travis meets the reader’s family for the first time, and she’s embarrassed because they’re kind of weird and out there? Thank you so much!!"

"Wait, wait, wait." You held your hand out and placed it on Travis' thigh, stopping hi from opening the car door, "Just...before we go in. I just want to remind you of what I said."

Travis rolled his eyes and smiled at you.

"No, I'm being serious. My family are...out there."

"I know, you've already said."

You closed your eyes and held Travis' hand tight, "Yeah but, they're really out there."

Travis breathed a laugh, "It's all going to be fine! Y/N, I love you and all of the strange things that come with you."

You smiled and took a deep breath before stepping out of the car, staring up at the log-style cabin in front of you. Your eyes flickered over the vast vegetable patches that ran along the left side of the structure and the tall piles of logs to your right. Chickens were dotted around the grassy area at the front of the cabin and large bulb string lights hung lazily around the porch. It was looking a lot more run down than your last visit, but you knew you parents wouldn't have noticed.

Travis stretched his arms over his head, "Wow, this is something!"

You sucked at your teeth, "Yep."

He looked at you with a smile, "Will you relax? I'm an open-minded guy. And hey, one night here...I might end up changing my lifestyle."

"Don't you dare." You glared at your boyfriend as you grabbed your overnight bag from the back of the car.

Twigs and leaves crunched beneath your feet until you arrived at the bottom of the wooden steps up to the front door. You could hear faint music coming from the house that grew louder in volume the closer you got. You turned to face Travis and quickly raised your eyebrows as you opened the door, stepping into the bright and cluttered cabin.

Travis followed you as you tried to locate the source of the music, assuming it must be where your parents were. You breathed in the familiar smell of patchouli and noticed the large new handmade tapestry hanging proudly on the wall. You turned a corner and found yourself in the lounge, a small and cosy space filled with luscious green plants and woven blankets. Wind chimes hung in the windows and clanged in the gentle breeze.

"I think the music is coming from outside?" Travis said and he pointed his thumb towards the back porch.

You peered out towards the windows, slowly making your way to the open door that was lined with strings of multicoloured wooden beads. Sure enough, you spotted your Father in an open white linen shirt and matching trousers playing the harp for your Mother who was clad in a tie-dye tank and billowy paisley pants, her eyes closed and body squatted down into the malasana yoga pose.

You cleared your throat and your Dad's face grew into a bright smile as your Mother rose from her position and ran over to you.

"Hi Mom!"

"Oh, my baby!" She grabbed at your face and covered your cheeks with kisses. "It's so good to see you."

Your Dad carefully placed the harp against the railing and walked calmly towards you, holding out his hands to yours. "My girl!" He looked over to Travis, "And her man."

Travis lowered his head and held out his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Your Dad snorted a laugh and waved Travis' hand away, "Hey, you can call me Dad." Pulling him into a hug.

"No Dad, that's weird."

Your Mom let go of your face and began picking at the air around you, "Oh darling, your aura is so polluted. This is what happens when you live in the city."

You rolled your eyes, "Why don't we sit down for some tea?"

"That's a wonderful idea! Come, let us show you what we've done."

You followed your Mom, with Travis and your Dad closely behind you, meandering through the rooms until you reached the dining room. Your eyebrows lowered when you looked to see that the dining table and chairs had disappeared. Instead, small cushions and mat were in their place. You watched as your Dad moved to one of the cushions and sat cross-legged, looking up at you with an excited expression.

"You...don't like sitting at a table anymore?" You asked slowly.

"Mmmm, we just think that this way we are closer to the earth, and besides, all of that furniture just made the room look really cramped."

You nodded, "Cool, shall I get the tea started?"

"Oh, your Mom and I traded some eggs for a handful of organic rose and chamomile tea from the neighbours."

"You don't have neighbours Dad, you have people who live in a trailer in the woods half a mile away." You said as you headed to the kitchen, Travis quickly following you.

As soon as you were out of sight, you rested your head against the kitchen cabinet, closing your eyes and breathing deeply.

"It's not that bad, baby."

You laughed as you opened the cabinet door and pulled out the wooden bowl full of teabags, "You won't be saying that in moment when you try to catch up with your emails or check your Instagram notifications."

Travis raised an eyebrow and wrapped his arms around your waist, "Baby, I think some time away from technology will be good for us, you know, reconnect with nature and really find ourselves."

You turned in his arms to face him, "Oh my God, they've gotten to you already. Did they brainwash you when I wasn't looking?"

"Oh, ha ha."

"I'm sorry, it's just most boyfriends have been freaked out by my parents and...how they are. And then it seems they disappear very quickly afterwards." You shook your head a little.

"Hey, I'm not just anyone, okay? I love you, which means I love your family and whatever comes with it."

He pressed a gentle kiss on your forehead and you smiled, returning to the wood-fired stove to boil some water. Travis helped you by grabbing some enamel mugs that you assumed your Mom had painted the flowers on. Once the kettle had boiled, you carefully poured the hot water into the cups, with Travis placing a teabag in each one.

You both carried them into the dining room, settling down on a cushion each and handing out the tea around the circle.

"So Travis, what is it you do?" Your Dad asked.

"Uh, I'm a professional football player in the NFL, sir....sorry, Dad."

You leaned towards Travis, "You don't have to call him that."

"That sounds like it's awfully violent?" Your Mom said after blowing at the steam coming from her tea.

"It can be, I do come away with bumps and bruises occasionally."

You shuffled yourself closer to Travis, placing a hand on his arm, "He's very good, Dad. He's one of the best tight ends in the league."

Your Dad pressed his lips together, "I see, well that's very good Travis."

"A tight end with a good tight end, right Y/N?" You Mom giggled.

"Mom! Oh my God!"

Travis almost spat out his tea and you looked at your Father, who was currently doubled over laughing and clutching at his stomach.

"It's not funny!"

Your Mom uncrossed her legs and sat up on her ankles, "Oh, lighten up Y/N."

Your Dad leaned over to your Mom and whispered loud enough for you to hear, "I think she needs to get on our level, if you know what I mean?"

Your Mom nodded as you switched your gaze between her, your Dad and Travis, "What?"

"You want some smoke?" Your Dad held his hand out with a perfectly rolled joint in his palm.

Your eyes widened and you could hear Travis chuckle next to you, "What is happening here?"

"Oh your Dad and I have started growing our own, it's become one of our better ideas."

Travis let out a loud laugh, "Oh, shit, man. I think I'm beginning to like it here!"

______________________________________________________________

I really enjoyed this request! And I hope you enjoy it because I did no work today! Instead I just looked at reference photos for how I imagined the house to look...and honestly, I want to live there! I've got more requests coming up, just give me a shout if you want to be added to the Taglist!

Taglist @rd14 @dandelionwrites8 @keiva1000 @fantasywritersstuff @caelipartem @anacarangel @she-lives-in-her-dreams @kkrenae @kristencochefski1125 @countrygirl120983 @charmed2000 @nouis-bum @cixrosie @delicateearthquakellama @wordsaresimple-imnot @amylouwho9 @queenisa17 @talicat713 @luvvtrent @purecinnamonextract @savaneafricaine @caelipartem @beyxgrande @caitdaniels @ezgirl1108 @vir-tual @lightsoutstyles @macey234 @s294749w @kelcemesoftly @calirindo @livinginmyfantasies @bernelflo @secretmywritingfictionlawyer @killatravtramp @there-goes-thefighter @unicornblueberry @calirindo @tjkelce87 @kristinamae093 @kmc1989 @ajbird18

#travis kelce x reader #travis kelce imagine #kelce x reader #nfl imagine #original story #travis kelce fic #travis kelce #nfl fluff #travis kelce fluff #kelcemenow requests

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crow-raven-crow · 8 months

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Can you write a Larissa Weems OS where Reader was looking after a bunch of kids and when she wanted to talk to a misbehaving child they run away so she grabs them and sets them on a table to taln to the kid eye to eye the kud kicks against the bench before the table and it falls on the readers foot. Larissa comes in with the mom of the kids, because the mom is Larissa's friend Reader offered to watch the kids, to see Reader holding back tears and a quickly swelling foot takes her to the doctor and they find out the toe is broken and Larissa comforts the Reader (that is an actual thing that happened to me on monday and I'm craving some comfort from Larissa) but write it only if it's ok for you

𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡

𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭

✧･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ :══════⊹⊹══════: ✧･ﾟ｡˚☾.･✧ Larissa Weems x f!reader words: ~2.4k

𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬/𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: description of pain, broken bones, crying, emotional tightness (holding it in), rapid thoughts, FLUFF

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: see ask above

masterlist

AO3 link in title

✧･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ :══════⊹⊹══════: ✧･ﾟ｡˚☾.･✧

𝐚/𝐧: Hey Crimson! Ty for the ask - i think this is actually a really cute idea.

HOWEVER

I’m so sorry that happened to you! That seems crazy, and I hope that your recovery goes smoothly!

I had to ask my friends and one of them thats in the med program here about breaking bones - what it feels like, what you’d get afterwards, etc - because I’ve actually never broken a bone before (HEAVILY knocking on wood rn). I tried to do this justice - i did change it sliggghhhtttlllyyy BUT I hope you enjoy!

✧･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ :══════⊹⊹══════: ✧･ﾟ｡˚☾.･✧

The rapid sounds of small, running footsteps and loud, excited screams filled your ears the closer you got to the little playground that was adjacent to the prestigious academy for outcasts. You had been a professor there for quite some time. Working with unique species and developing teenage brains every day surely gave you more tosses and turns than you expected to face when you had applied for the job some years ago, but you loved it regardless.

You pushed yourself to be someone for the students to feel comfortable reaching out towards and, in the process, created a home for yourself here with the help of the amazing principal (and now wife) Larissa Weems. You realized you fell hard for the woman after just a few months of working here - her captivating personality and kindness towards everyone made your heart swell after being enticed with the professional that could gain a rooms attention just by being present. Lucky, your company had given her butterflies as much as hers gave to you. You constantly helped each other get through the issues the growing minds threw at the both of you.. though, there was a part of you that always enjoyed the little ones.

In your spare time, you often found yourself at the daycare for outcasts that was right next to the school to give a helping hand. It was something that Larissa added when the population of outcasts grew larger. Being able to provide for this community was something you both held close to your heart, and there was a big part of you that was excited to have a child of your own. Seeing the little ones grow into their abilities was something you always found fascinating, but you always made sure to give them the most reassurance you could muster - the smaller ones often being confused and scared of something they didn’t understand quite yet.

You were lucky to find them at their playtime break outside. During this time of year, you always let out a soft chuckle when you saw the children wrapped in their winter coats and bundled up in their beanies and scarves their parents provided them - the puff of the fabrics making the children take up three times the space than they normally would. Seeing the little frosts or yeti children always concerned you at first glance in the winter - not needing such things due to their nature - but you soon got used to the sight the more you came here.

The main daycare teacher was standing next to the light post that lit the playground in a golden glow under the overcast sky. Her name was Olivia, and you’d grown closer to the younger woman the more you offered your help. She often stated how you were like an older sister to her - a thought that warmed your heart every time. She hugged her body close, the chill of the outside world going through her coat, and you couldn’t help but give a weak smile.

“Hey, Liv,” You said while wrapping your coat around the woman. “Is there anything I can help with today?”

“Y/N! Hi, thank you..” She tugged the thick coat closer to her body as she let out a shuddering breath. “We’re just staying warm, for now.. If you wanted, could you prepare some hot chocolate for when it’s time to head inside? I’m sure a lot of them will like the drink to warm up..”

You nodded and went to head into the building that stood behind her, but something caught your eye. A little lycan boy, who you immediately recognized as little Connor, was kicking and throwing wood chips in areas where other kids played. A small tsk left your mouth as you walked in his direction.

“Connnnoooorrrr?” You said with a playful lift in your voice. At the sound, he shot his gaze to you and screamed excitedly before bolting in a different direction. You decided it best to run after him, he was on a little mischievous streak after all.

“I got you, little one!” You boomed in a light tone. You didn’t want the kids to ever hold guilt for a situation but for them to understand what they were doing wrong, so you were always playful then serious when explaining, ensuring that they learned from their mistakes.

“Watch me make hot chocolate while we talk about why we don’t throw wood chips, hmm?” You picked him up as he agreed and wildly giggled, though a trouble maker, he was one of your favorites.

After helping him out of his coat, you settled him on the front table so you could look at each other at the same height. You didn’t want to intimidate him and wanted him to be honest with how he felt - it was the best move bringing him to your level.

You walked over to a cabinet to get some cups and chocolate mix. He watched your every move in genuine curiosity, your movements swift but not fast enough to disturb him. You walked back towards him, waiting for the liquid to warm before stopping in front of him.

“Now.. what do you think caused me to bring you in here, little wolf?” You watched him fidget slightly, refusing to answer for a moment. You took the moment to walk off and make him a cup of hot chocolate to warm up. While handing it to him, you spoke again.

“If I recall..” you started, offering him the small cup which he gladly accepted. “This is an issue we’ve had before, yes?”

“Yes, Ms.Weems,” he replied softly into his cup, his eyes moving to yours before his focus moved back to the drink.

“And what did we say the solution was, hmm?”

“If I want to do that with the wood chips then I should go off to the side where it won’t hit anyone..”

“That’s good, Connor. I’m glad you remembered that because we don’t want to have a repeat of-“

“But it wasn’t hitting anyone this time!! This time no one got hurt!!! Why can’t I keep doing it there!?!” The big outburst of energy from the small child caused a few things in close proximity to knock over with his quick feet and rapid moving arms. Some markers and a few plastic cups fell to the floor. The worst of it all was how his feet sent a chair down to the ground with a few large bangs that echoed throughout the room - the end of your foot breaking most of the fall…

The chair bounced off your foot and brought another wave of pain as it landed there again. At the first initial fall, a loud yelp left your lips as your eyes squeezed shut from the first wave of pain. You moved to catch yourself on a nearby desk as the chair settled itself on the floor. You felt tears begin to well up in your eyes before you could even process the severity of the situation.

Oh.. this certainly didn’t feel right.. You couldn’t bare to move your foot as an overwhelming warmth spread throughout your body - starting at the tip of your toes and quickly moving up to your head. Small waves of pain started there and made it hard to focus on anything else, making your body shudder as each one ran its course.

The sound of heels echoing down the hall registered in your mind, though the pain was so overwhelming that you didn’t give it your undivided attention or curiosity.

“It’s always so good to see you, Serenity. It’s lovely catching up with you. Let’s go ahead and grab little Connor, hmm? Right in here and- oh, y/n! Y/N?!” The beautiful accent filled your ears and eased the pain for what felt like seconds. Next thing you knew, the lovely woman was by your side softly rubbing your back. “My love, what happened?”

“Connor.. he-” you were cut off as another wave of pain vibrated through your body. She helped settle you on top of a desk and tried her best to get you to explain through the pain - every touch she gave was gentle and comforting, the love she held for you being transferred through her fingertips. Your throat burned as you attempted to get more words out, your breath running shorter by the second. “I-I don’t blame him- There.. was a little outburst but I understand why-”

Tears were now slipping from your eyes as the adrenaline slowly wore off - handing you the pain in tenfold as you held Larissa’s sleeves in a vice grip in attempt to ground yourself. Her eyes rapidly examined your face as she processed each of your words.

“Somethings broken..” You weakly managed to say, in between breaths.

Larissa, being the goddess she is, was able to handle the situation with a professional face - even if her insides were screaming at her to move and quickly get you to the hospital. She got the pair home and was able to update Olivia on the situation before helping you to the car. Her comfort never left you - a hand tracing patterns along your thigh and her angelic voice reminding you to breathe whenever your mind was too focused on the pain.

The trip to the hospital was a quick one - your wife becoming sick with worry after seeing you in so much pain caused her to make moves she wouldn’t normally make with a level head. By the time they had run all their tests and fully taken care of you, the sun had left the sky, causing the overcast atmosphere to run completely black.

Larissa walked into your room with an empathetic frown on her face. The sight of you in the hospital bed asleep with your foot elevated in a cast brought a spike of pain to her heart as she settled herself next to you. She brought your hand to her lips and kissed each of your knuckles.

“You really are something, Y/n..” She whispered, a small chuckle leaving her mouth.

You awoke a few moments later to a nice tingling feeling dancing patterns along your arm. As your eyes opened and took in the environment around you, your heart swelled as your eyes met captivating sapphire ones - you wife absentmindedly scratching along your forearm softly.

“Riss..?” You croaked out, your throat slightly dry form being out for so long. You attempted to sit up more, only to be met with a firm hand pushing you back down. You allowed the bed under you to capture your full weight as you watched your lovely wife grab a water bottle from beside her. She lifted it to your lips gently, waiting for you to drink, with her hand held out underneath to catch any water that would happen to slip from you.

“The doctor said we could go home whenever you woke, but I don’t want to leave here until you’re fully awake and ready, okay? One of your toes ended up breaking, so you’re going to have a cast for about four weeks, my love..” She brought the water down, after it seemed you had enough, as she answered all your unasked questions. “A crutch was given to you to refrain from putting too much weight on it.. and it’s advised to keep your foot elevated as much as you can..”

You threw your head back and let out a frustrated groan as the reality of the situation fully processed itself in your brain. “Can I go back to teaching though?” You asked, your voice laced with a bit of sadness because you didn’t want to set aside your passion for too long.

This caused the tall blonde to let out a loud laugh, you following in suit because you could never deny the bubbly feeling that rumbled in your chest every time you were able to make the sound come from your lover. She brought a hand up to stroke your cheek softly, your body naturally leaning into her touch.

“As your wife.. I’d appreciate if you took at least a few days off. As your boss, though.. I am making you take a few days off.” She said, laughing at her own comment. This was a little game she liked to play every so often and it never failed to make a smile grace your features. You loved how much she cared for you, and this little move was something you did to each other much more at the beginning of your relationship but said every now and then still.

After a while, you were ready to go home, ultimately just wanting to cuddle up with the sapphire beauty under some blankets and relish in each others company. Adjusting to the crutch was definately something that you would have to get used to, something your wife tried to hide her laugh at. The bruises from catching yourself so hard were making themselves known, after a while - something Larissa couldn’t help but notice.

Your determination brought you out of the room and far down the hall before you had to stop and allow your body to catch up. Just as you were about to start again, you felt two strong hands at your waist move to your upper back and your knees. Letting out a small yelp as you were lifted into the air, you looked back only to be met with your wife’s confident smirk being thrown back at you.

“Having some trouble?” She asked, the mirth laced in her tone caused you to let out a laugh.

“You know I had it.. but thank you, love..” You replied, nuzzling your face into the crook of her neck. With every breath you took, you inhaled more of her scent - the vanilla and rose making a warmth settle in your chest and a small blush sit on your cheeks. You truly would never grow tired of this.

“We can practice more as the weekend comes..” She said as you felt her strong strides make their way towards the outside of the hospital.

“I don’t know..” You said with a playful tone. “I could get used to this~ You could be my crutch,” you added with a giggle. The small comment made the blonde chuckle and look down at you. There was nothing but love and adoration in her eyes, and it never failed to give you butterflies.

You leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek and kissed along her jaw to place an ending one on her lips, appreciating the light lipstick stains they left in their tracks. You settled back into the crook of her neck as exhaustion from the day was finally catching up to you.

“I love you, Riss.” You said as your eyes fluttered shut softly.

“I love you too, my darling girl.. Now, lets get you home.”

✧･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ :══════⊹⊹══════: ✧･ﾟ｡˚☾.･✧

𝐚/𝐧: hi everyone :)

I haven't been on my socials as much because I just finished my first week back at college (YAY FOUR DAY WEEKEND - i have no friday classes cuz my schedule worked out) so I'm still slightly adjusting

BUT!

I spend some of my free time trying to write so when I saw this ask I was ONE honored !! like guys this is my first ask this was so cute ! I hope you guys liked it ! and TWO i started on it right when I saw it. It's nice to get a little break form my other writing to get some more creativity flowing

I'll be on here and my other socials more on weekends since I don't have classes, but since this is a passion it won't be strictly weekends lmao. ill be floating arounnnnnndddd

I hope you enjoyed this one! I'll be changing my page around a bit after I post this so it's on my pinned :)

~ 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐯𝐲𝐧

✧･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ :══════⊹⊹══════: ✧･ﾟ｡˚☾.･✧

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: (tagged anyone who asked/wanted to be on the "all works" taglist)

@eveymay

✧･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ :══════⊹⊹══════: ✧･ﾟ｡˚☾.･✧

#larissa weems x reader #larissa weems #larissa x reader #principal larissa weems #principal larissa weems x reader #principal weems x reader #principal weems #one shot #crowravencrow

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bruciemilf · 2 years

Note

bestie how do u think the batfam reacts to wonderbat

- quinsly

*INHALES AGRESSIVELY* WONDER MOM WONDER MOM WONDER MOM-

Dick:

SO HAPPY for Bruce but constantly teases; " If his crippling control issues aren't a deal breaker, his music taste will be" and Diana just kinda tilts her head like a puppy in her MCR shirt and is like " I love them! They sound tragic"

Absolutely gives Diana tips and advice on how to woo Bruce; He's not sure how you can improve WONDER WOMAN, but he's flattered she thinks he's the man for the job

Just excited to brag to the titans, " Well, she's not KORI but you know; Not everyone's as lucky as me"

Jason:

HELLO?! HELLOOOOO? Jason is losing his mind obvi. He has no idea how Bruce pulled it off (He does know; His father is honest, quietly kind, brave in a way thats terrifying and stupid, and infuriatingly endearing. Plus he's big on justified violence, which women always find attractive)

Is. So so so shy around Diana at the beginning. Hiding behind Bruce or Alfred (even Dami, one time), not exchanging more than a few words (usually very quick and unintelligible) before running off

This leads to Diana thinking Jason doesn't like her and she wants to talk about this, because, young warrior my heart is with your father; I don't need your permission, but I'd like to know why you dislike me :(

Jason just pulls up his sleeve, shows his wonder woman tattoo with a blank face, says " I love you so much I had a crush on you since I was 6, but I want you to be my mom. Not mommy. That'd be weird." and power walks away, looking for the nearest highway

Finds his childhood slingshot and points it directly between Bruce's eyes " Make like Beyonce and put a ring on it"

Damian:

Respects Diana a lot but will always prefer Talia; Diana isn't bothered by that and finds Damians loyalty to his mama so adorable, " Good sons make good men ^_^ good job" "... please don't do that. You're giving me positive emotions and I'm not build for those."

Demands a duel for " The privilege to court my father. Woman or Goddess, you must prove your worth" but it's the equivalent of a puppy playing tag with an angry kitten

She takes him out for ice cream and he spills about Bruce being a sappy bastard when talking about her sjsjsjs

Tim, Cass,Duke, and Steph

Tim and Steph making " you can do better" jokes @ Diana but no one's allowed to agree; I feel like Steph is just as much of a fangirl as Jason is and she fainted when she found Diana in their kitchen, watching Bruce make pancakes, OBVIOUSLY a " we spent the night together" breakfast

Tim and Diana bond over sharing embarassing Bruce stories and I NEED Diana to be the old lady who can't figure out technology

Can she punch a crater in the middle of new York and make you sweat with merely dissaproving look? Yes. Does she need to call Tim everytime to change her profile picture and look for stuff on YouTube? Yes

Diana and Duke PUPPY FRIENDSHIP! Diana reassuring Duke that she knows what alienation and loneliness feels like, and it's not a pain he has to deal with on his own

" You're enough; You've always been enough. And your father and family love you dearly, - you're the light that keeps us out of darkness. Be proud of that"

Cass and Diana but it's the " when you're a queen and you meet another queen and you talk about battle strategies" meme <333 legends recognise legends

Cass thinks she's the coolest ever, but, " What you do to him? I do to you." Without a hint of fear; There's a collective agreement around the ground. Diana smiles. She'll fit in just okay

#I LOOOOOVE WONDERBAT I LOVE WONDERBAT I LOVE-#wonderbat #bruce x diana #bruce wayne #batman #batdad #batmom #batfam #batfamily #diana prince #dick grayson #jason todd #dc #dc comics #asks #headcanons #writing

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foreveralwaysanauthor · 15 days

Text

Same Trailer, Different Park (Prologue)

April 14, 2024

Notes - Last night, I went to my first-ever DND game with my oldest nephew, and it was incredible! It's supposed to be every other week, but we're doing it again this upcoming Saturday, and the storyline is giving me so many ideas that I could use for one-shots and stuff! Also, my sciatic pain is going away. It's moved from going all the way from my spine to my right knee to just my right hip, so that's an improvement! Anyway, this was just shy of 50 pages and would have been posted sooner if I had the moodboard and divider transferred to my computer, but I didn't, so here we are lmao! The divider I've used is just temporary until I can sit down and work on one I think suits the vibe, but until then, it is what it is. Also, I hope your finals go well! I believe in you!!

April 14th - the day RMS Titanic struck the iceberg.

Usually, on this day every year, I would be prepping for a Titanic watch party and making sure everyone was ready for it, but that’s just not how it’s going to go this time around. After I get out of school today, it’s officially spring break, and I couldn’t be more excited to finally get away from this endless rain despite the deviation from my annual Titanic anniversary get-together. Riven already offered to give me a ride to school this morning, but since Mom asked me to give Abby and Olly one, and Erica’s piece of shit truck can’t go over puddles without breaking down, he’s giving her and JJ a ride instead. I have to remember to pick up stuff for my battle bot before I leave school, so I’ll tell Abby to remind me - she’s good at that kind of thing. Maybe if I take my notebooks with me on my trip, Mickie and the guys can help me figure out some ideas for what I want to build. Then, I won’t have to come up with something when I get back! Yeah, maybe that’s what I’ll do!

Vivien snapped her journal shut and tugged her headphones off before turning them off and tossing them onto her desk alongside her journal. With a sigh, she found her gaze in the mirror that hung on the back of her closet door as she made her way toward it. Despite the hair sticking in every direction, the blanket marks lining the arm she had fallen asleep on, and the wrinkled pajamas she wasn’t quite ready to rid herself of, she looked ready to start her day. Although she highly doubted she would need a cup of coffee that morning as her excitement for the day was propelling her forward like a cup full of espresso shots, Vivien knew she needed to at least look like she was half as ready as she felt.

Her reflection smiled back as she pushed the door of her closet open, but as she pulled the clothes she had set aside the night before down from her hangers, she found herself wondering if she should have put more thought into the outfit she had chosen. Would her typical choice of jeans, a witty graphic tee, and a brightly colored long-sleeve be a good choice in the long run? She would stand out like a sore thumb in the sixties, but nobody at her school would, frankly, give a shit what she wore. Her dad’s signature triple knock on her bedroom door gave Vivien no chance to change her mind as she hollered back that she was almost ready to go. He left after letting her know that he had to leave for an early morning meeting, wishing her a good morning and telling her that he would see her at lunch before leaving to tell the twins the same.

Sighing as she stretched her tired limbs out, Vivien set her cell phone on her dresser, asking Siri to put on one of her playlists as she debated on what to do with her hair. Glancing at the clothes she had yet to pack for her vacation, Vivien cringed as she realized just how much work she’d forced on her after-school self. For once, she was tragically unprepared for a trip. There was a lot she would have to do in the small amount of time between her release from school and Mick’s family picking her up. Pulling her shirt over her head with a huff and freeing her hair from under the collar, Vivien found her phone screen illuminated as a text came in from the girl who had invited her on her family’s trip in the first place.

Mick’s text was simple - a picture of four plane tickets to the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California. Then, as Vivien smiled at her phone, another message came in, asking her if she was ready. A flutter of eager anticipation flew through Vivien’s text as she replied, telling the older brunette how excited she was to finally be able to spend time with the people they both cared about. Once the message had been sent, Vivien found an ABBA song on her playlist, turned the volume back up, and sang softly to herself as she finished getting ready for the day.

After brushing her teeth and taking the time to detangle the hair she had forgotten to ask someone to braid the night before, Vivien gathered her things for school, shoving her overstuffed folder full of homework and project notes into her backpack before grabbing her permission slip for the regional battle bot tournament and shoving it into the back of her bag where it would be kept relatively safe until the end of the school day. Tucking her school laptop into her bag, zipping it shut, and throwing a strap over her shoulder, Vivien scurried out of her room, just barely remembering to turn off the light as Oliver mumbled out a good morning on his way to the stairs. Chuckling as she wished her brother a good morning, Vivien stepped back to allow Abby to parade by with her backpack on one shoulder, a book in her free hand, and her hair pulled back in a migraine-inducing high pony that Vivien was sure she would hear the girl complaining about later in the day.

Following her siblings downstairs as Abby muttered her oral report to herself, Vivien took in a slow breath and hoped her mother had already left for her meeting with some city council board as the smell of slightly charred bacon wafted through the air. Their mother had a habit of making perfect bacon and sausage for herself and everyone else but would sometimes forget Vivien’s and her ex-husband’s in the pan while she took the time to ensure her twins had everything exactly how they liked it. Vivien never bothered to bring up the issue; instead, she gave the charred bacon strips or sausage patties to Riven as he was practically a walking garbage disposal and seemed to enjoy the blackened breakfast meats. Her siblings had tried to bring it up before, and Vivien knew her father had tried as well, but to no avail. The woman wouldn’t argue much with her younger children and always denied anything being wrong, pointing out the fact that Vivien never brought it up herself, but even when Oliver argued that the disgust on Vivien’s face was obvious, nothing changed.

Entering the kitchen, Vivien smirked as Oliver turned back toward Abby and began spouting random historical facts to throw his twin off her train of thought. Abby was quick to fight back, whacking her brother with her book as she told him to shut up and let her focus. Their mother was quick to jump in and tell her only son to leave his sister alone before handing them both their lunch boxes and telling them to get going before they were late. Abby sent Vivien an apologetic look as the eldest of the O’Brian kids took the only remaining lunch box from the counter, and their mother ushered them toward the coat closet. After giving the twins a quick kiss on the forehead and telling Vivien to drive safely, the woman grabbed her jacket and left, heading out to her car and taking off while the kids were still pulling on their spring coats.

With a sigh, Vivien grabbed her keys from the hook by the door and held the door open for her siblings, but it wasn’t until they were in the pale blue Hyundai Vivien had received from their father after passing her license test that any of them chose to speak up. Oliver huffed as he slid into the back seat, buckling his seatbelt before stretching out across the bench seat and sighing, “I don’t get Mom’s issue.”

“Olly,” Vivien sighed, a soft reprimand that she hoped would keep her brother from ranting the whole way to their school.

“No, Viv,” Abby cut in before Oliver could speak, “we all see she treats you differently, and it isn’t right!”

“It isn’t,” Vivien agreed as she pushed the key into the ignition and started the car, turning the defroster on to keep the windows clear, “but it isn’t worth the effort of trying to change her. Besides, I’ve got you guys and Dad.”

“And Auntie Hayley and Aunt Charlie,” Oliver piped in.

“Exactly,” Vivien nodded, smiling at her younger brother as she backed out of the driveway.

Abby huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and slouching in her seat as she complained, “Still. I wish we knew what her problem was.”

“I have a few theories,” Oliver claimed.

Abby grinned, “We know. You’ve shown us your corkboard of conspiracy theories.”

“Yeah,” Vivien snorted, putting the car into drive and taking off down their street. “I swear, introducing you to MatPat and Shane Dawson at a young age was a bad idea.”

“Seriously,” Abby agreed teasingly. “If I have to be subjected to another three-hour rant about the government brainwashing us through Justin Beiber’s music, I just might pitch myself off of the water tower.”

“First of all, that’s not what my theory was about,” Oliver chuckled, “and second, I meant about Mom treating Viv differently.”

Shifting so that she could see both Oliver and Vivien, Abby said, “Well, you’re the conspiracy theorist here. What do you think is the issue?”

Excited to finally have the chance to blather about the ideas he had been bouncing around in his head for a while, Oliver beamed as he began his spiel, “My first thought was that she’s jealous that Vivien has a better relationship with Auntie Hayley and is upset that she’s not Viv’s birth mom, but that wasn’t an issue when we were little, so why would it be now?”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Abby nodded thoughtfully, sparing a glance at Vivien, who nodded as she slowed to a stop at an intersection. Turning back to her twin, Abby pressed, “So, what else you got?”

Oliver sighed, “Sadly, I think the most likely reason is that she’s just pissy because she thinks Viv forced me into the ‘Alphabet Soup Community’ and is scared she’ll do the same to you, Abs.”

Abby’s expression shifted, a disgusted wince tugging her eyebrows together in frustration as she took in her brother’s theory. It made sense, but she didn’t want to admit it. Though Vivien had come out as bisexual years ago, their mother never truly seemed to accept it until Vivien began dating Royce a few months ago. When Oliver came out as gay, the woman had taken the news out on her eldest child, pulling her aside and blaming her for “poisoning her baby brother” with her “disgusting beliefs.” Abby had unintentionally overheard the conversation, listening proudly to her older sister as the brunette fought for her brother to be treated better than she had been. When Abby later told Oliver what she’d heard, the pair found themselves in Vivien’s room, showering their sister with kind words of gratitude and love that the older girl seemed to relish in.

Ready to rant about their mother’s blatant homophobia, Abby scoffed; however, it was Vivien who spoke before her sister could rage for the rest of the drive, “Sadly, that could be right.” Vivien placed a hand on top of the one Abby had placed on the center console, gently squeezing her hand as she continued, “Even though I hope that’s not the case, it could very well be. She’s always been a little… uptight about that sort of thing.”

“A little?” Oliver chortled, finding Vivien’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. “That’s the understatement of the year.”

Abby laughed, “You couldn’t pull a needle out of her ass with a tractor!”

“Abby!” Vivien reprimanded despite her laughing at the girl’s choice of words.

“It’s the truth!” Abby argued. “I’m sure she would’ve sent you guys to conversion therapy or something if Dad hadn’t said something.”

Vivien sighed as she turned onto School Street, “Still. She’s our mom, and until we move out, we have no choice but to put up with her bullshit.”

Oliver shifted in his seat, ready to crack a joke in order to lighten the situation, but Abby huffed, “I just don’t get why your sexualities matter so much to her. It’s not like it has anything to do with her in the first place.”

“Maybe she-”

“And why should she care if I’m straight or not?” Abby continued, cutting off Vivien’s statement with a scoff. “Is she just going to drop all of us if I someday decide to come out of the closet?”

Once he was sure his twin was done ranting, Oliver shrugged, “Maybe. Like Auntie Hayley said, Mom can’t stand that we aren’t her little dolls who do whatever she says now. I wouldn’t put it past her if she chooses to up and leave if this becomes a three-for-three situation.”

Taking in the wounded expression on her baby sister’s face as she pulled into an empty parking spot, Vivien smiled reassuringly and said, “I doubt you have much of anything to worry about anyway. Even if you came out as bi like I did, you and Malachi have been dating for, what, almost a year now?” When Abby nodded wordlessly, Vivien continued, “Well, Mom only chilled out when she found out I was dating Royce. Since you’re dating a boy already, I doubt there would be a problem.”

“Besides,” Oliver began as he pushed open his door and picked up his bag from the floor, “you’re straight - you have nothing to worry about.”

Plastering a smile on her face as she tugged her bag up from the floor, Abby nodded, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Patting Abby’s hand with a grin, Vivien opened her door and stepped outside, grabbing her backpack from the backseat and locking the car once the doors were closed. Once her keys were safely tucked into the front pocket of her backpack, Vivien followed her siblings to the front door of the school. Before she could step inside, however, a honk from a nearby car made Vivien jump, whirling around to see Riven’s red Miata pulling to a stop by the sidewalk. Telling her siblings she would see them later, Vivien headed over to the car as the passenger’s side door opened, and a head of emerald hair stepped out before pushing the seat forward.

“Hey, Viv,” Jade greeted with a smile as she tightened her ponytail.

As Erica tumbled out of the backseat, the seatbelt wrapped around the ankle of her Doc Martens, she peered up at the brunette and beamed, “Oh, good! I was hoping to catch you before first period.”

“Mission accomplished,” Vivien chuckled as Erica hobbled her way away from the car. As the car door closed and the window rolled down, she leaned over and teased, “That’s the only car full of ladies you’ll ever have, isn’t it?”

Riven sent his best friend a grin and gestured to his fellow bandmates as he spoke, “Blues Clues over there can hardly be considered a lady, and considering JJ is the only cheerleader who has ever given me the time of day, probably.”

Chuckling, Vivien rolled her eyes and said, “You’re an idiot.”

“Love you too.”

Before Vivien could return the sentiment, Erica placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Alright, dipshits, let’s go before the bell rings and we get told off.”

Jade chuckled as she tossed her Chapstick into her bag, “By who; Viv’s dad?”

Vivien snorted at the thought of her dad reprimanding them, but Erica beat her to the punch as she turned toward her girlfriend and said, “I was thinking Coach Boogeyman.”

Leaning over the passenger seat, Riven wondered, “I thought Bogman was forced to leave after the color guard claimed she was spying on them in the showers.”

“She was supposed to,” Jade huffed, “but until they find enough evidence to take her to court, she has to finish out the year.”

“Sadly,” a voice sighed from behind the group. Turning toward the voice, Vivien smiled as her father spoke, “Until we have her on camera, there’s nothing we can do. Besides, she’s been pushing off retirement for years. With this accusation, we should be able to finalize everything at the end of the year.”

“Good,” Erica snipped as Vivien stepped around her. “She’s always given me the creeps.”

“Understandably so,” Damien chuckled softly, smiling as his daughter slotted herself under his arm. “Hey, babygirl.”

“Hey, Dad,” Vivien beamed. “Did you come to walk us to class?”

Damien shook his head, squeezing his daughter’s shoulder as he replied, “Not quite. I saw you four chatting and figured I would try to get you inside before anyone else came out and started yelling.” Leaning forward enough to see Riven, he asked, “Are you joining us, Riven, or are you just going to do virtual lessons today?”

“No, I’ll be in,” Riven quickly replied, glancing toward the parking lot with his signature grin. “Just have to find a place to park.”

“Make it quick, bud,” the man stated as he glanced at his smartwatch. “The bell rings in ten minutes.”

Riven nodded, checking to make sure his path was clear before pulling away from the curb, his Miata drifting toward the parking lot as Damien began leading his daughter and her friends inside. After handing her lunchbox off to her dad so he could put it into the staff fridge until lunch, Vivien waited until Riven came running up to the front door before stepping inside behind him, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her toward the stairwell across from the main office, waving goodbye to their friends and her father as they propelled up the stairs. Riven dragged her up to the next floor, where their lockers resided, before letting her go as he began twisting in his locker combination. Meanwhile, Vivien pulled her keys from her backpack, slipped a purple-painted one into her lock, and freed it, popping open the metal door with a sigh and placing her bag on the hook inside.

“You know,” Riven began, “it’s days like today that I wish my birthday wasn’t after the school cutoff.”

“Rough morning?” Vivien asked with a grin.

Riven scoffed as he tugged his social studies workbook down from the shelf he had shoved it onto the day before, “I slept through my alarm, and Dad was already at work, so he couldn’t help. Then, I woke up to Erica screeching about needing a ride, only to have my phone die mid-call. And, to top it all off, I’m about eighty-three percent sure these sweatpants are yours from the weekend.”

Vivien’s eyebrow lifted, but as she glanced down at the navy blue sweatpants Riven donned, her eyes widened. Sure enough, the stars and planets she had embroidered around the pockets and hemline of her sweatpants now stood as a glaring reminder of the clothes she had tossed into the wash at Riven’s house. They had been cooking stuffed shells, and she had dropped the jar of sauce, splattering chunky, red tomato sauce all over the floor and their legs. After putting the food in the oven, they got a majority of the stains out in the sink but threw their clothes into the laundry afterward to get rid of the smell. She had forgotten the pants in her rush to get out the door on Monday morning, having told Riven she would take them back when she went back to his house after spring break was over. Holding back her bark of laughter, Vivien grinned at the thought of Riven rushing around his room that morning, throwing on whatever he could find before leaving the house and somehow missing the colorful threads lining his legs.

“Yeah,” Riven breathed, rolling his eyes at Vivien’s not-so-discrete snort of laughter. “Erica thought it was hilarious.”

“It kind of is,” Vivien giggled softly. At Riven’s dismayed sigh, her grin faltered, and she glanced down at her pants as she offered, “Do you want to trade? I’m pretty sure I stole these from you over the summer.”

Riven spared a glance at the jeans Vivien had worn and grinned; the cuffs were rolled up toward her ankles to prevent them from being stepped on, and she had to wear a belt just to keep the waistband in place, something Riven had no issue with in the slightest. With a snort, he shook his head, “I think I’m good, Pip. You made these and, despite them being on the shorter side, I’m only here until lunch. I can run home and change before work after I’m done eating. Besides, they wouldn’t match your outfit.”

Vivien’s eyebrow lifted into her bangs as she asked, “Since when do you care if clothes match?”

“I don’t,” Riven shrugged as he closed his locker, “but I know you do. Now, come on, it’s almost time for the bell.”

Scrambling to grab her books for the next two classes so she wouldn’t have to run to her locker between bells, Vivien slammed her locker shut and walked alongside Riven until he reached his class. They wouldn’t see each other again until she was allowed to head to the cafeteria for lunch, but their mornings in the halls were something she had cherished for a while. Joining a few of her classmates on their way to their first period of the day, Vivien caught a glimpse of the oversized clock on the wall and sighed. She had four periods until lunch, and only two were on the same floor, but she had planned to use her study hall block to join her friend Emily in the drama wing of the main floor.

Emily - or Emmy, as she was often called by her relatively small friend group - had been begging her for the last two weeks to join her for the auditions in some musical the school was putting on. Originally, Vivien had no desire to audition as she hated the thought of having so many eyes on her, but when Emily pointed out that the auditorium was in close proximity to the cafeteria, she relented. If it meant she didn’t have to run from her study hall on the top floor all the way down to the main floor to eat, she was in.

Her first block was spent listening to Mrs. Adams - the only social studies teacher who actually seemed to enjoy teaching - ask everyone what their plans were for spring break. She loved to make the class hard as most of her students were either on the honor roll or enrolled in advanced placement classes, but Fridays were the one day a week when everyone got some reprieve from her constant stream of tests, exams, and droning lessons. By the time the bell rang, everyone had broken off into groups, writing out their plans for the week as their teacher sat at her desk with a smile, grading the last few papers on her computer. Vivien had made up a story on the fly, writing out her plans for the trip to California she told everyone she was going on, but as the bell rang, she closed her notebook and shoved it into her desk before grabbing her book for the next class and following her friend, Carter, down the hall toward the French class she had signed up for at the start of the semester.

Although she struggled a lot with the language - finding her old Spanish and German classes easier than French - the teacher commended her many times for at least trying. She wanted nothing more than to learn the language her boyfriend’s family knew, intending to surprise them on her trip. However, she knew her attempts were fairly futile. French just wasn’t her strong suit. Grateful her grade for the class wasn’t going to affect her final grades for the year, Vivien slumped into her chair in the middle of the room and hoped the class would go by faster than it usually did so that she could escape to the auditorium.

Thankfully, it seemed as though the teachers were of the same mindset as the students - eager to escape the concrete and stucco walls and leave for vacation. After answering a one-sided paper of questions in French about how their week had been, the teacher let them wander the halls, allowing Vivien to dump her books in her locker before making her way down to the auditorium. The auditorium was hardly ever used unless they had a guest speaker or a show being rehearsed, but the doors were almost always left unlocked, making it easy for Vivien to slip inside and make her way to the front row of chairs.

The auditorium would be empty for a while before the audition time came, but as Vivien had all the time in the world until her friend showed up, she didn’t mind the silence. Opening the notes app on her phone, she began typing out all of the things she would need to pack when she got home. Her list was already relatively short as she had put her essentials into her suitcase after using them that morning before school - her toiletries taking up the small pouch in the front of her luggage to leave room for the clothes she was still up in the air about. Although she knew that clothes weren’t really necessary as Mick had told her many times that she would be able to borrow period-typical clothes from them upon her arrival, she still needed to shove some summery clothing into her suitcase to make it seem as though her time had truly been spent in the California sun.

With a sigh, Vivien realized she also needed to leave room for the souvenirs she would be bringing back and any potential shopping she did in either world. By the time she had whittled down her list to just necessities, her journal, and some extra changes of, well, every article of clothing she owned, people had begun to fill the auditorium, ascending the stage and beginning vocal warm-ups that would have impressed Sharpay Evans. Vivien tucked her earbuds in as the noise in the room began to grow, only pulling them out when Emily appeared in the seat next to her, excitedly tugging Vivien out of her shell and onto the stage with her as she rambled about the show they were going to be performing for the end of the school year.

Checking her blood pressure on her watch, Vivien sighed as the drama teachers, Mrs. Kaisla and Mr. Doyle, began telling everyone where to stand before giving them the run-down of the show. “As you all know by the posters in the halls,” Mr. Doyle began, “this year’s final show will be Hairspray.”

“I really want to play Tracy or Penny,” Emily squealed in a whisper mere inches from Vivien’s ear. Grabbing Vivien’s shirt in a fist, she added, “Imagine if Colby gets picked for Link or Seaweed - it would be perfect!”

Chuckling at the girl’s obvious crush on the dark-skinned football player who had been in their friend circles since kindergarten, Vivien whispered back, “I admire your enthusiasm, but is he the only reason you’re auditioning? I mean, you hate being the center of attention as much as I do being on stage; why would you wish for the lead?”

Emily’s sparkling smile faltered as Vivien’s words sunk in but quickly reappeared as the teachers wrapped up their short spiel about the show, “That’s why you’re here.”

“To make sure you don’t look like the worst performer here?” Vivien questioned teasingly.

Emily scoffed, elbowing Vivien in the arm, “Shut up. You’re not that bad.”

“Says you,” Vivien replied as Mrs. Kaisla began ushering some students toward center stage. As soon as she was sure neither she nor Emily were part of the group selected, she added, “There’s a reason I only ever sing in the car or the shower.”

With a sigh, Emily nudged her friend closer to the front of the stage and said, “And there’s a reason I asked you to come with me instead of literally anybody else. You have a beautiful voice. Besides, I need someone here who makes it easier to be in the spotlight. Now, shush!”

Vivien rolled her eyes but smiled as Emily hushed her, urging her to watch the others as they were instructed on what to do. Minutes flew by as the group took turns singing popular songs played over a bluetooth speaker one of the boys had brought to the school. Before she knew it, Vivien felt her stomach clench anxiously as her name was called, and Emily practically dragged her to the center of the stage. Taking a deep breath as the others took turns singing, Vivien tried to think of a song - any song - she could sing at least fairly well, but any titles she knew seemed to flee her brain as her mouth dried up as she resorted to biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from fidgeting under the blazing lights.

As Emily’s choice - an 80s hit that had made an appearance in the last season of Stranger Things - began to play, Vivien realized just how doomed she was, and her mind flickered to the cell phone in her back pocket. Surely, her Spotify would have something she could work with, right? However, to her chagrin, as soon as the device was free of its jean prison, Vivien found the music had stopped playing, and she was forced to choose a song without any assistance. Had she really taken that long to decide? Clearing her throat, Vivien smiled tersely as she gave up the only song that had found its way to the front of her brain in time - ABBA’s Lay All Your Love On Me.

The teachers she hardly knew seemed to smile as they talked amongst themselves, and although a part of her was sure they were talking about how easy the song was to mess up, Emily’s encouraging smile from the side of the stage somewhat assured her that all was fine. Closing her eyes as the music began playing, Vivien attempted to force her fears down as she sucked in a deep breath. All she had to do was get through a section of the song, and she would be free to leave as everyone else was. Pretending she was just singing in the car with Riven, Vivien allowed her voice to carry over the music, her enjoyment of the song obvious as she began to sway to the beat, the lyrics flowing out of her like water.

Once the chorus had left her, the music began to fade, allowing the teachers to be heard as they scribbled something on their clipboards. Looking up at her, Mrs. Kaisla smiled and said, “Thank you, Vivien. You’re free to go.”

“Remember to check the cast list when we come back to school,” Mr. Doyle added before gesturing toward the side of the stage, where Emily received her with a hug and a squeal.

The two made their exit relatively quickly, Vivien practically pushing Emily through the double doors so that she could find a source of oxygen in the halls. Once the auditorium doors had closed with a click, Vivien sighed, checking her blood pressure as a wave of anxiety-fueled dizziness washed over her. After making up a quick excuse as to where she was going, Vivien told Emily she would see her after lunch before making her way to her locker, where she kept her water bottle. Sitting on the floor by her locker, Vivien sipped at her water until the bell rang, forcing herself to calm down as she scrolled through Pinterest.

Before long, Jade and Riven appeared, having left the same class Vivien would have to attend after lunch - World History. They hauled her off of the floor, and Riven tossed his books into his locker before draping an arm around Vivien's shoulders and guiding her toward the stairs while Jade rattled off about the teacher - Mr. Smith - being the most boring teacher in the school. After retrieving Vivien's lunch from her father, she joined her friends at their usual table by the windows on the far wall of the cafeteria, spending their lunch block playing a segment of their Dungeons and Dragons campaign on their phones while eating.

After a while of playing and eating, the bell rang, and they cleaned up their table before tossing Vivien's now empty lunch box into Erica's locker near the gym before saying goodbye to Riven and splitting off to their respective classes. For Vivien, the rest of her classes went by without a hitch, time flying by the way she had hoped all morning that it would. Once her final class of the day ended, Vivien sent a quick text to the group chat she and her siblings had created, telling them that she had to drop off her form for the battle bot tournament and would meet them at the car. Making her way from the top floor to her locker, Vivien gathered her belongings, shoving her water bottle and a small bag of Cheetos her Trigonometry teacher had given her into her backpack before slinging her backpack onto her shoulders.

Once she was back on the main floor, Vivien scurried across the hall, rounded the entrance to the office, and took the stairwell across from the vending machines down to the school's basement. As she descended the stairs, dampness and mildew filled her nostrils, making her nose wrinkle in disgust as she pushed the door to the bottom floor open. Hardly anyone visited the basement unless they had to, as there was little to see, but there were a select few who found comfort in the almost eerie silence and smell the basement offered. While the basement wasn't overly dark or dreary, it never quite felt warm enough to give off the same welcoming feeling the upper parts of the school gave.

Perhaps it was the piercing white light of the fluorescents or the steady beeping from the computer lab that sounded almost exactly like a hospital heart monitor that kept people away, but regardless, there were only a handful of students who enjoyed the ominous, cold, almost abandoned feeling the basement radiated. Vivien was one of those odd students. After years of exploring abandoned buildings with Riven for his photography blog and her Instagram, the smell and cold environment of the school's basement did little to drive her away. If anything, it was almost calming.

There weren't many reasons for most students to visit the basement, as there were only three labs and two committees that met there. The chemistry, robotics, and computer laboratories were in a triangle-like formation at the very end of the hall, while the photography and student politics groups met at the other end of the hall, their rooms across from each other and sharing a single wall that was thin enough to hear conversations happening in the other room. Vivien hummed to herself as she stepped around an old projector that had been wheeled into the hallway, grinning fondly at the memory of having to haul the old machine up the stairs to the top floor for one of the summer school teachers while helping her dad out in the office. Stepping into the Bermuda Triangle of classrooms at the end of the hall, Vivien scanned the names beside the doors before making her way toward the left-most room.

The door to the robotics lab had been kept open with a hunk of metal the teacher, Mr. Kevin Hill, had welded in his free time one summer. Mr. Hill was one of Vivien's favorite teachers of all time. Mr. Hill was a short Irishman with a fondness for taking things apart and rebuilding them, something Vivien could appreciate. There were a few other students in the room - Vivien's bandmate, Erica; Damon Perry, a vitiligo-skinned freshman who hardly spoke around upperclassmen unless he was spoken to first; and Preston Osborne, a senior who thought his shit didn't stink because he had more money than he knew what to do with.

Unlike the rest of the handful of rich kids at their school, Vivien had known Preston by extension for years. He had been something of a nightmare for the school system, using his daddy's reputation as a hotshot lawyer in the city to be a dick to anyone who dared push back against whatever he wanted. According to Erica and Jade, Preston wasn't horrible until middle school, when the older kids began picking on him. One threat of a lawsuit later, Preston officially became known as someone nobody wanted to trifle with. Over the years, Vivien had heard her father complain about the boy and had heard horror stories from teachers who'd had him, but Vivien hadn't known him personally until she became the youngest person from their school ever to win the regional battle bot championship.

In her first year fighting back in seventh grade, she had beaten Preston by a long shot, her little, ladybug-shaped robot tearing Preston's robot apart with its electrified saws. Preston, of course, seemed incapable of taking the news well, having argued with the competition's judges until he was forced to either accept defeat or be disqualified. Ever since that day, Vivien found herself with an upperclassman who thought of her as nothing more than his arch-nemesis. Though she found him obnoxious after a while, Vivien hardly played into his made-up game of tug-of-war unless provoked, something that seemed to piss Preston off more instead of making him see how ridiculous he was being.

Rolling her eyes at the imbecile's glare, Vivien signed her name on the clipboard on the teacher's desk, taking a glance at the competition as she allowed her backpack to slide down from her shoulders. The robotics teacher was supposed to supervise from his desk as Erica, Preston, and Damon scoured the materials the teacher had laid out for them to take, but Damon had somehow managed to ask a question that kept the old Irishman talking while Erica and Preston searched the scrap bins the teacher had left out for them to rifle through. The bins would be there until the day of the competition, giving Vivien plenty of time to come up with a model and a mock-up before she started digging through the bins of scrap metal that, hopefully, wouldn't be sending anyone to the hospital for a tetanus shot that year.

As Mr. Hill stepped away from his conversation with Damon, he found Vivien standing by his desk as she dug through her backpack for the paper she swore she had left in the front of the biggest pouch. "Ah," the teacher began, "Miss O'Brian. I was wondering when you would show."

Vivien peered over at the teacher and smiled before resuming her search, "Well, better late than never, right, Mr. H?"

The graying man smiled with a short nod as he sat in his chair once again, "So far, I have only received a couple of sign-ups, so your competition from our school is looking rather small. Do you have an idea for what your battle bot will look like this year?"

"You know I can't tell you, even if I do," Vivien stated as she tugged her permission slip out and handed it to the teacher. As Mr. Hill glanced over the paper with mild interest, Vivien stepped away from his desk and looked over some of the objects the teacher had prepared. She picked up a few metal pieces she could use for either a weapon or a protective shield and placed them in a plastic Walmart bag that Mr. Hill had left out for the students to use. "Besides, I wouldn't dare divulge my secrets to my enemies," Vivien claimed theatrically as she glanced around at the other students in the room.

Erica leaned forward just enough to stick her tongue out at Vivien, placing a couple of springs in a plastic bag the teacher had given her. Damon simply smiled but kept quiet as he signed out a workshop tool that he'd need to return in the next two weeks. Vivien returned his smile and chuckled; in the few years she had known him, Damon had always seemed to be a very quiet, reserved person, but he seemed to come a little bit out of his shell when it came time for battles such as this one. However, as opposed to his silent competitors, Preston Osborne scoffed at Vivien and rolled his eyes as he turned toward the brunette.

He used the wrench he was holding to point at Vivien, watching her with scrutiny as he spoke, "After last year's height requirement debacle, I doubt anybody would take your advice."

"What?" Vivien began sarcastically, her voice taking on an infantilizing tone. "Are you still upset that mine was bigger than yours?" Ignoring the snorted bark of shocked laughter from her blue-haired friend, the brunette, never one to back down from a fight with the arrogant male, moved so she could look Preston as straight in the eye as her shorter stature would allow. "At least you could see mine in the ring. Everyone needed a pair of binoculars to see yours; it was so small."

Preston stared down his nose at Vivien before chuckling condescendingly, "At least mine didn't need a judge to do a height check last minute."

"Yeah, and? Who won that battle again?" Vivien asked rhetorically. Gasping dramatically, she placed a hand over her chest and answered her own question, "Oh, right! Me."

"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?" Preston retorted with an arrogant scoff. Then, his voice lowered as he hissed, "My dad could sue the shit out of your family. I'd run you and your whole family out of town."

"I don't know who told you that, dipshit," Vivien laughed, "but your daddy's got no power here and neither do you. In fact, I bet your 'big city lawyer' father would love to hear all about how often you try to threaten people in this school. Threatening bodily harm is a potentially jailable offense, you know. I can see the headlines now!"

Vivien pretended to gag as Preston leaned closer, his breath polluting her face as he snarled, "That big mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble if you don't shut it."

"If you think my mouth is big, I feel bad for your girlfriend." Vivien paused, gave a mock gasp, then added, "Oh, wait, you don't have one. Do you, shrimp dick?"

"Look, you little bitch, I-"

"Mister Osborne, Miss O'Brian," Mr. Hill interrupted, rising from his seat before the argument could get any worse. "I believe this argument will get you nowhere. Mr. Osborne, as you have already gathered your things, I suggest you sign out any tools you may need and leave before this ends up as another after-school detention for you. Miss O'Brian, please continue looking around for any particular parts you may need."

Vivien nodded and waited for Preston to back down and storm off before she resumed her perusing, allowing the teacher to handle Preston as he approached the desk. Mr. Hill was one of the teachers who always formed his own opinions of the children who came into his class, regardless of their notoriety. The man didn't care about who the kids' parents were; he would treat him the same way he would treat any student. Vivien knew from Riven's occasional photography classes at the community college that Mr. Hill had taken opportunities to float around the different universities in the area, teaching robotics and photography when he wished; if he got fired from this school for not babying Preston or some other Karen's spawn, it probably wouldn't be a hard blow. Maybe that was why Vivien, Erica, and most of the other students who didn't like Preston liked Mr. Hill so much.

Soon, but not soon enough, Preston left and took his bags with him, and Erica flipped him off as he disappeared down the hallway. Turning toward the grinning Vivien, she beamed, "Bitch, you handled him so much better than I would have."

Vivien smiled as she tossed a handful of small springs into her wagon. "Thanks. I just- I can't stand him."

"Who can other than his parents?" Erica scoffed, "His head's so far up his own ass, I'm surprised he can walk straight."

"I have to agree with you," Mr. Hill piped in as he sat back in his seat. "Although Preston makes fair marks as far as I am aware, he rides on his father's reputation to keep himself above everyone else. Though, as a teacher, I must advise you change your approach, a couple of wounds to his pride will, hopefully, do him well over time."

"I doubt he'll change," Vivien said, shaking her head, as she examined a small shell-shaped piece that could be used as a cover for her robot.

The teacher returned to the book he had been reading, and Erica nodded in agreement before taking a battery holder and putting it inside her bag. She looked at Vivien's bag and shook her head at how much the younger girl had already stored away. "Well, I'm looking forward to being annihilated by you again this year, as always."

Vivien knew the other girl was only joking, as Erica had told her before that she only entered the battles for fun and found it interesting to see how far she could get. With a smile, Vivien chirped, "And I look forward to annihilating you, as always."

Erica laughed, giving Vivien a quick hug before leaving, claiming she and Jade were getting a ride to work from one of the girls on the cheer team who worked at the mall with them. Once her friend was gone, Vivien went back to picking out parts for her robot, picking out items she thought could be of use and tucking them into the bag that had begun to weigh her arm down. The brunette spent another handful of minutes in the classroom before deciding she had enough things. As she placed her heavy bag inside another, she tied the handles in a knot and said, "Well, Mr. Hill, I believe I'll be on my way."

"Actually, Miss O'Brian, I have to go over the rules for the battles before you leave," the teacher claimed, tucking a bookmark into the novel he was reading before pulling a paper from his desk drawer. "Normally, I would wait until I have you in class, but since we won't be back in school until after spring break, now is as good a time as any."

Vivien accepted the paper from the teacher, reading over the first couple of rules before nodding to herself. "Did they change them or something?"

"Not exactly." Mr. Hill stood and made his way around the desk, sitting on the other side of the surface as he pointed out some of the notes at the bottom of the page. "The officials are new this year. They've agreed to keep the three-foot height acceptance, but they've eliminated the use of robotic arms that can be used to puncture another robot from the maximum height - as you can see here."

"Let me guess, that rule was made because of my robot from last year?" Vivien pondered.

"That would be my guess as well," the teacher agreed with a grin. "While that robot of yours was quite impressive, you have to keep it short if that's your plan this year."

Vivien shook her head, knowing that wasn't her idea at all. She liked to change things up every year, never showcasing the same attack twice. Thinking for a moment, Vivien scanned over the jumbled nonsense on the page that she would probably hand off to Mick the moment she saw her and asked, "Are saws and shields still allowed?"

"Yes, of course," Mr Hill said, nodding insistently. "It would be very hard to take that ruling out. Just remember that you need to have your robot done by the first of June. The following week, the judges will go through the ruling process. Any final adjustments will have to be made before the end of the school day on Friday, the ninth. The first day of battles will be Saturday, and Sunday will be finals and awards, as per usual."

Vivien allowed herself a brief moment to process the information before nodding, a smile lighting her face as she spoke, "That sounds good to me." Picking up her backpack from the floor, Vivien folded and tucked the paper into the pocket of her jeans and headed out of the classroom. It wasn't until she was near the stairwell that she heard her name being called again. Turning toward the voice, she found Mr. Hill standing in the doorway of his classroom. "Yeah?" she called in return.

"Just something I meant to tell you before you left." The teacher held his book up a little, a gesture that made Vivien believe he was going to quote something from it, yet, without looking down, he began speaking once more. "Those who are willing to work hard - day in and day out - to achieve their goals are the true winners, regardless of the scores or the judges' opinions. I don't doubt that you are one of those hard-working people, Vivien; you know what you're doing. Your skills never cease to amaze me, and I hope you prove me right again this year."

With a raised brow, Vivien asked, "Prove you right, sir?"

"I've been an AP Robotics teacher here for twenty-three years," Mr Hill said. "It's not often that I have someone in my class throughout junior and senior high school. Other teachers said I should have booted you down to the regular class with Miss Denis, but since the day you first walked into my class, I knew you had potential. Since then, you've proved them wrong every step of the way. I commend you for that."

Vivien stood in place for a moment, stunned at her teacher's kind words. "Thanks, Mr Hill. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't, Miss O'Brian. You never do. Have a nice evening," he replied before turning back to his book and stepping back over to his desk, leaving Vivien standing alone in the hallway.

Vivien stared at the spot Mr. Hill had previously occupied, letting out an airy laugh as a brilliant smile found its way onto her face. Taking in a deep breath, she straightened her posture and turned toward the stairs, propelling herself up them with newfound confidence. Her bag of assorted metal bits jangled, clanking together in a symphony of scrapes and tings as she ascended the stairs. Once she had reached the main floor, Vivien retrieved her lunch box from Erica's locker. The girl's four-digit code - 8104, Erica's birthdate and year combined - was one of the many Vivien kept in her notes app in case her friends ever forgot them, and even though she was sure Erica couldn't possibly forget her locker combination, Vivien enjoyed knowing that, if her friends needed her to, she could help them.

After tugging the lunch box out from the chaos that was Erica's locker, Vivien rushed to the office, saying a quick goodbye to her dad before heading to the main entrance, pushing open the first set of doors before lifting the hood of her jacket over her head and hoping her siblings had gotten the spare key to her car from their father as rain poured from above. Shoving open the door to the outside world, Vivien watched as rain slammed down in sheets, taking a deep breath before bolting into the freezing rain, letting out a shrill screech as she scurried across the parking lot to her car. She threw the door open and jumped inside, grateful her siblings had already started the car's heater, as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Abby smirked at her sister's reflection in the rear-view mirror as Vivien shivered in her seat, and with a snort, she asked, "Bit chilly, sissy?"

Turning back toward her little sister, Vivien nodded and sighed, "You could say that." Hauling her backpack and Walmart bag of metal parts over the gap between her seat and Oliver's, Vivien asked, "Can you hold onto these for me, Abs?"

Peering back as Abby placed Vivien's belongings on the seat next to her, Oliver asked, "You're doing the championship again this year?"

"When doesn't she, Olly?" Abby asked rhetorically as Vivien backed out of her parking spot. "She fights every year, and every year, she wins."

"I know that; I'm not stupid," Oliver retorted.

"Debatable," Abby shrugged.

Ignoring his twin, Oliver said, "I just thought that, since she was going on vacation, she wouldn't be participating this year."

"I'll have plenty of time," Vivien claimed, putting the car into drive and steering it toward the parking lot's exit. "Besides, I'll be with Mickie for a whole week. If my battle bot isn't at least halfway done by the time I get back, then one of us either got sick, somehow got pregnant, or died."

Oliver let out a snort, "I mean, fair enough, but aren't you going to do anything fun while you're in California?"

"Building things is fun," Vivien retorted, flicking on her turn signal and glancing both ways before pulling out of the parking lot, "but yeah, we're going to the beach, checking out some museums, and we might visit Disneyland if we have the time."

Leaning forward between the front seats, Abby asked, "How is it possible that Oliver and I might have a more entertaining spring break than you?"

Sparing a glance at her siblings, Vivien asked, "What do you mean?"

With a smile bright enough to put the sun to shame, Oliver announced, "I'm going with Markus' family to New Jersey so we can check out that American Dream place with the indoor water park and ski slope."

"Really?" Vivien asked. Muttering more to herself than anything, she added, "I'm surprised Mom allowed that after you broke your ankle the last time you went on a trip with them."

Abby hummed in agreement before speaking, "And I'm going with Brynna's family to Great Wolf Lodge for her birthday."

"Those sound fun and all," Vivien admitted, "but how is that more fun than literally going across the country?"

"Because you're going to be doing nerd shit while on vacation while we're having actual fun," Oliver stated blandly.

As the car slowed to a stop at a red light, Vivien turned toward her brother with a knowing look, "You say that like you won't be spending hours upon hours researching some cryptid or something with Markus in the hotel room." Peering in the rear-view mirror, Vivien found Abby's gaze and said, "And, Abby, we all know that you and Brynna will spend your time playing with her little siblings instead of just hanging out."

Abby opened her mouth to argue but quickly shut it again as she let out a soft sigh, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Just because it's spring break doesn't mean we somehow magically turn into party animals once we're on vacation," Vivien claimed with a shrug as the light turned green, and she continued onward. "We've been ingrained to be responsible regardless of where we are, but I'm sure we'll all still have fun being boring with our friends."

Although they constantly joked about going to big house parties at their friends' houses and getting absolutely trashed on whatever alcohol they could find, none of the O'Brian siblings had actually ever gone to a big house party or willingly gotten drunk. Most of the people at their school weren't interested in big parties either as it would be increasingly difficult to get all of their friends in one town. Since their school was regional, kids from towns almost an hour away would be shuttled in on the handful of school-choice buses, making it hard for big parties to really be a thing. Besides, many, if not all, of the friends the O'Brians had made at the school were relatively introverted kids who cared more about their studies than getting wasted, making their running joke of getting drunk with their friends even more preposterous.

Abby peered out the window at the rain as Oliver said, "You know, I kind of like that we're boring."

"Oh, yeah?" Vivien asked, glancing at her brother as she checked whether or not she could cross through the intersection.

"Mhm," Abby nodded in agreement.

"It means our parents let us hang out with pretty much anyone without really caring," Oliver claimed. "Even if our plans were to go out and do dumb stuff at a friend's house, they wouldn't think anything of us going over there."

Abby thought for a moment before saying, "That's true, but we also would feel pretty bad if we took their trust in us for granted."

This time, it was Vivien's turn to hum in agreement, "Yeah."

For the first time since her parents gave her permission to join their neighbors in their house in California, Vivien felt wary about her decision. Although she knew that they had no qualms about her going to California as they had known the Birch family longer than Vivien had been alive, they had no idea about the other universe they would be taking her to. She had no plans of telling them about it as she had promised to keep it a secret from literally everyone she knew, but the thought that she was, for the first time in her life, taking advantage of her parents' trust to go off galavanting in a world they had no idea about. Even though she had no plans of doing anything wrong or illegal while there, a knot began to form in her stomach at the idea of letting her parents down for keeping such a large secret from them.

Taking a deep breath as she pulled onto their street, Vivien pushed her thoughts aside, allowing her excitement to fill her once more. She could worry about it later when she had Mick to talk her through every insignificant problem her mind could sprout up. For now, she had to get ready for the trip, and with a limited amount of time to get all of her clothes folded, she needed to focus on that. As Vivien's blue Kona pulled into the driveway, their mother stepped outside with a few umbrellas, making her way to the end of the walkway and waiting for Viviebn's car to stop. As soon as the car was in park, Chelsea held her umbrella over the passenger's door and opened it, handing her son an umbrella as he stepped out with his backpack.

Wrapping her cardigan tightly around herself, Abby tapped Vivien's arm and said, "I'll take your metal stuff in so it doesn't get wet."

"Are you sure?" Vivien asked in return as Abby handed her the purple backpack she had kept an eye on during the trip home. "I can take it."

"That's okay," she replied. Once the front passenger's door closed, she quickly took hold of the Walmart bag's handles and added, "I don't think Mom bothered to bring out your umbrella, and I don't want them to get wet."

Hoping to save her sister from having to lug the heavy bag inside, Vivien tried to gently argue, "I'm parking in the garage, Abs, it's not a long walk to the door."

"That's okay," Abby shrugged. "I've already got it. I'll bring it up to your room for you."

Before Vivien could say anything to the contrary, Abby grinned, pushed open her door, and slid out, taking and opening the umbrella her mom handed her before slamming the door and rushing to the house with their mother not far behind. Left with her mouth still open, Vivien breathed, "Thanks," before shaking her head fondly and pressing the button to open the garage. Once her car was parked in the spot furthest from the door, Vivien slid out of her seat, pulling her backpack with her. Glancing out at the pouring rain, the brunette sighed, hauling her backpack onto one shoulder and gripping her keys in her free hand as she rushed into the downpour with a squeal, closing the overhead door with a single click as she raced toward the front door of the house.

Once inside, she closed the door, grateful for the warmth of the house, as she trudged her way to the coat closet and began taking off her now-soaked sneakers. Loki soon joined her on the floor, licking the water from her cheeks as she tossed her sneakers onto the drying rack alongside her siblings' shoes. Running her hands through the dog's fur, Vivien felt herself calm as she thanked the dog for his warm welcome. Pushing herself from the floor, Vivien ascended the stairs with her backpack and her Saint Bernard, grateful her bedroom was near the landing, as Loki shoved his way into her room and onto her bed. With a sigh, Vivien rolled her eyes at the oversized puppy and dropped her backpack onto the floor at the end of her bed, plopping herself onto her mattress as she debated how much time she had to pack.

Not even a minute into her procrastination party, Abby stepped into the room without so much as a knock, snickering at her older sister's dawdling as she passed by. "You know, lying there like a limp spaghetti noodle isn't going to help your bags get packed."

"Okay, Mom," Vivien huffed with a smirk, missing the way Abby visibly winced at being compared to their mother. Taking in a heavy breath, Vivien pushed herself from the bed and sighed, "Is it weird that I'm not ready for this now that I'm leaving?"

"Not really," Abby shrugged as her sister entered the closet and pulled her suitcase down from the top shelf. "You get this way before out-of-state competitions too."

"This is different from comps," Vivien said as she placed her suitcase on the end of her bed and opened the shell. "I don't usually go far without you guys."

Stepping up behind her sister, Abby placed a hand on the older girl's back and smiled once she had Vivien's attention, "You'll have tons of fun and you know it. I'm sure you'll forget all about us once you land."

"That's impossible, Abs," Vivien breathed, pulling the lighter-haired brunette into a hug. "I love you guys too much to not miss you."

Lifting her head enough to see her sister's face, Abby replied, "Trust me, you'll be sick of us by the end of the week. Dad will keep you updated with pictures of Loki every morning like he does when we go to camp, I'll send you pictures of the lodge and everything interesting I see, and I'm sure Olly will send you paragraphs of random facts he and Markus found online while they're away. By the end of vacation, you'll be so sick of us that you'll want to get away the minute you come home."

Vivien laughed, "Probably, yeah."

Stepping out of her sister's hold, Abby grinned and said, "Now, come on, we have packing to do."

Allowing her sister to take the reins, Vivien headed into her closet to figure out what clothes she wanted to bring, hauling her plastic bins of summer clothes down from the top shelf as Abby headed into her en-suite bathroom to pack up the essentials Vivien had typed out on her phone. Once Vivien had fished out a handful of clothes she wanted to bring, she brought them to her desk and dropped them in a heap in her chair. By the time Abby finished getting stuff out of the bathroom and into the suitcase, Vivien was halfway done folding her clothes, something Abby had helped finish in record time. After reassuring her sister that she would be borrowing swimwear from Mick's closet upon her arrival, Vivien threw a couple of pairs of shoes into the mesh pouch on the lid alongside her journal and the astronaut-shaped galaxy projector she kept on her bedside table as a nightlight.

With her packing done quicker than she had anticipated, Vivien sent a text to Mick that she was all set before grabbing a dry hoodie from her closet and hauling the suitcase to the main floor of the house, leaving it near the coat closet so that she could slip on some shoes and get out the door as quickly as possible. Once everything was in place, she and Loki joined her siblings in the living room, where Oliver had begun setting up Mario Kart on the Switch. Sitting in the space the twins had left for her, Vivien took the purple joy-con from the coffee table and slouched into the comfort of the couch cushions as Loki took his place on the floor by her feet.

As she chose her usual character, Yoshi, Vivien's phone dinged, and she pulled it out of her pocket, giving her siblings the chance to argue over who got Baby Bowser. Unlocking her phone, she opened her dad's text and smiled. Peering over Abby's head to where their mother was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping at her freshly-made smoothie while she presumably scrolled through her Facebook, Vivien rolled her eyes and went back to her conversation, thanking their dad for his offer of dinner and asking if he could pick them up their usual McDonald's orders before tucking her phone between her thigh and the couch and picking up her joy-con once again. Breaking up her siblings' argument with ease, Vivien started the game. Once they figured out who got which character, the three of them quickly got immersed in their battle for the first place.

As Oliver overtook Vivien for second place in Coconut Mall, leading the oldest of the siblings to cuss him out and jab him with her elbow, the front door slammed shut, alerting the whole house to the new visitor. Loki let out a bark as he rose from the floor, abandoning his post as the protector in favor of following the smell of french fries and cheeseburgers to the front door. The kids called out greetings to their father as they entered the final lap of their race, getting a chuckled response as Damien made his way through the entryway to the kitchen. Damien set the flimsy drink tray and paper bags plastered with golden arches on the kitchen counters, ignoring the look his ex-wife sent him as he began pulling fries and boxes from the bags and setting them out according to which family member had ordered what.

By the time the kids had finished their race, Chelsea had begun arguing with Damien about the quality of the food he had brought home, but the man seemed unbothered by her attitude, pushing aside her frustrations as the children approached. Stepping aside to allow them access to their meals, Damien accepted quick hugs from each of his children and asked them how their school days had been before following them to the living room. As Abby began to explain how her usually strict English teacher had them watch a movie as he had a migraine, Vivien sat cross-legged in her usual space on the far end of the couch and put one of the throw pillows over her lap so that the plate she put her food onto wouldn't fall.

After her siblings had rambled about their days, Damien turned to Vivien and asked, "What about you, babygirl? Anything fun happen today?"

Vivien shrugged, swallowing her mouthful of french fries before replying, "Not really. I signed up for the battle bot tournament after class."

Before her father could say anything, Abby butted in, "Alix said they saw you at the first round of auditions for the musical. I told them there was no way 'cause you hate being on stage, but they said it was true."

"It was," Vivien admitted before taking a bite of her burger.

Oliver choked on his chicken nugget, coughing a few times before swallowing thickly and asking, "Wait, seriously?"

Nodding, Vivien dipped her sandwich in a pile of ketchup and said, "Yeah. Emily wanted to audition, but didn't want to go alone, so I stepped in. It's not that big of a deal."

"It's a huge deal!" Abby squawked, twisting so that she could see her sister better. "Alix said the drama teachers were thinking of cancelling the other auditions because of you."

"Bull," Vivien scoffed, carefully avoiding the rest of her accusatory cuss as she felt the growing heat of her mother's gaze. "It wasn't even a meaningful audition. I sang some ABBA and ran for the hills; there's nothing impressive about that."

"But Alix said-"

"Alix could have heard wrong," Vivien argued, cutting off her sister's statement before it could spiral out of control. "Besides, even if they do choose me - which they won't - I'll just step down and let the understudy take whatever role I get."

"That would be for the best," Chelsea stated as she stabbed her fork into the grilled chicken salad her ex-husband had bought for her. "We've all seen how you get on stage at your grandparent's camp; putting you in any leading role in front all those people would be so much worse."

Ignoring their mother's statement with a roll of his eyes, Oliver turned to Vivien and said, "You can't back down."

Vivien grinned, sending her brother a curious look as she asked, "Why not?"

"Because!"

"That's not a reason, Olly."

"But it is," Oliver claimed. "We've all heard you sing in the car and you love theatre. This is your chance to see what it's like on Boadway."

"Who says I want to be on Broadway?" Vivien asked with a laugh.

Oliver thought for a moment before saying, "Well, nobody, but-"

"But the school is petitioning to get the Titanic Musical for the April show next year," Damien piped up, eyeing his eldest daughter out of his peripheral vision as she froze, her handful of ketchup-soaked french fries hanging in midair as she processed his claim. Smirking, he added, "If you have at least one show under your belt, they might consider you for one of the primary roles when the time comes."

Excitedly watching the wheels turn in Vivien's head, Abby grabbed her sister's free wrist and wiggled it as she said, "See! If you back down now, you'll never get to be in Titanic next year."

Vivien sighed, green eyes shifting from mild annoyance to fondness as she turned to her younger sister and slipped her fingers between Abby's, "As much as I would love that, there's no chance of me getting the lead."

"Would you at least try out for Titanic next year?" Oliver asked. "That would be right up your alley."

With a snort, Chelsea chortled, "She would probably spend all her time critiquing the accuracy of everything."

"Actually," Vivien began, finding a sliver of courage to meet her mother's gaze, "the show is fairly accurate when it comes to representing the people aboard the ship that night. The historical details are only slightly manipulated to add more drama, and-"

"See," Chelsea began, glancing between her children and ex-husband, "she's already at it."

Abby opened her mouth to argue, but Vivien's grip on her hand tightened, telling her to back down before things could get worse. Abby's bluish-brown eyes found Vivien's emerald gaze, and with a shake of her head, Abby resigned, returning to her food with a barely audible sigh. Refusing to let their last family dinner before spring break be soured by the cutthroat words of his ex-wife, Damien took the remote from the coffee table and switched the input back to the Roku before letting the kids decide between two of the movies on their watchlist - The Outsiders and The Truman Show.

With the rather unanimous vote of The Truman Show, the family settled in once more and relaxed as they watched Jim Carrey's character come to life. Not long into the movie, Abby shifted between Vivien and their father, and it wasn't long before she was sprawled out over the two with her head on Vivien's lap and her legs on their dad's. Once Abby had settled into a comfortable position, Vivien began absentmindedly running her fingers through the girl's lighter hair, calming both of them at once as Truman watched his dad get shoved into a bus and taken away. However, further into the movie, as Truman began drawing a spacesuit around his reflection, Vivien's phone began to ring, and she quickly stood, shoving a somewhat disgruntled Abby off her lap and taking her trash with her to the kitchen before answering the phone.

After checking the caller ID, she smiled, tossed her trash into the bin next to the refrigerator, and quietly said, "Please tell me you're on your way."

A snort came from the other end as Mick replied, "Hello to you, too. I mean, damn, child, are you that willing to run away from home?"

Vivien glanced at her family and chuckled, "Maybe a little."

"Well, good," Mick replied. "We're pulling into the driveway now, so come out when you're ready."

Snickering to herself, Vivien said, "I thought you already knew I was bi, Mickie."

"Look, rugrat," Mick snipped, though Vivien could clearly hear the humor in her tone. "We're parked by the garage, but bring a rain coat or something; it's pouring."

"Still?"

"Yup."

Vivien sighed, "Alright, I'll be out in a few." She sucked in a deep breath and smiled to herself as Mick hung up her end of the call. Vivien headed back to the living room and grinned as she noticed Oliver holding the remote, keeping the movie paused until her return. Ruffluing her brother's hair, she cooed, "Aww, Olly-bear! Did you pause the movie just for me?"

Shoving her hand away, Oliver ran his hand through his hair and scoffed, "No, I just didn't want to have to rewind it for you."

"Yeah, sure," Abby drawled sarcastically as she punched her twin's thigh.

Chuckling as the twins began arguing over Oliver's ability - or lack thereof - to show kindness, Damien twisted in his seat, found Vivien's gaze, and asked, "Was that Mick and her parents?"

"Yeah, they just pulled up," Vivien nodded, glancing toward the front door.

With a smile, he asked, "Are you ready to go, babygirl?"

Vivien excitedly nodded, but her excitement seemed to dim as Chelsea asked, "Go where, exactly?"

"To California," Vivien explained. "You know, for spring break?"

"I never said you could go," Chelsea stated, finally looking up from her phone with steely eyes. "A trip like that requires planning, and I highly doubt you, of all people, are prepared to fly three thousand miles across the country for a week in some random city you've never been to."

Before Vivien could argue, Damien turned to his ex and said, "She asked both of us months ago, and, actually, she's had everything planned out since I gave her permission. Vivien's a smart girl; she wouldn't jump into something without proper planning."

"She even helped Abs and I plan our trips with our friends," Oliver piped up.

Placing a hand on her dad's shoulder and glancing toward her brother, Vivien thanked him with a smile before turning toward their mom and saying, "And, since Dad gave me permission, I can go, right, Mom?"

Chelsea took in a deep breath, glancing between Damien and Vivien with a stare that would end wars, but finally, she picked up her phone and huffed, "Fine. Go."

Hoping to get out the door before her mother could change her mind again, Vivien began making her way to the door, only to hear footsteps rushing up behind her. Turning, Vivien smiled as Abby and Oliver jogged up to her, Abby wrapping her in a hug as Oliver stood to the side with a grin. Squeezing her older sister, Abby pleaded, "Take lots of pictures for me, sissy."

Letting out a breath of a laugh, Vivien waited until Abby stepped back before taking her keys from the hook by the door and pushing them into the palm of her sister's hand. At Abby's confused look, she said, "Can you put them in your lockbox for me? I don't want Mom to use my car while I'm gone just 'cause it has lower mileage than hers."

Nodding in understanding, Abby softly asked, "Do you want your diary in there too?"

Vivien shook her head, "I'm taking it with me, but thank you."

Oliver shuffled closer, hinting at his desire for a final hug before his oldest sister's departure as he asked, "What about your fancy rocks?"

Wrapping her arms around Oliver's shoulders, she replied, "I took a few with me, but I doubt Mom will do anything with them because most of the ones I left are big and would be obvious if they went missing."

"If you're sure," Oliver mumbled into Vivien's shoulder before patting her back and slipping out of her grasp.

Once she took a step back, Vivien reached into her pocket and pulled out two colorful crystals, holding one out to either of her siblings, "For Abby, some charoite. It's good for keeping away negativity and helping you see a new side of yourself. Hopefully, it'll help you relax while you're away."

Abby smiled at the purple rock, shifting it in the light to see the different hues before thanking her sister and pocketing the crystal. Then, with a roll of his eyes and a smirk, Oliver accepted the smooth green lump and said, "Let me guess, this is some hard-to-pronounce rock too."

"Actually, no," Vivien snickered. "It's green aventureine and it's good for creativity, luck, and opportunities. I figured, with all the activities you'll be doing, and the theories you'll be picking apart, it would be nice to take with you."

Rolling the crystal around in his palm, Oliver allowed his smirk to spread into a smile as he handed Vivien her raincoat and said, "Have fun in Cali, Vivi."

Vivien smiled but didn't have the chance to respond as her father entered the room and said, "She will. Brady and Mack reassured me that they had a fun week planned."

Finding her dad's tired eyes, Vivien slotted herself in his arms and asked, "Will you be alright here without us for a week?"

"I'll be fine," Damien claimed as he ran a soothing hand over Vivien's hair. "Your mother is going on one of her work trips on Monday, so I'll be alone most of the time you kids are away."

Peering up at her father, Vivien smiled, "A week of empty-nesting, huh? That'll be interesting for you."

Damien pressed a kiss to Vivien's forehead and smiled, "It'll be over before I know it. Now, do you have everything?" Vivien nodded. "Are you sure? You've got your toothbrush, hairbrush?"

"I'm sure, Dad," Vivien chuckled. "And, before you ask, yes, I have the taser pen Riven's dad gave me. I took the batteries out and everything, just like he taught me."

Nodding, Damien sighed, "Good. I know I'm overthinking this, but I don't want you to be in a strange city without protection."

"I know," Vivien said with a knowing smirk. "And I don't blame you. It would be stupid of me to go without anything."

Damien hummed before smiling at his oldest girl, "I had your sister sneak something into your bag from the three of us, but promise me you won't open it until you get where you're going and have the chance to settle in."

Glancing at her sister, wondering when she could have slipped something into her luggage, Vivien smiled and said, "I won't, I promise."

"Good," he said, more for himself than his daughter. Then, patting her arm, Damien told Vivien, "Alright, well, get going before I chicken out."

"Alright, alright," Vivien snickered as she rolled her eyes up at her dad. "I'm going."

Allowing his daughter to step away and pull the zipper of her raincoat up as far as it would go, Damien pulled up her suitcase handle and held it out for her to take as he breathed, "Have fun, sweetheart."

"I'll try."

Placing a hand over Vivien's, he smiled, "You will." Once Vivien nodded in agreement, he requested, "Let us know when you land, okay?"

"Of course," Vivien beamed, anticipation bubbling up in her chest as she nodded excitedly. "I'll let you know when we get to their house too."

As Oliver opened the door and Vivien stepped out, Abby said, "I'll let Mom know you said goodbye."

Vivien crossed the threshold of the house and dragged her luggage with her, waving to the Birches and saying, "Thanks. I'll see you guys in ten days."

"Have fun!" Abby called as Vivien rushed through the rain to the Birch family's minivan.

"Enjoy the sun!" Damien said as Brady helped Vivien haul her suitcase into the trunk before closing it.

"Don't get wasted on the beach!" Oliver added, earning him a middle finger from his oldest sister and a tap on the back of the head from their dad. "What?" he asked rhetorically as Vivien hopped into the van and rolled the window down. "I'm just saying."

As the vehicle began to roll down the driveway, Vivien leaned out as far as the seatbelt would allow and yelled, "Love you!"

As her family called back in kind, Vivien rolled up the window and relaxed in her seat, earning a chuckle from Mick as the older brunette greeted her, "You look like a wet dog."

Laughing breathlessly, Vivien pushed her stringy, wet bangs away from her forehead and sighed, "I probably smell like one too, to be honest with you."

Mick pretended to sniff the air before grinning, "Only a little bit."

Vivien smiled and tipped her head to the side, finding Mick's gaze as she sighed, "I hope I don't look like a drowned rat when Royce sees me."

Mack laughed from the passenger's seat, leaning over the center console to see Vivien as she reassured her, "You won't, sweetheart. We'll make sure of it."

"I mean," Brady drawled as he pulled out onto the main roads, seemingly weighing his options until Mack slapped his arm with the back of her hand.

"Brady!"

"Kidding!" the man chuckled, somewhat proud of his playful jibe as the girls in the backseat snickered.

Vivien sighed contentedly as she relaxed into the van's faded, somewhat worn fabric seats, "I've missed this."

"You won't be saying that for long," Mack claimed. "By the end of the first week, you'll be begging us to send you home."

"Doubtful," Vivien replied with a smile. The idea of spending any length of time in the world Mick had been talking her ear off about since the day she discovered it back in December had been like something of a fantasy for Vivien. Now that she actually had the chance to see the places in her friends' pictures, the thought of cutting her stay short for anything other than the most dire circumstances was bizarre. "I'm pretty sure you'll have to drag me away kicking and screaming."

"Well, we certainly won't be doing that," Brady laughed.

"Yeah," Mick agreed, taking Vivien's hand with a brilliant smile. "You can stay there with us for as long as you want."

"And time here won't change, right?" Vivien recounted.

"Right," Mack agreed. "That machine will allow you to stay as long as you like without anything changing."

Mick nodded, watching Vivien's thoughtful eyes flicker behind her circular frames as she explained, "We turn the time control mechanism off while we're in this world so that they can enjoy life normally there, but we freeze time here so that we can enjoy things without having to go back and forth to pay bills and stuff like that."

Vivien grinned, "Like taking random teenagers into different dimensions without their parents feeling the need to call everypolice department in the tate to see if they can send out search parties?"

"I guess you could say that," Brady snorted as he pulled onto the turnpike and pressed the gas pedal further toward the floor.

The conversation seemed to split from there as Mack pulled up the directions to the airport on her phone, telling Brady to slow down before they reached a particular spot the state troopers liked to park in order to catch people speeding on the turnpike. Watching trees and distant buildings fly by as the car sped up, Vivien pulled her phone out of her pocket and unlocked the Discord chat she had with her bandmates, sending them a selfie of herself and Mick before hastily typing a message about them finally being on the road.

Erica was the first to respond - her text of "bitch, you bettr not become a fuckign valley girl!" appearing just before Riven's "Have fun, Pip! Don't get eaten by a shark; I need you for comp" and followed soon after by Jade's ever-calm message of, "ignore their bs. we love you. stay safe. xoxo." Vivien snickered as the trio began blowing up her phone; Erica starting an argument with Riven about sharks being harmless while also telling Jade to fuck off for being the responsible one.

"You good over there?" Mick asked, her humor evident as Vivien glanced up from her phone.

Holding out the device and leaning over so that they could both watch the drama unfold, Vivien explained, "Erica's being a bitch, Riven is a sarcastic shit, and Jade's acting like a mother hen, so Erica picked a fight with both of them."

Mick watched as Erica sent a wall of text that only consisted of the middle finger emoji, snickering, "So, a normal day, then?"

"Pretty much," Vivien agreed. As they watched conversation bubbles appear and Erica's rant spiral into nonsense, her smile faltered. She would miss them while she was away. Even when her family went on vacations, Riven would go with them, and she could text the girls anytime she wanted. This time, her ability to message them and ask them for advice on things would be revoked the minute she entered the other world. With a heavy sigh, she admitted, "I'm going to miss them."

Taking in the girl's expression, Mick reached up and placed a hand on Vivien's back, rubbing circles into her plastic raincoat as she said, "It'll suck for a few days, but after a while, you sort of get used to it."

Peering up at the older girl, Vivien allowed herself to smile, "You're talking from experience, aren't you?"

"Sadly," Mick confirmed. "My instincts were to take pictures of everything to show my friends when I got back, but then I realized I couldn't. It took a while to adjust and my phone is still full of pictures nobody else has seen, but after a while, I got used to just saving the memories for myself."

Nodding in understanding, Vivien breathed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I can send them some pictures when I get back, but until then, I can keep them to myself."

Pivoting in her seat, Mick turned toward Vivien and asked, "So, what are your plans for Royce? Are we doing a casual surprise where you just walk in and say hi or are we doing something grand in front of everyone?"

"I don't know," Vivien shrugged. "I haven't really given it a lot of thought. I was more concerned about my mom keeping me from going."

"Well, now we've got time to think it through!" Mick exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

“Not much time,” Mack explained. “We’ll be at the airport in about five, maybe ten minutes, and since we have a private flight, we’ll be in the air within the hour.”

“You guys never told me you have a private jet,” Vivien stated. “Like, I knew you guys had money, but damn.”

“It’s not ours,” Mick shrugged.

“One of my friends from school became a pilot,” Brady explained. “He’s offered us free trips whenever we need it since he knows how often we travel to the East coast and it gives him the opportunity to visit some family of his in Vermont.”

Vivien hummed, more to herself than to anyone in the vehicle, “That’s nice of him.”

After a moment of relative silence, Mick patted Vivien’s hand and told her, “Anyway, regardless of what you decide to do, Royce will be surprised.”

“You think?” Vivien asked. “I thought someone would have told him by now.”

Mick shook her head emphatically, beaming proudly as she explained, “Actually, I haven’t told anybody that you’re coming.”

Vivien’s eyes glittered with excitement as she asked, “Seriously?”

Mick nodded, her wavy hair bouncing with the movement, “The only person who knows is Butchy, and he’s not one to spill things like that.”

“That’s insane!” Vivien exclaimed, a laugh tumbling from her lips at the thought of surprising her friends with her sudden appearance in their world.

“I know, right!” Mick giggled. “But that means we have endless possibilities for surprising people. It all depends on where they are at the time.”

“When we land, it will be about one in the morning, Pacific Time,” Mack explained. “On a commercial flight, we usually stop a few times along the way to swap planes or pick up new passengers, but since this is private, we’re going to stop in New Jersey for a few minutes due to busy airways, and then get back in the air.”

“That will give us plenty of time to think about it,” Mick said cheerfully.

“And give both of you the chance to sleep,” Brady reminded his daughter, peering at her in the rearview mirror before he pulled onto the street that led them to the airport. “We don’t need both of you to be zombies when we touch down.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mick brushed off with a wave of her hand, her excitement over the whole situation outweighing the concept of sleep. “Anyway, I’ve got ideas for both options, and we can talk about them on the plane, if you want.”

Sending the older girl a smile and a nod, Vivien watched Mick smile and relax in her seat; pulling out her phone as Vivien took in a slow breath and glanced out the window. As they passed the Mall of New Hampshire, Vivien snapped a quick picture of the building and sent it to the group chart that had begun to quiet without her presence there to encourage the chaos, sending a cheeky message teasing the two girls who worked within the large, stucco and concrete building. Jade was the first to respond, her video message of her waving to the camera, arriving on Vivien’s phone as they pulled up to a gated parking lot. As Brady began speaking to the guard, listing the passengers and which flight they were on, Vivien sent a private message to Riven, telling him how nervous she was about being on a private plane.

‘You have nothing to worry about, Pip,’ was his reply. ‘The Birches know what they’re doing and wouldn’t put you in danger like that. Just breathe. You’ve got this.’

Sucking in a deep breath through gritted teeth, Vivien sent back a reply of gratitude and tried to relax as the car lurched forward and moved past the gate. Mack popped open the console between herself and Brady, pulling out a trio of passports before turning toward Vivien and asking, “Do you have your passport ready?”

Reaching under her rain coat and into the pocket of her hoodie, Vivien pulled the navy blue booklet out and handed it up to Mack, who added it to the stack in her hands. As they rolled down the tarmac, Vivien watched through the windows, trying to guess which aircraft they would be in. Narrowing it down the further they got, Vivien let out a noise of surprise as Brady turned to the side, lurching her toward the door as he pulled to a stop in a parking space. Looking around in confusion, Vivien followed the others out of the car, following Mack to the back of the vehicle, where they pulled their luggage from the trunk.

Mick grabbed Vivien’s free hand, pulling her toward a jet that had the door open and a set of stairs waiting. Pushing the handles of their suitcases down and picking them up by the straps on top, the girls boarded the plane, pushing their suitcases to the side to be scanned before finding seats to collapse into. Nudging Vivien into a window seat, Mick took the seat across from her and relaxed, waiting for her parents to board before instructing the younger girl to buckle up.

After the pilot came to greet them, telling them all the basics he needed to go over before the flight, he returned to the cockpit and announced that they would be leaving as soon as he had permission from the traffic control tower. With much reassurance from the others, Vivien began to relax, snapping pictures of the plane and the setting sun to send to her friends and family. After another announcement came over the speakers about taking off, they were in the air, and Vivien’s phone returned to her pocket as the seatbelt lights turned off. Peeling off her rain coat and shoving it into the seat next to her, Vivien huffed a sigh of relief as she realized the part she had worried about the most was now over.

Watching as the ground below grew smaller and harder to see, Vivien turned her attention to Mick, who had folded her arms on top of the table between them, leaning closer with a smile that told Vivien she didn’t want to know what the girl was going to get her into. “Do I want to know?” she asked the older brunette.

Vivien could hear the girl’s feet thumping against the base of her chair as she swung her legs back and forth, but Mick’s smile refused to dissipate as she explained, “I’ve been cooking up ideas for you.”

Nodding to herself, Vivien rolled her eyes, “Yup, didn’t want to know.”

Ignoring the girl’s statement, Mick said, “I was thinking-”

“That’s dangerous,” Brady chuckled from his seat on the opposite side of the plane.

“Dad,” Mick sighed dramatically. When the older man snickered and struck up a conversation with his wife, Mick turned her attention back to Vivien with a roll of her caramel eyes. “I figured that, once we land, we can-”

“Go to sleep?” Vivien interrupted.

“Ha!” Mick laughed. “No.”

“Yes,” Mack said, her motherly tone giving Mick little to no wiggle room as she deflated slightly.

“Okay, yeah, that too,” Mick relented. “But we can pick out some cute outfits from my closet and make sure you feel beautiful before we go.” Pointedly turning toward her mom, Micxk asked, “Right, Momma?”

“So long as you two aren’t up all night, yes,” Mack replied before taking a sip of the water bottle she had taken from the cabin’s mini fridge. “Now, Vivien, did you have anything to eat, sweetheart? They have sandwiches and things in the fridge, if you’d like.”

“That’s alright,” Vivien brushed off graciously. “Dad brought home some Mickey D’s on his way home from work.”

“I’m surprised he made it through the warden with that,” Brady said in a scoff.

Vivien smirked as the other two women gave their own forms of agreement, simply glad she wasn’t the only one who found her mother’s strict food control to be something of a nightmare. “Yeah, well, he didn’t exactly give her a choice. He came in, gave her a salad to shut her up, and let us get our meals without letting her anger break him down.”

“Good for him,” Mick grinned.

“Glad to know he’s finally growing bigger balls than hers,” Mack added. “I think we’ve all been placing bets to see how long that would take.”

With a hum of agreement, Vivien allowed the conversation to flow between topics, absentmindedly bringing up the subject of the battle bot project she wanted to work on when they got the chance, something that made Mick practically vibrate with excitement. Brady brought up the idea of using his tools if need be, which inspired Mick to go off on a spiel about possibly going to either Butchy’s or Miles’ place of work to utilize their welding kits and use some of the metal scraps they had tossed aside. By the time Mack had managed to pull them away from the topic at hand, they were starting to make their descent at an airport in Newark, New Jersey.

Before the plane took off again, Vivien sent a few relatively dark images and some quick messages to the people who knew she was leaving before stepping into the bathroom of the jet to call her aunts before they went to bed. They discussed the trip and spoke for a while about all of the activities Vivien was looking forward to before they wished each other a good night. Vivien promised to let them know when they landed before ending the call and scurrying back to her seat as the captain announced their approaching departure. Once they were back in the air and allowed to roam about, Mick showed Vivien how to recline her seat and find a comfortable position to sleep in before offering the girl a blanket and promptly passing out in her chair.

One by one, Vivien watched as the Birch family succumbed to the land of dreams, but despite her growing exhaustion and yawns tumbling from her mouth every other minute, she couldn’t find it in herself to actually sleep. She could have easily chalked up her inability to sleep to her nerves, but that wasn’t quite right. Somewhere deep inside her, she knew that there was nothing to worry about. Royce and Bentley would love to drag her around, Carrie had promised to take her to the lot they were filming on if she ever found herself in their world, and even Butchy and Miles had discussed dragging her to their respective jobs to show her knowledge of old vehicles off to their respective coworkers. There was nothing for her to be worked up over.

Forcing herself to take in a deep breath and push her unfounded fears aside, Vivien allowed another yawn to overtake her as she stretched. Reclining her seat and tugging her blanket around her shoulders, Vivien slouched into a more comfortable position, tucked her cell phone into her pocket, set her glasses on the table between herself and Mick’s slumbering form, and waited until the soft humming of the plane’s machinery lulled her to sleep. To her dismay, what felt like only a few minutes passed before Vivien found herself being gently shaken awake, grumbling at the interruption as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

A chuckle came from a blurry form as Vivien searched blearily for her glasses, listening to the person apologize in a soft voice before handing her the glasses she was searching for. Finally peering up at the person, Vivien found Brady smiling back at her, offering her a hand as he told her, “We just landed, kiddo. Time to go home.”

Chuckling exhaustedly as she stretched herself out like a cat rising from a comfortable position in the summer sun, Vivien muttered, “Am I too old to ask for someone to carry me?”

Brady let out another soft laugh, “Never, but I haven’t carried anybody in years, and I’d rather not drop you down the stairs of a plane.”

Vivien snorted and pushed herself from her seat, “Yeah, let’s not do that, then.”

“Smart girl,” Mack advised, patting the teenager on the back as she passed her on her way back from the bathroom.

As Brady worked on waking Mick from her slumber, Vivien folded up the blanket she had used, made sure she had everything she brought with her, and followed Mack to the front of the plane, where they received their belongings. Yawning as she followed Mack down the stairs, Vivien welcomed the warm California air with a tired grin. “It’s nice out,” she muttered as Mack led her toward a pale blue Jeep that had been brought onto the tarmac for them.

Accepting her car keys from the driver who brought the car over, Mack chuckled, “My phone says it’s fifty-something right now.”

More than content with the idea of the summer-like weather, Vivien sighed happily as she hauled her suitcase into the trunk of the car alongside Mack’s, “Like I said, I think you guys will have to drag me kicking and screaming from this place.”

Bringing an arm around Vivien’s shoulders, Mack smiled, “Just wait until you see how close we are to the beach.”

Vivien’s eyes glittered as the woman brought her to the side of the car, encouraging her to climb inside as Mack slid into the driver’s seat. However, before she climbed inside the vehicle, Vivien pulled out her phone and took a picture of the plane they landed in, sending it to the group chat with her bandmates before sending a message to her family members, letting everyone know they had landed safely in Santa Ana and were on their way to the Birch family’s home. Once she was sure the messages had been sent, Vivien slid into the backseat behind Mack and pulled the seatbelt across her body. Once the others had found their way to the car, Mack started the engine and pulled away from the plane, heading through a series of gates before making her way to the street and pulling away from the John Wayne Airport.

Unable to fall back asleep as they pulled onto the San Diego Freeway, Vivien watched with wide eyes as she took in the glow of the city. Throughout the half-hour drive, Vivien took a myriad of pictures. Glowing palm trees, buildings in the distance that appeared to touch the sky, and, as the freeway pulled them through San Juan Capistrano toward the beach, pictures of a seemingly endless night sky over the water. Smiling as he watched the girl take another picture, Brady encouraged his wife to take the long way home without saying a word, and Mack took the next exit, pulling onto Pacific Coast Highway and following it until the first set of lights she could turn at. At the next intersection, she turned onto Park Lantern and followed the street toward the water until it merged with Coast Highway.

The couple suppressed their laughter as Vivien gasped, leaning over their daughter to take pictures of the water that was still covered by a blanket of stars in the nighttime sky. Once houses began to block her view, Vivien relaxed, but her excitement was still very much palpable as the car glided down the highway. Turning toward the backseat, Brady kept his voice hushed as they slowed to a stop at a red light, “If you want a good shot, our street sign is right up here.”

“Really?” Vivien whispered.

Brady hummed in confirmation, “It’s on the light post up here on your side.”

Sure enough, as Vivien leaned closer to her window and squinted up at the post, she found a green sign with the words “Camino Capistrano” in thick, white writing. Although her cell phone refused to see the sign in the dark, Vivien smiled and kept her eyes on it until they had turned onto the aforementioned street and could no longer see the sign. Smiling more to herself than anything, Vivien watched with bated breath as Mack drove further up the street, past a traffic light, and through a curve. When they finally pulled to a stop in front of a fancy black gate with a Mediterranean-style roof and a few doors on either side, Vivien felt her jaw hit the floor.

Contrary to popular opinion, Vivien’s family had money. For a while in her childhood, her family had lived in an apartment that barely gave them enough room to live, but they had enough money to put food on the table and buy new things here and there. After her grandparents offered them the opportunity to move into their old house and take over the winery while they moved closer to their beloved summer camp, Vivien felt as though she was the luckiest person on the planet. While they weren’t exactly Elon Musk-level rich, the winery her parents operated and her grandparent’s summer camp made them more than financially secure. Knowing she had the chance to take on their jobs in the future, Vivien thought she would become richer than she had ever previously thought possible. However, as she got her first look at the Birch’s house, she realized she didn’t know shit about rich people.

Being well off on the East Coast meant having a home you owned, a car or two, and potentially a pet if you felt like it. Most people back home enjoyed taking up residence in old, colonial-style homes that would set them back a good hundred thousand dollars at least and were originally built for families with eleven or twelve children. East Coast wealth was classy, clean, and, well, antique. West Coast wealth, on the other hand, was a new kind of expensive. Stepping out of the car once they rolled to a stop in the four-car garage, Vivien couldn’t help but feel poor in every sense of the word.

Although Vivien had seen bits and pieces of the house over FaceTime with Mick, the sheer size of the house was astonishing. Following closely behind her friend, Vivien’s eyes scanned from the large, orange roof to the various balconies, to the swimming pool that seemed to wrap around the side of the house, and the various water guns and toys strewn about in the yard that were evidence that her friends from another world had visited before the Birches had come to collect her. Entering the house, Vivien waited for the lights to turn on before looking around at the pristine entryway. A large glass chandelier hung above the entrance, glimmering rays of light throughout the hall and part of the living room.

Although Vivien felt more than awake and ready to explore the luxurious home, Mack and Brady urged her to follow Mick upstairs once she had taken her shoes off by the door. Relenting despite her excitement, Vivien followed Mick up the hardwood stairs, grinning at the various childhood photographs of Mick and her friends along the wall as they climbed. Coming to the landing, Vivien found herself taken aback once more by the view. Across from the top of the stairs was a panoramic view of the beach across the street, a comfortable lounge area settled facing the floor-to-ceiling windows with a television mounted on the right wall - the only one without windows.

Before she could take a moment to process the kitchenette on one side of the staircase or the gaming area on the other, Vivien found herself taken by the wrist around the banister to a short hallway with three doors. They passed a room with Mick’s initial painted on the door, but Mick didn’t so much as glance toward her bedroom before opening the door to another room at the end of the hall and stepping aside for Vivien to enter.

With a yawn, the short brunette explained, “This used to be one of our guest rooms, but the boys usually take it when they stay with us, so a lot of Bentley art supplies and Royce’s books stay here.”

Looking up at the coffered, waffle-esque design on the ceiling and the various signs of life in the room, Vivien let out a disbelieving laugh, “This is insane.”

Mick took a look around and sighed at how poorly she had cleaned the room before leaving the week before, “Yeah, I know it’s not the cleanest right now, but we can pick everything up in the morning if you-”

“No, no, no!” Vivien said with a quick shake of her head, turning back toward her friend with a smile as she stood her suitcase by the end of the queen-sized bed. “Mick, you don’t understand.”

Confused in part by the conversation and part by her lack of sleep, Mick’s head tipped slightly to the side as she asked, “What do you mean?”

“I thought my house was big and that we were well off,” Vivien began, twirling around as she examined the room before finding Mick’s gaze again, “but I think yours just bitch-slapped my whole family onto the poverty line!”

Mick let out a snort, shaking her head fondly, “Well, don’t start comparing dick sizes just yet, gremlin. Save that for a time when I can actually think straight.”

“I hardly ever think straight,” Vivien smirked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed she had been given.

With a roll of her eyes and a fond smile, Mick teased, “Believe me, I know. Now, try to get some sleep. You don’t want jet lag to knock you out on your ass later.”

Raising her hand to her forehead in a mock salute, Vivien said, “Sir, yes, sir.”

Chuckling, Mick wished the younger girl a good night before disappearing into the hall, leaving the girl’s door open so that she could see the dimly lit lights in the hallway. Taking in a deep breath in the silence of her new room, Vivien hefted her suitcase onto the bed beside her and unzipped it, pulling out her astronaut lamp and setting it aside before tugging a pair of celestial pajama shorts and a matching tank top from one side of her suitcase. Picking up the luggage, she carried it over to a chair and left it open in the seat, changed into her pajamas, plugged in her lamp, and slipped under the covers with her headphones in one hand and phone in the other.

Putting on her headphones and listening to one of her favorite ASMR channels while watching the stars dance across the ceiling, Vivien finally found herself able to fall asleep relatively quickly. Dreams of surfing cerulean waves with her friends filled her night, and by the time the sun had begun poking through the curtains on either side of her bed, Vivien felt well-rested and ready to start her day. After hastily getting dressed in something appropriate for the eighty-three-degree weather her phone forecasted, Vivien took her time examining the house as she made her way down to the kitchen. Mick’s bedroom had already been vacated, and if the voices floating up the stairs were anything to go by, she was with her parents.

Making her way through the house to the kitchen, Vivien smiled as she listened to her friend’s family converse. The energy in the Birch’s house was always somewhat calming to Vivien, an environment where she could relax and feel at home regardless of what they were up to that day, but the feeling of belonging never wavered, no matter how far apart they truly were. Watching Mick dance around with her mother to the music on the radio, Vivien smiled as she leaned against the island counter. Brady nudged her arm as the song changed, beaming at the new addition to their household before offering her his hand.

Without much hesitation, Vivien placed her hand in Brady’s and allowed him to lead her in a bouncy dance that twirled them around the kitchen as Vivien giggled. Mack and her daughter stopped after a while to watch the pair, listening to Vivien half-sing, half-shriek her way through the lyrics as Brady spun her around the kitchen with ease. As the song came to an end, he twirled Vivien away, grinning as she laughed over the voice of the radio host.

Once her vision had stopped spinning, Vivien giggled, “Good morning, America!”

Brady chuckled, “Good way to get the blood pumping early in the morning, right, kiddo?”

Vivien nodded, but it was Mack who spoke, “We find it’s nice to do something fun before you start your day.”

“Speaking of starting your day,” Mick began as Vivien climbed onto one of the stools on the side of the island, “are you feeling up to leaving yet?”

“Makana,” Mack scolded lightly, “let the poor girl wake up first.”

Vivien smiled as Mick sighed dramatically, but she shook her head as she turned to the older woman. “It’s alright, Mrs B. I think I’m too excited to be tired.”

Sighing as he opened the fridge, Brady said, “Well, that’s good because I think we’re going to have to have breakfast at Butchy and Lela’s house this morning.”

Mack appeared confused for a moment before realization dawned on her face, “We forgot to pick up food last night.”

Mick shrugged, “It was two in the morning.”

With a shake of his head, Brady turned to his daughter and asked, “Do you mind us using your kitchen?”

Before Mick could reply, Vivien asked, “Wouldn’t it be easier to go to Big Momma’s for breakfast since we have to go there anyway?”

“It would be,” Mick replied with a nod, “but by the time we pry Lela off of you, it’ll be time for lunch.” Turning back to her parents as Vivien nodded in understanding, she said, “Butchy and I can make up something while everyone gets settled in.”

Mack nodded and turned her attention back to Vivien before asking, “Would you like to go now, then? Do you have anything you would like to bring with you?”

Vivien thought for a moment before nodding, “I brought some stuff with me that I wanted to show everyone. Can I run up and grab it?”

“You don’t have to ask, Vivien,” Brady insisted. Nodding toward the stairs, he said, “Just go; we’ll still be here when you come back.”

As Vivien slid out of her seat, Mick patted her arm excitedly and said, “Just put your clothes on the bed and take your whole suitcase. I’m, like, ninety-three percent sure you’ll leave with more clothes than you came with.”

Her excitement surging at the idea, Vivien nodded and hurried for the stairs, bounding up them two at a time and pushing aside her desire to explore the large home as she headed for her room. Moving her suitcase from the chair she left it on to the end of her bed, Vivien began pulling out a majority of her daily clothes, leaving her essentials, headphones, charger cords, astronaut lamp, the envelope with her name on it that her siblings and father had given her before she left home, and a few items of clothing Carrie and Lela had let her “borrow” and never got back. Once she was certain she had everything she wanted to bring with her for however long she would be away, Vivien zipped up her bag and took in a deep breath. Glancing out the window at San Clemente, Vivien smiled at the knowledge that, within mere minutes, she would be transported into a world she had only ever heard in stories and seen in a movie.

Grabbing her suitcase by the handle, Vivien left her bedroom and headed for the stairs, lifting her bag before her descent and taking the handle once she’d reached the landing. Practically skipping to the kitchen, Vivien beamed at the Birches as she cheered, “Ready for liftoff!”

Happy to show off his work to a new person, Brady clapped his hands and gestured toward the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard, “After you, kiddo.”

Vivien took the lead, opening one side of the door and sucking in a sharp breath as she was hit full-force with the heat of Southern California. Mick snickered, wrapping an arm around Vivien and guiding her toward the shed at the back of their property as she chuckled, “Welcome to California.”

‘Ugh,” Vivien groaned, “is it always like this?”

“Not always, no,” Mick claimed, “but believe me, summers are much worse in Florida.”

Hoping the older girl was simply joking, Vivien remained quiet until Mick ushered her into the shed, and she was made to carefully toe her way around scrapped projects and stray tools until she reached the yellow, tube-shaped behemoth pressed securely against the back wall. A large flower Vivien recalled seeing on a surfboard hanging on the wall in the Birch’s home was engraved into metal at the very top of the machine, wires and metal bars sticking out behind it in a haphazard yet efficient way. Pulling the handle on the right side of the machine, Vivien stepped back as the rounded glass panel at the front slid back into the left side of the machine.

With a gentle nudge from Mack, Vivien stepped into the machine, followed soon after by the family who had brought her there. As the glass door slid closed again, Mick took her friend's free hand and told her to hang on to her belongings before instructing her to watch out the window to see things change around them. Somewhat cautious of the machine as it whirred to life, Vivien watched as a vibrant glow from above seemed to illuminate the otherwise dark mechanic's shed. A soft hum filled the air as colors began to swirl outside the machine, a kaleidoscope of hues coming to life in a vibrant array that faintly reminded Vivien of a show she had seen as a child. The colors grew brighter and more vibrant, rivaling the LED lights Vivien knew Oliver had lining his ceiling before slowly dimming and allowing Vivien to see her first glimpse of another world.

Although she didn't want to appear let down by the view she was given, Vivien couldn't help her quirked brow and immediate response of, "It's an old pickup in a dark garage. Cool."

Nudging her friend with her elbow, Mick stepped around her to open the door and snorted, "It's Butchy's. Now, come on."

Taken by the hand. Vivien was dragged into the house and pulled toward the kitchen, where running water could be heard just over the sound of Chubby Checker's song The Twist that played over the radio. As she came to a stop, Vivien felt a smile split her face as she took in the striped wallpaper and yellow cabinets, the vibrant colors of the room making it feel even more inviting than she thought it would. Tilting so she could see around Mick, Vivien held in a laugh with a hand over her mouth as Butchy turned off the faucet, and Lela's voice could be heard as she danced to the music beside him. It wasn't until the music came to an end and the radio host began speaking about the next song that the raven-haired girl noticed the new figures in her house.

Lela jumped and pressed a hand to her chest, her instinctive reaction to cuss out her sister-in-law cut short as she spotted the taller brunette standing behind Mick. Letting out a screech so shrill Butchy flinched behind her, Lela rocketed forward, all but shoving Mick out of the way in order to wrap her arms around her younger friend. Rocking Vivien from one side to the other, Lela excitedly asked, "What are you doing here?!"

"It's spring break back home," Vivien explained as Lela moved back just enough to squish her cheeks in her hands. With her lips resembling that of a goldfish, Vivien continued, "I wanted to surprise everyone."

Prying his sister's hands away from the sixteen-year-old's face, Butchy smiled, "If this is anything to go by, I think Royce might end up having a heart attack when he sees you."

"Let's hope not," Vivien chuckled somewhat nervously. "I don't particularly feel like killing him."

"Sure," Butchy chortled sarcastically. "You know, I've seen some of those crime shows you love so much, piccola. You'd be arrested in an instant if you tried to kill anyone."

Smirking, Vivien said, "First of all, I watch those enough to know how to not get caught at this point. And, second, one of these days, I'm going to figure out what you're calling me, big guy."

"I'm sure you will," Butchy grinned, allowing the girl to step forward and bring her arms around him as he ruffled her hair. "It's good to see you again, Viv."

Staring accusatorily at the man as she took a step back, Vivien asked, "Is the swear jar still in place here?"

Confused as to what that had to do with him being glad to see her, Butchy slowly nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"In that case," Vivien huffed, "I'd say it's nice to see you too, but maybe I shouldn't just yet."

"Oh yeah?" Butchy questioned. "Just because of the swear jar?"

"Mhm," Vivien nodded. "You keep that thing in place and I'll be broke by the end of my first week here."

Butchy chuckled, but before he could formulate a response to Vivien's jab, Lela spoke up, "You're staying for more than a week?"

Turning to the shorter girl, Vivien shrugged, "I was hoping to, if that's alright."

Mick chuckled as she began pulling things from the refrigerator, "She is. I don't think her staying is the problem."

"What do you mean?" Lela wondered.

Butchy stepped up to the counter to help Mick make breakfast before answering, "After letting the boys know she's here, it'll be nearly impossible for them to let her return home."

Lela breathed a noise of understanding before taking Vivien's hands and saying, "We need you to look as normal as possible before you go see the boys. How do you feel about borrowing something of mine?"

Smiling, Vivien nodded, "You're the boss."

As Lela let out a noise of excitement and began pulling her away, Butchy called out, "See you in three hours."

Vivien barely got the chance to look around on her way up to Lela's room, pulled up the stairs faster than she thought humanly possible as Lela began babbling about all the things she wanted to do with the younger girl. Although the girl's excitement was evident, Vivien couldn't help but feel astonished at how fast Lela could talk when she was happy. As Lela pulled her into her bedroom, Vivien couldn't help but look around in wonder at how different it was from the movie. Despite everything looking fairly similar, there were touches of modernity that stood out against the mid-century style of the room - pictures from modern times that had made it back in the girl's luggage, an old iPod Vivien was sure Mick had given her, and some items strewn about that Vivien recalled seeing the older girl buy in her world.

Before Vivien could ask her about anything she saw, Lela pulled her over to the closet, where she revealed a room that had Vivien convinced she had somehow ended up transported to Mia Thermopolis's closet from the second Princess Diaries movie. Two plush chairs sat against the far wall, racks of clothes illuminated by little dome lights lined the walls, and shelves of shoes and accessories filled the empty space. Lela scanned the racks of clothing as Vivien looked around in wonder, picking up a pair of oversized sunglasses with a smile before setting them down and moving on to the shoes.

Moving with practice ease through her color-coordinated clothing, Lela pulled clothes down by their hangers and began stacking them on her chair. Once she felt satisfied by the selection she had laid out, Lela turned to Vivien and smiled as the girl looked at herself in the mirror with a pair of elbow-length gloves, cat-eye sunglasses, and a large sunhat that flopped in front of her face. Stepping up behind the girl, Lela said, "Time to play dress-up."

Vivien giggled, pulling the sunhat off of her head and lowering the sunglasses as she said, "I think I already am."

"And you look fabulous," Lela claimed with a smile before stepping aside and gesturing to the clothes on one of her chairs. "However, I put aside some clothes for you to try on."

"Ooh," Vivien sang as she turned around, setting her accessories aside in favor of the large pile. As Lela began setting things in their rightful places, Vivien picked through the clothing and quickly found herself lost in the myriad of colors, fabrics, and styles. "You want me try on all of this?"

Lela glanced at the dainty watch on her wrist that her uncle had gifted her for her birthday before answering, "Well, I think we'll only have time for a few before they bring us something to eat, but yeah."

Shifting a pair of shorts onto the arm of the chair, Vivien mused, "I'm surprised you didn't want me in a dress today."

"Normally," Lela began as she made up the distance between herself and the brunette, "I would have, but where most of my dresses would be far too short on you, I figured we could make up for that at the shops later. For now, I figured pedal pushers, tees, and some shorts would be more comfortable for you."

"You're definitely not wrong," Vivien smiled. Turning to the older girl, she asked, "Where should I try these on?"

"Right here," Lela beamed, unhooking a curtain from the wall and letting it fall between herself and Vivien. "If you find anything you feel suits you for the day, let me know and I'll come help you look for accessories. In the meantime, I'll be doing my morning skincare."

Excitement flowed through her like an ice-cold drink on a hot summer day, and Vivien thanked Lela before turning toward her pile of clothing and sorting through everything. Setting aside bottoms she could put together with various tops, Vivien began picking out options and trying them on, examining her reflection before trying on something new. After trying on different outfits for a while, Vivien finally settled on one - a pair of striped, white and lavender shorts with a matching purple tank top that covered far more skin than that of the tank tops back home. Lela was quick to offer assistance with the rest of the outfit, deeming Vivien's classic, black and white, doodle-covered Converse acceptable before selecting a handful of necklaces and bracelets for the brunette to choose between.

Once they had taken a break to eat breakfast, Lela began working her magic on Vivien's hair. After making sure her bangs were separated from the rest of her hair by a curler, Lela brushed out Vivien's hip-length locks before pulling them up into a ponytail and securing them with not only an elastic but also a ribbon. Lela curled the very ends of Vivien's ponytail so that it all ended in a uniform ring before spraying it down with enough hairspray to poke a hole in the ozone layer and pulling the curler out from under Vivien's bangs.

Grinning in disbelief at her reflection in Lela's vanity, Vivien thanked Lela for putting in more effort than she ever did back home, "I could never do anything like this."

"You could," Lela argued as she placed the cover back on her canister of hairspray and set it on the corner of her vanity. "It just takes practice, that's all."

"And far more patience than I could ever manage," Vivien chuckled, rising slowly from the bench Lela had practically shoved her onto. "Seriously, though, Lela, thank you."

"Anytime," Lela beamed. Checking her watch once again, she clapped her hands and said, "Now, I believe it's time we show you off to everyone at Big Momma's."

"What about Royce?" Vivien asked hesitantly as Lela began to leave the room. "Shouldn't we go see him first?"

Turning back to Vivien as she opened her bedroom door, Lela smirked knowingly, "His shift starts early on weekends."

"His shift?"

But Lela was already on her way out of the room, a wink being the only response Vivien could pry from the girl as she followed Lela out of the room and down to the living room where everyone else was waiting. With everyone else decked out in their finest sixties regalia, Vivien didn't feel half as out of place as she assumed she would be as she followed them outside, where a blue Volkswagen bus waited. As Mick climbed into the driver's seat, Vivien was allowed the seat beside her, and once everyone was inside, they took off down the road. Taking in the sights of the beach town as they rolled down the street, Vivien found it impossible to wipe the smile from her face.

The look of everything in the area was so different than what she was used to back home - mid-century houses with slanted roofs and fun doorways lined one side of the street while small businesses with typically fifties and sixties fonts in their windows lined the other. Turning toward Mick, she said, "I think I'm already in love."

With a laugh, Mick's gaze flitted toward the brunette before settling on the road again as she turned into a small parking lot where a few cars and motorcycles had parked, the expansive beach and a large building with a thatched roof within walking distance of the lot. Confused, Vivien followed the others as they climbed out of the car, but as everyone headed around the building, Vivien found herself dragged by the wrist toward the back entrance. Mick held the door for her younger friend and guided her through the kitchen before depositing her by the refrigerator and telling her to stay low until she came to get her.

Resigning to her fate of being stuck between the fridge and the trash can, Vivien crouched low to the floor, observing the people in the kitchen as they moved around, seemingly without noticing her presence. The smell of freshly cooked fish and baked potatoes filled the air, contrasting the stench of the food scraps piling up in the trash next to Vivien as she inched as close to the fridge as possible. However, as a blonde waitress entered the kitchen through the swinging door Mick had left through, Vivien found herself caught. With a hesitant smile and an awkward wave, the blonde neared the fridge with a tray and gathered colorful bottles of soda from it before placing it on a stainless steel counter and glancing over her shoulder at Vivien.

"Are you supposed to be back here?" the girl asked, a thick, southern twang accenting her voice.

Vivien swallowed thickly, offering a shrug as she explained, "My friend pushed me back here."

"Why?" the blonde questioned as she began popping off the lids of the sodas.

"I'm trying to surprise my boyfriend," Vivien explained. "I'm from New Hampshire and he doesn't know I'm here."

The blonde glanced around the kitchen, seemingly looking for someone, before settling her hazel eyes back on the girl crouched on the floor. Lowering her voice, she said, "Be grateful Big Momma isn't back here. This place is supposed to be staff-only after the soda geyser incident that happened a few weeks ago."

"Soda geyser?" Vivien repeated, mildly curious as to whether or not that had anything to do with the Mentos experiment she had shown the boys over Facetime not long ago.

"It was a huge mess," the blonde said before waving it off. Kneeling down to the brunette's height, the girl held out a hand and asked, "What's your name?"

Latching hands with the girl, Vivien smiled and said, "I'm-"

"Vivien, it's time!" Mick whisper-yelled as she pushed open the swinging door. Finding the girl on the floor and the blonde in front of her, Mick stalled, the gears in her brain turning for a moment as she processed the scene before a smile appeared on her face. "Oh, hey, Juliet."

"Hey, Mick," Juliet greeted. Turning back to the girl before her, she asked, "I presume that makes you Vivien?"

Vivien nodded, "And you Juliet?"

"Guilty as charged," Juliet smiled, her teeth a blinding white in comparison to her peachy lip gloss. Pulling the younger girl to her feet, Juliet asked, "So, what's the plan? How're we surprising this lucky mystery boy?"

"Well, I was thinking Viv could go out and pretend to be a waitress to surprise him," Mick claimed.

Glancing through the serving window, Juliet asked, "What table are they?"

"It's Miles' little brother, Royce," Mick explained. "He should be on his lunch break with his brothers now, right?"

Juliet's wide-eyed gasp shocked Vivien as the blonde whirled around, "Wait, for real? You're with Royce?" When Vivien slowly nodded in confirmation, Juliet let out a soft chuckle, "Everyone thought he was pulling our legs when he said he had a girlfriend. Especially 'cause he said she lived in a different state."

"Well, he was telling the truth," Vivien smiled nervously.

"I guess so," Juliet beamed. Turning to Mick, she said, "Anyway, I just got all their drinks together. If you want to head out now, I'll take Vivien here with me and say she's a new trainee."

Mick thought for a moment, but it didn't take her long to decide, "Honestly, that's a better plan than mine. I'll go back to my seat, and I'll see you out there in a few!"

As Mick hurried back through the door, Juliet turned to Vivien and asked, "So, newbie, are you ready for your first day at work?"

"I guess so," Vivien said, sucking in a deep breath.

With a smile, Juliet took a spare waist apron from the hangers on the wall and tied it around the younger girl before picking up her tray of sodas and asking, "Think you can carry this to their booth?"

"I can certainly try," Vivien offered, eyeing the collection of colored liquids.

Once Juliet was sure Vivien had a good hold on the tray, she said, "Just stay behind me and don't say a word until I introduce you. The less chance he has of seeing you, the better chances you have of surprising him."

Vivien nodded, and without another word, Juliet began to lead the way out, holding the door open behind her for Vivien before leading her through the busy restaurant. Vivien didn't get the chance to look around much as they walked, more focused on not spilling any drinks than exploring. However, as Juliet stopped at a booth along the far wall, Vivien looked around, hoping to see some familiar faces among the crowds.

Clearing her throat, Juliet spoke, "Hope y'all don't mind, but we've got a new girl with us this noontime and I figured I'd show her the ropes while Royce here takes his break."

"That's fine, Jules," Vivien heard Miles say. "What's her name?"

"I figured I'd let her introduce herself when she's ready," Juliet said, glancing over her shoulder at Vivien before stepping aside.

Finally able to see the group in the booth, Vivien took in the look of surprise on Miles' face first. Miles quickly got Carrie's attention by squeezing her hand, getting her to look up from the menu in her hands. Cerulean eyes glittered like fireworks as Carrie saw the girl standing at the end of the table, and she hurriedly tapped Bentley's shin under the table with the toe of her shoe, making him lift his head from the crayon drawings he had begun on the back of one of the disposable, paper placemats. Somewhat annoyed at the interruption, Bentley lifted his gaze with a question on his lips, but as Carrie pointed to the end of the table, his question died, and his mouth dropped open, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

Before anyone could signal Royce to lift his head from his arms as he yawned tiredly toward the table, Vivien smiled at his tangled curls and said, "Hey, handsome."

Without bothering to look up, Royce decided that, since nobody else cared to speak, he would, and mumbled, "Believe it or not, Miles has a girlfriend."

Vivien fought down a laugh and said, "Believe it or not, I wasn't talking to him."

The first to pull himself out of his shocked stupor, Miles grinned and said, "Royce has one too."

"I don't see her anywhere," Vivien said, placing the tray of drinks on the end of the table. "Maybe I need a mirror."

Royce rolled his eyes, lifting his head from his arms enough to take his soda from the tray as he said, "Not interested."

"Royce," Bentley began warningly but was quickly stopped by Miles as the oldest of the brothers placed a finger to his lips and gestured for the boy to stay silent.

"Damn," Vivien sighed as Royce's forehead rested against his arms once more. "And here I thought we would have lasted at least half a year before you decided to break up with me, Rolls."

Startled by the choice of nickname, Royce's eyes peeled open, and through the corner of his eyes, he found himself looking at a pair of Converse with faded doodles on the white of the toe, but it wasn't until he saw the tiny ship charm dangling from her laces that he began putting pieces together. As he slowly lifted his head, Royce found himself frozen with shock. Sure enough, standing before him was his girlfriend, but she looked as though she had stepped out of a magazine. Her typical jeans and T-shirt were replaced with clothing he was used to seeing on some of his friends at school, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail he knew she would normally complain about at the end of the day, but she didn't seem upset by it in the slightest. Her round glasses caught the light above their table perfectly, glinting magically as the light above another nearby table casted a golden halo around her from behind. For a while, Royce was convinced he was seeing things - Vivien couldn't be in his world; it was impossible! She would have told him she was coming! - but then she smiled down at him and said something he couldn't hear over the thoughts running rampant in his head.

Swallowing as he blinked up at her, Royce softly asked, "Vivien?"

The girl before him laughed, and while that beautiful symphony was all he needed to hear, her nod dispelled any further doubts he could have had. Rocketing up from his seat, Royce lunged forward, bringing his arms around her as far as they would reach, nearly lifting her from the floor as she giggled by his ear. They stood like that for what felt like an eternity before Royce backed away enough to take her face in his hands, examining her as though it was the first time.

"Hey," she breathed, as eloquent as ever.

"You-" Royce cut himself off with a laugh, "You're real. You're real and you're here. How are you here?"

Vivien shrugged, "Magic."

Scoffing a laugh, Royce shook his head and brought her back into an embrace that she quickly returned. Looking over her boyfriend's shoulder at the group, who had now pulled themselves out of the booth to greet her, Vivien smiled and gestured for Bentley to join them. Needing no further encouragement, Bentley was quick to attach himself to the pair, ducking under Royce's arm as it came around his shoulders and smiling as Vivien's snuck around his back. The trio refused to separate until Miles asked for his hug, making Vivien pry herself away from her boys for long enough to give Miles and Carrie a greeting as well. Then, just like magnets, the trio fell back together again. This time, however, they separated after a minute, and with Vivien's hands locked firmly in theirs, the boys began showing her around to anyone and everyone who would give them the time of day.

Vivien couldn't help but smile as she was dragged through the restaurant, her face burning like a neon firetruck. As much as she hated being the center of attention, she tried to swallow back her growing anxiety at being surrounded by strangers in favor of allowing the boys to introduce her to the people they cared about. She was sure her growing nerves and embarrassment at being shown off like a prize horse would wear off over time once the boys began to settle, and she wasn't about to complain to either of them until they were calmed down a bit. After all, they had waited long enough for this. Besides, what was the harm of a little embarrassment? If it meant the boys' gleaming smiles never left their faces, she would deal with it a thousand times over. Catching Royce watching her fondly as Bentley introduced her to some of their and their brother's friends, Vivien smiled.

Maybe - just maybe - she could get used to this.

#Same Trailer Different Park #STDP #and so it begins

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keysmashingfantasies · 1 year

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Hi! 🫧

I'm not sure if you write for Last boss but i'm sending my request in anyways 😖

(I'm sorry this is so long 😕) But my idea is that the reader and last boss were together before the borderlands and when they entered the borderlands they got split apart and didn't think they'd ever see each other again. To have it make sense, the reader becomes friends with Usagi and Arisu and so when they all arrive at the beach, the reader and last boss finally meet each other again and it's a little bit angsty and fluffy between them?

if i write last boss????? that man is babygirl. and i don't mind long requests at all!! thank you for requesting and feedback is always welcome!

"Son! Y/N is here! She brought food for you, isn't it nice? Won't you come out to talk to her?", he heard his mom's muffled voice through the door as he tapped away about a newly discovered endeavor, of a group of hikers that after being lost for months in the woods were found dead after killing each other. He was so caught up that he missed the "I'm sorry, really. You know how he is" "It's fine, don't worry".

You met Samura Takatora in unusual circumstances: you had commented in one of his blog posts talking about world exploration, how people go through the utmost dangerous experiences and processes just to experiment the illusion of freedom, talking about how he couldn't be free if he really wanted to. About how he was restraining himself, about how all people were. Being choked by social norms and expectations. You felt for him. Felt seen. And so you decided to comment on it, and surprisingly he replied and you started to message each other back and forth and, after he told you he lived relatively close, you took it upon yourself to visit him. You weren't as surprised as any other person would, actually, not after talking to him for a while. He told you all about how he lived his life and although you'd thought it was a red flag at first, he got to you and you started to grow even closer when you managed to see him face to face, even hidden behind his long bangs and facial hair. It wasn't a normal relationship by any means. Like a wounded animal, you had to carefully get close to him, otherwise it seemed like you'd scare him away. The first time you held his hand he seemed like he turned into stone, his droopy shoulders almost coming up to his ears. You were his first partner, after all. Most of the time you just sat in silence in his stuffy room while he tapped away hunched over his computer. You kind of understood why he locked himself away, covering his windows, sitting in darkness. It's like time stood still in there, especially when you were with him.

And then everything changed.

If someone was to ask you what was the worst feeling you ever felt, it most definitely was running for your life. You had been in your way to bring groceries to Samura and his mom when you saw fireworks and as soon as you walked in his building, the power went off.

After only a few games, and seeing more deaths in about a week than in your entire life, you got the hang of it pretty quick. Look down, hide away, play in the games and try to find a way to go home. Sometimes you remembered Samura, when you were locked away in some random dark place during daytime. You hoped he didn't think you abandoned him.

Thankfully, you met Arisu and Usagi on a game right after. And when they told you they had seen cars and people with numbered bracelets, that those people could have the answers to what was happening, you were in. You needed to go back and find him.

The Beach was a very weird place. It was a complete escape from reality. There, you got the same feeling you did in Samura's room: like time stood still. Everyone was partying around the clock, and nothing was off limits, all always accompanied by blaring bass boosted music. You were on the poolside with Arisu and Usagi when the militants arrived.

Suddenly you were almost at the point of passing out. The music had been stopped at the request of the guy with the rifle but there was still the sound of blood rushing to your head. As long fingers wrapped around your bicep, you could hear hollering from the other armed people.

"Finally, Last Boss is about to get some!", the guy with the rifle shouted, waving it around and cackling.

You could only look up at him. He was so so different, but the eyes were the same. It was him.

Last Boss?

"Samura...", you mumbled, still looking up at him in a nearly catatonic state. He had all but dragged you to his room, egged on by his militant friends, and now he stood in front of you like a totally new person.

Head and face shaved, with tribal designs on it, that dragged down his arms. But his eyes, his delicate cupid's bow, even his stance. It was unmistakably him.

"That's not my name anymore. I'm Last Boss in this world", he said.

"What do you mean, this world? You look so different, and you have a katana and I was going to see you and I saw fireworks and then everything is so insane!", you word vomited, all of the stress of constant fight or flight crashing down on you.

"This new world is for the few chosen ones, what I dreamed of. What I talked about on the blog all the time. True life comes with the constant death", he said in a monotone voice. "And you're here now. That's even more proof that this is meant to happen".

"What?", you felt dizzy. "What are you saying?". You had tears brimming your eyes and instead of tensing up like he usually did when you showed any exacerbated emotion, he just chuckled, and took slow decided steps towards you, making you back up until you hit the wall. "Samura...", you closed your eyes, letting tears fall, his big hands on both sides of your face.

"That's not my name anymore", he simply said. No emotion, just a fact. Like "the sky is blue". "Say it for me".

"Last Boss...", you said. It felt foreign on your mouth but not bad. Specially with the way he looked happy. Happier than you had ever seen him.

"You don't like the death, that's what it's about?", he asked as if tranquilizing a child. To be fair, you were acting like one, nodding your head with a wobbly bottom lip and seeking refuge on his chest where he gladly welcomed you.

"People must die. They do all the time because death is what makes life, this place is where we are meant to be", he said.

"No, it's not! We're not meant to be here, we need to go back!", you pleaded with him, grasping his shoulders with desperate hands.

"Go back?", he frowned, arms falling back on his sides.

"You... You don't want to come back with me?", you looked and sounded heartbroken. You missed him so much and now that you finally found him, he was telling you that he wanted to be forever in an insane world.

"I saw how tired you were. When you used to come to my place so stressed after work. How you complained about people pretending, being hypocrites. How sad you were when people would judge you. Here, there's none of that. People respect you for who you are, what you show. You earn each and every day of your life to never be taken for granted", he said it so earnestly it touched you deep. You remembered seeing pictures of snowy mountains and dense forests, laying your head on his shoulder and saying how much you wished to be whisked away with him somewhere else. Maybe this was meant to be after all.

"I...", you eyed his katana wearily. Would you be able to do what it took to stay there forever? So far you didn't have to kill anyone but what if one day...

"What I did to my body is my vow of commitment to this world. I'm not going back", he was looking into your eyes with such intensity it's like the two of you were the only ones in the whole world.

"I don't know if... Don't know how I...", you looked at his katana yet again. He simply smiled, stepping back and reaching behind his back to take it out. He stepped closer, letting the cool blade touch your extended palms that fell from his shoulders and you trembled.

"I'll teach you. And then you'll stay. Will you?", he said and you nodded. You wanted him. And you knew that you would do anything to keep him alive and by your side and he, you. And if you didn't have to worry with him getting stares and whispers or you having to juggle to pay bills then it's all the better for you.

He put his katana back on it's sheath, suddenly taking you by the hand and pulling you towards the door of the room.

"Last Boss", you asked and he paused to look back at you like you had sang with the voice of a thousand angels. "Where are we going?". He leaned over until his nose brushed yours.

"I'm introducing you to my tattoo artist".

#alice in borderland fic #alice in borderland imagine #aib x reader #alice in borderland x reader #last boss loving hours in this mf house #last boss x reader #samura takatora x reader #takatora samura x reader #last boss x you #last boss x y/n

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blackswallowtailbutterfly · 1 year

Text

There’s a certain intuition that comes with dealing with kids that’s hard to explain.

Like the time my younger sister was acting up during a time I was visiting, as she often did, and our mom sent her to bath and bed. I was 15 and she was 9 or 10. I had to pee at some point and found my sister sitting on the floor hitting the door stopper. I said something like “You are so bad” in a joking tone, and she angrily tried to close the door on me. And something clicked. I stopped it, came into the bathroom and locked the door behind me, sat on the floor with her and took her into my arms, in a way I hadn’t done since she was probably three. She sobbed and sobbed and I just held her silently. And then she calmed down, got in the bath and I told her stories until she was done and ready for bed. That was a major changing point in our relationship, which had been not great before that.

She has four children now. Her eldest son is 3 years old. I’ve bonded with her two daughters but hadn’t made a real connection with either of her sons until Easter weekend. The little boy was running around and for whatever reason I pointed at him and cried “YOUUUU!” and he laughed and ran way and then came running back. I repeated this and he joined in. I then started alternating with “MEEE!” and he joined in that too. And that was just a fun little game. But later when he was upset about something or other to do with his little brother playing with toys he wanted, I got down at his level and softly said, “youuu, meee” a few times and then he found himself repeating it along with me, stopped crying, let me hug him, and was more receptive to the suggestion of playing with a different toy, where he’d rejected it before. Adults are human and it’s impossible to do the correct thing with a child every time, but a lot of times, I feel like if your mind and heart are open, it kind of just comes to you what to do in the case of a child acting up or being upset. A way of showing them hey, I get you, I’m in this with you. Literally, “you, me”.

Sometimes it doesn’t even take a situation where they’re upset. My younger niece took quite some time to warm up to me. I woke early in the morning to hear her crying one visit, when she was about 1 and a half. I went to her crib. Her diaper didn’t seem full. She eventually stopped and I went back to the couch. She started crying again. This repeated until I eventually picked her up and took her to the couch with me where she quickly went to sleep. My sister woke up a short time later and took her back to the crib. My younger niece went back to not liking me that day (she would stare at me with a frown lmao). So what did it? She likes monsters. At a later visit when she was 2 years old, she would sit in her stroller with her hands out like claws making roaring and growling sounds. During that visit I got the girls out of their bath and wrapped in their towels, and in her little towel my younger niece roared at me. I roared back and was gifted an open-mouthed grin from ear to ear on her little face before she launched herself head-first into me for a hug.

I guess another example is my eldest niece. When she was 4 I was visiting and making a jam. She wanted to be involved and pushed a step-stool next to me to elevate her height, which wasn’t very stable and she knocked it over. She wasn’t hurt but I was more concerned that the boiling pot could have tipped over and splashed her. My sister and I both admonished her, not harshly, not to be moving things around a hot stove. She burst into tears. She didn’t want to be admonished by her auntie she didn’t get to see a lot of and wanted to spend as much time as possible with. She couldn’t express that, of course, but I could put two and two together, having been on the other side of that. I hugged her and found her a sturdy chair to stand on well away from the pot, where she could still see it and I explained to her what I was doing. That’s all she wanted, she was perfectly well-behaved throughout.

Don’t really know where I’m going with this. Just, I don’t know. Making connections and developing relationships with kids is interesting.

#children #kids #child development #empathy with children

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topguncortez · 2 years

Text

The Box word count: 2.4k warnings: mentions of parental death pairing: Bradley x female!reader, Carole and Goose (mentioned) synopsis: Bradley comes back to his childhood home to discover the house is still the same and there's a box of letters with his name on it. masterlist

Bradley sighed as he looked up at the familiar house. It had been nearly four years since he’s been back to it. It was in his best interest to pack it up and sell, even though everything in his heart was telling him not to. All sorts of memories had been made inside those four walls, and Bradley wasn’t sure if he could part with them yet.

“Are you ready?” A small hand landed on his shoulder and Bradley looked over at the girl sitting in his passenger seat. Bradley gave her a small smile and nodded. She squeezed his shoulder as he turned off the truck. She waited for him at the front of the truck, grabbing his hand as they walked towards the front door of the house.

“Remind me to grab the mailbox before we sell,” Bradley said, looking at the painted mailbox. He could remember his mom holding his small hand as they painted their last name on it.

“I’ll add it to the list.”

Bradley opened the door to the house and was hit with the feeling of nostalgia. Even though the years had passed since anyone had really been there, the house still smelled the same as it always did. The same spot by the front door creaked as Bradley walked into the house. It was like a time capsule, a thin layer of dust covering everything in the house. Bradley felt his throat constrict as he stood in the living room, looking around at all the pictures.

“I don’t even know where to start,” He mumbled and sat down on the couch. Y/N stood in the doorway of the living room, giving Bradley some privacy to gather his thoughts, “C’mere.”

Y/N walked over and sat down next to him. She snuggled into his side and Bradley placed a kiss on her temple, “We don’t have to do anything tonight. We had a long drive in and a very busy past few days. Let’s just take the night to relax,” She said and then looked up at him, “You can show me around your hometown. I would love to see where the teen heartthrob Bradley Bradshaw used to break hearts open at.”

Bradley smiled and shook his head, “Yeah I like that plan. It’s kind of overwhelming to be here right now. Maybe a night out will help me clear my head.”

Y/N and Bradley brought in their suitcases, setting up in his old room. He contemplated taking the master bedroom, but he wasn’t quite ready to open the door to it yet. Y/N knew the pain that it caused Bradley to even step foot on the property of this house, she understood his unsettledness as he wandered around the house as she got ready.

The two of them walked around the small old downtown. Bradley had pointed out various spots and told stories of the antics him and his friends got up to. It was a nice change for them both, being carefree and not feeling the weight of college and flight school on their shoulders. Bradley had finally graduated from flight school a couple weeks ago, and Y/N had finished her degree in education. They had the summer to themselves, for the first time in nearly four years. They wanted to enjoy their summer before Bradley had to report to the Golden Warriors in Virginia. That meant they also had to tie up some loose strings, like his mother’s house that was sitting empty.

Bradley had decided to keep the house after her passing, not ready to part with it. In the back of his mind he was going to use the house for school breaks, having a place near the coast to run away too, but after his first year of college, he found it too hard to come back. That’s when he met Y/N, and she had invited him to come to Thanksgiving dinner with her family. And from then on out, Bradley knew she was going to be the one for him.

“This diner,” Bradley smiled as they stopped outside the old place, “My dad proposed to my mom here over a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie.”

“Well how about we go in and have some for ourselves,” Y/N said and Bradley nodded, pulling her into the old style restaurant.

“My word. . . Bradley Bradshaw!” An older lady behind the counter said as they walked in, “My, I haven’t seen you running around here in ages! How are you doing?”

“Denise, It’s good to see you, I’m doing good,” Bradley greeted her, “This is my girlfriend, Y/N. This is Denise, she’s been running this place since I was little.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Y/N said, waving to the older lady.

“She’s a pretty girl Bradley, you're treating her right?” Denise asked, raising an eyebrow. Y/N bit her lip to try and hide her blush, as Bradley felt his ears turn red.

“Of course. My old man’s ghost would come back to kick my ass,” Bradley looked at his girlfriend, “We’ll take two Bradshaw regulars.”

“Go on ahead, I’ll bring them over,” Denise said, pointing to the familiar booth in the middle of the restaurant.

Bradley sat across from Y/N in the booth and looked at the picture that was on the wall. His parents' smiling faces were displayed behind the glass and Bradley sighed. This town was full of memories of them. It was a small town, and everyone knew everyone. When they found out about Goose’s death, they rallied around Carole and young Bradley, making sure they had meals and were taken care of. They never wanted Carole to feel alone, like she couldn’t reach out for help if she needed it.

And the same went for Bradley. When Carole fell ill his junior year of high school, the town stepped in once again, making sure that Bradley was taken care of and Carole was looked after. When she died, it felt like a hole was punched through the town. Carole was loved by everyone, known by everyone. Her smiling face was missed at church services, and her loud yell was missed at baseball games. Bradley Bradshaw had become an orphan at the age of seventeen. But he never felt truly alone, the town was there for him. They helped him to keep standing on his own two feet until he graduated highschool and moved to Charlottesville.

“They really loved your folks,” Y/N said.

“Like no other,” Bradley answered, “They were very active in the town. Even with my dad gone from time to time, he still did his part. He always helped set fireworks off every year for the fourth and played Santa a couple years for christmas.”

“Oh that would’ve been awesome! Goose Bradshaw as Santa!”

“Except one year he and Mav got into the spiked eggnog a little too much before, so we had drunk Santa.”

Y/N laughed, “I love when you tell stories about them. Your eyes light up and you have this bright smile on your face. I love seeing it.”

“I just wish they were here,” Bradley looked down at his hands, “There are some things I wish I could ask them. Like when I had to call you in the middle of the night and ask how to iron my khaki shirt. Simple stuff like that I wish I still had.”

Y/N grabbed his hand and ran her thumb over the back of it, “I know. But you know that they are always with you.”

“I know.”

— — —

The next week was spent going through every room in the house. Every cabinet, drawer, closet was gone through. Bradley had donated and tossed loads of stuff, with Y/N’s help. There were some things he decided to keep, but it was bare minimum. His mom had done the majority of cleaning the house when she got sick, knowing that Bradley was like his dad, a collector. The whole house had almost been gone through, except his mom’s bedroom. Bradley stood outside the white painted door, and took a deep breath.

“I’m gonna go take this load to goodwill,” Y/N said, knowing Bradley would want some time alone, “Call me if you need me. I’ll pick up lunch on my way back.”

“Okay,” Bradley whispered, and Y/N kissed his cheek as she walked away, “I love you.”

She stopped, “I love you too.”

Bradley let out a shaky breath, as he opened the door to her room. The room still smelled the same, the smell of roses with a hint of vanilla. The bed was still made, and the decorations in her room were untouched. Carole Bradshaw was more than likely the last person to step foot in this room anyway. Bradley took the cardboard box in his hand and set it on the floor as he took a seat on the bed. He looked around the room and felt his eyes well up with tears. He tried to bite back the sobs that threatened to leave his lips but it was no use.

He shook his head and pushed himself up from the bed quickly. He told himself he wasn’t going to cry anymore. He couldn’t cry anymore. Bradley had enough loss in his life and shed enough tears, he couldn’t do it. So he bottled up his emotions and got to cleaning.

There wasn’t a lot left in the room. Most of Carole’s clothes and belongings had been packed up by her sisters after her death. Bradley didn’t have much to do except for a couple items tucked into the drawers; her bible, her perfume, a picture of her and Bradley, and a picture of her and Goose. Bradley opened her closet, seeing it empty except for a shoe box sitting on the top shelf. He furrowed his eyebrows as he grabbed it. He sat down on the bed and opened it.

“What the hell?” Bradley whispered, as he looked at the shoebox full of letters and other memorabilia. His fingers flipped through the items in the box, seeing that there were probably fifty or more letters, most addressed to him, some addressed to his uncle Maverick, and some addressed ‘to Bradley’s future partner’. His eyes landed on one envelope that said ‘open first’. He opened it and gasped seeing it was his mother’s handwriting.

‘Dear Bradley,

I never knew how precious time was until the day your father died. I begged and prayed night after night for God to just rewind time, take me back to the days before his death. I needed more time, you and I needed more time, we all needed more time. I wish that time would just stop, and I could spend my forever with you and your father. But somewhere, the cards have been dealt, and our time is running short.

There are things that I wish I could’ve taught you if we had more time. I wish that I could be there to see you graduate high school and college, to see you follow your dreams, to see you marry the person you love and have a family of your own, but that is sadly not possible. I know my time is running out, and I am doing my best to prepare you for a life without me.

We lived some thirteen years without your father, and every single year it was heartbreaking. I had to figure out how to be both father and mother in a short amount of time, and I just pray that I gave you the necessary tools to be successful. I know there are things that I wish your dad could’ve been here to teach you, but I am thankful for your Uncle Maverick for stepping in the best he could.

There was a time where your dad and I only conversed through letters. While he was off sleeping in the woods and I was here lifeguarding during the summer before college, we would write to each other all the time. Then when we got married and he would be deployed, we would converse through letters. He had saved every letter I wrote, and I did the same. I compiled them all and put them in this box. He had also written some letters before you were even born, and while he was deployed when you were a baby. I have never read them, I was saving them for you. You will also find some letters that I wrote. These are for you to have and to have as a sort of guide to navigate your life without us.

Bradley, I know it will be hard, and it will hurt like hell, believe me. But your dad once told us, ‘I will always be with you, no matter where I’m at on the earth or in the sky’.

I love you, my baby boy. I will always love you and be with you no matter where I’m at on the earth or in the sky.

-love Mom.’

Bradley emptied out the envelope and found a copy of his father’s dog tags, and attached to it both of their wedding rings. He couldn’t even form a coherent thought as he picked up the box and turned it over, looking at all the contents.

He got lost in time as he looked through all of the titles of the letters, some of them basic ones like “A Letter in how to make your favorite casserole” or “A Letter in how to change the oil in the bronco”. And others were titled “A Letter when you first deploy” or “A Letter when you meet the love of your life.” Bradley had found there was a letter for almost any question he could possibly have.

“Babe?!“ Bradley looked at the doorway, seeing his girlfriend standing there, “There you are! I’ve been calling for you.”

“Sorry I, uh,” Bradley cleared his throat and looked at all the envelopes surrounding him. Y/N walked quietly over to him and stood in front of the bed, “My Mom wrote, well my dad too, they wrote me a bunch of how to letters. She knew I would need some advice and well this was-“

“The only way she could do it.”

“Yeah,” He said looking down at the one in his hand. The title was almost mocking him, but he couldn’t blame his father for writing it. He had no way of knowing the betrayal his best friend would cause his son, “I don’t even know where to begin on these.”

“Well, I’m guessing you start with the one that has an answer to your question.” Y/N picked up the letter in front of her and handed it to Bradley.

‘A Letter in what to do with the house after I’m gone’

--- --- ---

Letters to Bradley Taglist: @callmebymym @luckyladycreator2 @jake-h-ngm-n-seresin @sleep-whose-that @xoxo-periwinkle-skies @the-killer-queenie @carsgeek24 @midget713 @sweetdayme4427 @bravo-four-seal-team @green-socks @lareinedumal @mrsroosterbradshaw02 @jessirosebud @multifandom-fangirl4

Letters taglist form

A/N: sorry for taking so long!!🤍 i promise i’m working on getting your requests done:)

#top gun #top gun imagine #top gun fan fiction #top gun fan fic #top gun series #top gun maverick series #top gun maverick fan fiction #top gun maverick fanfic #top gun maverick imagine #bradley rooster bradshaw imagine #rooster bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw series #bradley bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw

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bnha-more-like-bnh-gay · 1 year

Note

I got a prompt for you! Prompt: Tired of the daily abuse he suffers, Izuku makes the choice to run away, hoping for his mother's life to get better once he's gone. Keep in mind this Izuku isn't blinded by the flashiness of heroics and gave up on it a long time ago.

So as Izuku wanders the streets alone, he meets up with some of the future LOV members such as Dabi, Toga, Spinner, Compress, ect.

Together they form a found family with a mission to work their way up to expose hero society and change it for the better (instead of whatever the hell the LOV were doing)

HELLO, I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, SCHOOL AND MY BRAIN FUCKED ME OVER, BUT Y E S!!!!! I LOVE

Okay, imma be honest, a large part of this is going to involve toga, because I love her so much and she deserves so much better than she got, and she and izuku would’ve been such good friends if they had met earlier

Tw: for bullying and self esteem issues (a lot of self blaming) and as a general rule for my headcanons,,,,,, ✨angst✨

Kaachan and his ✨henchmen✨ had been getting worse lately. Well, ever since his “diagnosis,” it had been getting worse and worse, but izuku was about to reach is breaking point

Every day, he heard about how it was his fault that his father left, that no one loved or cared about him, that the world would be better off without him, that his mother would be better off without him.

He could see how tired she was, he could tell that the bills were starting to stack up, and that kaachan repeatedly busting his hearing aids was Not Helping.

Really, izuku knew they were right (they’re not, I’ll fight them). If he wasn’t such a burden on his mother, she’d probably be a lot happier. She’d probably smile more. Sing more. Hell, her husband wouldn’t have left her if it hadn’t been for him!

His mom worked long hours, so he’d often wander through the streets if he didn’t have too much homework. It was rather peaceful in the early hours of the morning when his mother had the night shift and izuku would find his only friends in the alley cats

That being said, izuku also knew it was rather dangerous in dark alleyways during nightfall. Especially for a quirkless kid. But, that had never stopped him before, and so, when he hears muttering from a few streets over, he silently, curiously, stupidly! Izuku, turn back now! The rational part of his brain reprimanded.

He didn’t listen

Eventually, he found a girl in one alley, only a few turns away from his, she seemed to be taking to herself?

Well. Izuku wasn’t one to judge. Especially when he did the same thing!

But she seemed to be in distress. Her muttering was getting louder, and seemed to be turning into a full on beat down of her own misgivings

Again, izuku could relate

He approached her, asking if she was okay. He made sure to stay several meters away, he might not have much self preservation, but he wasn’t stupid

She looked at him frantically. Oh kami, why did she have a knife?! (Please imagine the vine there) she was telling him to stay back, too

But again, when has izuku ever done what people tell him to?

He tells her his name and tries to reassure her that he’s not going to hurt her, that she’s safe

It takes a while, but she is eventually able to calm down a bit

It’s strange really, two kids who couldn’t have been out of middle school out in the middle of the night. But, they started to talk.

For the first time since he was 4, izuku had someone he could consider a friend? Well. Aside from the cats, of course!

Toga was so kind! And she was just as excitable as him! She really liked cute things, so he decided that he had to show her all the pictures of his alley cat friends!

She. Loved. Them.

He taught her how to get close with them! You just had to be a little patient! She wasn’t the best with that, but that was okay! She would do anything for a friend, and her new friend really liked these cats! So, she could totally be patient for them!!

It was worth it too! They were so cute, and izu-Chan looked even cuter holding them!! (Not an izutoga ship, she just loves cute things)

The two young teens (I imagine they’re like,,, 13 and 14 around now? Maybe 14 and 15? Toga runs away after she graduates middle school at 15, so like,,,, around there), as the weeks go on and they get to know each other, toga begins to open up about her family’s hatred and suppression of her quirk, and izuku tells her about his quirklessness, the bullying, and the stress he puts on his mother

She is incredibly protective of him. That’s her little brother/best friend/only person who cares about her/her person.

He’s the same with her, really, just shows it a bit differently. Has 1000000% written 100+ page PowerPoints on how once she is and that she can do anything she puts her mind to

She’s more action and physical based. She’s very affectionate, she hugs him as often as she can. They’re both touch starved, and she knows she’s not the best with words. So, she steals shit for him.

He doesn’t know that it’s stealing at first, when she shows up with a new notebook after kaachan burned another one. She doesn’t get why he’s so worried about her stealing at first. It’s only from big companies and corporations that could afford to lose a few notebooks every now and then. He just doesn’t want her to get caught though. But she’s safe! Really!!

They find Dabi a few months later. He’s older than them by 7 and 8 years respectively, and he’s kind of an asshole. But toga likes his spunk and disregard for the rules. And izuku likes that he doesn’t care about quirks

Dabi and toga shit talk katsuki and I will not be told otherwise. Izuku feels bad at first, but they kinda put it into perspective of like, “how would you feel if he was doing/saying this stuff to/about us?” And izuku just like >:0

Obviously it took a while, and he still doesn’t know that they made shirts with katsuki’s face in the 🚫 sign, but I like to imagine that they show up to pick izuku up from school wearing them and bakugku had a conniption

Toga and izuku don’t actually run away until toga’s graduation from middle school

Some of her classmates pulled a really asshole prank on her and she had a panic attack. She ran away from the ceremony thing and was later found by a frantic izuku and dabi (her brothers)

She told them that she couldn’t go back. That her parents were mad at, no, disgraced by her

Dabi was mad. “More bitch ass parents. The worlds just fucken’ full of them”

- dabi, 2xxx

He offers to kill them for her. Izuku tells him no :( shame.

Let’s just say that this is around the time bakugou says his infamous “swan dive” comment and the sludge villain incident (I know I think both toga running away and that whole deal would happen around the relative same few months, so let’s just push them together! Why not!)

And the three decide to pull a little disappearing act

Well. Mainly toga and izuku. Dabi pulled his disappearing stunt a while ago. He gives them pointers. Dramatic bitch

Let’s be real, the three of them are all dramatic bitches

Izuku leaves a letter to his mom, explaining that he’s sorry for putting her in such a difficult place, and that he hopes she can find happiness, and that he’ll miss her.

:((((((((((((

They end up crashing a couple towns away in an abandoned building. Not very safe, but. Abandoned. Sooo

Toga says that the building is just like them

Abandoned

Dabi tells her not to look too deeply into it, but izuku thinks about that statement a lot

Spinner and dabi both have like… 0 respect for heroes. -10 actually. But, spinner is quite interested by these three vagabond’s plan to expose corrupt heroes and make society a better place, so, he tags along.

Mr. Compress catches dabi trying to pick pocket someone.

It goes badly </3

Dabi’s slight of hand just needs a bit of practice, and who’s better to teach him than a world class thief?

No one. That’s who.

Mr. Compress cannot believe he’s going to have to parent these teens and young adults. Fuck man. Can he leave now? He didn’t ask for this, he just wanted to share some tricks to the next generation of thieves, now he’s listening to this green child explain their plot for world domination?!

Oh, what’s that? It’s not world domination? Fine. Guess he’s going to teach these four how to steal shit because he will not be caught dead with criminals who don’t know how to complete a heist

Obviously, they go after endeavor first.

They take great joy in destroying him.

What?? Just because they aren’t the league of villains doesn’t mean our vigilante crew doesn’t enjoy some sweet sweet revenge on those who have hurt their little make shift family!

Mr. Compress is not a dad. He’s just not.

Did he show izuku all his masks and listen to the boy nerd out about them and their different histories and design origins? Yes. Did he think it was adorable? Yes.

That means nothing though and you can’t prove anything!

Spinner and dabi are the “cool” big brothers

Read: fucking dumbasses with issues with authority

It’s fine

Toga and izuku are feral sinanon rolls with issues with authority

Mr. Compress went from following his father’s footsteps in living life as a thief to overthrowing the hero commission with these kids who are all over a decade younger than him

Love that for him.

Dabi learns how to make katsudon for izuku when he’s homesick

Izuku helps dabi and toga deal with their quirk issues

They have a few run ins with stain, (spinner fanboys)

Izuku starts making them gear!

I don’t know why I love izuku making gear and tech, but he’s just such a smart and chaotic lad that I think it’s perfect for him

Definitely hacks into U.A. And plays online chess with nezu

He’s getting better

Nezu has heard whispers of their little group, and is quite excited to see how everything plays out!

I hope you liked thisss!!! Again, I am SO SORRY that this took so long. I had it in my drafts for about a week and worked on it when I could, but brain and homework were djsjcinsignaj

I love this thoughhhh!! Sorry if spinner and mr. Compress are ooc, I really don’t remember their personalities too much 😅 but I hope it was okay anyway!!!

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mysticbewitched · 2 months

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Hii Mystic! I am new to your blog and after just a day of going through it (I found you yesterday through the drama), I feel so heard and I resonate deeply with what you say and think. I had new shift?( I don’t how to explain it) when it comes to my mindset, before when I would read other ND blogs, they would always speak about dropping everything, everything is meaningless, blah blah, — it really never helped me, I would feel very anxious/frustrated one moment and extremely un-feeling the next.

But after going through your blog yesterday I felt very seen, and you actually explained things very well for me. And things have changed SO MUCH it’s genuinely so shocking.

Last night I decided to let go completely, I told myself “You are god, everything is and effortless for you, you never need to worry about a thing. You will never experience what you don’t want to experience”

And immediately the morning after, I woke up 04:41 (I wanted to wake up early for school and do my routine, but I always failed at doing so, however the night before after accepting that I was god, I told myself “I will wake up at 5”, and went to sleep, AND I ACTUALLY DID!!).

Now, my school is really far away, but not far enough that I can’t walk to it, but I absolutely HATE walking to school because of the extreme heat. I TELL YOU RIGHT NOW I didn’t even affirm or think about this but my mom woke up and told me “I’m gonna drop you at school today, I have some stuff to do and I’m passing by there.” I was so surprised at how effortless and easy this was to manifest, and I didn’t even think of manifesting it! All I affirmed the previous night was that I would never experience what I didn’t want to experience. And BOOM it happened.

NOT JUST THAT but after school I had to walk back home, I told myself I didn’t want to so I won’t. I called my mom and asked her if she was near school, she said she was done with her errands and she would pick me up so we can drive home!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? And at this point it all felt so normal!

I know this might seem small to others but it means a whole lot to me. I’m gonna work on my mindset and experience the life of my dreams

Thank you so much Mystic, finding you really helped me and I hope you continue with your blog to help others too. I’ll be supporting through and through.

Also, is the podcast okay? I can’t find the link and I really wanna listen to it.

Sorry for the long message, and I appreciate you reading through it!

Hello, love. Welcome.

Ah, it sounds as if my points of view were speaking to your heart and it felt right to you on a deeper, spiritual level. That's beautiful and touching to hear.

I'm so glad that you are able to deeply resonate with how I run things around here.

I felt the very same as you before and I know exactly how that feels. I'm so glad that you found me because you will never have to feel that way again.

I'm proud of you for embracing your inner divine nature and realizing your own power to manifest. Transform your perception of yourself and you will easily create the beautiful reality of your dreams.

I want you to know that you and everyone here has a safe space on my page for you to feel free to express your views and ask me anything that's on your mind.

Thank you so much for your support during these rough times. It truly means the world to me.

The podcast is on hold for right now because I don't feel comfortable about having my voice out there right now for just anyone to hear with everything that's going on. I hope that everyone understands.

I will continue with my page, but I'm most definitely considering taking a very long break from everything to focus on myself and catch my breath.

The only reason I choose to stay and keep up with my posts after all of this is because of my deep love for my followers. I want to be here for them.

Thank you so much your kind words and support.

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kassy-munson · 6 months

Text

Not that anyone cares, but here's my personal review of the book Flight of Icarus...

*Attention! It might give out spoilers! You have been warned.*

Again, this is my own personal opinion. Feel free to agree or disagree, but this is my own take on the book.

*forgive me for any spelling/syntax errors :)

FUCK AL MUNSON. I think everyone can agree on that -

Thank god for Wayne's existence -

For a moment, it felt like I was reading something from Breaking Bad lol - what was the point of this whole ''let's go steal drugs from a van'' story??? -

The whole interaction with Chrissy and Eddie didn't feel right to me... Like, it doesn't even fit with the interaction they had in the woods in season 4. I mean, I bet she would've of remembered Eddie after seeing him defend Gareth from getting beat up by Jason - and the whole middle school talent show thing, honestly, it seems like its just there to try and fill the pages and the blanks and, like i said, i for sure think she would've of remembered that interaction like she not that dumb -

I found it not natural how the author kept mentioning other characters from the series like Hopper, Chrissy, Jonathan, Will... (the part about Harrington made me laugh though). It's like they HAD to put other characters in to remind us that the story is from the Stranger Things franchise... I wouldn't have done that. What more does that add to the story, other than a few special guests appearances? They could've had introduced other new characters and it would have created the same effect... And btw, why was Hopper on Munson's case? Like wasn't he busy with the upside down shit, lol, like? I was surprised to see him involved this much ;p -

I don't get why they had to used Paige as a romantic interest. To me, it would have been more interesting if she only was someone who tried to get the band sign. Period. But, of course, they had to put a heteronormative relationship in book. To me, it's just there to fill in the pages to make it longer... sorry not sorry -

Finally, we have a platonic relationship between a man and a woman!!!! We finally have a good example which presents us with a man and a woman friendship like the one Robin and Steve have! I loved the little interactions with Ronnie and Eddie that proves that A MAN AND A WOMAN CAN BE ONLY FRIENDS WITHOUT BENEFITS!!!! Cheers to that! Would have loved to see more of Ronnie in the book and leave Paige out of the story, at least romantically, since she's the one trying to get him sign -

When Eddie gets blamed for Chrissy's death, why is the whole town not bring up his ''bad reputation''? Like they do it soooo often in the book ; ''ah, you're Al's son, you're a Munson''... But in the series, they kid of don't - they just mention his Hellfire Club, but not his dad, the whole shooting the police officer thing (like even if Hopper tries to keep this on the down low, I would've thought that when a situation that bad happens, the rumors would've come up again... just me? -

And why didn't he run away like his dad after the police officer got shot? He did run away when Chrissy was in the trailer? I was kind of confused by that... Like what made him change his mind about running away from the Chrissy thing, but not the police officer... -

After all he has been through, I really find it odd that not one of these storylines (Paige, the ''stealing from a drug lord'' story, Ronnie, California, his mom...) has been mentioned in the actual series, which is why I think the book is just not doing justice to the character we saw in the series. It would have made more sense if the series based the character on the book, not otherwise -

The scene where Eddie explains how his father teached him how to start a car... like we get it, it was in the show, but like why mentioning it again? And why did they use the famous ''big boy'' saying??? It was improvised by Joseph for a reason... -

This book doesn't reflect the Eddie we saw in the series. It didn't feel like the actual Eddie Munson we loved so much in season 4. And why didn't they give him a happy ending? Like what happens with Ronnie, Paige, his dad... Many things were left without an actual conclusion which kind of sucks... -

Even though it was well written, I think if they had more time and didn't rush things, the book would have been wayyyy better. I read better fan fiction than this... I would have done a whole other storyline to be honest.

If I could summarize my impression of the book with a few sentences, it would be : ''WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT? THIS ISN'T EDDIE! IT'S AN IMPOSTER!''

To me, the book sets a story that's coming out of nowhere. They tried to do something interesting, but it kind of flopped. They created a character, but it isn't the famous Eddie Munson played by Joseph Quinn. It's Eddie from another dimension. Like, yes, they are a few sayings that made sense, but at the same time, many of them didn't fit with the Eddie we saw in the series. They tried too hard to used certain sentences said in the series and it didn't feel natural. Like I said, it would have been better if the character was based on the book, not the character based on the series. They tried too hard to make something out of a character that was created partially by Joseph Quinn. I know he was created by the writers, but Joseph had an important part in given birth to this iconic character. He worked hard and it shows in the series. The book though... not so much.

I might update this post if I think about anything else, but for now, that's all I can think about.

Again, this is my own opinion. You don't have to agree. Everyone has the right to their own opinions!

If anyone has reached this far, thank you for reading :p <3 I don't know if anyone will agree with me, but I just wanted to put it out here. I had to say something..

If you’re still here, please like this post so I know that this post hasn’t been lost in the void 🙃 (but if you’re liking this post because of what I said, thank you a thousand times 🥲)

In conclusion, the only version of Eddie that exist is Joseph's version. Period.

#joseph quinn #stranger things #eddie munson #flight of icarus #flight of icarus book #eddie munson stranger things #eddie stranger things #stranger things season 4 #joseph quinn stranger things #flight of icarus review #eddie munson flight of icarus

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fuckyeah-dragrace · 1 year

Text

A Wish your Heart Makes

this isn’t the installment of breakup au i was intending to post but I had this on the back burning for the OG stuff soooo here ya go!! (the other more angsty one will be up eventually i hope)

——

Sasha wouldn’t consider herself a creature of habit but there were certain things she couldn’t go without. One of which being her weekend coffee dates with her daughter. She loved seeing how Kerri’s eyes would light up every morning when they went to run errands since she knew she’d get time with just her Mom afterwards.

They made their way inside and Kerri immediately went over to their spot by the large window, right where the sun would hit perfectly and warm up the booth just right even on the colder of days.

Sasha went up and ordered their drinks: Hot caramel coffee and a hot chocolate with whipped cream. She reached into her purse for her wallet and furrowed her brows. She had it before, it had to be in her bag.

The cashier looked at her knowingly and waited while Sasha felt her cheeks heat up a little in embarrassment. She opened her mouth to say something before someone from behind her handed her card.

“Add it to mine.”

She looked over to see that same auburn hair she could never forget.

Anetra.

After a moment she spoke up. “Thank you. I must’ve left my wallet in my car.”

“It’s no trouble.” Anetra said, looking over at Sasha finally. Her warm brown eyes found Sasha’s and she gave a small half smile. “I owe you for all the times you’d pay for things.”

“You know you don’t have to pay me back.”

“Then think of it as me returning the kindness.”

Sasha let out a small chuckle. She hadn’t changed. That was comforting to know that she was still the same strong and quiet woman she’d known. They stood in silence, only the sounds of the few coffee machines filling the gaps. She’d look over her shoulder periodically and see Kerri still sitting by the window, swinging her legs and staring at the people passing by outside.

“How’s the kid?” Anetra asked, noticing the little girl that looked nearly identical to the woman next to her.

“She’s good. Going to be starting dance classes soon.”

“Bet she’s excited about that.” She gave a small smile. Eventually the drinks were dropped over to the edge. Sasha grabbed them both and handed one to Anetra. Still the same order, she thought to herself.

“Well I’m sorry to barge in on your morning. I’ll be on my way.” Anetra said, holding her cup with her hand over it. She went to walk away but suddenly stopped when Kerri ran over to the pair.

“Did they make it right?” She asked, bouncing on her toes as her mother handed her the smaller cup.

“Yup. All the whipped cream just for you.” She smiled at her. Kerri grinned excitedly and looked up at Anetra for a moment before she recognized her.

“You’re the lady with the big bike outside. What’s your name?”

“My names Anetra. That’s my motorcycle.” Anetra responded, her eyes darting from the child to her mother. Sasha had to bite back a chuckle at how filled with anxiety her brown eyes seemed. “I uh, like your dress.”

“Thank you. My names Kerri.” She smiled. “I like your makeup, it looks really pretty. Do you wanna sit with me and Mommy for coffee time?”

Anetras eyes widened for a split second. “Oh no, I don’t think I should. That’s your time with your Mom and I wouldn’t want to intrude.” She glanced back over to Sasha, silently begging for her to help.

“It’s okay. My Mommy won’t mind, right Mommy?” The brown haired girl looked up at her mother with a wide smile. Shit.

“She can stay if she would like, but I’m sure she’s is busy today, sweetheart.” She attempted to end the discussion.

“I’m not.” She said quietly. “I don’t have anything for the rest of the day.”

Kerri picked up on it and grinned from ear to ear. “See? She can stay for coffee time.” She took Anetras free hand and pulled her over to their booth. Sasha let out a small smile as she watched the visible fear in her brow when she looked over her shoulder at her.

Kerri was right by the window with Anetra next to her, smiling excitedly while the redhead tried to match her energy, giving a tense smile.

“So,” Anetra cleared her throat and looked at Sasha. “How’s your morning been?”

“Really good. My Mommy’s taking me to get dance clothes since imma start dancing soon.” Kerri said excitedly, her eyes wide as she looked at Anetra.

“That’s exciting.” She said, relaxing a bit and taking a sip of her coffee. “I remember when I first started dancing. I was about your age.”

“No way. You’re a grown up.”

“Everyone used to be little, Kerr bear.” Sasha chuckled. “Even me.”

“Woah.” She said after sipping her hot chocolate, whipped cream on her nose.

“It’s a little freaky.” Sasha smiled. “You got a little stuff on your nose, bear.” She brought her thumb up and gently wiped it away, licking her finger.

“Hey!” Kerri laughed. “Thief!”

“What?!” She gawked dramatically. “I was not stealing.” Anetra watched how the mother and daughter continued to laugh and smile. She hadn’t seen this side of Sasha when they were together; so carefree and attentive and and always smiling.

They sat for a while, just talking and laughing together at whatever stories Kerri said demanded their attention. Eyes wandered and smiles were exchanged as that slow trickle steadied to a consistent current and filled her with that sickly sweet head rush that made her throw her anxieties and thoughts to the wind. God, this was what she missed. The easy smiles and ease that Sasha's presence always seemed to bring and blanket over the hurricane of thoughts that made her stomach sick.

Kerri started to calm down her rampant storytelling after her chocolate was finished and her eyelids seemed to grow heavy, her head leaning to the side as she slowly shifted towards Anetra side. The little girl yawned and rested her against the redhead's arm, her cheek against her warm skin.

Sasha watched the panic set into her eyes for a moment as Anetra straightened her posture and tried to move her arm away but Kerri only followed where she moved to. She smiled more as she watched her relax and bring her arm around the girl, gently pulling her closer to her body and giving her more support to sleep.

Everything felt so perfect in that moment. She felt a warmth bloom in her chest. Maybe now it could work between them, maybe now she could have both of the people she cared about in life together, maybe everything could finally be perfect and her heart wouldn’t ache anymore or long for that linger piece it still needed.

It was all coming true. It felt like a dream.

Sasha woke up to sun coming in through her window. She rubbed her bleary eyes and took in her surroundings. No coffee shop, no motorcycle outside, no Anetra. Just the same bedroom she woke up and fell asleep in.

She sighed and turned over onto her side, away from the steady stream of sunlight coming into her room. It all felt so real, like it was actually happened and was a memory of sorts. But that’s the funny thing about the mind. Sometimes it takes out deepest desires in our hearts and twists them into some strange form and convinces us it’s real before snatching it away and crumbling what little and fragile hope you had.

She felt her heart beat and that same ache return to her chest. She closed her eyes and thought back to how perfect Anetra looked in the dream with her daughter, how she smiled and softened to the little girl. She should’ve known it wasn’t real at that moment but she had hope. Her mind focused on how Anetra looked at her with that little flicker of hope and let a silent tear go down her cheek.

There’s no way it could be and she would only have dreams to soothe the forever ache in her heart.

#rpdr s15 #sasha colby #anetra #sashnetra #kerri colby #breakup au #whoops my hand slipped and it got angsty #but if you knew the title reference then you kinda saw it coming

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