Don’t Go Breaking My Heart | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anonymous: Hi! Could you possibly do a Charlie x reader fic where they are filming season 2 & there is a new character (fashion expert/can see ghost/a little bit of enemies with Luke at first) but off screen they are very close (always hanging out/on ig posts & stories/dance partners/they sing karaoke/adventure) & the whole cast likes to tease them about it but they deny any feelings however they are about to film a very important scene that involves their characters & might change everything between them.

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Warnings: fluff

Words: 2,789

Season 2. Finally Season 2. Everyone had been hoping, wishing, praying for a season 2 of Julie and The Phantoms, and after months of waiting, Netflix finally picked it up for a second season. After those months, the actors had just to wait a little while longer while the crew wrote up the first drafts of scripts and made it perfectly save for the actors to do their work. Once all of that’s ready and they’re good to go, the cast finally reunite again in Vancouver. They even meet some new cast members. Like you. You had auditioned for the role of Daniela Ramos, Julie’s cousin and Victoria’s daughter, and got it pretty much straight away. Daniela is a fashion student at a High School in Melrose Hill and Julie asks her for some help with costumes for her next gig with her band. To Julie’s surprise, Daniela can actually see the boys, even when they’re not playing, which causes for a lot of trouble in the band and family, especially between Julie and Luke. This is your first big role on the small screen and you’re the most excited you’ve ever been. You met the other cast members at the summer bootcamp before the filming process would start, and though almost everything had to be done with a face mask covering half of everyone’s face, it still was a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and spend the most fun summer ever. Every day, you grew closer and closer to everyone on set, and soon became best friends with Madi, Jadah, Savannah and Tori, doing plenty of sleepovers. Besides the girls, you also grew closer to Charlie, Owen and Jeremy, but mostly Charlie. For some reason, the two of you just clicked instantly. You have the same humor, the same taste of adventure, the same passions and dreams. You, Charlie and Owen even rented a place together to live in for the time being in Vancouver. You got even closer during filming, especially since you and Charlie have a lot of scenes together. “Oh my God, Luke, you’re so annoying!” you yell at him when the two of you are in the garage, taping a scene. It had taken you about ten takes and you still couldn’t help but giggle at the shocked face he pulled every time. “If I’m so annoying, Dani, why do you keep coming back?!” The angry face he pulls resembles that of an angry kitten, which just makes you crack up again. “God dammit, Y/N!” Charlie laughs now too as Kenny yells “Cut!” “Sorry! Sorry, guys! I promise I’m a real actor!” You hold your hands up in defense, then cough to get ready for another take. This time around, you could finally manage to get through it without laughing. “Yes!” Charlie exclaims when Kenny yells “Cut!” again. He holds his hand up for a high five, which you giddily give him. “Do you need any more takes, Kenny?” he asks the man himself. “Nope, you’re good! You can go on your break now!” he pats Charlie’s shoulder. “Nice job, guys!” “Thanks, Kenny,” you say, the smile growing on your face. “I need food, Gillespie,” you tell your best friend, linking your arm with his. “Let’s go get food!” The two of you head down to catering and sit down at a table with a plate full of food. “What are we doing tonight?” he then asks before taking a bite of food. You swallow your bite of food and take a sip from your drink. “Don’t you have a night shoot tonight?” you ask, remembering him saying something about a late call. “No, that’s tomorrow, after our dance rehearsal,” he replies after swallowing the food. “Oh! Okay!” You start thinking of things to do, “We could go to karaoke? Bring the others maybe?” He raises his eyebrows, looking at you questionably. “I’ve always loved karaoke,” you shrug with a giggle. “Yeah, okay!” Charlie nods his head agreeingly. “Karaoke it is!” The two of you smile up at each other, teeth showing, both of you glowing. “What are you love birds discussing?” Owen asks when he joins them, his voice muffled from the mask covering his face. He pulls it down to under his chin as he and Jeremy join the two at the table. “We’re thinking about going to karaoke tonight with the whole team!” you tell them, completely ignoring the ‘love birds’. “Ooh, fun!” Owen exclaims with a smile that nearly reaches his ears. “Yeah, we’ll leave after shooting the last scene tonight,” Charlie suggests, looking at you for confirmation. You nod your head agreeingly. That night, you and the rest of the cast head to the nearest karaoke place you know. You’ve linked arms with Savannah and Tori, giggling through the night, trying to keep your balance on your heeled boots. Meanwhile, without you realizing, Charlie has been keeping his eyes on you the whole way there. He finds it adorable how your giggle floats through the night air and your hips bump against the other girls’. He couldn’t lie, you had easily become the light in his life. “So, what song shall we begin with?” you ask the gang as you settle into the booth. “Pick the first one on the list,” Jeremy replies when no one else does. You nod your head curtly and press play on the first song, which is Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. You can already tell after that first song; tonight is going to be a fun night. You sing a couple of songs with the girls, there are many group numbers, and you even sing one with your roommates. After singing with Owen and Charlie, the latter points at you. “We’re going to sing together now!” he exclaims excitedly before turning around and picking a song for you to sing. When he’s picked one, he grabs your hand to pull you closer towards him. You blink a couple of times, unable to process what’s happening right now. The opening notes to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee chime through the booth. You glance over at Savannah and Tori, who offer you an encouraging smile. Then you look at Jadah and Madison, but they’re too busy giggling and whispering, and it makes you wonder if that’s about you and Charlie. Your eyes dart over to the boys – Jeremy, Owen and Sacha – who just offer you suggestive smiles and eyebrow-wiggles. Charlie’s voice captures your attention again, and you turn to him. “I couldn’t if I tried,” you sing back to him. The encouraging smile on Charlie’s face calms you down a little up to the point where it almost seems like the two of you are the only people in the room. You have no clue what is happening or why it’s happening. All you know is that you’ve wanted it to happen sooner. Though you wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone. It’s the way he looks at you and the way he makes you feel like you’re the only person on this planet that matters. It’s been the way he’d looked at you since that first day of meeting him. “I won't go breaking your heart,” you sing the very last line to him ever so softly, not even looking at the screen anymore, but instead, looking into his eyes. “Don't go breaking my heart,” he sings back. The song ends and you both lower your microphones, staring into each other’s eyes. If it wasn’t for the rest of the cast breaking out into cheers and applause, you would’ve kissed him then and there. But it startles you, and you step away from him upon realizing how close you are and how that must look to the others. “So, when’s the wedding?” Madison asks teasingly, which makes the others laugh, and you blush. After that night at karaoke, the two of you had silently agreed to forget anything ever happened. Savannah said you were in denial, but you believed you weren’t. You told her it was just the atmosphere in the air that night, the both of you had consumed a little bit of alcohol and it might’ve just been that. No one stopped teasing you though. On every possible occasion, they’d ask you if you’d kissed him yet, or when your next date it, or started singing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart randomly. You just shook it off every time, finding it amusing how consumed the cast was with this ‘relationship’ you had with Charlie. There was nothing more going on than just a really, really tight friendship. Until the dance scene happened. Your character, Dani, was supposed to go to a school dance with her crush, but she was nervous because she had never slow danced with anyone before. When she tells Luke, he insisted on teaching her, saying he’d gone to plenty of school dances back in ’94 and ’95 before he died. You and Charlie know this choreography by heart, you’ve been doing it for weeks on end at bootcamp and during rehearsals. It had always just been fun and games, the two of you being immaculate dancers and bouncing off of each other so well because of your tight friendship. “I could teach you?” Charlie says as Luke, stepping closer to you. You raise your eyebrows at him. “I’ve gone to numerous dances in my days, Dani…” One corner of his mouth curls up into a teasing smirk. “Unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of… Jake.” He emphasizes the name of your fictional crush, to which you react with wide eyes and a blush spreading on your cheeks. “Come on, Dani!” He reaches out for your hand, which you place hesitantly in his. Dani being able to see ghosts, is also able to make them corporeal. The lights on set dim a little, except for one spot on the pair in the middle of the studio, and then the music starts playing through the speakers. Charlie starts singing the song they’d learned at bootcamp, one the cast wrote together during the quarantine. The atmosphere in the studio has suddenly become really intense. You can feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach as the man in front of you sings to you, mere inches away from each other as he leads you in this beautiful dance Paul Becker and Tori Caro choreographed for you. Just like at the karaoke booth, it feels like the two of you are the only people on set. Just you and him. You and Charlie. You and your best friend. There’s no denying you have feeling for him anymore. You knew you did, you just told yourself it wasn’t a good idea and suppressed those feelings, pushing them down. It worked for a while. Until now. “Cut!” Kenny yells after your scene. You step away from Charlie, glancing down at the floor as you try your hardest to hide your flustered face. “That was perfect, guys! It really looks like the two of you were in love!” he claps his hands in excitement, then tells them to do it again. After four takes of the dance, Kenny tells you to go and take a break. Without saying another word to Charlie, you rush off set and towards your trailer where you sit down on a chair, trying to calm your breathing. Charlie might not like you the way you like him. Admitting to these feelings might just ruin everything the two of you have. With this in mind, you grab your phone and text Savannah, asking her to come over to your trailer. Maybe she could help you. “Are you okay?” she asks when she enters and finds you staring at the ceiling. “No…” you reply and take a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with my best friend?” “Oh, sweetie…” Savannah sighs, and pulls you up to take you in a hug, “I know…” You pull her away again to face her properly. “What do you mean ‘you know’?” “Everybody knows,” she starts, “The two of you have been inseparable since the day you met, and everyone can see the way you look at each other. Plus, your duet the other night was a little intense for it to be a platonic one.” She chuckles, and you can’t help but chuckle too. She then grabs her phone from her back pocket, opening Instagram. “You know fans have caught on too, right?” She shows you the comments on some of Charlie’s pictures on his account. One picture is of the two of you, napping in Julie’s bed on set, cuddled up. He even posted pictures from your hikes on your days off. All of them are bombarded with comments from fans saying, ‘I ship it!’ or ‘Y/S/N’. Sav then opens her dm’s which are flooded with fans asking if you and Charlie are dating yet, and how the two of them are so in love with each other. “Charlie isn’t in love with me?” you deny, not believing one bit about it. “He is, though…” This does not come from Savannah’s mouth. Your eyes widen when you recognize the voice, and peek behind Savannah to find your best friend standing at your open trailer door. “Sav, can you give us a minute?” he asks the younger girl. “More than a minute,” she chirps, offering you a wink before leaving the trailer. Charlie steps in completely and moves until he’s in front of you. He takes your hands in his, and chuckles at your overwhelmed and confused expression. “Are you okay?” he asks, that beautiful smile of his persistent on his face. “Y—yeah? No? I’m not sure?” you sigh, trying to get your thoughts in order. “Charlie, wha—?” “Can I talk? I’ve been going over this conversation in my mind a billion times, and if I don’t say it now, I think I’m going to forget what I’m supposed to say…” You nod your head in response. “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you since the very first time I saw you walking in at bootcamp. You looked adorable with your little nervous smile and your polite hellos to everybody. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to get to know you better, and that I wanted to become more than just friends…I didn’t think you’d feel the same way, so I told myself that it was okay if we’d just stay friends. Especially since your character kind of hates mine and you bring Dani to life so convincingly, that I was almost sure you hated me too,” you chuckle at that, “But I can’t hide it anymore, Y/N. I am so embarrassingly in love with you that I could’ve kissed you after that scene we just did and that I could kiss you right now even though I’m—” before he can finish his sentence, you lean up and crash your lips onto his, your hands flying into his hair. He’s a little startled at first, but quickly melts into the kiss and presses you closer to him. “I am so embarrassingly in love with you too, Charlie,” you whisper when you pull away, pressing your forehead against his. “They’re going to be so relieved,” you tell him with a chuckle. He frowns his eyebrows at you. “Who?” he asks. You take his hand in yours and lead him towards the door of your trailer, pushing it open and making it bump against whoever was closest to the door. All of your cast mates scramble, trying to act natural while Owen rubs his forehead since he was the one that got a door in his face. “Ah, them!” Charlie chuckles. “Thanks for the door in my face, guys,” Owen says disgruntled. “That’s on you, buddy,” you tell him with a grin. “Don’t you guys have a scene to shoot or something?” Their eyes widen at the realization and, after yelling at the two how happy they are for them, rush to set in a hurry. “So, where were we?” Charlie turns back to you when everyone’s gone. “Don’t you have a scene with them?” “Shit!” he grumbles and jumps off the small steps in front of the trailer. He starts running towards set but turns around almost immediately to you and kisses your lips quickly, but sweetly, and then runs off. You watch him with an amused smile on your face. There was nothing to be afraid about after all and nothing changed between you two. You were still the best of friends, just friends that kiss and are in love with each other. But both of you happy.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​

Burning Love - Part Three

a/n: the third and final part of this little series is here! I hope you enjoy! Feedback and reblogs are helpful! Support me here if you’re able! (not proofread)

Warnings: cocky!Harry flirting, a tiny bit of angst, fluff, and smut!

Words: 8K

Pairing: Harry x OC (kindergarten teacher Danielle Robinson)

Masterpost

Having a firefighter as a boyfriend was anything but boring. Sometimes Harry was called away in the middle of the night for backup, sometimes he had to straight up sleep at the fire house if someone was on vacation, and sometimes he was cooking up a storm so the guys coming back from a fire had plenty to eat. Danielle would sometimes help cook as well. The guys really liked her turkey chili.

Danielle’s classroom knew who her boyfriend was too, and they loved it when Harry would come by for a visit. He’d bring them little coloring books, or sometimes he’d get Doodle to come for an even better surprise visit.

When they were together three months, Harry made sure no one was in the fire house so she could come to his office, and he gave her a little strip tease. She had practically been begging him to play the part of the sexy fire fighter and he was finally doing it for her. The only condition was that he got to bend her over his desk and fuck her. She even let him hit it raw, it was the greatest mutual gift in the world. Also hearing her moan out, “You’re hitting it so good, don’t stop, Harry!” over and over was pretty nice too.

Yup, things had been going pretty well for the new couple. Even though they were still in the puppy-love phase, it wasn’t all sex all the time. Harry would sometimes come over and help her late into the night as she was crafting activities for her class the next day, or he’d go to the art supply store with her because Danielle never made a list and she would often forget at least one thing she needed for class. Harry always remembered what she’d forget. Danielle was also a big help with the fire department’s fundraising efforts. She made the best hash browns anyone had ever had at the monthly pancake breakfasts. The deputy fire chief even got them a matching set of aprons. Things were going so well that she even started to let him call her Dani.

One Sunday afternoon they were walking through the grocery store together. Harry liked pushing the cart for Danielle as she mumbled to herself about what she needed for the week. She liked that he joined her because he could pick out the snacks he wanted to leave at her place, and vice versa. They were walking down the coffee aisle, Harry liked Hazelnut and Danielle liked French Vanilla.

“Dani?”

Danielle looks over in the direction of the deep voice that said her name. Her eyes widen when she realizes it’s her ex, Oliver.

“O-Oliver?”

“Oh my god, it’s so good to see you!” He exclaims, throwing his arms around her. She doesn’t reciprocate. “It’s been what, three years?”

“Something like that.” She swallows, and hooks her arm around Harry’s waist. “This is my boyfriend, Harry.”

“Hi.” Oliver shakes Harry’s hand. “You shop here a lot?”

“Yeah…this is the grocery store closest to my apartment, why?”

“This is my first time as this specific store. My fiancé lives in the area, and we’re choosing to buy a house here so her son won’t have to switch elementary schools.”

“Her…her son?” Danielle wanted to smack him.

“Yeah, guess he’s like my son now too.”

“Olly? Did you find the decaf tea?” A woman long blond hair, and a slightly swollen belly comes rolling her cart down the aisle with a little boy sitting in it. “Oh…Danielle…hi.”

“Hi, Rory.”

“Miss Robinson!” The boy exclaims.

“Hello, Joey.” She tries to say with a smile. Danielle wasn’t sure how she could have been so stupid. Joey took the bus to and from school, and she had only ever spoken with his father. She also didn’t make a second glance at his mother’s name on his contact list since it was under Lorelei.

“Joey raves about you all the time.” Rory says, trying to cut some of the tension.

“Mumma, it’s Chief Harry!”

“Aw, nice of you to remember me, buddy.” Harry says. “Um, we’ve got frozen stuff in the cart, so we should probably get going, right, darling?” He says, looking at Danielle, and she feels thankful for him finding a way out of all this.

“He’s right, we should really get going.”

“Guess we’ll be seeing more of each other, huh, Dani?” Oliver says with a soft smile.

“So it would seem.” She looks at Joey. “See you tomorrow morning in class, Joey.”

Harry pushes the cart as they walk away. She was beyond mortified. They get in line and pay for their things. She had driven there, but she has Harry drive back to her place. She was quiet until they got inside her apartment to put the food away.

“He, uh, seemed a little delusional there, no?” Harry says.

“He’s always lived with his head in the sand.” She scoffs. “Rose colored glasses, you know?”

“Did you not know that-“

“No, I didn’t realize that Rory, the person he cheated on me with, had a son. I knew that she was a married woman. They got divorced because of Oliver.” She shakes her head. “Joey’s father is such a sweet man, I can’t believe I never put the pieces together.”

“How exactly did they meet?”

“The first school I worked at was a K-5 a few towns over. Rory was the principal’s secretary, she still is, I think. I brought Oliver with me to a holiday party, and they got to talking. She’s a couple of years older than he and I are. I don’t exactly know how things progressed from there, but apparently she’s pregnant with his kid, they’re engaged, and they’ve bought a house! Isn’t that just kick you in the crotch, spit on your neck fantastic?”

“Remind me to never watch Friends reruns with you again.” He chuckles.  “I can’t believe he had the nerve to hug you like that?”

“He hugged me like that because he’s still in love with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Until I blocked him on literally every platform that I could, he would send me these messages about how he fucked up and that he’d do anything to win me back. He’s in a loveless relationship. He’s made his bed and now he has to lay in it.”

“Does Rory know it’s a loveless relationship?”

“I doubt it. If I had to guess they probably got engaged after they found out she was pregnant. It was probably her way of trapping him.” Danielle rolls her eyes. “You know what they say, once a cheater, always a cheater.”

“Well,” he comes around her to hold her from behind, kissing her cheek, “you don’t have to worry about that or pay it any more thoughts, alright?”

“Yeah.” She smiles and turns to kiss him. “I just hope I don’t start running into them all the time now.”

“We could always go to the market near my place, or we could do the online order thing.” He shrugs. “Whatever you wanna do. I just don’t want that idiot making my baby upset.” He pouts at her and she pouts back.

“I love that I get to be your baby.” She sighs as she nuzzles into his chest.

“Me too…I…I love you, Dani.” He kisses her forehead before she looks up at him.

“You do?”

“Mhm.” He smiles. “Guess there’s no perfect time to really say it, but that’s how I feel.”

“Oh, Harry, I love you too.” She kisses him, and blinks some tears away. “Like, a lot.”

“Let’s get these groceries put away, hm? Then I’ll fuck you on the counter. Would you like that, sweetheart?”

“I would, very much so.” She chuckles.

//

It was the last day of school, so Danielle had both of her groups in the morning. There was a small ceremony for the kindergarteners to commemorate them being able to move on to the first grade. They each got a personalized certificate with some type of achievement they earned in Miss Robinson’s class. She spent two weeks working on them. Once it was over, Danielle had to clean up her classroom for the summer.

“Happy last day of school, babe.” Harry says as he walks in, holding a small bouquet of flowers.

“I think you should ask for a separate office here with how often you come to visit.” She jokes as she takes the flowers. “Not that I’m upset, but what are these for?” She smiles.

“You made it through another year with a group of five-year-olds, thought you should have something nice for it.”

“Well, that’s very thoughtful, thank you.” She kisses his cheek. “I’m just finishing up here and then we can grab lunch.”

Harry nods as he waits for her, helping her take a few boxes out to her car. He thought she looked gorgeous today in her light blue sundress. They enjoy their lunch together before Harry has to go back to work.

“Wanna come to my place tonight?” She asks before they part ways.

“Sure.” He pecks her lips. “Want me to bring dinner?”

“No, I can cook. I’ve got stuff to make a taco salad.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” They kiss again and off they go.

Things had gotten quite domestic with one another, and Harry was really starting to like it. He also really liked that she was about to be off for the entire summer. Sure, Harry had bonfires, lawn mowers, grills, and other things of that nature to worry about, but his group of volunteer fire fighters would be coming on once again, so it freed up a little more time for himself. He’d be able to take a vacation with Danielle if she wanted. Or he could just take a ton of long weekends so he could spend some time with her. He wasn’t exactly sure what she did over the summer, but he figures they’ll talk about it soon.

When Harry gets to her apartment later that night, he realizes soon means tonight. Danielle was running around her apartment in a tank top and shorts boxing things up and packing.

“Hey, uh, what are you doing?” He says, startling her.

“Oh! I didn’t even hear you come in!” She gasps and clutches at her chest. “Sorry, I’m just trying to get my shit together. I always save this stuff for the last minute.”

“Are you moving?” He asks, almost frantic.

“What? No.” She chuckles. “But I do need a lot of my things with me for when I go up to Seabrook.”

“Seabrook?”

“To my parents’ summer house. I told you they had one, they’re snowbirds, remember?”

“Yeah, you mentioned that…” He swallows. “Are you going for a long weekend?”

“No, I’m going for the majority of the summer. I was actually sort of hoping you’d be able to water some of my plants, but if you can’t I can ask the neighbor again.” She goes over to him and gives him a kiss. “Come on, I set dinner up in the kitchen for us.”

They both go into the kitchen and sit down with their taco salads.

“You’re sort of blindsiding me a bit, babe. I mean, you’ve known you were going to New Hampshire all this time and didn’t think to tell me?”

“I figured I’d come back on weekends.” She shrugs. “You’re going to be working all day, so I figured you wouldn’t really mind if I wasn’t around as much.” She takes a bite of her food. “I also thought maybe you could come up and visit…you know, meet my family.”

“It’s gonna be torturing not being able to come over and see you after work.” He pouts. “But of course I’d love to meet your family.”

“I know…that’s sort of why I was keeping it to myself. I’ll miss you just the same, I hope you know that. This is just really precious family time that I wait all year for.”

“I get it.” He sighs. “What weekend would you want me to come meet them?”

“I’ll have to ask my parents what weekend would work best for them. The first couple of weeks are spent catching up with their friends, and whatnot. The house is in a fifty-five and over community.”

“And you won’t mind driving back on weekends?”

“Not at all.” She shakes her head. “All of the traffic will be going the other way, and the beaches are always so crowded on the weekends. It’ll be perfect.” She smiles at him and leans in a bit. “Plus, I’ll be coming back to you with sun kissed skin. I’ll have lots of tan lines to show you.” She winks and it makes him chuckle.

“Alright, alright. I get to use more time off in the summer, so I’ll be able to take lots of long weekends. We have more of a crew because a lot of our volunteers are teachers, so they have more time to help out.”

“That’s good! I’m so happy the school year is over with. Did you see I put the flowers you got me in a vase?” She points over to the vase in her kitchen window.

“I did.” He nods, a smile growing on his lips. “M’glad you liked them.”

“I loved them.” She kisses his cheek. “You’re so sweet to me, Harry.”

“You’ve turned me into a total mush ball.” He sighs. “But I suppose that’s not a bad thing.”

“You were a mush ball the second you walked into my classroom for the first time.” She smirks.

“And you were a flustered little thing.” He smirks as her face falls. “Ah, she can dish it out, but she can’t take it.” He kisses her temple and takes their now empty plates to the sink. “When are you heading up?”

“A couple of days.” She sighs. “I hate packing so much, it’s the worst.” She groans. “I just keep telling myself I’ll be relaxing on a screened in porch soaking in the ocean breeze with a book in my hand before I know it.” She flops down onto her sofa and Harry sits next to her, rubbing her back. “At least I’ll see my niece and nephew soon too. I love getting to spend so much time with them.”

“Tell me about them, I wanna know as much about your family as I can before I meet them.”

“Really?” She sits up to look at them.

“Mhm.” He puts a pillow on his lap. “Come lay one me. I’ll play with your hair while you talk.”

“If I didn’t love you before.” She giggles, and rests her head in his lap. He starts scratching at her scalp and she sighs. “Okay, so, my dad…”

They both fell asleep on the couch that night talking. Harry told Danielle a lot about his family as well. In the wee hours of the morning, Harry carried her to the bed, and they both snuggled up while they got a few more hours of sleep.

//

“Danielle, it’s the middle of the night! Where are you going?!” Her brother Clark asks her in a panic. “Shit, are you crying?”

“I…I just got a call.” She sniffles as she throws her hoody on. “I have to get home.”

“Why, what’s happening.”

“H-Harry’s deputy chief called me…there was a really big fire a few hours ago, and a wall collapsed on him, and now he’s in the hospital.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “I have to get home to him, Clark, I need to be there when he wakes up.”

“You’re in no condition to drive, especially not for two hours. I’ll go with you. Let me just go to Isabelle.”

“You don’t have to do that, I’m fine.” She wipes her eyes. “I’ll let you know when I get there. I’ll be back in a few days, I’m sure of it.”

She rushes out of the house and gets into the car. She had the radio practically silent, and she was sucking down an iced coffee. Caffeine put her anxiety into hyper drive, but she needed to stay awake somehow. Harry wasn’t even supposed to be at that fire. He got called in as backup, but he wasn’t supposed to go inside. He went in looking for the family’s new puppy.

Once she gets to the hospital, probably looking like a mad woman in her pajama pants and oversized hoody, she checks in and asks where Harry’s being kept.

“Please, I’m his girlfriend, I need to-“

“Dani!” The deputy chief, Ralph, comes rushing towards her. “He just woke up, come with me.” He yanks her by the wrist before the nurse at the desk can say anything.

“Is he okay?”

“He will be.” Ralph nods. “Here we are, go ahead in. Take your time with him.” Ralph smiles, and Danielle returns it.

“Harry?” She says just above a whisper.

“Hey, baby.” He gives her a soft smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I hopped in my car a second after Ralph called me. I was so worried.” She sits on the edge of his hospital bed.

“I’m okay, sweetheart, just a few scrapes and bruises.”

“Harry…your arm’s in a sling.”

“Just a sprained wrist, it’ll heal up real soon.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” She asks as she curls up next to him. He throws his arm around her and sighs.

“Because if I let every little accident scare me, I wouldn’t be able to do my job properly. This is what I signed up for, babe.”

“Did you at least find the puppy?”

“I did, shielded the poor thing from the wall that collapsed on me. M’gonna have to go on light duty for a while.”

“Which means what exactly?”

“Lots of administrative work…that I can do remotely. So, I was thinking…maybe I could come up to Seabrook with you for a little longer than a weekend.”

“I’d love that! We can drive back up together. Everyone’s excited to meet you.”

“I’m excited to meet them too.”

//

After Harry rested up for a few days at home, with Danielle doting on him even though he told her she didn’t need to, the two drive up north together.

“Auntie Dani’s back!” Sarah exclaims as she bursts out of the porch.

“Sarah!” Isabelle yells after her. “We don’t run out of the house, no matter how excited we are to see Auntie.” She picks her daughter up. “Sorry, Dani.” Isabelle chuckles.

“No worries.” Danielle laughs. “This is my boyfriend, Harry. Harry, this is my sister-in-law Isabelle.”

“Hi.” Harry says, and Isabelle gasps when she sees his arm in a sling. “Just a sprained wrist, m’fine.” “It’s nice to meet you. This must be Sarah, yeah?”

“Hello.” The little girl smiles.

“Come on, everyone’s inside getting ready to head down to the beach.” Isabelle says.

Harry and Danielle follow inside. She takes him into the kitchen where her parents, Robert and Donna were finishing up their coffee.

“Dani!” Donna smiles. “How was the ride back up?”

“Fine, not a lot of traffic once we were out of the city.” She smiles. “This is Harry.”

“The hero that saved the puppy!” Robert says.

“I’m no hero, just did my job. It’s nice to meet you both. Thank you for inviting me to your home.” He shakes both of their hands.

“Are you kidding? We were over the moon when Dani said she’d be bringing a boyfriend with her.” Donna says. “Honey, why don’t you help Harry get settled and then meet us down at the beach?”

“Okay.” Danielle nods.

The two bring their things inside while everyone else makes their way to the beach. Danielle helps Harry put his clothes away in the dresser.

“So…are we alone right now?” Harry asks casually after putting his things away in the bathroom.

“Um, yeah. Everyone went down to set up at the beach, why?”

“Well…” He sits down on the bed and tugs her to sit on his lap, straddling her. “I haven’t been able to do much the last few days, and I’d like to make up for it.”

“Harry.” Her face flushes. “I can’t just fuck you here.”

“In the privacy of a bedroom? Here I was thinking this would be the perfect place.” He rolls his eyes.

“I just…” She bites her bottom lip. Before she can say anything when she opens her mouth again, he’s kissing her. “Fuck, okay, but we have to be quick. And no leaving marks, I don’t need to feel like a teenager at the age of twenty-seven.”

“How about no marks in any visible places?”

“Harry, I’m gonna be wearing a two piece, a lot is going to be visible.”

“Your ass?”

She whimpers softly and kisses him again. They both fall back on the bed, careful not to hurt his wrist. Danielle ended up riding his dick since he couldn’t really prop himself up with hands at the moment, but neither of them minded. It was a much-needed release for the both of them. Once they’re both cleaned up, they change into their bathing suits and go down to the beach to join her family.

“Auntie Dani, do you wanna dig a moat with me?” Ryan asks her the second she sets her things down.

“Sure! Just let me get some sunscreen on, okay?”

“You’re already looking a little red.” Clark remarks, and she glares at him. “Nice to meet you, Harry.”

“Same to you.” Harry says as he sits down in his beach chair.

Danielle peels her coverup off, and lathers up in sunscreen before grabbing a sand toy to help Ryan dig a moat. Isabelle was down by the water with Sarah.

“Harry, do you like seafood?” Donna asks him.

“I do.” He nods.

“Wonderful, I thought it would be nice to go out to eat since you’re here with us now. Celebrate having a full house and whatnot.”

“Oh, well…that sounds nice, thanks.” Harry smiles at her.

“I hope you won’t be too miserable working from inside the house…there’s no central air or anything.” Robert says.

“Oh, it’s not a problem. Heat doesn’t exactly bother me.” He smirks, and Danielle flicks some sand at him. “Oi, what was that for?!”

“No fire fighter jokes or puns.” She points a finger at him warningly. “We’re on vacation.”

“Come on, that was a good one, admit it.”

“I will do no such thing.” She looks at her parents who were chuckling at the exchange. “Don’t encourage him, it’ll only make it worse.”

“Anyways,” he side eyes her and then looks back at her parents, “I’ll probably just set up on the porch when I need to hop onto email. My deputy chief is taking on a bit more for me for the next couple of weeks.”

Harry never really saw himself being a dad someday, but as the day went on, and he watched Danielle interact with Sarah and Ryan, he suddenly understood why women would get baby fever seeing a man hold a baby. He may have only been with Danielle for five months, but fuck…he wanted to be the father of her kids. Yes, he got to spend an entire week with her and her classroom, but it’s not like he got to witness her loving on any of the kids. The way she cradled four-year-old Sarah to her chest as she napped, or splashed around in the water with Ryan, well, if he had ovaries they’d be bursting.

Seeing her help them at dinner was just as cute too. Sarah insisted that her booster chair be places next to Danielle, and Danielle ended up helping cut up Sarah’s chicken fingers. Then Harry got to witness Danielle tucking Sarah and Ryan in for the night to give Clark and Isabelle a break.

The two decide to turn in a bit early since it had been a long day. Danielle was sitting up in bed reading her romance novel. Harry was reading the same one. They had formed a little book club with another once they found out they liked the same genre of fiction.

“Dani?” He says to her.

“Hm?” She says without looking at him.

“Do you think you wanna have kids of your own one day? Or are your kindergartners enough kids for you?”

She immediately closes her book and looks at him. She was a little shocked.

“I…I always thought if I met the right person then I’d want to have kids. Like, turning that love into something physical, you know? What’s got you asking me about kids all of a sudden?”

“In all honesty…watching you with Ryan and Sarah today sort of sparked my interest. You’re so good with them in so many different ways. I…I mean I never really thought twice about having kids, but if you and I decide this is a long term thing…I’d love to be the person you have kids with.”

“Thought you didn’t like playing the what if game.” She leans in and pecks his lips.

“I don’t.”

“Okay, so, it’s not an if with us, Harry, it’s a when.”

He smiles and kisses her tenderly.

“You’re the love of my life, you know that?” He says against her lips before kissing her again.

//

The school year was just about to start again. Classes would begin just after Labor Day. How were Harry and Danielle spending their long weekend? Well, she was currently bouncing up and down on his dick reverse-cowgirl on her couch while he sucked a nasty bruise into her neck, rubbing her clit with one hand, and kneading one of her breasts with the other. She felt like she was drooling from how good everything felt. The two of them had both tanned nicely over the summer, and now they Danielle was fully back in her apartment, Harry was taking full advantage.

“Fuck, fuck!” She pants. Harry was thrusting up into her, pounding against her g-spot.

It was how she liked it, she didn’t care if she was sore later, and he was happy to give it to her like this. She turns her head slightly and she licks into his mouth to suck on his tongue. He replaces his tongue in her mouth with two of his fingers, which she was happy to suck on while his fingers continued to work her clit. They had been together for a while now, and sometimes when you were a little older, time didn’t make much of a difference when you were trying to check off certain boxes with the person you loved most. So, Harry just blurts out what he’s thinking.

“I think we should move in together.” He grunts, and she gasps around his fingers.

“Wh-what?” She says, whining because she’s so very close. This wasn’t the type of talk she enjoyed during sex. “Harry, please, I’m almost there, can we talk about this after?” She tugs at his hair, making him groan.

He grips her hips, helping her rock faster on him, and she goes to rub her own clit. He was fucking so hard and deep that she thought her spine was going to crack in half, but she didn’t fucking care. She wanted it. He hits it just right again, and her eyes roll into the back of her head as her back arches, her body molding into his as she rides it out. His come shoots up inside her a moment after, and he presses his lips to her temple. She tries to move off him, but he wraps his arms around her tummy to keep here there.

“Can we talk now?” He breathes, his breath hot on the shell of her ear and she whimpers. “I really think we should live together.”

“And whose place do you want to live at, hm? We’re both pack rats, Har. We both need home offices, we both-“

“Just answer the question: do you want to live together?”

“Yes.” She looks over her shoulder at him. “I do.”

“Okay, then.” He smiles and gently lifts her off of him. “Right when we started dating, I got pre-approved for a home loan.” He wraps her up in the blanket she has on the couch and carries her into the bedroom so they can both lay down before cleaning themselves up. “I put the house hunting on hold, obviously…I’d need to get pre-approved again since the three-month window they gave me lapsed, but…I can afford a pretty decent house.” He smiles fondly at Danielle. She had that after sex glow to her, and it always made him melt.

“You…you can afford a house?”

“I can.” He nods. “Been saving up for a while. I was sort of hoping…well…we could look at houses together. I could buy it, and then we could split the mortgage payments, or I could just pay the mortgage and you could take care of the utilities and other bills. Whatever makes more sense.” He shrugs. She blinks a few times and then licks her lips.

“I just…wow, I can’t believe you wanna do something so huge with me. Buying a house with someone is a pretty big deal.”

“I feel like it makes more sense to buy the house first, and then save back up for a wedding later, but that’s just me.” He gives her a smug look and her eyes widen. “I think that’s why the divorce rate is too high, not enough people live together before they get married.” A grin starts to form on her lips. “Don’t look at me like that, we’ve talked about long-term stuff before.”

“We’ve talked about hypothetical babies, not buying a house. Do you already have a realtor?”

“No, and we don’t really need one. We can just look up the houses we wanna see and contact the realtor that’s selling the home. A friend of mine did that and they said it was a way better experience.”

“I can’t believe this.” She shakes her and then giggles, throwing her arms around his neck. “You wanna be us a house! I wish I could help with the down payment, but my student loans have prevented me from putting a lot into my savings…”

“It’s no problem. You’re able to afford this place on your own, so I figured you’d be able to help with bills and stuff.”

“I definitely will be able to.” She kisses his cheek. “Let’s go take a shower and then we can start looking on realtor.”

“Eager.” He smirks as she tugs him up from the bed.

“Now’s the time to buy! All of the snowbirds who are looking to make the big plunge to warm weather full time will be looking to get rid of their houses, and with the school year starting we don’t really have to worry about competing with families. It’s perfect, Harry!”

It was, it really was.

//

By the beginning of October, the two were moved into a stunning home with four bedrooms, and four baths. They got just about everything on their wish list, and anything they didn’t, Harry said he could make happen. Danielle was able to pass out candy for Halloween to the kids in the neighborhood, which delighted her to no end because a few of her new and previous students stopped by. And when it came time for Thanksgiving, even though they weren’t full unpacked, Danielle was able to host a fabulous dinner for her family.

It wasn’t always perfect, they disagreed on paint colors, furniture, curtains, and rugs. They usually found some way to compromise, though. Sometimes Danielle had trouble checking her attitude at the door. There was one evening she got home a little later than usual, so Harry got dinner started. A nice gesture on his part, which she thanked him for. However, when it came time to clean up, she wouldn’t stop huffing while she loaded the dishwasher.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” He finally asks. “Why are you reorganizing everything?”

“Because you never put anything in here right.” She snaps. “Bowls and cups go on the top rack. Look at this! You put one of the little plates up here, how the fuck is that supposed to get cleaned properly?” She says as she moves the small plate to the bottom rack. “You also don’t load the silverware correctly. Did you want me to stab myself?! I’m usually the one that has to unload it.” She huffs again after throwing a pod in and turning the dishwasher on. She crosses her arms and looks at him. “I’m your girlfriend, not your mother.”

“I never said you were.” He crosses his arms as well, astonished at her tone.

“Yeah? So, did you think that your dirty socks and underwear just magically picked themselves up and put themselves into your hamper? Did you think that the bed magically gets made? Did you think that the broom and dustpan do a little fucking dance and that’s how the shmutz on the floor gets cleaned up?!”

“You’re making it seem like I don’t do anything to help out around here. I’m the one that rakes the leaves and mows the lawn, I’m the one that has to stop what I’m doing to come kill a bug every time you yelp, I’m the one that takes care of all the trash in the house-“

“Only when I say something about it overflowing. I have to tell you to do everything!”

“Look, I’m sorry I don’t load the dishwasher in the way that you’d prefer, but the dishes get clean, so-“

“No, they don’t. I either have to run it again, or I wash the stuff by hand. We’re gonna have kids someday, Harry, I don’t want them picking up on your bad habits.”

“My bad habits?!” Okay, now he was getting angry. “I have to ask you to clean your hair out of the shower drain. In fact, your hair is fucking everywhere! You never wipe off the mirror after you pop a pimple, which you know you shouldn’t be doing anyway.” He rolls his eyes. Her face falls into a deep frown. “Not so much fun when someone’s pointing out your flaws, is it?”

“Fuck off.” She turns on her heel and makes her way out of the kitchen.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be. You’re going to start an argument with me, but you’re not going to finish it?” He says as he follows her out to the staircase.

“You asked me what was wrong, and I told you.” She states.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to be such a bitch about it.” Her eyes widen with anger at that, and her nails press into her palms. She starts stomping her way upstairs. “Dani.” He sighs. “Shit, I didn’t mean to say that.” He follows her up the stairs.

“But you did.” She goes into the bedroom and almost shuts the door in his face, but he catches it, making his way in. “You men are all the same, you know that? Any time a woman calls you out on some crap, she’s a bitch.”

“You got upset over something as insignificant as loading a dishwasher. You know we’re lucky to even have one? There are people who don’t have the luxury.”

“Yeah, I know! And I’d probably be the one to always be washing the dishes.”

“If it bothered you that much, then why didn’t you say something to me before?”

“Because I didn’t want to come off as naggy! I don’t want to be one of those women that’s always telling their partner what to do and how to do it, but holy fuck, who actually raised you?! I mean, some of the things you do, I just don’t understand.” She shakes her head.

“We were obviously raised differently.” He sighs. “You know if you just told me-“

“But I don’t want to have to tell you! I don’t want to have to ask because I shouldn’t have to.”

“I’m not a mind reader, Dani!”

“I’m not asking you to be! But when the sink is full of dishes, do you think you could take care of it without me having to mention it? Do you think that when the trash is full you could just bag it up and take it and put a new bag in? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally thrown something out without a bag being in the barrel. It drives me bananas!”

“Okay, I’ll…I’ll try to be better about those things. I don’t want you to feel like you’re having to pick up after me.” He runs a hand through his hair.

“And…I’ll try to not just explode on you when something’s been bothering me.” She sits on the bed and lays back. “Ugh, I just had a long day. Kids are starting to get colds, and the meeting I had after school just wouldn’t end, I’m supposed to get my period in a couple of days so I feel bloated and gross.” Harry sits down next to her and rubs her thigh. He looks down at her with a soft smile. “Listen to me.” She sighs. “Here I am complaining about stupid things when you literally put your life at risk every time you go to work.”

“Don’t compare us, babe. You’re allowed to feel annoyed and stressed.”

“How do you always stay so calm?” She tugs him down to lay with her.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to stay upset when I have such a cute girlfriend.” He kisses her cheek and she giggles.

“I’m sorry I got so mad.”

“It’s okay, baby.” He kisses her cheek again. “We’re bound to have an argument once in a while. The most important thing is that we always make up afterwards.”  He starts kissing on her neck and she bites her bottom lip.

“Harry, I just told you that I feel bloated and gross, and-“

“So, let me make you feel not gross.” He says as he moves on top of her. “Let me love on you, darling, it’ll help you destress.” He moves her up the bed until he’s situated between her legs. He undoes her pants and drags them down her legs. “Are you wearing boxer-briefs?” He questions.

“Y-yeah? I started buying them a little while ago. They’re more comfortable, and they breathe better. Plus, no panty lines.”

“How did I not notice this?” He blinks.

“Because I usually change when I get home into something a little sexier.” She chuckles.

“Actually…” He tugs on the band and lets it snap back against her skin. “You look pretty sexy in these.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He tugs them off of her and kisses on her tummy. He parts he legs and licks around her folds. She sighs and lets her body rest into the mattress.

“I really feel like I don’t deserve this since I was so nasty to you.” She says as she cards her finger through his hair.

“You can make it up to me by letting me fuck your mouth afterwards. Seems like you could use a break from running it, hm?” He sucks on her clit, making her groan, and she nods.

“Yeah, seems fair to me.” She gasps as he licks into her warm center, and uses his thumb on her clit. “Would you make me come a few times, though, at least?”

Her gives her a devilish smirk, which she takes as a yes while he continues to work his tongue in and out of her. He gave her four orgasms before crawling up her body and stuffing his throbbing down her throat. Feeling her nails dig into his hips as he thrusted in and out of her was everything he needed. They didn’t do stuff like this often. He didn’t want to be one of those couples where certain types of sex or positions were used as punishments. But he knew Danielle genuinely enjoyed feeling a little bit of pain, not that they’d ever talked about it. He didn’t want to embarrass her by bringing up one of her very obvious kinks. Whenever he did fuck her throat, though, she always moaned around him, and she’d end up drenched between her legs all over again, so he knew she enjoyed it. He also made sure to love on her right afterwards, praising her, telling her how good she did for him, and he’d get a glass of water for her to sip on while he cleaned her up. They had good, healthy relationship in many aspects. He loved her, he really fucking loved her, and he never wanted to be without her.

“Dani, fuck, I love you, I love you so much, shit!” He cries out as he comes down her throat. He pulls away from her carefully and she smiles up at him after swallowing. He wipes a few stray tears away from her cheek.

“I love you too.” She says, voice hoarse, but still there.

“Do you feel like taking a bath tonight? I could rub your shoulders for you.”

“I’d like that, yeah, thanks.”

//

A couple of months later, and it was fire safety week once again. They made it through their first holiday season together, and his thirty-third birthday. Now they had been together an entire year, owned a home together, and were looking into potentially getting a dog. Harry had told her all about the senior dogs at the shelter, and Danielle sort of liked the idea of not having to train a puppy, even if they were undeniably cute.

All of the kids in both of Danielle’s groups knew that Chief Styles was Miss Robinson’s very special friend because she had a picture of the two of them on her desk, and one of him as her desktop wallpaper. It was no surprise that some of the kids teased them a bit, and asked some personal questions, but other than that the week was going well as it usually did. When Friday rolled around, it was time for the kids to put on their performance for the fire department. It was an assembly all of the grades came to, along with the other teachers. Once the four songs, and a skit, are over, Harry goes up to give his thanks just as he did last year.

“Thank you all so much for another fantastic week. Fire safety is extremely important to learn at a young age. I know we had a lot of fun together, but remember, when you’re missing Chief Styles, don’t call 911 to talk to him. Have your parent or guardian come down to the fire house, and we can say hello there, alright?” That was usually where the assembly would end, but today things were going to go a little differently. “If I could have all of the kids back up on stage for a moment? Parents, I promise this won’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

Danielle was visibly confused because she hadn’t planned anything else with the students, and Harry hadn’t mentioned adding anything special today. So, she sat in her seat in the front row and watched. She leaned over next to one of her colleagues.

“Do you know what’s going on?” She asks.

“Just watch, Dani.” Her colleague says, and Danielle sits up straight in her seat again.

All of the kids were holding a piece of paper in their hands. It was facing blank towards the audience. Some of them were giggling as Harry and the other fire fighters placed them in certain spots. Ralph gives Harry a thumbs up, and he starts speaking into the microphone again.

“Not a lot of people know this, or maybe they do, I don’t really know, but last year was my first year getting to host fire safety week with the lovely Miss Robinson, and over this last year she’s managed to steal my heart, giving me the great privilege of calling her my girlfriend.” The kids behind him snicker and giggle. “You said you’d all be cool, come on.” He looks over at Danielle, who still really had no idea what the fuck was going on. “Miss Robinson, could you come here for a moment?”

She nods, and gets up slowly, walking over to him. He takes one of his hands in hers.

“What are you doing?” She whispers.

“You’ll see.” He winks. “Miss Robinson has taught her kids how to spell lots of interesting words already this year. She teaches them how to sound things out, and all that good stuff. I had a chance to teach them something this week and they’ve been dying to show you.” He tugs her to the side so the whole audience will be able to see. “Alright, kids, flip your papers over to show Miss Robinson.”

She gasps when she sees it, cupping a hand over her mouth as her eyes start to well up. All of the papers spelled out: M I S S – R O B I N S O N – W I L L – Y O U – M A R R Y – M E ? She looks at Harry, who was now down on one knee, holding up a gorgeous ring in a little black, velvet box.

“It says, Miss Robinson, will you marry me?” He says to her with a beaming smile.

“I can see that.” She says, wiping some tears from her cheeks.

“Will you?”

“Yes! Oh my god, yes.” Everyone in the room cheers as Harry slips the ring on her finger. He stands up, and kisses her, not to vulgarly because there were kids around, but enough to show how happy he was that she said yes. “When did you have the time to plan all of this with them?”

“Got their parents’ emails from one of the other teachers.” He smirks. “Are you surprised?”

“I’m shocked!” She turns to her students. “You all kept such a big secret from me!” They crowd around her to hug her as she opens her arms for them.

A ton of the teachers, parents, and fire fighters all come up to the congratulate the pair. Once all of the fuss is over, and the cafeteria is cleared, Harry and Danielle go back to her classroom so she can pack up her things for the day.

“Do you like the ring?” He asks nervously.

“Are you kidding, I love it! It’s so beautiful, baby.” She pecks his lips. “I can’t wait to call my parents, I’m buzzing! Think of how cute Sarah’s going to be as a flower girl. Oh, and they’ll start calling you Uncle Harry, how sweet!”

“Gonna have to let Ryan be a groomsman, or I think he’ll try to kill me.” Harry chuckles. “He’s quite protective over his Auntie Dani.”

“And don’t you forget it.” She presses her finger to his chest. He leans in and kisses her tenderly. Normally, Danielle didn’t like getting so lovey dovey in her classroom, but she figured she had a good excuse in case anyone walked in. “I still can’t believe you planned all of that and pulled it off. Those kids usually can’t keep a secret.”

“I promised them all a ride in one of the fire trucks if they kept their mouths shut.”

“Damn, that was really smart.” She chuckles.

“I’d say so.” He smirks. “Do you feel like going out to eat tonight to celebrate? Ralph and his husband were hoping to treat us.”

“Sure.” She nods. “I’ll just need to cancel my yoga classes really quick.”

“You can still teach your classes if you want. I can just tell him we won’t be ready until later.”

“No, see, I wanna go home, and stay there for a bit.” She tugs on the suspenders that were keeping his fire pants up. “I’d like to celebrate with you privately first, Chief Styles.” She takes his hat off and puts it on her own head before catching his bottom lip between her teeth and sucking on it. He groans into the kiss, and she lets his lip snap back. He had inadvertently put her into one of her ‘Chief Styles/Miss Robinson’ moods, which he wasn’t upset about in the least. “How’s that sound?”

“Well, Miss Robinson, I’d say it sounds like you’re trying to seduce me.” He smirks, and she rolls her eyes. It was her least favorite joke.

“I can’t wait to be Danielle Robinson Styles so that you can’t make that stupid fucking joke anymore. I’m not a forty-year-old woman seducing a recent college grad!” His face softens immensely. “What?”

“Nothing.” He puts his hands on her hips and gives her a squeeze. “I just…I didn’t think you’d want to change your name, is all.”

“Harry, I’d be proud to be called Mrs. Styles. Think of how cute it’ll be after we get married and I have a new class, and then when you come in for fire safety week, I’ll be able to say my husband, Chief Styles.” She pouts at him.

“Alright, it’s time we get you home before my stiffy pops through my pants.”

She giggles as she grabs her bag, and they both rush out of her classroom, and out to the car. They held hands the while way home, not wanting to be apart from one another’s touch for even a second.

Ouroboros (S2, E8)

The hiatus almost killed me. So glad we have new content <3

As usual, my time-stamped thoughts for this episode are below. As always I reference Malcolm’s mental health. A lot. So if that’s going to be a trigger for you, don’t keep reading.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

0:04 - That scarf is so extra.

0:26 - OH LOOK THE FIRST SUNSHINE SIGHTING OF SEASON TWO!!! It only took 8 episodes. *insert eyeroll*

0:40 - Ugh. This montage makes me hate Hoxley. He embodies the type of human I abhor: self-important, egotistic, obsessed with appearance.

1:19 - “No I didn’t.” LMAO. Mr. David is so done with Martin’s bullshit.

1:36 - That makeshift shiv in the dude’s arm.....that’s Daryl’s shiv from a few episodes ago right? Am I going crazy?

 2:25 - Sooooo Birdie hasn’t left New York? She’s moved into the Milton’s “Murrayville Building”. Huh. Wait. Was Birdie in the house when Malcolm and Ainsley fought? Do you think she heard?!? Birdie might become a problem for the Whitly’s later this season....I hope?

2:43 - Jessica doesn’t know about the contents of the fight. Interesting. How long has it been since the end of 2x7? 

2:58 - “I’ll be there at 8.” hahaha OMG. I swear Malcolm was a terror during his ‘rebellious teenager’ phase.

3:38 - Yep. This fog horn reinforces the fact that I believe Hoxley is a dick. 

3:40 - Awww.... the way Malcolm jumps/flinches at the fog horn is both hilarious and adorable.

3:58 - “And who the hell are you?” YES GIL. YES. Don’t let him talk like that to Malcolm <3

4:04 - Duuuuude. Gil looks pissed and scared. He does not like Europol snooping around his crimes. ALSO I’m like 95% sure that Gil knows (or at least has a hunch) that Malcolm is somehow involved with Endicott’s murder. I’m pretty sure Gil is scared that this dude is going to try and arrest Malcolm. 

4:07 - OMG. JT is adorable. “You’re that guy. The mind sleuth.” Personal headcanon: JT read Hoxley’s book to try and understand Malcolm better. 

4:22 - DANI IS MY QUEEN. SHE IS MY ICON. I LOVE HER SO FREAKING MUCH. “No.” This girl is fierce. <3

4:23 - <3 <3 Malcolm’s heart eyes, head tilt, and visible pride is so so so precious. THIS is why he’s attracted to Dani. She’s not afraid to assert herself. 

4:31 - “And then took in his son.” ....Okay, so this infuriated me. Nothing Hoxley is saying is untrue. BUT something about the way he’s saying it just gets under my skin. 

4:45 - I think Hoxley is pissing me off so much because he’s psychoanalyzing Malcolm in front three of the people Malcolm trusts and loves most in the world (3 out of a very very short list of people). He’s trying to humiliate Malcolm and I hate it. I hate that Dani, JT, and Gil haven’t told Hoxley to shut up. I hate that Hoxley is trying to drive stakes of doubt into the three people whose opinion Malcolm treasures. 

5:25 - “Aim a little lower, Whitly.” and and and.....then Hoxley looks to the team as though he wants them to laugh. I’m furious. 

5:32 - THANK YOU GIL. STEER THE CONVERSATION AWAY FROM MALCOLM

6:04 - Malcolm is so obvious. There’s no way that the team doesn’t know that he was involved with Endicott’s murder. If they didn’t before this episode - they HAVE to know now. Right? They’re detectives. Malcolm is a terrible liar. 

7:00 - Oh. So now Ainsley cares about the crime. Now it’s “how much trouble are we in”. And let’s be real. Ainsley doesn’t even seem very worried or scared. She’s concerned that the crime will get out - she’s not sorry she committed the crime. She’s not sorry that her big brother tried to take the fall for her. 

7:15 - “We said no more secrets.” ...when. When did you two say that? Was there a ‘fight part 2 - the tentative truce’ that we didn’t get to see?

7:33 - A mention of Sophie Sanders. Finally. I still hope she comes out of the woodwork and takes the fall for this. I want more closure on her. Did the team ever find out that Malcolm found her? How did the Eddie murder finally get resolved (I’m not satisfied with the “not every case gets solved” line)?

7:42 - Yo. I don’t care about the time constraint of a 45 minute episode. I don’t care that it was required to move the plot along. The fact that Ainsley starts typing frantically into the computer at about 7:42, stops typing at 7:47ish and has found at least 4 different articles relating to murdered random people (who apparently helped hide Endicott’s body?) is SO UNREALISTIC. I just can’t. I can’t suspend my disbelief on this one. The article headlines say nothing about ‘couriers’. It’s stuff like ‘Local fisherman found dead’. HOW THE HELL WOULD AINSLEY KNOW THEY WERE HELPING MALCOLM IN LESS THAN 10 SECONDS OF GOOGLING?!? Nope. I can’t justify this one. Fedak - you dropped the ball.

8:40 - Poor Malcolm looks terrified. :( 

9:04 - My first impression of Natalie was that she’s a beautiful young lady who seems really sweet and a little socially awkward. Kudos to the actress.

9:41 - Another mention of Sophie. God - I hope she becomes a twist in this season’s storyline. I’m not content with how her story arc ended. 

10:21 - “I didn’t have anything to do with Endicott’s death and neither did Jessica.” Yep. Gil definitely knows (or at least suspects) that Ainsley and Malcolm are somehow involved with Endicott’s murder. It’s killing me that we’re not getting the big “team and/or Gil find out and/or confront Malcolm about it” moment. 

10:31 - OMG. Alan Cumming’s eyebrow wag here. hahahahaha

10:35 - Look at how pissed off Gil is as soon as Hoxley suggests that he and Jessica have a romantic history. 1) Gil still has it bad for Jessica (and is hurt that she rejected him again 2) Gil’s a pretty private dude and probably doesn’t like his personal business being speculated upon by a total stranger with ill intent 3) Gil is also getting protective of the Whitly’s. Not just Jessica but Malcolm (and maybe Ainsley) too. 

10:58 - Europol agents aren’t allowed to make arrests?!? THEN WTF IS THE POINT OF HOXLEY’S CHARACTER?!? TO DRIVE DOUBT INTO THE MINDS OF THE TEAM WITH REGARDS TO MALCOLM?!? FOR REAL. WHY?! TO FORCE GIL TO ARREST MALCOLM AND AINSLEY?!?!

11:08 - “To watch you put the cuffs on Mr.Endicott’s killer. Deal?” “Deal.” oooooooohhhhhh no. I do not like the foreshadowing here. If Gil has to arrest Ainsley and/or Malcolm.....idek. Part of me wants to watch it for the emotional whump (of all parties - including Jessica). Part of me wants to ugly cry at the thought of it though.

11:39 - “How do you know so much about yachts?” ....THANK YOU JT. DANI HAS A STRANGE AMOUNT OF NAVAL KNOWLEDGE IN THIS EPISODE AND WE ALL KNOW “I watch a lot of Below Deck” IS UTTER HORSE CRAP. Ugh. I want to know more about Dani and JT’s personal lives. So. Badly. 

11:44 - <3 <3 <3 The look Malcolm and JT exchange when Dani claims that she watches a lot of Below Deck is absolutely precious. It’s like they’re best friends and/or brothers. They both knew Dani was lying. <3

11:54 - “At least he’s the real deal.” Ouch. I honestly can’t tell if JT is just teasing Malcolm here or if JT genuinely believes this. ....Is this JT’s way to letting Malcolm know that he has suspicions about his involvement with Endicott’s death?

12:06 - “Says the guy who bought his book.” HA. Dani is on fire this episode. The snark queen. Look at how pleased Malcolm is that Dani is defending him. <3 Warms my cold dead heart.

12:09 - annnnndd now JT is definitely teasing Malcolm. “What our boy Bright needs is a moniker.” hahaha watching Dani and JT come up with stupid profiler monikers was so cute. I love it when the team gangs up to (lovingly) tease Malcolm.

12:30 - “No. Nothing yet.” Again - Malcolm is a terrible liar. The team must know that he’s involved with this thing. They’re detectives. 

12:59 - Martin’s physical reaction to Malcolm saying, “No. That woman does not deserve to die.” Is HILARIOUS. Martin is so freaking desperate for Malcolm to become a serial killer that he doesn’t even care the Ainsley has already murdered someone. 

13:19 - “He has a perfect track record.”.....what? So does that mean he’s solved every case he’s ever worked on? Taken credit for solving every case he’s ever work on? Hand picked the cases he works on so he knows he can solve them? Probably a combination of the above. Sometime about Hoxley reminds me of Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter. You feel me?

13:23 - The fact that Tom Payne (a Brit) is being told that Hoxley has “perfect teeth. For a Brit” by a Welsh man is hilarious.

13:34 - Does this fish packing joint have no security?!? Like Malcolm didn’t have to pick a lock or anything. He just walked right in (and he’s not being quiet).

13:51 - “I can think ruthless. I don’t know if I can be ruthless.” THIS. THIS is Malcolm in a nutshell. Think about Nicky Covington. Malcolm wanted to act ruthless but he couldn’t. He ended up saving Nicky because he couldn’t go through with his ruthless plan. That’s the difference between Malcolm and (quite frankly) the rest of his family. Jessica, Martin, and Ainsley can all be ruthless. All of them. Jessica on a lesser degree but Martin and Ainsley are confidently ruthless. Often.

13:57 - Ok. For real though. HOW HAS NO ONE OVERHEARD THESE PHONE CALLS BETWEEN MARTIN AND MALCOLM. THE PHONES HAVE TO BE TAPPED RIGHT?!? IN A SECURE MENTAL INSTITUTION FOR MURDERERS?!? and I stg that Mr. David knows things. That man is not a moron and he’s pieced stuff together (not from this scene obviously, but still).

14:13. - “Why don’t I break out.” The fact that Malcolm hasn’t mentioned that Martin wants to escape to anyone (since 2x4) is really stressing me out. I know Martin’s going to break out - the promos have made that very obvious but I’m still anxious about it. Mostly I’m worried for the health and safety of Malcolm (and Gil, Jessica, Dani, JT, Edrisa...).

14:17 - “We all go on the run together.” Martin is delusional. He thinks that the whole family will go on the run with him?!?!?  He might be able to convince Ainsley. He might be able to blackmail or threaten Malcolm. BUT Jessica? She’s not going willingly. Hell - she might kill him herself if Martin escapes and tries to come near her (which.....I would actually kind of like to see).

14:48 - The fact that Malcolm apologizes to a corps is so precious. Really reinforces the fact that Malcolm is not a killer. 

15:00 - Oh look. Another scene for Malcolm’s nightmares. “The time I cut off a dead guy’s thumb to protect my sister”

15:24 - annnndd Malcolm is really close to having a panic attack. Look at that face. :( Someone give this guy a hug. Please.

15:34 - Where the HELL is Edrisa!?!?!?

15:42 - Malcolm, you utter moron. What possessed your stupid ass to show up at a crime scene with a soaking wet arm and draw attention to your arm by shaking it?!?! WHEN THE BODY WAS JUST DRAGGED OUT OF A VAT OF WATER. AND YOU TAMPERED WITH THE BODY?!!? YOU DUMBASS. 

15:52 - This is Gil - terrified. He’s scared because 1) he knows Malcolm is lying , 2) he’s concerned for Malcolm’s mental health and 3) he’s starting to think that either a) Malcolm killed this guy, b) Malcolm knows who killed this guy and is obstructing justice, or c) Hoxley is going to pin this on Malcolm and Gil won’t be able to save him.

16:14 - “I’m never buying frozen fish again.” hahaha Dani is killing it this episode. <3

16:23 - Check out how Gil is staring at Malcolm. Gil totally thinks Malcolm has the thumb.

16:50 - “Older model” Shit. Seriously? Are finger print scanners on phones old?!? My phone isn’t that old......I got it 6 years ago? 

17:16 - MALCOLM IS A TERRIBLE LIAR. Honestly, the pure terror on his face throughout most of this episode screams “I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE MURDER.” If the team hasn’t pieced this together yet they’re not worthy of being detectives.

17:29 - I’m not going to lie. I had to fast forward through the Martin/Capshaw scenes for the rewatch. I find them so upsetting to watch. I just can’t do it more than once. Their whole dynamic is gross, creepy, and just ugh. 

20:00 - Jessica and Hoxley talking about Endicott’s death is so satisfying. 

20:35 - “Jessica Whitly. Played for a fool. Yet. Again.” Ok Hoxley. You are not allowed to disrespect my girl Jessica like that. 

21:10 - The biggest problem with Jessica and Gil’s “mock interrogations” by Hoxley is that neither of them mention Ainsley or Malcolm. It’s super suspicious. They mention other people by name. People who should be connected to Ainsley and/or Malcolm given the context of the sentence. Hoxley is a moron for not nailing Ainsley and Malcolm for the crime during this episode. It’s so so so obvious.

21:19 - hahahahahahahaha Jessica grabbing the martini out of Hoxley’s hands. hahahahaha I stan.

21:35 - annnnnd Jessica is a terrible liar as well. Seriously - why doesn’t she just say “ENDICOTT WAS KILLED OVER HERE!!”. Another parallel between her and Malcolm though. Malcolm + Jessica can’t lie well. Ainsley + Martin are expert liars.

22:54 - Again. Ainsley is intrigued at the fact that Malcolm has a thumb in his freezer. Much like Martin would be if he knew. Jessica on the other hand shares Malcolm’s fear and disgust about the situation.

23:00- “We”?!!?!? AINSLEY YOU HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING. MALCOLM HAS BEEN COVERING FOR YOUR ASS. YOU JUST HAVEN’T TURNED YOURSELF IN AFTER YOU REMEMBERED. THAT’S YOUR ONLY CONTRIBUTION TO THE “KEEPING ENDICOTT’S MURDER A SECRET” SITUATION. 

23:07 - “Do you even see what you are doing to him.” This line both terrified and delighted me. On one hand - I’m grateful that Jessica can see how much emotional pain Malcolm is in because of this situation. One the other hand - Ainsley looks pissed that Jessica is blaming her for Malcolm’s general brokenness. If Ainsley goes full serial killer - Malcolm is going to be on her list. “The brother that overshadowed her.” “The favourite child” “The reason she had to be a perfect daughter” “The reason she was ignored”

23:32 - “Got it.” Damn. Ainsley is bitter. She wants to control this situation. She doesn’t like taking orders from Malcolm. 

25:00 - MR.DAVID IS RIGHT THERE. IF HE DOESN’T BLOW THE WHISTLE ON THIS I’M GOING TO BE SO DISAPPOINTED. 

25:12 -”The Brain Fart” hahahahaha OMG. 

25:53 - “You’re being rude Hoxley.” ......Martin being the nice guy? I’m genuinely disgusted.

26:26 - “Your son Malcolm.” THIS. THIS is why Ainsley is so pissed off. Everyone has always thought Malcolm would turn out like Martin. Ever since they were kids. She’s pissed off that no one considers her to be a threat. They’re all concerned for and scared of Malcolm. Not her. She’s invisible. Why do you think she became a TV reporter? To force people to see her. 

26:50 - I’ve never wanted to Martin to kill anyone more than I have in this moment. I do find Martin’s protective love for Malcolm interesting though. 

27:37 - How long was that phone in water before Malcolm grabbed it?!? Anyone ever drop a phone in water? I don’t care how much rice you have. It’s toast 90% of the time. 

27:44 - Malcolm explaining murder to Sunshine is so cute. 

28:22 - And my heart rate has skyrocketed. 

29:10 - “To protect your sister.” Huh. I find it interesting that Hoxley has considered that Malcolm may have killed Endicott to protect Ainsley. It suggests that he thinks Endicott was a threat to Ainsley alive. Makes me wonder about what happened to Ainsley before Malcolm got back to the house in 1x20.

29:16 - “You all had something to gain.” Did they though? Martin had something to gain - keeping his cushy Claremont cell. Ainsley had something to gain - “A news story.” Jessica had something to gain - “safety”. But Malcolm? He didn’t personally have anything to gain. He wanted his Mom and sister safe but he never thought about himself. 

30:11 - “Perhaps the murder weapon is still among your mother’s silver.” I find it interesting Hoxley has pieced that together. I also find it highly unbelievable but that’s just me. 

30:15 - Hoxely, rich people don’t carve their own Christmas roasts. The Whitly’s have staff for that. 

30:24 - “You’re still just a scared little boy. Hungry for daddy’s love.” Ouch. It’s true but it still hurts. This is not helping Malcolm’s mental state. At all. Istg if we don’t get a Malcolm mental health crisis soon I’m going to have my own mental health crisis. Seriously. I want to see this boy lose it. I’m a monster. I know. I want ugly crying. I want panic attacks. I want him to go catatonic. I want someone to comfort him. 

32:35 - Nat’s a good liar. Very convincing. Too bad Malcolm’s a good profiler. 

33:53 - Check out Spider Monkey Malcolm. <3 

34:14 - Earlier this episode when Malcolm said he can think ruthless but not be ruthless? This is the proof. He could’ve sat back and let Natalie kill Hoxley. In some ways - it would be good for Malcolm. But Malcolm’s not ruthless. He values human life. He’s an A+ dude. For better or for worse he tries to help people.

34:26 - Really Hoxley? Do you plan on stabbing Malcolm?!? (FYI - this scene is very reminiscent of Lockhart pulling his wand on Harry and Ron in the Chamber of Secrets #justsaying).

34:45 - “I’m going to be killed by a millennial. What a twist.” hahahhahahahahhaa

35:22 - “I’m British.” hahaha I love this scene so much.

37:14 - FINALLY THE PAPA!GIL CONTENT WE”VE BEEN WAITING FOR. (it’s weak but I’ll take it)

37:39 - AHHHH the fact that Gil and Malcolm are both non-verbally communicating that Natalie didn’t kill Endicott is killing me. Does Malcolm think that Gil hates him? Does Gil really think Malcolm killed Endicott? Or just that Malcolm covered it up? I NEED TO KNOW.

37:46 - Concerned!Gil and a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. <3 <3 <3 My icy heart has melted. 

37:54 - annnnnd Hoxley ruins the moment.

39:39 - I’m not content with this ending. It’s all too convenient. Hoxley still thinks Ainsley and Malcolm did it. Mark my words. This isn’t over.

39:53 - Ainsley is so smug here. I want to slap her. She’s elated that she’s getting away with murder. She doesn’t care about how it’s hurting her family. 

40:00 - Did they really do the interview inside Jessica’s house?!?! Gross. 

40:17- I might be the only one but I love that polo on Malcolm. Something about it is adorable. 

40:22 - ......is Ainsley really trying to take credit for “putting this Endicott mess behind us”?!?! Because - she didn’t. OMG. She absolutely didn’t. Even if she did - she’s the reason they’re in the mess to being with!!!!!!! I can’t. I just....can’t. 

40:45 - The episode ends right here for me. I know Capshaw and Martin kiss. It makes me want to hurl and I refuse to watch it again. I also know that Capshaw takes the scissors away from Martin. I think their whole dynamic is upsetting and creepy. I’m like 95% sure that Capshaw is a serial killer on the DL. Or at least some sort of psychopath. Martin and Capshaw are both manipulating each other and it’s too stressful to watch. 

I didn’t love this episode. It was a bit all over the place. If you stuck around this long - thank you. I’ll see you guys next week. <3

The Best Worst Kept Secret

Hello!! I am back with yet another fic! I decided to give y’all some fluff this time as a treat. I wanted to finish this before yesterday’s ep but I got tripped up on one of the sections. So this just kind of ignores canon a lil and takes a path of its own. Enjoy!!

AKA: The one where everyone finds out that Gil and Jessica are together

JT

Gil tries to contain himself for about the hundredth time that night. He should have known she wouldn’t listen to him. It’s in the Whitly’s nature to go against everything he says. The second he knew that Jessica had an invitation to a charity discussion with their latest suspect he should have pulled the plug. It was absolutely absurd to send her in there with nothing more than a wire taped to her to catch anything duplicitous that might be said.

He should have known.

When they heard glass breaking and the connection drop his team rushed in. It was on Dani’s insistence that he stay behind. It was driving him absolutely crazy not to know what the hell was going on in there.

So he paced.

Finally, after what seemed like ages the door opened. She steps out, looking all the same if not slightly more disheveled than when she walked in. He notices she walks with a slight limp, he makes a mental note to wave down a paramedic the second he gets the chance. But it disappears once her eyes meet his.

It feels like the air is sucked out of his lungs as she walks to him, a half smile on her face that masks the fear and exhaustion lying beneath. He wants to ask her what happened in there. He wants to know what the hell went wrong. But all he can think about is that he could have lost her.

That sound could have easily been Wilkes knocking her unconscious, dead before Dani and JT can even reach her. Another missed opportunity. Their window slammed shut for good this time.

He doesn’t think.

She opens her mouth to speak but he just presses his lips to hers, pouring all of his fears and hopes into those few seconds that he loses himself. He’ll be damned if he loses her before kissing her one more time.

But he isn’t losing her. She’s alive and he can feel her heart thundering against his chest as her hands hover between them, unsure of what to do. Then he remembers everything that happened. Her fears and boundaries that he definitely just crossed way too quickly. 

He pulls away just as she starts to respond and her face almost makes him laugh, her eyes are blown wide, jaw clenched but then she smiles. That warm, effusive smile that digs deep into his chest every time he sees it.

“Don’t scare me like that again.” For a second he wants her to tease him, that it wasn’t her fault that things went south.

“Yes Lieutenant.” She answers with teasing smirk. Back on her game just as quickly as he threw her off. And god help him.

The sound of a throat clearing makes him remember just where they were. JT stands just a few steps behind her, hands in his pockets. Jessica blushes, her jaw dropping open as she stammers for words once again.

“Mother!” Malcolm’s call saves her from whatever she was going to say, her motherly instincts taking over as she rushes to him, despite her hurt ankle. He shakes his head with a small smile as he watches her go.

“So,” JT strolls up, rocking back and forth. “You two?”

“Not a word.”

“I didn’t say anything!” He casts a look to the two Whitlys, Jessica fussing over her son like she wasn’t the one in a hostage situation just minutes ago. “Just didn’t know you two were a thing.”

“We haven’t been for a long time.”

“Well in that case, don’t let her slip away.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dani

“Do not.” Jessica’s voice dips with the warning, her threatening tone lacing through the words. 

“Don’t what?” Gil smiles, mirth sparkling in his eyes. She’s seen that look hundreds of times in Malcolm, she’s more than familiar with what follows.

“Whatever you were thinking, do not.”

“I wasn’t thinking anything.” He puts his hands up in mock surrender and she almost falls for it. 

Almost comes a little too late when the jet of water hits her straight in the chest soaking her blouse. “Are you serious?” She tries to be angry but when he tilts his head back laughing it sends blush rushing up her neck and to her cheeks. “I am going to kill you. I didn’t bring any spare clothes.”

“At least I know my murder will be solved if Malcolm’s on the case.” 

“Hilarious.” She drawls, trying to suppress the shiver that rolls up her spine.

“Fine, take it off.”

“What?” She stammers for a second. Just as quickly, she recovers, a smirk forming on her face. “I thought we’d at least wait until after dinner.” She watches his eyes go wide when he realizes what he’d said, his head turning as he chuckles nervously. She bites the inside of her cheek as she undoes the buttons, tilting her head in a tease.

He is right behind her though, shucking off the turtleneck he’s wearing and tossing it to her instead. “There. Now you have something dry.” She presses her tongue to the inside of her teeth rolling her eyes at him but puts it on nonetheless.

“How do I look?” She does a little spin for effect, feeling the heat in her cheeks rise once again as he looks her up and down.

“You look beautiful.” He’s about to walk towards her when there’s a knock on the door. They’d been expecting their food to arrive any minute, she’d just hoped he would’ve taken a little longer. Gil steps back leaning against the counter. “This isn’t over.”

“Promise?” She flips her hair over her shoulder before going to answer. She swipes her purse from the table along the way. She doesn’t even look up when she answers the door. “Hi, ok so that’s $29 and-”

“Gil, I thought you were cutting down on the takeout since we order so much at the precinct-”

The two of them stop at the same time realizing that they weren’t talking to who they thought they were. Jessica looks up from her purse meeting Dani’s confused gaze. Why was she here and why did she have their food?

“Ms. Whitly.” Dani seems just as shocked as she was. Eyes falling to the very recognizable turtleneck she was wearing. “What are you doing here?”

Jessica has to bite the sarcastic remark before it slips off her tongue. 

It is not helped when she hears Gil slide up behind her. “What’s taking so long?” It only takes a sideways glance to know that he is definitely still shirtless. He goes rigid when he spies Dani and from the look on her face she’s almost certain the poor girl is ready to bolt. “I’ll go get a shirt.” She mentally curses Gil as he dips into the safety of the bedroom and away from the awkward questions.

“How long have you two been…” Jessica frowns when she realizes that her tone doesn’t sound nearly as interrogating as she expected. Rather a little guilty, she partially wonders if she ever found out that Jessica had overheard their conversation all those months ago.

“It’s new.” As in literally under a week, she thinks to herself. She’d hoped that they could keep this under wraps as much as possible. “We didn’t want to tell anyone until we were certain.”

“Not even Malcolm?”

“No.” She sighs. As much as she loves her children, they’re equally nosy and while they want the best for her, she knows Malcolm is still looking to get revenge on her for when she meddled with his first date with Eve. “I just,” She casts a look to where Gil had disappeared to, the fear and sadness momentarily taking over. “I don’t want to mess this up again.” Not for herself. Not for her children who cherish him like a father. Especially not Gil who she’s slammed the window shut so many times. Every single time he just gave her that same understanding smile. Even if it hurt.

“Well,” Jessica snaps her gaze back to Dani, remembering that she wasn’t just lamenting to herself. “He looks happy.”

Gil chooses that time to come back while she’s still locked in her own thoughts. It’s all she can do to excuse herself to the kitchen and leave them to talk. She finds the bottle of bourbon they’d planned on opening later trying to quell her shaking hand as she pours two glasses. All of her ease has disappeared, replaced with the knot of tension pulling her further into herself.

She’s just about to go check when she feels to arms wrap around her from behind. “What’s wrong?” He asks dropping a kiss to her cloth covered shoulder. Of course he could tell something was wrong just from her standing there. He’s always known her better than anyone. “Talk to me.”

She spins in his arms, her hands coming to rest on his chest. She bites the inside of her cheek. “Are you happy?”

He drops his head, shaking it with the same soft smile that makes her heart skip. “Of course I am.” One hand moves from her back brushing the hair that had fallen across her face. “I’m happier than I’ve felt in a long time. I’m with you.”

“Even if-”

“Yes.” He stops her before she can ramble off any scenarios. He’s not letting her push him away, not this time. His thumb strokes her jaw and her eyes fall to his lips. “Even then.”

Finally he kisses her, and it tastes like a promise.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Edrisa

“Are you certain there’ll be nobody here?” Jessica grasps Gil’s arm as they step into the restaurant. By all means, it was perfect. Out of the city, away from prying eyes of photographers looking to get a shot of her, far from the legacy of her name. Just a nice, fancy restaurant for a first date.

That thought send a whole new wave of anxiety through her.

Gil had asked her to dinner, officially, to celebrate his closing of a case and her sealing the deal on a new realtor’s space. Finally they have some time to themselves again, maybe for the first time in weeks they can see each other for more than fifteen minutes for a quick meal before she’s called off to a meeting or Malcolm calls him for an update on the case. 

He seems to sense her unease as he slips his hand over her’s giving it a gentle squeeze. “Just me and you.” She softens at his smile, her hand reaching up to trace his jaw. For a moment she thinks she could say the three words that have been stuck on the back of her tongue ever since they’ve started this again.

“I-” Her breath catches, choking on the words once again. She quells the frustration before it can even cross her face, instead pushing away from him. “I have to go to the restroom. Will you get our table?”

“Yeah.” If he caught what just happened, he doesn’t let on. She steadies herself by focusing on each step. Gaining back her control with each careful stride. That is, until her eyes fall on a booth across the room.

It’s the laugh that draws her attention. A sound she’s become familiar with the more the woman hangs around Malcolm. Her laugh has been something that made her son smile brighter than she’s seen in years. It’s instantly recognizable.

Edrisa.

She’s sitting with a group of women, from what she can tell they’re sisters. Similar in appearance enough to be related at least. They’re so caught up in each other that Edrisa doesn’t see her. If she’s quick enough she can just slip right into the bathroom and be back to Gil where she requested a private booth.

She’s so focused on the group of women she doesn’t see the waiter round the corner talking to a coworker. Not until she crashes into him, wine glasses tipping from the tray and spilling all over the front of her dress. The force knocks her to the ground flinching as the glass sprays across the floor around her.

“Jess, oh my god!” Gil runs up to her, careful of the shards to help her back to her feet.

“Ma’am I am so sorry. I didn’t- I wasn’t-” She barely hears the rambling apologies when she can see that the person she was trying to hide from is now looking straight at her, along with everyone else in the damn restaurant. 

“I’m fine.” She dismisses with a hand. “I’m going to clean up.” She knows her tone betrays everything. She hasn’t caused such a scene since smashing the camera of the man who tried to sneak pictures of Malcolm while he was sitting on the swings with Gil only months after Martin’s arrest.

The quiet of the bathroom is a welcome change as she steps in front of the mirror. She’s an absolute scene. Hair rumpled, face flushed with embarrassment. The dress that she spent hours trying to pick out by herself all but ruined. The stickiness of the wine already making her uncomfortable.

What if she can’t do this?

The knock startles her out of her thoughts. She shuts her eyes gathering herself, “I’m fine Gil. Really, I’m not hurt.”

The door opens slowly and the person in the doorway isn’t him. Rather Edrisa who swallows heavily before stepping inside. “Do you need help?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, cause yknow wine stains even black clothing- which is, awful, right? Like, how dare it? Isn’t that the fundamental rule of black?”

“Edrisa-”

“You should probably start blotting, that looks like expensive velvet.” She passes her a cloth napkin that she must have snagged from the table when she got up. “That’ll clean up better than the paper towels. Trust me.”

Jessica wants to put up a fight but just sighs, accepting the help. “Thank you.” She carefully blots the stain, eyes falling on the woman who rocks back and forth looking like she wants to ask a hundred questions but is barely refraining. “Before you ask, yes. We’re dating. No, it hasn’t been for long. This is our first actual date. Yes, we were trying to keep it secret.”

“I knew you two were together!”

“What?!” Jessica’s head snaps around, her tone coming out angrier than she intended.

“No! I mean- No!” Edrisa stammers. “I didn’t know know but I knew. You know?”

“No.”

“Well, it’s like. It’s like in the movies. It couldn’t be more obvious that the two people who’ve known each other for decades are going to be together in the end but it’s this will they won’t they. It’s the miscommunication and the boundaries. He’s a widower. But there’s all this tension.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’d have to be blind not to see how you look at each other.” She smiles tilting her head. “You’re head over heels for each other.”

“Are we really that obvious?” Edrisa gives a half shrug and Jessica lets out the breath of frustration. “Well, I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell Malcolm.”

“Oh! Yeah, totally. I mean, wouldn’t want it getting out before you’re ready.”

“No, we wouldn’t. Not yet at least. It’s new and I don’t want to mess this up. I just want to keep everything discreet.”

“One hundred percent. My lips are sealed.” The silence falls between them and for a moment Jessica wonders if she’s going to tell her something else. A thought passes across the woman’s face before she waves it off. “Well I should get back to my family. Have fun! Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want your kids to hear about.” She laughs and Jessica just chuckles nervously. “Right. Going. Bye!” Jessica follows her out the door relieved to see Gil standing there with a worried look on his face.

“Sir.” Edrisa nods at him passing him, but as she’s about to round the corner, she spins around giving him a double thumbs up with a wide grin and a wink.

“Do you think she’ll tell?” Gil asks once he’s certain she’s gone back to her family.

“Honestly? I have no idea.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ainsley

“Gil.” Her warning comes out huskier than she intended it to. She’s trying to focus on the paperwork in front of her, stacks of royalty agreements, press issues, and editor’s notes scribbled on the words of her own writing are enough to drive anyone mad. She partially wonders if this is how he feels when pouring over case files.

He hums against her neck and her control almost snaps. His arms wind around her torso scooting her closer to him on the couch. 

“Don’t you have a case to work on?”

“Just finished.” She feels him smile and she sighs putting down the file she was studying. “Not my fault you look so good in glasses.”

“They’re reading glasses.”

“Doesn’t matter. You still look good.” She bites her tongue, cheeks blushing with the compliment but she leans further into his touch. “Take a break.”

“We’ve taken 3 breaks in the past 2 days.”

“Are you complaining?” She tilts her head, pretending to think about it for a minute. That only encourages him more as he trails his kisses down her chest.

“Gil,” She tries again but all of her will is gone the second he hits that spot on her collarbone. “You’re horrible.” She pushes him back using the momentum to swing a leg over his lap so she’s straddling him. His wide eyed look of wonder is enough to make her laugh before she captures his lips with hers. Her hands rest on the back of the couch while his slide down her thighs pulling her impossibly closer.

She begins tugging at his turtleneck that he has carefully tucked in. “We should move.” He whispers in between kisses and it’s her turn to split into a wicked smile.

“I dismissed everyone this morning. We’re all alone.” His jaw drops and she tilts her head back with a laugh.

“Who’s horrible now?” But his lips attack her neck again and she just laces her fingers through his hair letting the sensation take over.

She’s ready to lift his shirt over his head when the sound of the door opening and shutting calls her attention. They both freeze, chests heaving trying to catch their breath. “Mom?” 

Jessica lets out a stream of curses under her breath at the sound of Ainsley steadily approaching. She pulls herself off his lap, quickly fixing the buttons that she didn’t notice he’d managed to snap open on her blouse. Gil does the same, tucking in his shirt where he can and taking a file to drape over his lap. She runs her fingers through her hair and picks up the file she was working on as if nothing had happened at all.

“There you are! You won’t believe what happened today! Oh, hey Gil!” Her eyes bounce between them for a moment, but if she suspects something she doesn’t let it show. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m helping your mother with her book.”

“You’re letting Gil read it?” Ainsley pouts, reminding her of when she was little and she didn’t get what she wanted. “You told Malcolm and I we’d have to wait until it was released.”

“I believe I told you I didn’t want you reading it at all, but nevertheless. What’s happened today?”

“What do you mean?” It takes Ainsley half a beat to remember she came home for a reason. “Oh. I just got the word that they want to kick off Joseph Lassley after the whole incident. You remember, right?”

“Yes?”

“Well they want to give me his spot! I’m going to be the head reporter!” Jessica jumps up going to hug her daughter. 

“Oh, darling, that’s wonderful!” She squeals. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Congratulations Ainsley.”

“Thanks Gil.” She beams practically bouncing back to the door. “I have to go. I just stopped by to tell you in person, didn’t feel like over the phone news.” She hugs Jessica again and she squeezes her daughter back just as tightly. “I have to go tell Malcolm.”

“Go! We can celebrate tonight!”

“Belluci’s?”

“Whatever you want, darling.”

“Can Gil come?” Jessica looks back at him and he seems shocked at the request but nods with a soft grin.

“I’d love to.” The look of adoration makes her chest feel so tight that it hurts.

“Awesome. Love you. I’ll see you later.” With that hurricane Ainsley is gone. She lets out the breath she was holding turning back to Gil again.

“That was close.”

“Um, Jess?” Her eyebrows furrow when she realizes he’s looking at her chest. Her blouse is slanted, having missed one of the buttons in an effort to get them back together quickly.

“Shit.” She casts a look towards the door, fixing the buttons while she does. “Do you think she noticed?” 

The scream is distant but loud enough to still carry into the home. “MALCOLM HOLY FUCK.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Malcolm

“Jess if you pace any more you’re going to burn a hole into the floor.” Gil leans against the table, eyes watching her as she walks from end to end.

“He’s late.” She checks the clock again for confirmation, and yes, Malcolm was officially half an hour late. “I told him that tonight was important and that I needed to talk to him.”

“Can you blame him? The last time you said dinner was important was to harass him-”

“Don’t finish that sentence unless you want to sleep on the couch tonight.” Gil raises his glass in mock surrender sipping on the scotch. “Why are you so worked up about this? You know he’ll be thrilled. I mean when he was a kid he basically begged me to move in.”

“It’s not about how he’s going to react. It’s just,” She sighs finally settling in a chair. “He’s the only one we got to tell for real. Everyone else figured it out.”

“For a profiler, he’s shockingly unobservant when it comes to family.”

“Oh trust me, I know.” She smiles with a small laugh. “I thought for sure he was going to catch us that day in your office.”

“I can’t believe we did that.”

“Oh, poor JT.” She laughs, the tension in her chest finally easing a little. It’s enough that she misses the door opening.

“Mother, sorry I’m late. But on the brightside, I’ve got this beautiful 14th century broadsword that-” He stops, his eyes falling on Gil. “And Gil’s here.” He glances between the two of them with a suspicious look. “This isn’t some kind of intervention is it?”

“Not exactly.” She straightens herself, feeling the anxiety bubble in her stomach all over again. Everything up to this point had been amazing. Sure when they were apart, Malcolm tried to help them get back together, but what would he think now? Would he be upset? Hurt to know that he learned last?

“Mom, is everything ok?” Her expression softens, he only calls her mom when he’s worried about her. She’s given him far too much to worry about lately. She takes his hand in hers with a reassuring smile.

“Your mother and I wanted to talk to you. And this is something that’s important to us.”

“Ok you’re both acting weird now. I’m used to her. Please don’t turn on me too, Gil.”

 “Malcolm.” She sighs because she knows this is how he acts when nervous. He can’t stop talking, a habit he’s picked up from the medical examiner she’s noticed him lingering around lately. “Sunshine,”

“Oh god, she brought out Sunshine. I’m in trouble.”

“No, kid, you’re not in trouble we just-”

“Gil and I are together.” She finally blurts out, before pursing her lips together. Malcolm’s head snaps towards her with a mixed look of wonder and disbelief.

“Like, together together?”

“Yes.”

“Is it serious?”

“Well I hope so considering he’s moving in.” She tries for the joke but Malcolm just short circuits, leaning back in his chair running a hand over his chin.

“How long?”

“2 months.”

“2 months?” 

“Well, kid. Your mother and I wanted to make sure it stuck this time before we told you.”

“Does Ainsley know?” The two of them pass a look and they can practically see as the dots connect in his head. “Oh my god the couch. She called me and was talking about Gil, and the couch. She didn’t make any sense. Oh my god.”

“We wanted to tell you for so long. But it didn’t feel like the right time.”

“Is that the bet that Dani and JT have going? If you two are together?”

“Not exactly.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“It’s more like when you’ll figure it out.”

“They know?” 

“Well they figured it out the same way Ainsley did.”

“WHAT?”

“Not like that! JT saw me kiss your mother after the Wilkes case,”

“Dani was a few days later. I stayed the night at Gil’s and I answered the door thinking she was our takeout.”

“Did everyone find out before me?”

“Well we were sure Edrisa was going to accidentally let it slip.” Jessica shrugs.

“Edrisa knows?” 

“We ran into her at a restaurant where some said it would be safe away from anyone we could run into.” She shoots a playful glare at Gil who raises a brow at the challenge.

“How was I supposed to know the Tanakas were in town?”

“Oh my god.” Jessica turns her attention back to her son who looks as if he’s going over every single interaction he’s had for the past 2 months in his mind.

She swallows heavily, taking his hand again and getting serious. “Are you ok with this?”

The question seems to snap him out of his spiral. His eyes finally fall on her with a clarity and hope she hadn’t seen for a long time. “Ok with this? This is like, something I thought about since I was 12. Gil’s basically my dad. And if you’re happy, that’s all that matters to me. Are you happy mom?”

“Oh Sunshine,” She chokes back the tears building in her eyes, her free hand tracing over his jaw. She wonders how the hell she got so lucky. “I’m very happy.”

He turns his attention to Gil. “Are you?”

The look on Gil’s face almost takes her breath away. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”

“Good.” Malcolm smiles and Jessica is certain her heart is going to burst right out of her chest. “Now, when are you going to propose?”

“Malcolm!”

“Am I getting a little brother or sister?”

“I am fifty two!”

“So was Janet Jackson.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Oh I’m just getting started. I’ve got twenty one years of meddling pent up and ready to unleash.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Martin

The sounds of wheels sliding across the linoleum breaks Martin’s deep focus, he abandons his latest project with a wide grin. “TV time already, Mr. David? I felt like I had a good half hour in me still!” The man doesn’t answer, only moving to set up the equipment with the same boring monotony as he did every day. Honestly, you’d think the man could show a little more life.

It no longer matters when the TV powers on, just in time to see his daughter’s smiling face, with a warm greeting that feels especially for him. He bristles, the same sense of pride that fills his chest any time he can see his children in their element consuming him. He can’t help but shift in glee, scooting closer to the screen.

“Is she wearing L’agence again? You know, that’s her mother’s influence right there. I was always more of a Brioni man, myself. Italian. Swear you’ve never felt something so soft in your life.” Ainsley picks up her papers, tapping them against the desk, signaling she’s diving into the latest news. “Shh, she’s starting”

“Why don’t we start off tonight on a good note? Lighting up the social circles and buzzing all around New York, daughter of John and Carrie Milton, Jessica Whitly is engaged! You may know Jessica Whitly as she was the ex-wife of the Surgeon and is my mother.” She grins, and he swears he can see Jessica in her. The mischievous glee of knowing that his world is falling apart sparkling in her eyes. “Tabloids were lighting up after spying Ms. Whitly with a ring on her finger, and it is with great pleasure that I’m the one to confirm the rumors. Ms. Whitly is engaged to the head of major crimes, Lieutenant Gil Arroyo. The two of them met during the arrest-”

“Turn it off.”

“Martin,” Mr. David approaches, ready to apprehend if necessary. It won’t be, he can control himself.

“Turn it off!” He snaps. He blissfully does and Martin revels in the silence, if only for a moment. “How could she not tell me? Me? I didn’t even know she was seeing anyone again!” He pushes the chair back pacing from end to end, or as far as his rope would let him reach. “I had to find out by a broadcast. The news.” He scoffs, noticing that the man across the room’s shoulders are shaking with laughter. “Did you know about this?”

“Yes, I received the news about a week ago.”

“A week ago.” He falls back onto his bed with a sigh. “My boy didn’t even tell me! And I really felt like we were connecting again! ”

“Martin,”

“And my girl! Oh you know her mother set her up to do that just to get at me. Ainsley would never stoop so low as to address tabloids. They’re so beneath her.” He rakes a hand through his hair, “and Mr David, Et tu, Brute. Leave me alone, I’d like to suffer in peace.”

“I guess I shouldn’t tell you I got the invitation in the mail yesterday.”

It’s all he could do but turn his face to scream into his pillow.

could you tell us more about the brarg family au with the 3 babies and trans luci?

I definitely can! This au has been living rent free in my head since i started that drawing and I was actually sketching more stuff for the AU right before I got this ask so- I definitely can ramble more about it

This was supposed to be just a collection of a few hcs and now it’s a multi-pages word document the size of a fanfic so – Im really sorry.

I didn’t think a lot about their backstories tbh, though I have it in my mind that Luciano transition in his late teens and that he and martin either met after that or knew each other before luciano came out, lost all contact, and then met again after (and you can blame oxiosas fic for that yeah im not even subtle)

But I imagine them having some sort of meet cute and kinda progressing really fast in their relationship without realizing – yk, its just a fling, no big deal, yeah ive met his parents, yes I basically spend every weekend in his apartment, yeah I have a spare key now, ops I guess we’re adopting dogs and plants together- oh I think we’re married. Yeah. We’re married.

Ok but for real Luci does the proper proposal-with-a-ring-and-knelt-down-on-a-special-day thing and Martin is just bright red saying yes over and over again

It is Afonso (port) the first to be all WHERE ARE MY GRANDCHILDREN like… the night of their wedding.

They live in a house in a not too big city with two dogs, one cat, one parrot and all the birds that Luciano feeds and names that aren’t actually theirs. Still, they choose the house with two spare rooms because they always talked about having two kids.

In this AU they can buy a nice house and don’t have to worry about money and can raise kids like the world isn’t ending.

I think right after they got married they got in line for adoption. However, everything indicated that it would take a long long time so they started talking about the possibility of trying to have a biological kid. I think luci was the one to suggest it when he noticed martin had been thinking about it but not saying anything for a while.

Lots of boring doctor visits and confused doctors looking at luciano and trying to process it like the dumb cishets they are. Boring exams and all that, but everything is on track eventually, luci pauses his hrt and keeps his jockstrap on the drawer and they’re googling the best positions for fertility on those weird cishet sites and doing it like bunnies etc etc

Getting pregnant the natural way after years of testosterone is not the easiest thing in the world, so it takes a while. But eventually it works.

Both of them are kinda freaking out with this whole first pregnancy thing. Martin is the ultimate protective husband, and spends way too much time on the internet finding out what luciano can and can’t eat, what exercises he should do, and going to every single doctor visit. He’s very committed to it.

Luciano has to drink non-alcoholic beer and hates life. There’s a single teardrop shed every time he buys it. And drinks a lot of lemonade like it’s the same as caipirinha. Poor guy. Martin doesn’t help on that, life isn’t fair, he buys his own beer.

But he also has to drive absurd lengths to find the weirdest fruit or make the most hideous, blasphemous pizza toppings because Luciano is constantly craving absurd shit. But poor baby actually really NEEDS that chicken M&M pizza at 8am.

They’re super proud daddies though, and both their instagrams at this point are just baby belly pictures. Luci had top surgery on this au on my hc so also. Lots of shirtless pics. He looks like an old uncle with a beer belly and he’s PROUD. Just. Baby bellies all over.

Martin picks the entire baby layette. Because of course he does.

Their baby shower is a huge deal though. Their dads are there, Antonio brings an entire trunk filled with diapers and tells everyone how many tincho used to need when he was a baby, Afonso is cooking for everyone and talking about how he’s gonna be a grandfather (!!!). Iracema (pindorama) is scolding Luci about his bad habits while also quietly being a super proud grandma. Zola (angola) bought toys because she knows that’s what kids actually like, Samero (Mozão) keeps asking if they installed all the necessary security stuff in their house – we will, chill, we still have some months to go – Vera (Tomé) is teasing Simão (Timor) about him no longer being the family baby, Fatima (g.bissau) is another one who bought a huge amount of diapers, Rosinha (cabo verde) is taking pictures of everyone and everything, Sebas and Dani are discussing if the kid should speak Portuguese or Spanish, Maria brought a huge pink plushy as a gift, it’s quite a party.

Once they’re late in the pregnancy, Luciano mostly spends his time on Martin’s oversized t-shirts asking for foot rubs and not getting much sleep because the baby keeps moving. Martin on the other hand is a little nervous about being a dad, but absolutely loves feeling the little kicks and talking to the baby all the time, except when its 3am and he wants to sleep but Luci cant because of it so he just does his best to keep him company. He mostly ends up falling asleep on his chest though and doesn’t help much

I wrote all of this but I still don’t have a name for the girl lol Anyway, she’s finally born, and if martin was overprotective when Luciano was pregnant, he’s ten times more with his baby girl. Tbh theyre both kinda going crazy with this whole parenting thing, both are overprotective, tired, and have no idea what theyre doing.

Zola and Sebastian are the girl’s godparents. Sebastian isn’t very good with kids so when he takes care of his niece he either puts on a tv show and lets her eat whatever crap she wants, or relies on Daniel to do the actual taking care, since he is good with kids.

Luciano and Martin are very much neurotic first-timers and have all this schedule of what their girl can eat and when and when she has to sleep etc etc.

When Zola takes care of her, she just ignores it and does it her way. She helped raised Luci since he was a baby anyway, he survived just fine and even married and reproduced, she knows what to do better than both the dumbasses, and they never even find out.

Afonso on the other had follows everything when he’s with his granddaughter, determined to be a better grandfather than he was a father, and the baby loves him so he’s doing a good job.

They’re a very cute family yes yes

She grows up well and happy, a bit shy maybe but very smart and sweet, loves the dogs and her aunts and uncles and granddads (afonso more than antonio though)

By the way, Iracema is soft like butter with her granddaughter.

When she’s about four or five years old they start talking about having a second one, considering the age difference and all. So back to doctors, Luci stops the hrt again and they go back to trying, but again it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do it naturally after years of hrt.

But god listens to the prayers of such good catholic family, and right after they start thinking about a second child, they receive the news they will finally get to adopt a baby.

Luciano is the one to receive the news, he’s working at home when the social worker comes to tell him they can finally adopt. He’s extremely happy, he hugs the poor lady and is barely able to concentrate as she explains the paperwork that is left and the details of it because he can’t stop smiling.

He immediately texts martin saying something like “CALL ME RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO TALK” and it’s in happy caps but martin understands it wrong and thinks someone is dying or dead but then his phone is what dies so he gets home as fast as he can thinking all the worst scenarios just to find luciano jumping on him with a smile for ear to ear. It’s such a shock he takes a while to react but when he does you have two idiots so happy they can’t function.

It’s another girl, she has big brown eyes like her sister and it’s a few months old.

They quickly reassemble the crib and paint the second room to get everything ready in time to take her home, and the next week or so it’s nothing but all the family visiting to meet their new baby.

Since they managed to adopt, they decided to stop trying to have another kid. Luciano goes back to the doctor do some routine exams so that he can go back to testosterone and the doctor just awkwardly explains that, well, that won’t be exactly possible. Not for the next eight months, at least.

He’s quite shocked at that, and takes him a while to tell martin. They just got a new baby and do they even have space to raise three kids? Eventually it just escapes from him and martin is shocked as well, but ultimately both of them are just worried about their place being too small, and once they relax about that they can’t shut up about having another baby on the way to anyone.

Still, it’s not easy to manage, martin is just as worried as he was with their eldest, except that this time he’s simultaneously worried about their new baby and about Luci’s pregnancy. Poor dude needs a break asap. So he’s trying to do most of the work of caring for a little baby to spare luciano from the stress, while also taking care of him as well as he did the other time.

Luci is more chill about being pregnant, he’s done this before, he’s fine. He’s even a little too chill about it, as shown in the art, he still wants to carry their kid on his shoulder and having a few sips of martin’s beer is no big deal and honestly he’s fine, he can help with the baby, and Tincho just needs to relax and it will all be fine.

Again, poor tincho needs a break.

Some things don’t change though. Them being super proud daddies who do nothing but take pictures of their kids and Luci’s belly every chance they get. And they’re really happy and excited to have their house full and this big family.

Just a good cute family AU where nothing bad ever happens thank you very much.  Yet it took me almost 2k words to say it. I have no self control and I’m very sorry. However, if anyone has their own hcs to add about this whole au, I will be more than happy to hear and talk about this AU even more than I’ve already done.

Well that’s tragic

Lol this is perhaps the crackiest thing I’ve ever written but it’s distracting me from the never ending anxiety this election is causing so WHATEVER. Also this cannot possibly be quantified as a drabble it is firmly a one shot I’M SORRY it got away from me as always. Once again insta post is available on ao3; enjoy! 

18. Well, that’s tragic. 

“You ready to go?” 

Jon looks up from his nearly-packed duffle bag just as Dany reenters the room, wet hair down her back and wrapped in a towel. “Almost,” he says, considering whether or not he can fit one more pullover in there. Although, well— does he really need it, if Dany won’t be there to steal the one he usually brings? 

“When do you leave again? An hour or so?” Jon nods, Dany rifling through her own suitcase as she looks for clothes. 

“That’s if Bran and Rickon have actually managed to pack, of course,” he says. Dany laughs, pulling a hair brush through her long waves. Robb had had the idea a few months back for them to reinstate their brother-camping-trip this summer when they all went back to Winterfell, like they used to back when they were younger and Ned would take them. Jon’s excited, but he also can’t help the feeling that the weekend can only end in disaster. 

“You sure you’re going to be alright?” Jon asks, frowning at her. “I still feel bad, leavin’ you here all alone with my aunt this weekend.” 

Dany rolls her eyes. “Please. I have Sansa and Arya and Talisa; I’ll be fine. And you know Catelyn will still be too distracted by Ben to hate me too much.” 

Jon chuckles. “Aye, that’s true, I suppose.” He exhales, surveying the bag in front of him as Dany unwraps the towel around her to change. “Okay, I think I’m good—” 

His sentence is cut off by the door banging open, Rickon standing there. “Jon, d’you have a—” he says, before his words die in his mouth, anything else he was about to say drowned out by the sound of Dany’s shocked yelp. 

Jon whirls around, suddenly realizing that his little brother is staring, slack jawed, at his naked girlfriend. 

“Rickon, what the fuck!” Jon says, his brother grabbing the door handle and yanking it closed again, leaving him and Dany alone. She’s scrambling for her towel, hastily wrapping it around herself as she blinks in confusion. 

“Hold on,” Jon mutters, making sure Dany is covered again before opening the door, following the quickly retreating footsteps of his brother. “Rickon, get back here!” 

“Help!” Rickon yelps, Jon gaining on him as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, tearing around the corner. “Robb, help me!” 

“What in seven hells is happenin’?” Robb says as Jon bursts into the kitchen after Rickon, their youngest brother cowering behind Robb as he looks up from the cooler he was packing in bewildered confusion. “Rickon, knock it off, it’s too early in the morning for this.” 

“You’re just saying that because you have an eight month old and you never sleep anymore,” Bran reasons, hauling dog food from the cupboard to the island. Robb glares at him, before his eyes turn back to their cowering brother. 

“Jon’s going to kill me!” Rickon declares. “He’s going to drag me off into the woods and leave my body for the bears!” 

“What bears, you idiot?” Bran snickers. Robb shakes his head, looking even more confused. 

“Have you ever heard of knocking?” Jon demands, eyes narrowing at Rickon. “What the fuck is wrong with you, burstin’ into people’s rooms at seven in the morning?” 

“I couldn’t find my hiking socks!” Rickon wails. “And I know you have loads from Tyrell so I wanted some! I didn’t know Dany was going to be fucking naked!” 

Understanding dawns on Robb’s face at the same time that Bran bursts into laughter, doubling over. “So, let me just make sure I understand here,” Robb says, shaking his head. “You burst into Jon’s room, to which the door was closed, and saw his girlfriend naked,” Robb says. “Is that it?” 

Rickon nods, still refusing to meet Jon’s eyes. His cheeks are still red as Sansa’s hair, gaze darting nervously around the room. 

“Well, that’s tragic,” Robb says. “It’s been nice knowin’ you, Rickon. Maybe you should use the time before Jon murders you to learn how to fuckin’ knock on a door.” 

“How was I supposed to know she’d be changing?!” Rickon yelps. 

“You would have if you’d asked before comin’ in!” Jon huffs. “What the bloody hell were you thinkin’?” 

“Hey,” Dany says, appearing behind them— mercifully, fully dressed this time, with Jon’s bag slung over her shoulder. “What’s going on?” 

“Daenerys, I’m so sorry!” Rickon says, eyes wide, cheeks growing even redder. He’s still half hidden behind Robb, running a hand through his hair agitatedly. It makes his mop of curls even messier. “I didn’t know—” 

“Mm, but you would have if you knocked,” she responds primly. Rickon gulps, but Jon can see that glimmer of light in her eyes that tells him she’s not really mad. 

“Alright, enough,” Robb says. “We have to get on the road. Rickon, go get everyone’s things in the car. Try not to catch anyone without their clothes on in the process.” 

He scrambles out of the kitchen, cheeks still burning furiously, Bran laughing as he follows behind with the dogs’ things. “Hey,” Jon murmurs, catching Dany by the waist. “Gods, I’m sorry about him. You alright?” 

“Of course,” she says, trying to fight back a smile and failing. “Honestly, I think Rickon’s the one more emotionally scarred. You should have seen his face when he realized you realized what was happening.” 

“Fuckin’ idiot,” Jon grumbles, but he leans down to kiss Dany goodbye anyways. Three days without her— is it bad he already wishes this weekend was over? 

“Have fun on your trip,” Dany whispers. “And don’t actually murder your brother.” 

“No promises,” Jon teases. “I love you.” 

“Love you too,” she says, giving him one last kiss, a squeeze of the hand, before she hands over his duffle. “See you on Tuesday.” 

The cars are mostly packed when Jon gets out to the drive, all four of the dogs circling them and barking their heads off as they finish loading the rest of their things into the car. “Alright,” Robb says, nodding. “I think we’re ready to go. Who wants to ride with who—” 

“I’m with Robb!” Rickon says, practically leaping at the opportunity. “I call Robb!” 

“Rickon,” Jon says with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not really goin’ to murder you.” 

“That’s what you say!” Rickon exclaims. “And then next thing you know the police are findin’ a body bag at the bottom of the river with my name on it!” 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Robb grumbles. “Can we just get the dogs in the car and go?” 

The drive is uneventful, with Bran next to him— Jon listens to his brother speak about all his classes, the two of them chatting amiably the whole way up. Jon almost forgets about the incident of this morning until they’re at the campsite, and Rickon still won’t make eye contact with him. The whole time they’re setting up camp, pitching tents, Robb getting a fire going as Bran watches the dogs race around, his youngest brother turns scarlet every time he catches sight of him, running in the other direction. 

“Rickon,” Jon finally says as they all make dinner, the dogs gathered together in a pigpile as they nap, tired out from the afternoon hike they took. “Could we please just move past this? The weekend’s going to be insufferable if not.” 

“How am I supposed to forget when you’re actively plannin’ to leave me in the woods for dead?” he demands. Jon sighs, scrubbing at his face with his hand. 

“I think the real issue here,” Bran teases, “is that Rickon doesn’t want to forget what he saw, and it’s makin’ it hard to look at you in exchange.” 

“Oh, does Rickon have a crush?” Robb teases, and their youngest brother’s cheeks turn even darker red as he’s left spluttering for words. “Tell us, was that the first time you ever saw a girl naked?” 

“Fuck you, Robb, of course not!” he retorts, arms flailing wildly. “And I don’t have a crush on Jon’s girlfriend, even if she is really hot!” He seems to catch himself a moment too late, eyes going wide with dread. “Fuck! I didn’t mean that!” 

“Mm, I think you did,” Bran says. Honestly, at this point, any aggravation Jon had had is pretty much gone— Dany is fine, which is what he really cares about, even if his brother has no fucking manners. He laughs, tipping his head back as Rickon looks like he’d rather die than be here any longer. 

“Quit while you’re ahead, brother,” Robb says, slapping Rickon’s shoulder. “Not that you’re really ahead now, of course.” 

“I didn’t mean it, Jon,” Rickon begs. “Please don’t drag me out to the woods and plot my death.” 

Jon laughs, ruffling his brother’s hair. “I’m not going to murder you,” he promises, and Rickon sighs, seeming to relax a little bit. “But if you ever forget to knock and barge into our room again, I’m not responsible for Dany’s actions.” 

Rickon nods, Robb cackling as he pokes the fire. “Trust me, she seems like the one you need to be more scared of anyways,” he says. Jon laughs, his youngest brother’s cheeks turning red again. 

“Aye,” Jon says with a nod. “She certainly is.”

Kiss me now that I’m older (or Jamie tries her best to run away from love and it finds her anyway)

@nikkismalls28, here’s my best attempt at trying to convert your prompt into a semi-coherent fic.

******************************************************************************************

Jamie has long decided she’s going to live, and die alone, when Dani Clayton, au pair extraordinaire, walks into her life and upturns that plan very nicely.

It’s not like she sets out to do that, to be fair. Not like Dani knows the sheer magnetism that dogs her footsteps, knows the force with which her bright, blue eyes demand attention. She isn’t affected by the same energy that permeates the air in every room she walks into. Dani Clayton is trouble, and like every girl in the world who is trouble, she has no clue.  

And Jamie, like any other sad sucker who is prone to falling in love with tiny, pretty girls with eyes of steel, takes one look at her and decides to stay the fuck away.

(And thus begins the story of the biggest failure in history, ever)

She tries. Tries not to let her eyes linger on Dani, not even when she asks her if she’d seen a man on the parapet, although it’s hard. Trouble or not, Dani Clayton is the kind of girl who was born to draw attention. But she keeps on laughing with Hannah and teasing Owen about going after the new au pair.

(Here’s the thing about what you want. It’s easier to deal with never having it if you know it was never yours to have)

But then she finds Dani having a panic attack behind the statue, and she can’t help herself. She stands there, staring at Dani’s back, and tries her very best to make her smile.  

(And dear God, when that girl smiles in her direction, it’s like there’s a light shining right on her head, a choir playing in the background, flowers falling and gently landing on top of her. Jamie tries to blink it away. It doesn’t work)

One conversation turns to a second one on the couch, and this time Jamie has no excuses. She sits on the couch, Dani at her side, and can’t help the way her eyes stay on Dani, can’t help wanting to talk to her more and more, can’t help thinking What are you doing to me. She wants to stay up the whole night just talking to this strange woman with so much depth hidden in her eyes. Jamie feels weak, feels way out of her depth. This wasn’t the plan; she tells herself every five minutes.  

And then they kiss, and all plans flip upside down.

*****

Jamie remembers love as a distant language that has never quite made sense to her.

It never ends well.

For every gentle hair ruffle her mother left on her head, there’s another imprint of her footstep walking away; for all the meager memories she has of her brothers, there’s one that stands out the most – the day they came to take them away and put her younger brother in a home. For every kiss she’s received, there’s an indelible mark on her chest as a reminder of the loss that is, inevitably, to come.

At this point in her life, Jamie has forgotten so many pieces of herself behind with people, that she isn’t sure there’s enough left of her to piece together, isn’t sure if what’s still standing can even count as a whole person.

(And here’s another thing about what you want. It’s easier to deal with losing it if you refuse to go after it in the first place)

(Dani will leave. There are no two ways about it.)

(And if — when — she does, Jamie is certain there won’t be anything left of her anymore)

“It would be kinda boring, wouldn’t it?” Dani asks her, raw hope shining in her eyes, her words, and God, Jamie can’t do this.

“Dani,” she says, “I’m sorry, I — I can’t.”

There’s a dreadful attempt at a smile, that Jamie can’t bear to watch.  

“Okay,” Dani says, and when Flora wanders out, an entirely different kind of hell begins.

*****

Here’s something about love Jamie’s discovered since she’s met Dani: you really, really can’t help it at all.

She says no, but she can’t stay away. Says no, but her eyes still seek out Dani every time they’re in a room together, still feel an odd sense of euphoria and relief whenever she’s in her line of sight, as if a gentle hand is tapping on her heart, letting it know it’ll be alright. They’re still talking, and Jamie can’t help the way her hands sometimes reach out for Dani, and she has to consciously ball them up into little lovestruck fists.

“I’m gonna go,” she tells Dani, reluctantly, after Flora’s been put to bed.  

“Oh,” Dani replies, her eyes wide, her voice soft. “You could.... you could stay, you know? It’s late.”

And Jesus, Jamie wants to. She wants to step forward and hold Dani’s hand, wants to trace her face with her fingertips, wants to forget her stupid rules and kiss her.

(Plus, there’s this delicate sense of foreboding just hanging in the house. Every room at Bly Manor is drenched in it. Jamie wonders if she should stay anyway, but decides against it. If she does, she will do something stupid, and there’s no way she’s risking playing around with Dani’s feelings like that.)

“Goodnight,” she says, instead, the words hanging in the air between them. I don’t want to go. Ask me to stay one more time. Just one more time, and I will. I’ll never leave.

“Goodnight,” Dani replies.  

The night has just begun.

*****

Jamie’s running long before she even knows what’s wrong.  

Dani’s saying something that sounds like itsusitsusitsusitsus over and over again, and she knows she should worry about what of it means, but now that both Dani and Flora are in her arm, all she can do is tip her forehead against Dani’s and hold them as tight as she possibly can. You’re here, you’re okay, she says in response to Dani saying It’s you It’s me It’s us, not knowing which one of them sound more frantic. Dani, Dani, Dani, she says, the water on Dani’s face masking their panicked tears.

You’re here. You’re okay.

(I’ve got you. I’m never letting go)

And then they’re torn apart again, Jamie with Owen, and Dani back up to the house to take care of the children. She finds herself holding on a bit longer to Dani’s hand when they’re separating, trying her best not to ask her to come with her. She knows it’s selfish, but unless her greedy eyes see Dani safe and sound in front of her, she’ll have trouble believing they’re alright.

“I’ll meet you back at the house,” Dani says, a hand on Jamie’s cheek, eyes glancing once at Owen, who’s barely holding himself together.

“Dani.”

“I know,” she says. “I’ll be alright.”

“Sure?” Jamie asks, and feels like a little kid in need of constant reassurance. Do you promise you’ll still be here? Do you promise you’ll be okay?

Dani nods.

*****

It’s a long, long time after that goodbye that they get to be alone.

In all honesty, it’s probably hours, but it feels like eons. Making sure Owen eats, that Hannah’s body is laid to rest, and there is no evidence of the horror left behind is a long and arduous task, and Jamie does it all, completely numb. It’s been a long time since she’s cooked for anyone but herself, but she whips them up something, just so they can all go to sleep.

The door to Dani’s room is closed. Jamie stands there for an embarrassingly long time. Dani could be asleep. She could be resting. She could want to be alone.

There’s another part of her that thinks – Dani could be panicking. She could be huddling on the floor, trying, and failing to gather her breath.

Jamie takes a deep breath, then another, then another until she realizes she’s this close to panic herself. There’s an awful rope making its way up her insides, tightening around her chest, contracting until she can hear her heartbeat in her ears. Her hands can’t, won’t stop shaking, her legs feel like they’ll give way any second. She blinks furiously, trying to regain some feeling, trying to make sense of whatever it is that’s turning her lightheaded.

Dani, she thinks. I need to know Dani’s okay. And then she knocks.

(Or more accurately, her hand falls upon the door like a dying man’s last wish.)

Dani opens the door immediately, which would be something she should ideally think about except seeing her drives all thought out of her head.

“Jamie!” Dani’s face is twisted in concern. “Jamie, what’s wrong?”

Jamie breathes, and falls into her arms.

*****

Holding Dani nudges the air back into her lungs.

There’s nothing she’s ever felt like it. Dani in her arms is both ecstasy and relief. Holding the girl she loves is a drug all its own. It’s intoxicating. Addictive. She isn’t sure she can ever let go. She isn’t sure she ever wants to.

And there’s a part of her that dimly registers the material feel of everything around her, the soft fabric on Dani’s back, the way her hair smells (like fruit, like berries, like what she imagines heaven to be like), the sensation of Dani’s own hands around her shoulders. Dani, she says, through a shuddering sob, as her hands move on her back, making sure she’s okay. Dani, she says, as she presses kiss after kiss onto her shoulder, her neck, her hair. Dani, Dani, Dani.

“Jamie,” Dani draws back, after a long time, frowning at her. Jamie thinks, like she’s in a fog, that she could listen to her talk forever. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“What — what are you—”

“You’ve been saying you’re sorry for the past minute.”

“I,” she flounders. “It’s probably because I am.”

“Why?”

She draws back, the scoff escaping before she can help it. “Why? Because I fucking left! I should’ve been here! You asked me to stay. I could feel something was wrong, and I fucking should’ve—”

“—Jamie. Stop.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Dani tells her, pulling her back in even as Jamie shakes her head. “No. No. You listen, okay? You didn’t know what was gonna happen. Neither did I. I mean, who would’ve fucking guessed—”

“It’s not just that,” Jamie admits. “Everything I did. Everything, even with us and I was so stupid—”

Dani puts a finger on her lips, then very quickly rises on her tiptoes to press a kiss to her forehead. It shuts her up nicely.

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does. I—”

“I know, darling,” Dani reassures her, her hands now on either side of her face, thumbs wiping away tears Jamie hadn’t even known existed.

“I tried to stay away, you know?”

“I know you did,” Dani just looks fond.  

“Dani,” Jamie says her name like it’s a benediction. It feels purer than one. “I don’t want to stay away anymore.”

“I think we’re pretty shit at staying away from each other, to be very honest,” Dani’s smile is wry, and makes Jamie’s stomach fall, and settle softly, somewhere near her toes. “You wanna stay today? And tonight?”

Ask me to stay forever, and I will.  

(Here’s one final thing Jamie stumbles across when she finally stops running from love: here is all the pain in the world wrapped up in the possibility of one person, all your broken parts, pieced together handed over to them in the hope that somehow, by some miracle, they won’t drop it. Jamie doesn’t care, as long as she gets to spend all of it on Dani, consequences be damned)  

“One day at a time,” she says, instead, and kisses Dani. All of her plans are up in the air. She kind of doesn’t give a damn.  

Can I request 42 with Sternclay? I love the way you write everyone it’s adorable ((42. i found a cat shivering in the snow and you’re the cutest vet i’ve ever seen))

The snow morphs into sleet as Stern hurries down the street, the wind off the lake biting his neck. According to the directions he glanced at, the building he needs should be on this block.

“Mew” Says his pocket. 

“It’s alright, we’ll get you warmed up soon.”

The sign on the door of West Elm Veterinary declares they’re open until six. Relief shakes some of the damp from his shoulders, though the wind deposits another round before he manages to get inside. 

“Hello, how can I help you?” The young, blonde woman behind the counter looks him over, “I'm gonna guess this is an emergency?”

“In a way, yes. I, I found a kitten on my way home and it seems to be in very bad shape. I’m so sorry I don’t have an appointment, but this was the vet closest to home.”

“That’s okay, we don’t have any remaining appointments today, and I feel safe saying we’d rather you bring someone in than we get to go home a bit early. Let me go grab Dr. Cobb.”

“Thank you so much.” He does his best to smile through his exhaustion and cold as she ducks into a back room. The office is small, and he sees on two vets listed: Dr. Cobb and Dr. Newton. But it’s warm and clean, walls decorated with pet medicine advertisements and PSAs, two shelves on the far wall holding special diet pet foods. 

The wall behind the reception desk is lined with thank you cards and photos, and as Stern peers at them his pocket meows once again, the noise weaker than before. 

“Shhh” he pulls his jacket closer, hoping to pass on more body warmth, “it’s alright, the vet will be here soon.”

“He will indeed.” 

Stern looks at the now-open exam room door. Leaning against it is one of the most handsome men he’s ever seen. He’s tall, looks like he could bench press Stern, with a short-clipped, coppery beard and shaggy dark hair that he’s gathered into a bun. The warm brown eyes and the reassuring smile are just the icing on the beefcake.

“Kitten?”

“Excuse me?” Sterns voice creeps up. No one’s called him that in years.

“You’re the one who brought in the kitten, right?” Dr.Cobb repeats, patient as can be. 

“Oh, yes. She’s in my jacket. I didn’t have anywhere else to keep her.”

“Good call. Let’s bring her in here and have a look.” 

Stern follows him into the exam room, and gingerly lifts the kitten from his pocket. She looks impossibly scraggly in the bright light. Her eyes are crusted over and she shivers in Sterns hands. 

Dr.Cobb holds out his palms, and they’re large enough that the kitten nearly fits in one of them. 

“Hey, little one.” He sets her down on the metallic table, begins checking her vitals, “what happened to you, huh?” 

God, his voice is deep and comforting and if it’s affecting the feline the way it’s affecting Stern, the cat will be better in no time. 

“Where was she when you found her?”

“Behind a dumpster at the EL station. I looked to see if there was a mother nearby, or other kittens, but I couldn’t find them. And honestly, based on how thin and dirty she looked I assumed she’d been on her own a bit.”

“Think you’re probably right. She’s malnourished for sure, and dehydrated, if you can believe it given how wet it’s been. Got an eye infection, hopefully that’s all the illness she’s dealing with.” The vet rubs the kittens forehead and she lets out an unsteady “mewp.”

“We’ll keep her overnight, get some fluids in her, and go from there. Do you want us to contact you with an update?” 

“Yes please.” Stern rattles of his name and phone number and Dr.Cobb jots them down.

“Thanks, hopefully we have good news tomorrow. Dani can help you wrap up out front.”

Just as Stern finishes paying (in spite of Dani saying they have a pool of funds for caring for strays. After all, what good is his job if he can’t use the money to care for helpless animals), a tender baritone voice calls out, “Joseph, hold on a sec.” 

He turns, finds the vet holding out a an umbrella and a travel mug smelling faintly of mint.

“For the road.” He smiles.

“Thank you, uh...”

“Barclay.” The vet supplies.

Stern takes the offered items, “Thank you, Barclay. I’ll keep an ear out for the updates.”

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

His phone rings at lunch, as he’s eating a reheated sandwich.

“Stern.”

“Hi Mr. Stern, this is Dani at West Elm Vet. I’ve got some good news about the kitten. She’s stable and eating, and we got fluids into her. Her eyes are still a little wonky, but she’s already getting some energy back.”

“That’s wonderful. Uh, would it be alright if I came by to see her this evening?”

He hears the smile on the other end, “Of course.”

When arrives at the vet, he brings the washed travel mug, the umbrella, and a small box of gourmet truffles.

“Here to see the kitten.” 

Barclay grins at him across the counter. 

“Yes. And I wanted to return these. The truffles are a thank you to you all for your help.” 

“Ooh, love their stuff.” Barclay eyes the chocolate box. 

“Barclay I swear if you eat it all before I get any-” Dani appears from a back room, returning to her post at the computer. 

“I know, I know, you’ll let that one chihuahua loose in my office.” Barclay hands her the box, gestures for Stern to follow him. They head down a small hallway to a little boarding space for cats. The kitten, clean and and snoozing in the warmth, looks like a sandy brown, tiny tumbleweed.

“I hadn’t realized how big her paws are.” Stern pets the glass softly,not wanting to wake the feline. 

“She might grow into them, or they might stay big compared to her. I’m a little worried about her eyes; if that infection doesn’t clear up, she could lose one, maybe both.”

“Oh dear.” Stern murmurs, tracing an ear through the glass, “that hardly seems fair, does it? It’s not your fault, little cat. If I’d found you sooner maybe…” He sighs.

“Hey, none of that.” A warm hand rests on his shoulder, “she’s probably alive right now because of you. And she’s a tough little thing, she’ll manage.”

Without thinking, Stern rests his hand atop Barclays, “thank you.” 

The hand squeezes his quickly, and then it’s gone.

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

Stern’s routine changes over the next weeks. Once, and usually twice, per week he visits the vet to check on the kitten and her caretakers. He starts bringing a late afternoon pick-me up for Dani from the local coffee shop, and whatever gourmet candy or snack he thinks Barclay might like.  If it’s slow, Barclay will make him tea and the two of them will chat while he fusses over the kitten. She grows stronger, looks less like she’s been run through a washing machine, but her infection claims her right eye. 

Stern still thinks she’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

Well, second cutest. But it’s hard for anyone or anything to compete with Barclay. Especially when he laughs or sends a wink Sterns way. 

Stern starts bringing toys for the kitten, catnip fish for her to hold between her large paws, jingly plastic spheres to help her practice hunting and chasing with one eye. When she’s finally old enough and well enough to be put up for adoption, Stern helps take the photos to go up on the Humane Society page. 

Three days later, he’s ready to take a chance. And as luck would have it, Barclay is at the front desk alone when he walks in.

“Hey, Joseph.”

“Hello. I’m here to check on my little friend. And, ah, to ask if you would like to go to dinner with me tomorrow.”

Barclay stands, starts walking around the counter with a funny smile, “you want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Bad.” 

“She got adopted this morning, so that stuffed hedgehog in your coat might not get much use.”

“Oh that’s, that’s wonderful!” He means it, he really does. He just wishes he could have scritched her ears one more time.

“But the good news” Barclay rests one on his shoulder while the other brushes a strand of hair back into place, “is that you and I have a date on Friday.” 

Stern beams, even as Dani’s voice comes from the back room, “I TOLD you he was into you!”

Dinner the next night is perfect. Stern’s never seen Barclay in anything other than work clothes, and nearly walks into a pole when he catches the first glimpse of the other man waiting at the crosswalk in his jacket and slacks. 

They talk easily, Barclays rumbling laugh filling the plush restaurant booth and sending sparks up Sterns fingers. To his surprise, Barclay asks if he’d like to come back to his place for “coffee”. He eagerly accepts, even if the meal and the company has him feeling sluggish and dreamy. 

“So” Barclay flips on the light, revealing a modest apartment that looks like a north woods cabin was dumped inside it, “this is my place. Figure we can start out with coffee on the couch and then” he blushes for the first time that night, “see how things go. But first, let me introduce you to my roommate.”

“Roommate?” 

“Mew!”

Stern makes a somewhat higher than normal shriek of delight as a familiar, one-eyed ball of fluff barrels into his legs, purring happily as he scoops her up and cuddles her. 

“I was due to adopt one of the strays eventually. Bigfoot here turned out to be the one.” He bats at the cats still-oversized paws,  scratches the her head as he nuzzles the top of Sterns hair.

“It wasn’t a ploy to get me to come over?” Stern teases. 

Barclay chuckles, “That did cross my mind. Call it a bonus piece of good luck.”

Stern ends his night wonderfully. He spends the first hour happily and handsily making out with Barclay on the couch while Bigfoot gnaws and chases her new stuffed hedgehog. And then he and Barclay fall asleep, cuddled up beneath a heavy knit blanket, with Bigfoot nestled between them. 

I don’t even know why I keep reading anti Dany metas. I keep expecting that maybe they’ll have some reasonable argument, but they never fail to surprise me in how stupid they are, and how much they distort things. There’s this new meta that’s supposed to be some deep analysis of ADWD, and of how Dany is a bad queen. They keep harping on how Dany is bad because she thinks of “floppy ears” and because she dislikes the Meereenese. And this is such a ridiculous thing to say. This has no bearing in whether Dany is a good ruler or not. A ruler doesn’t have to like all their subjects to be a good ruler. In any government, you will always have people with different ideologies, and you are not obligated to like your political enemies. The people Dany dislikes are the Meereeense slavers. Those are the Meereenese that she hates, not the Meereenese freedmen or poor people. And again, this doesn’t make Dany “a bad ruler”. It doesn’t mean that Dany isn’t supposed to be a queen. The person also says that Dany hates Meereenese culture even when it’s not related to things that are oppressive, but this isn’t true. The culture that Dany hates is the culture of the slaver class, not of her freedmen. And again, whether Dany hates that culture or not doesn’t make her a bad ruler. She can hate the Meereenese slavers while still ruling and ruling well. Oh, and the meta also says that Dany “makes” people shave, but this isn’t true at all. The Shavepate choose to shave their heads on their own will to symbolize their alliance with the new regime, for their own personal reasons:

"My queen," growled Skahaz mo Kandaq, of the shaven head. Ghiscari hair was dense and wiry; it had long been the fashion for the men of the Slaver Cities to tease it into horns and spikes and wings. By shaving, Skahaz had put old Meereen behind him to accept the new, and his kin had done the same after his example. Others followed, though whether from fear, fashion, or ambition, Dany could not say; shavepates, they were called. Skahaz was the Shavepate … and the vilest of traitors to the Sons of the Harpy and their ilk. - Daenerys I ADWD

Daenerys doesn’t “make” people shave, or else everybody in Meereen would hve shaved, which is not the case.

Then they proceed to take many decisions of Dany that were very much reasonable, and try to distort it into something bad. Dany grants a rich woman her clothes and jewels back but not her house. And she does this because there were already freedmen living in the house. First, Dany decreed a pardon for everything that happened during the sack (which is necessary to keep peace in Meereen), so it’s not like she needed to give the woman anything. Dany was still conciliatory in giving the woman back her jewels and clothes. The woman was not homeless: she was living with her brother. But the freedwomen in her house would be homeless if Dany decided to give her house back. Dany’s decision was probably the best and most conciliatory decision she could make, but of course this anti would harp on why it’s horrible for a rich woman to lose her house. Funny how antis never worry about the freedwomen that would be homeless if Dany decided in favor of the rich woman.

Then they talk about Dany not punishing the crimes that happened during the sack, and completely ignore the fact that decreeing a pardon was necessary to keep peace in the city. If Dany had decided to punish the former slaves for rising against their masters, and to punish former slavers for their crimes against the freedmen, she would have war within Meereen, and I’m pretty sure antis would be harping about what a stupid ruler Dany is and how she is incapable of being conciliatory. But here, Dany shows herself to be conciliatory and makes a very reasonable decision that was probably the best decision she could make, and antis go talking about what a bad ruler she is.

Then Dany makes the decision that people will have to go to the temple and swear a sacred oath to get the money for their lost animals (that Drogo ate). Which is a very intelligent decision. Dany is not wrong in saying that some people will lie about Drogon burning their animais and bring burned bones to her that they burned themselves, just to get her money. In fact, Dany keeps receiving claims that Drogon burned their animals even after Drogo left the city and Dany chained her dragons:

Dany did not want to talk about the dragons. Farmers still came to her court with burned bones, complaining of missing sheep, though Drogon had not returned to the city. - Daenerys IV ADWD

So Dany is absolutely correct in saying that some people are deceiving her. Making people swear a sacred oath is smart, especially considering that the Shavepate’s suggestion was much more brutal (to whip everyone), and Dany refused his suggestion. But look at what this anti says about Dany because of this:

The pronouncement was received in sullen silence. You would think they might be happier, Dany thought. They have what they came for. Is there no way to please these people?

This quote says a lot about Daenerys. In her mind, the people should be happy because she’s willing to give them back what they lost, failing to consider how much trouble it would be for them to gather up the bones of their dead animals, bring them to Dany’s pyramid, and wait all day for just the chance to be heard by her. Dany thinks many of them lie about Drogon to try and get money or sheep, and thinks they should just be happy she’s giving them anything at all.

Like, wow. How is it such trouble to bring the bones as proof? Isn’t that what all the shepherds were already doing? And actually, this anti is incorrect, because they would not need to speak directly to Dany, they would just have to swear an oath at the temple. And the idea that Dany thinks “people should just be happy she’s giving them anything at all” is so false. This is definitely not what Dany thinks:

“No, Magnificence.” Reznak bowed. “Shall I send these rascals away, or will you want them scourged?”

Daenerys shifted on the bench. “No man should ever fear to come to me.” Some claims were false, she did not doubt, but more were genuine. Her dragons had grown too large to be content with rats and cats and dogs. The more they eat, the larger they will grow, Ser Barristan had warned her, and the larger they grow, the more they’ll eat. Drogon especially ranged far afield and could easily devour a sheep a day. “Pay them for the value of their animals,” she told Reznak, “but henceforth claimants must present themselves at the Temple of the Graces and swear a holy oath before the gods of Ghis.” – Daenerys I ADWD

I mean, what they say about Dany is a freaking lie. Dany is willing to help people, she never thinks “they should be happy I’m giving them anything at all”, what she actually thinks is “some claims were false, she did not doubt, but more were genuine”. But hey, antis lying through their teeth about Dany is nothing new. Besides, going back to the decision, how in hell is Dany unreasonable for this? This “meta” was supposed to prove that Dany is a bad ruler, but I think these decisions (the pardon, being conciliatory and not leaving freedwomen homeless, and asking people to swear an oath to avoid people cheating her) all prove that Dany is actually a very good ruler.

The anti also talks about how Dany is hypocritical for chastising a man for forgetting the name of his slave, but for also forgetting Hazzea’s name. But this is such a false equivalence. The man forgot the name of a woman who worked for him for years, showing that he never cared to even learn the name of his slaves. Dany remembered Hazzea’s name even though she only heard it once, and she never knew the girl, and only forgot Hazzea’s name when she was sick and hallucinating in the Dothraki sea. How the hell are these two things comparable? And Dany just told the man to buy a new loom for the woman, it’s not like she was whipping him through the streets, but the way antis talk, a slave being compensated for her years of service with a loom is the most heinous thing. Like, wow, Dany is so evil and such a bad ruler for this, right? *sarcasm*

Oh, they also say Dany is a bad and immature ruler because she throws fruits at Xaro. Even though Xaro is already someone she knows, and Dany doesn’t do this with anyone else. Apparently, things like this (or hanging her feet and not sitting in a queenly position) make Dany a “bad ruler”, despite the fact that this has little bearing in whether Dany is a good ruler or not (I mean, I think ending slavery and feeding her people are more important things than sitting correctly, but hey, since when Dany antis are reasonable or logical?), and in fact, Dany is usually very courteous:

In the afternoon a sculptor came, proposing to replace the head of the great bronze harpy in the Plaza of Purification with one cast in Dany’s image. She denied him with as much courtesy as she could muster. A pike of unprecedented size had been caught in the Skahazadhan, and the fisherman wished to give it to the queen. She admired the fish extravagantly, rewarded the fisherman with a purse of silver, and sent the pike to her kitchens. A coppersmith had fashioned her a suit of burnished rings to wear to war. She accepted it with fulsome thanks; it was lovely to behold, and all that burnished copper would flash prettily in the sun, though if actual battle threatened, she would sooner be clad in steel. Even a young girl who knew nothing of the ways of war knew that. – Daenerys I ADWD

They also talk about how Dany is bad for rejecting the peace, completely ignoring all the bad things that peace would bring, and how it benefited the slavers and was bad for the slaves. Oh, and apparently Dany is bad for wanting to forbid the fighting pits, saying that Dany should make regulations to stop people from being forced into the pits as if that was possible, even though the text shows us that it’s very difficult to avoid the fact that some people will indeed be forced and it’s difficult to regulate that, and that poor people would end up in this place.

They also talk about Dany’s mistake in leaving Astapor in Yunkai, ignoring the fact that this is wrong, Dany’s mistake wasn’t simply that she left, but that she left Astapor with no army, and that she left the masters in power in Yunkai. And none of these things make Dany a bad ruler in Meereen. These were mistakes that Dany did in ASOS, not in ADWD, because Dany was very inexperient and didn’t have good advisors. But Dany learns from these mistakes. Saying Dany is a bad ruler because of this makes no sense, because this happened in the past, and Dany has learned and will no longer make the same mistakes (and in fact, she doesn’t do the same mistake in ADWD, she doesn’t leave Meereen unprotected). But Dany antis expect Dany to be a good ruler from the very beginning even though she never had any experience before. They expect her to have never made any mistakes.

Finally, they talk about the wineseller’s daughter, and say that “It is one thing to torture someone you only suspect of being involved in a crime, but it is even worse to torture girls just to get at their father“, which is not what happened at all. First, we don’t know if they were girls, the text never says this. Second, the wineseller’s daughters were suspects. They were arrested with their father and were the only ones in the shop whe the poisoning happened. Dany is not “torturing people that she knows are innocent”. Like, I don’t like Dany allowing torture either, but I hate how Dany antis always distort what actually happened (usually by saying that the wineseller’s daughters were just little children that Dany knew were innocent”, which is not true), and I also hate how Dany antis use double standards and completely forget that torture is normal in this world, and even Jon Snow practices it (he does it for other reasons, but he does it). And this antis also conveniently ignores that once Dany realizes the Shavepate is forcing people to confess, she actually forbids torture (she is the only character to forbid torture).

Anyway, sorry that this post is such a mess, guys, I know it’s very badly written and disorganized. I wrote in a hurry, and mostly because this meta I just read annoyed me. But I think the post really shows how Dany antis will really do anything to distort things, and turn even the things Dany does right into bad things. The only “bad thing” here is the torture, but this is also a double standard against Dany. Anyway, is Dany a good ruler? Yes, she is.

10 Things that would’ve Improved the Game of Thrones Final Season (For Me)

So it came to my attention that recently it was the First Anniversary of the Final Episode of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’. I was taken back to my memory of the BinGOT thing we had at work where we all made predictions of who lived, died and ‘won’ from the last ep (I was in 2nd or 3rd place). And since my mother has started binging it during quarantine I thought in the spirit of that environment I’d discuss a little what I would’ve changed in the final season.

Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 Below, if you haven’t watched it then you’re better off not reading this frankly, if you haven’t been spoiled already at least.

So for starters, the final episode is not the worst tv I’ve ever seen, it just was a sloppy final season in general that really didn’t satisfy the 2 years of hype waiting for it, it’s like with the How I Met Your Mother finale, but that annoyance being more than one episode. But without further ado here are 10 things I would’ve changed about the final season Note: Most will involve the finale. The first 2 episodes were great.

10 - Ten Episodes The Long Night was 1 episode, the LONG NIGHT. A Culmination of the army of living and dead confined into one episode. One of the main problems with the final season was that the pacing was a bit rushed, it made character progression seem unnatural and dropped long-built plot points like water through a sieve. With 10 episodes, which was not a big ask given that this was the usual number and the gravitas of it being the final season would easily allow it to be green lit. D&D immediately backed themselves into a corner by giving a limit they weren’t used to and too much content to put in.

9 - Bite of the Spider Varys’ death was an upsetting start of the penultimate episode, while I would’ve loved him to have survived start to end and potentially ended on top (because he’s never shown to be as cunning or dangerous as he is in the books) there was some sense in him dying. However, Varys was shown sending a letter before his arrest and that never came back up, the finale could’ve used this by revealing to the public Jon’s true heritage, which would’ve immediately undermined Dany’s claim and set up a better conflict. Also we never knew what the voice in the flames said to him...

8 - A More Fitting Long Night While everyone probably popped hard for Arya killing the Night King, myself included, the nature of it was rather abrupt. I don’t think anyone can buy that she sneaked past that entire army. I do feel like the Night King was just a MacGuffin for the Long Night, given that he did so little in the actual fight. This is where a multi-part Long Night would’ve been key as well, going from the Night King being immune to Dragonfire to dying a bit later was not a good pace, and we lacked any conflict with Jon like we teased twice, Arya probably wasn’t the most poetic person to kill him either but GoT seldom did poetic deaths (Joffrey, Cersei, Euron). While the Long Night had exemplary deaths like Theon, Lyanna, Jorah and Beric, the Night King fell among the ranks of Melisandre and Edd in terms of meh deaths. The Long Night should’ve been a bigger bloodbath than it was, half the Dothraki somehow survived remember, we didn’t get to see Ghost fight at all either, no giant spiders, a lot of the tension was lost with the way some fight scenes were filmed; it was too easy to read between the lines and not enough characters had any true ‘oh god this person could die’ scenes.

7 - Resolution for the Characters we didn’t See and Plots unresolved With so much funding and finality in the show, there felt like there could’ve been more stuff that could’ve been resolved; what was the Quaith’s prophecy about? What really happened with the Doom of Valyria? Why does Dragonglass and Valyrian steel kill White Walkers? What is Daario doing after Dany died? Were the Faceless Men really that okay with letting Arya wander around knowing their skillset? Nobody hired them to help in the war either. What happened to the remnants of that warlock dude who stole the baby dragons, they sent one scorpion and that’s it, what happens with the Little Birds now that they’re leaderless? Who was Azor Ahai? What were the spirals about? There are a lot of questions the show kinda just, ignored. 

6 - The Mad Queen So, Dany going from ‘I’ll stop if they surrender’ to ‘Burn them fucking all’ was abrupt for many, the majority of fans were not ready or willing to accept turning on their Kaleesi in just one episode. While I could see the conclusion coming from being jumped, losing another ‘child’ and her closest friend as well as her new boyfriend being her nephew and a legitimate threat to her legitimacy despite already pledging fealty, Dany’s descent could’ve used more time, and less naivety.  While the death of the dragon was a huge shock, the idiocy fell on Dany in thinking that Cersei would play fair and wouldn’t try to occupy Dragonstone while she abandoned it. There also fell inconsistency when the same fleet and rows of Scorpion crossbows suddenly got Stormtrooper aim during ‘The Bells’. Euron is a renowned sailor, he ruined a Dornish fleet in a previous season, he may be an annoying bastard but you have to treat his naval tactics with a bit more respect - and make Dany less stupid with Cersei doing Cersei things. A lot of people definitely needed more time in buying the idea that Dany had lost her cool and that she blamed all of Westeros to justify burning everyone unashamedly.

5 - Proper Redemption We all know who we’re talking about. Jaime, Jaime, Jaime. In the end he just proved Olenna’s point didn’t he? And his turn away from redemption was only to serve as an example point for Tyrion to use to convince Jon to kill Dany. Jaime didn’t have to live, but he didn’t have to die rushing to Cersei’s rescue, or even due to Euron stabbing him. If anything Jaime should’ve died with some Honour, to be the inverse of Ned as he was presented in Season 1.

4 - My Lady does not have to mean M’Lady This is probably the most selfish ones of my 10 but as a shipper at my very heart and soul I wanted one, at least one, ship to survive this entire turmoil and Gendry and Arya were that couple. We almost had it as well, but then for some mad reason D&D decided that Gendry, despite literally saying that “none of it will be worthwhile if you’re not with me”, stayed in Storm’s End. Arya’s character endgame was right in her venturing off not being bound by the fact that she’s a noble, but Gendry spent a lot of time not caring that he was of Kingsblood to basically being his Father’s son. He’ll rule Storm’s End, marry some woman to have kids, but he’ll still have fallen into the same pit as King Robert did. It would’ve been much more satisfying and hopeful if Gendry abandoned the titles and land he never wanted or needed to accompany someone he loves and who loves him back on an adventure into the unknown. She’s not a ‘lady’ if she’s only marrying a blacksmith and love is the death of duty.

3 - Sansa is NOT Smart (and gets what she actually deserves) Right. So I really, really didn’t like Sansa. Like, I get it, she got held hostage by the Lannisters, watched her father get beheaded, got accused of murder, learned that her brother and mother died, watched the guy who fancied her mother and kissed her kill her aunt and then got effectively sold to an abuser in an arranged marriage. But Sansa is not the smartest player in the game, it was annoying that they tried to portray her as one, she had one idea that anyone could’ve told you ‘don’t be stupid against Ramsay Bolton’. She spent all of Season 8 mainly giving side eye like a petty bitch, completely trying to undermine Dany despite the two being very very similar (remember Dany was raped, sold off in an arranged marriage and watched family members get killed too) to the point where she was conspiring for Jon to usurp her. And in reality she took her ball and left, she was so pissy that the leaders didn’t pick her to be Queen of Westeros that she literally pointed out her own brother’s infertility, claimed that the North wouldn’t bow to a monarch, then declared herself Queen.  Hide the ‘Yas Queen’ goggles for a sec, this wasn’t empowering she was throwing her own brother under the bus because she wanted to be queen, and she learned far too much from Littlefinger and Cersei’s playbook to actually be a just one. The North is allowed to be an independent nation, but Sansa’s ‘victory’ was more earned by virtue of a lot of shit happened to her than her actually demonstrating qualities to be queen.

2 - Bran Stark can’t come to the Phone right now... While we’re on the subject of Stark children not being fit rulers, Bran. What a cockamamie decision that was. I was 100% behind the destruction of the Iron Throne, but the chorus of laughter with a democratic rule was a bit of a slap in the face. Of all the choices though, Bran had to be near the bottom, it felt completely unearned that he spent literal seasons disconnecting from the world even to the point where he told Meera and Sam that Bran Stark is no longer here anymore only for Bran Stark to magically resurface when a crown is in waiting. I think it defeats the whole Three Eyed Raven thing too, the guy isn’t really one for the people, which is the problem every other ruler before him failed at. If you can’t pick a just person to lead, then why not a council instead? Just using Bran was a poor and messy decision.

1 - THE MOTHERFUCKING VALONQUAR One of the few expectations across all of Game of Thrones was the wondering over whether Cersei was gonna get what’s coming to her, the Maggy the Frog prophecy was going along quite well up until the Valonquar bit, where the younger sibling that was going to choke the life out of her was: bricks. BRICKS! Of all the long-winded prophecy foreshadowings to drop this one was the worst, Cersei (and Jaime) died in underwhelming, thoughtless fashion, the lack of fanfare on killing off one of the best and most ‘love to hate’ villains in the show only cemented the fact that the finale was not able to live up to the hype. True, most of these are small changes, but it’s worth remembering that there was some good coming out of the final season and it was the lack of those little things and attention to detail that led to the season ending on an underwhelming note.

We did however get a good ton of memes out of it, and at work a long-winded discussion on who should get the ‘winner’ 5-points (compared to the 1 correct points) since we had technically agreed that the 5 points goes to “whoever correctly guesses who sits on the Iron Throne” XD I still can’t believe I was right in Drogon melting the throne though that was one in a million

Buns Buns Buns - Klaine AU

Inspired by this post

On AO3

At first, it felt like a good idea. After all, Blaine and Santana had met during their apprenticeships at Maison Kayser, and they had immediately felt a connection. 

A connection based on good-hearted (most of the time) teasing, sure, but also on queer kinship and boundless support.

On the night after their graduation, the pair got completely hammered on Cranberry Vodka.

Blaine laid down on the couch while Santana sat on the floor by his head.

“I loved working--meep--working with you,” Blaine hiccuped, tipping the bottle toward her. “You com-complete me.”

“Same,” Santana bawled out. “You’re the only one I’ve been partnered with who didn’t try to sex me up and who understands what I need without me saying iiiiiiiit!”

Blaine tentatively patted her head before sitting up like a Jack-in-The-Box. “I got it!”

“Got what? Chlamydia? I told you that Roger wasn’t worth it.”

“Wha--No! Not Chlamydia. And nothing happened with Roger.”

“Not for lack of trying, Mini Twix.”

Blaine rolled his eyes at her. “Can you shush one second so I can tell you my amazing idea?”

Santana swigged the bottle to get another mouthful of vodka. “Go ahead.”

“We should open our own bakery.”

Santana almost choked on the vodka but she was a pro and swallowed without sputtering it everywhere. “Have you gone mad? Has the yeast turned your brain to mush? We cannot open a bakery!”

“Why not? We have an excellent resume, with our apprenticeship and Mr Kayser’s recommendation letter. We are young, sure, but motivated. The apprenticeship paid off our student loans, so we could potentially get a loan to rent a place.”

As he talked, Blaine got on his knees while Santana sat on the coffee table.

She scratched her hair and hummed.

Which, in Santanese, meant that she was at least considering it.

Which, in Blainese, meant that she was on board.

Which, a month later, lead to the opening of “Buns Buns Buns” in the heart of Brooklyn, serving brioches, empanadas, and mookies.

Which, really, felt like a good idea--except when Santana gets an idea.

Particularly when said-idea is to combine two of her favorite hobbies: make fun of Blaine and try to find him a date.

The thing is, Blaine doesn’t exactly mind the teasing. After all, he’s more than able to reply to any of them, and as previously stated, it’s one of the bases of their relationship. Anyone who knows Santana Lopez knows that teasing is her way of showing her love.

But the constant nagging about his singledom hits a little bit closer to home, is more painful too.

Blaine hasn’t chosen to be single, okay. He believes in love and romance, he knows that somewhere, there is someone for him, waiting for him, someone who will love him for everything Blaine has to offer.

He is young, though, and he knows he has time to find the proverbial Mr. Right.

And the subject would be a lot easier to set aside if Santana wasn’t constantly singing under her breath whenever they pass each other songs about being alone forever.

Her 21st cover of “Lonely” makes him explode in the kitchen and slam the door to walk his anger away.

(She managed to find some helium to sing it in the highest pitch ever heard by a human ear.)

When he came back, Santana had the decency to be apologetic, telling him that he should take a week off work to chill, have fun, just … be, for a little while.

“And what Buns Buns Buns?”

“Oh, I can manage. It’s a slow week anyway, a lot of people are leaving the city anyway. I’ll just experiment a bit.”

“No x-rated experiment, Santana.”

“I still think we should have Muff Muffins for a Ladies Night type of promotion--”

“No. And no ‘dick-clairs’ either.”

“I didn’t think about it, but that is an excellent name.”

“No.”

“But--”

“Santana, please, no. Promise me.”

Santana rolls her eyes but agrees to promise not to do anything that could shock the kids from the school next door.

“I can do some redecorating, though. We should remove the December decorations anyway.”

“Hm, okay. Nothing extravagant, okay, we need to get ready for Easter.”

“Yessir.”

Blaine smiles at her. “All right. I do need a break.”

“And when you come back, I will take a couple of days off,” she adds, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

That was so sweet.

Blaine should have seen it coming.

Because now, he’s back, a notebook full of ideas and concepts of baked goods they could add to their menu, a spring in his step, and he nearly faints at the sight of his beloved window.

Which has been defaced, somehow, in his absence.

Well, defaced. That may be an over-exaggeration. The drawing is good, he can admit that, and it looks like a sticker so it won’t be permanent or anything.

But still.

Not exactly the aesthetic he envisioned for their shop.

He’s going to kill Santana whenever she comes back from her couple of days off--no, you know what, he’s going to go to her place tonight and kill her then.

Except, she may be spending her days off with Brittany, or Dany, or both, and does he really want to inflict this on his sight? On his brain?

Nah, it can wait. But she’s going to suffer, oh, she’s going to suffer.

Now, quick side-note about Blaine: when left alone, he has a tendency to … fill the silence.

Most of the time, by singing or humming to himself, but right this instant in time, he is talking to himself.

Counting the ways he will have his vengeance while baking and preparing new batches for the menu while considering when there will be a lull in the clients’ visits to experiment on his Easter cakes.

He’s so deep in his thoughts while putting the last batch of cookies in the lower oven, he doesn’t even hear the bell over the door ringing.

“Oh, um. Hello?”

Blaine straightens up quickly, dusting his hands over his apron and already all smiles as he turns to face the new client.

Oh boy.

“Hi?”

The man standing in the store’s entrance (with Santana’s ridiculous drawing creating a shadow over his tan jacket) is, truth be told, without a doubt the most beautiful man Blaine has ever seen.

“I work at the school around the corner, and I just started,” the man says, clutching the strap of his messenger bag, “and I, um, I kinda wanted something sweet to end this day.”

“Sure,” Blaine replies, walking to the window case. “Cakes are the answer for pretty much any trouble, in my opinion.”

Cute Client Looking for Consolation Cake smiles at Blaine, cocking his head to the side. “I like that. What do you recommend?”

Blaine happily goes over the different options, until CCLCC settles on a box of Cheesecake cookies.

“I hope this will improve your day,” he tells him after ringing his order.

“Oh, your shop has already greatly improved it,” CCLCC replies, his eyes darting to the sign. “And for what it’s worth, I personally think it doesn’t do you any justice.”

Blaine frowns. Glances at the sign. Glances back at CCLCC. Puts two and two together.

And turns a bright shade of red.

“Oh.”

CCLCC’s face matches the strawberry and basilic pies.

“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry.”

“No, no it’s--”

“No, it was crass, and we don’t even--”

“I promise, I mean, I get easily embarrassed--”

“--know each other, oh my God, everything looks delicious but I’ll never be able to come--”

“--but I am flattered.”

That seems to put a cork on CCLCC’s embarrassment. “... Oh.”

They smile at each other like a pair of … well, like a pair of shy twenty-something years olds who have a crush and are embarrassed about being too obvious.

“Madre de Dios.”

Blaine nearly jumps out of his skin at the sudden appearance of Santana’s voice in the shop.

“San’!” he exclaims, and even to his ears, it comes out far too loud. “What--what are you doing here?”

“I came to ask you what you thought of my artistry,” Santana says, expertly flicking her hair over her shoulders as she steps out of the shadows, “and here I am, in the most awkward episode of Gay Bachelors in Bushwick.”

“Santana.”

“I don’t think I know you, though. Santana Lopez, co-owner of this magical place. And you are?”

“Kurt Hummel,” CCLCC replies and Blaine feels better about having a proper name to call his customer. “Choir teacher at the block’s school.”

“How nice.”

“It is a school focusing on the arts, after all, and--”

“I said nice, not interesting. What do you think of our new décor?”

Kurt blushes again. “Well, like I told, um, the gentleman--”

“Blaine. It’s only fair you know his name, since you’ll be screaming--”

“Santana, no.”

“Spoilsport. Anyway, neighbor, you were saying?”

“Like I told Blaine, I think it is a bit unfair to him.”

“Oh?”

Kurt’s flush intensifies. “Oh.”

“You won’t say more than that?” Santana approaches the window. “I thought I captured the bubbliness of his hmph!”

Blaine grabs a discarded brioche from the basket and sliding under the counter, pushes it in Santana’s mouth. “If you shut up I won’t kill you for putting that monstrosity on our window,” he whispers angrily, before turning to Kurt, pushing Santana behind him. “I’m sorry about that, Kurt. I hope we will see you again. Have a nice day!”

Kurt looks at them, his mouth stretched into a disbelieving smile before nodding. “Thank you. You too … Blaine.”

The moment the door is closed, Blaine sighs in relief. Santana is happily nibbling on the brioche. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Blaine looks up at the ceiling, waiting for some deity to come to his help. “What on Earth for?”

“I know you, Anderson,” Santana points the remaining of the brioche in his face, “you’d have waited months and months before even attempting a proper conversation with Sweet Lips over there. Now, at least, you know he likes what you have to offer.”

Blaine drops his head to his chest. “I think I would have preferred to come back to sexual cakes.”

“Easily corrected.”

“Santana, no.”

“You’re not really angry, though.”

“Angry, grumph. Embarrassed and on the verge of ashamed? For sure.”

“Aw.” Santana wraps her arms around Blaine, her chest to his back. “I didn’t want you to be ashamed.”

“Embarrassed, though?”

“Oh, for sure.”

Blaine lets her hug him for a couple more minutes before stepping away, arms crossed over his chest. “This,” he says, pointing at his cartoony double, “has to go.”

“Oh, another couple of days!”

“Begone.”

“Pleaaaase?”

“No. You take it off.”

“But I’m on holiday!”

“Santana. Take. It. Off.”

Santana sighs. “You should be careful, Blainey,” she tells him as she walks out of the shop, “some people could misinterpret your words.”

“I really doubt that. Remove that obscenity from our window!”

“When I come baaa-aaack. Byyyeee!”

“Santan--oh, fuck it.”

#

Kurt expected a lot of things from his new job.

For it to be challenging, for the neighborhood to be surprising, for New York to be everything he hoped for and more.

So far, his expectations have been met: the students are challenging to say the least, the neighborhood of Bushwick is nothing he expected, and New York is a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one.

But of all the things he has to get used to, Blaine the Baker hasn’t left his mind for the past couple of days.

Sure, the window sticker made him laugh, at first, but when he saw Blaine’s butt as the baker was busy with the oven, his heart stopped before starting back at twice the speed.

And then he saw his face, and his heart made a valiant attempt to jump out of his chest to land on Blaine.

The fact that the cheesecake cookies were absolutely to die for doesn’t help in chasing the baker from his daydreams.

“Mr. Hummel.”

Why, yes, they could hyphenate their names, or Blaine could be Mr. Hummel.

“Mr. Hummel? Sir?”

Oh, Blaine would feed him pieces of brioche in bed before kissing him tenderly, that would be so romantic and delicious …

“Mr. Hummel!”

“Hm? Yes? Wha?”

His students snicker, and it’s 100% deserved. “What song do you want us to perform for the Open House Day?”

Oh the Open House Day. Perfect! The whole neighborhood is invited.

So, Blaine will come.

So, Kurt can be at his best and win him over.

“Open House. Right! I know just the song.”

#

Santana and Blaine arrive at the school carrying baskets of goodies, and Santana can’t help but tease her friend all the way from the bakery.

“Remember, Blaine, this is a school. No hanky panky with your hot teacher.”

“Santana, may I remind you that I’m not you.”

“Shame. Your life would be funnier.”

Blaine laughs at that. “That much is true.”

The headmistress welcomes them in, smiling at the mini chocolate buns. “All the parents are talking about your shop,” she tells them as she guides them to the seats. “I must confess, I am a big fan of your concoctions too,” she adds, smiling like a naughty schoolgirl.

When she walks away to welcome more visitors, Blaine and Santana smother their laughter.

“I feel like a rockstar,” Blaine whispers to Santana when they spot people pointing at them and murmuring.

“That’s because we are,” Santana replies, flipping her hair around her.

Everybody sits in the gymnasium and the headmistress taps on the microphone.

“And now, before we guide you in groups through the complex, please welcome our choir, guided by our very own Kurt Hummel.”

Blaine doesn’t even try to contain his smile at the sight of Kurt. He looks particularly handsome, dressed in black as he bows to the applause coming from the room.

The choir launches into a medley of Beatles and Rolling Stones songs, immediately winning over the crowd of parents and teachers.

The kids may be very good, but Blaine only has eyes for Kurt, who is playing the piano to accompany the songs, and often singing along with them. Kurt is passionate, he smiles at all his young students, even the ones awfully off-key.

He’s mesmerizing.

Blaine had a medium-sized crush on Kurt, but to see him like this, it’s …

Blaine has no words.

It’s like all of his life, all of his decisions, everything lead to this moment in order to make sense.

“Oh, wow.”

“Earth to Blaine?”

Santana looks down at him, standing up from her seat like everyone else--when did that happened?--and she is smiling like the cat that got the cream. “Ah, now, you’re back with all of us. Care to walk around the school now, or do you need to be left alone a moment?”

“No,” Blaine replies grumpily, following her.

“Oh, Blaine, look who our guide is,” Santana singsongs.

Of fucking course.

“Oh, hi, Blaine,” Kurt welcomes him. “Did you enjoy the songs?”

“Immensely. The kids were great, thanks to you.”

Kurt’s cheeks turn pink and he has a pleased smile on his face. “Thank you.”

Blaine doesn’t pay attention to a lot of things during the tour, besides Kurt and his voice and his everything.

(Okay, he may be a gentleman, but Blaine is honest enough to admit that he lets his eyes drag down Kurt’s back and focus on his ass. It’s a nice ass. Given the way they met, it’s only fair.

Shut up.)

Santana stays with a group of parents who are apparently asking about “Buns Buns Buns” capacity to prepare a birthday spread, which leaves Blaine to stand close to Kurt.

“Aren’t you going to help her?”

“Oh, no. She is very good at selling our stuff.”

Kurt shakes his head. “Your friendship is an odd one.”

Blaine smiles. “She’s a good cookie.”

“If you say so.”

“Oh, you’d know so too, if you could get to know her.”

“I’d rather get to know you.”

That sentence was said softly, barely above a whisper, just for the two of them.

Blaine looks back at Kurt and smiles. “I’d really, really love that.”

“Good.”

“You know where to find me.”

“That I do. I have tomorrow afternoon free …?”

“That’s a date.”

Kurt beams at him. “That’s a date.”

As he walks back to Santana, Blaine almost feels like he’s walking on a cloud or on a meringue.

Almost.

Because Santana is never going to let go of the fact that she managed to bring them together.

(She never lets go of it. Blaine and Kurt’s grandchildren hear the story of how her artistic talent brought them together. Kurt doesn’t tell them, but really, it was their grandfather’s buns who won him over.)

Escape

I know this has probably been done already but Dany deserves to react to her son being turned into an ice monster goddamnit! This is un-beta'd and written very quickly. I haven't read the books so this is the TV show only with a few minor book details I've gathered from other fics.

Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV)

Pairing: Jonerys

Summary: Daenerys wished she and Jon could have stayed there forever, in each other's arms, uninterrupted for a thousand years.

[AO3]

She wished more than anything that they could stay there for a thousand years, just the two of them, uninterrupted by duty. Despite, well, everything, Daenerys had never been so happy as she was in Jon’s arms. After he’d successfully… warmed her up, he held her for only the Gods knew how long - just the two of them laid together at what may as well have been the edge of the world. For so long, Dany’s life had revolved around helping those who could not help themselves and taking back her family’s throne from the corruption of the Lannisters. She believed if she accomplished that, she’d finally feel that sense of home she hadn’t felt since she was a girl.

But she’d found it already: with Jon.

And that almost made her want to throw it all away.

“Where are you?”

She turned to face him. “I’m right here, actually.”

He titled his head, a soft smile gracing his lips, encouraging her to elaborate.

“Just thinking about staying here forever, just the two of us.” She bit her lip and repositioned herself so her head rested on his chest, her fingers coming up to trace the scars she knew so intimately now. “Leaving it all behind.”

“Aye,” he sighed, “but as lovely as that sounds, neither of us could do that.”

No, they were too loyal to their people. “I know, but it’s nice to think about.”

Not that she often did, she couldn’t afford that luxury - that distraction. Although when she thought about it, the image was her, her children and that house with the red door and the lemon tree; never before had the picture involved someone else, someone to love, someone to grow old with. Never, until Jon.

They didn’t speak again until they were clothed, waiting for the dragons to return from the hunt she’d sent them on.

“Do you think they’ll find much in this weather?”

Jon shrugged. “Hopefully. Even in the shittiest weather conditions, we always managed to find something.”

“You used to hunt here?” she inquired.

“Not often,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, “we usually preferred the forests, but I always had a soft spot for this place.”

She tilted her head to see his face. “Were you trying to impress me with a waterfall, Jon Snow?”

“Maybe,” his cheeks reddened slightly, not enough for him to be too embarrassed, but enough for some light teasing. Unfortunately, he beat her to it: “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Maybe,” she responded, matching his tone.

She was tempted to pull him into another kiss, to undo the last few minutes to feel his skin against hers when she heard the cries of her children approach. Time to leave.

Dany pulled out of his embraced, linking their hands and guiding him towards the dragons. “Excited for your second ride?”

He huffed, and this time she didn’t resist the urge to giggle. “It may be thrilling, but it’s bloody terrifying.”

“It goes away, eventually,” she assured him.

He snorted. “Easy for you to say: you’re their mother, they’d never let you come to any harm.”

“They would never let you!”

Jon hummed, eyeing the dragons sceptically. “Rhaegal, perhaps, but I don’t think Drogon likes me.”

“Yet,” she promised. “It’s a wonder Rhaegal took to you so quickly, actually. I wonder if he was so eager for a rider.”

The corners of his lips quirked upwards. “Does the Mother of Dragons play favourites?”

Her draw dropped and she tried to scold her expression into one of offence, but she knew her eyes gave her away. “No! Drogon just happened to be the one I rode first. I got used to him.”

He gave her a fake judgemental look.

“He saved me!” Her smile dropped when she realised: “He saved me whilst Viserion and Drogon were chained up- Oh Gods! I’ve been playing favourites!”

Jon laughed as she snatched her hand back to cover her face in mortification. “I’m a horrible mother,” she groaned.

“No,” Jon said, and she felt him tug her hands away from her face. “Come on, I was teasing. You’re a fantastic mother. Anyone could see how much they love you.” He brought her gloved hands to his lips in a delicate kiss.

He released her hands and she brought them together around his neck. “You’re too kind. If you’re not careful I may just have to be warmed up again.”

“Oh no,” he said dryly.

She giggled - because she did that now, apparently, because of him. “We could get on their backs right now, fly to the edge of the world, never look back.”

“As thrilling as this all sounds, it also sounds very much like a distraction.”

She sighed. Casting her gaze to the snow, she brought her hands down from his neck to rest on his chest, keeping herself upright. He’d figured it out, because of course he had. He could do that now: figure her out.

He hooked his fingers under her chin and brought her gaze back to him. “Dany, I know you’re not alright. How could you be?”

She let out a shaky breath. “Viserion would have loved you the most. He was the only one not wary of strangers that didn’t directly pose a threat.” She gripped his cloak tightly. “He was like an overexcited puppy: so impatient, yet so sweet. He couldn’t hunt for the life of him.” She gave a watery laugh. “Stealth wasn’t his strength. Rhaegal would usually take pity on him and share.”

She tugged on Jon’s cloak, her lower lip wobbling. She could feel the intensity of his gaze, but she couldn’t meet it, couldn’t handle that right now. “And to think my sweet boy… being used like that…” She forced air into her lungs. “He didn’t die for nothing: he died for so much worse. He died to add to that… monster’s forces.”

Jon’s arms tightened around her,  bringing her head to rest against his shoulder, burying her face in his neck. One hand left her waist to cup her head, his fingers gently stroking the loose strands, whilst his thumbs caressed her temple. She let it go.

“Shh,” he comforted her as her body began to shake violently with sobs. “I’m so sorry, Dany. It’s all my fault-”

“No,” she snapped, lifting her head enough to meet his eyes. “No. I chose to go after you that day, Jon. When we left without you… it didn’t matter if we had the wight, because Viserion truly would have died for nothing. I didn’t go to try and negotiate a peace with Cersei - I went to save you.”

There was too much emotion coming from both of them: Dany felt like she should break under it. She’d never loved someone so much before, never felt so loved in return. Love was dangerous, yes, especially during war, but Dany couldn’t bring herself to care in the slightest.

“And I meant what I said: I’m glad I saw it. I was beginning to believe you anyway, but you truly do need to see for your mind to comprehend it properly.”

She straightened so she could look him in the eyes properly. “I’m going to avenge my son.” She glanced over her shoulder at the dragons waiting for them. “Even if I have to make brother fight brother.”

Her attention shifted back to Jon as he lovingly wiped away her tears and cupped her face with his hands. “Together,” he promised, “we’ll avenge him together. And when all this is over, if somehow we’re both still alive after all this shit, I’ll take you up on your offer. You, me, dragons and the edge of the world.”

She smiled and let herself be pulled closer to him, closing her eyes as their lips met in a tender kiss.

JONSA: The infamous “undermine me” scene

About a week ago @jonsa101 posted a meta regarding the “undermine me” scene in season 7 (episode 1).

She discusses this particular exchange between Jon and Sansa:

Jon: You are my sister but I am king now.

Sansa: Will you start wearing a crown? (Sansa Snark is in the house, guys!)

Jon: When you question my decisions in front of the other lords and ladies, you undermine me.

 In the meta she identifies the “undermine me” line as a romantic trope that she’s seen play out in many different contexts. If you guys haven’t read the meta yet, please go and read it. @jonsa101 always has some very interesting interpretations and theories regarding the show and I really enjoy her meta work. 

 I was already planning on discussing this scene in detail as part of my upcoming series on all the Jonsa scenes but since she tagged me in the meta, I thought I’d discuss it now.

I have to say that after reading her post, I had a look at lists of romantic tropes as well as my favorite research source – youtube – in order to try and find similar examples of the “undermine me” line. I’m afraid I came out empty on this one.

 However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that whether or not you identify this particular line as a trope, the whole exchange between them ticks a lot of romantic tropes off the list as I’ll show below.

 This is one of the things that always bothers me about people calling Jonsa shippers delusional. Even if Jonsa never becomes canon, it’s very much a fact that the writers are playing with romantic expectations in all of their scenes. You can’t swing a stick in the direction of these two without one trope or another hitting you smack in the face. So at the very least, Jonsa shippers are responding to these visual and storytelling devices. Hardly a delusion.

 For the interests of this meta I will focus strictly on the tropes used in this particular scene, which considering that it’s only 3 minutes long, I was shocked to find out is more than 1. For reference, I’m working off the list of romantic tropes found here as well as use the explanation they give for each of them. When you have the time, check it out. It’s like an Easter Egg Hunt for Jonsas.

 Like an Old Married Couple: These two people are very close and tend to bicker with each other.

 This is where I would actually place the “undermine me” line. In fact this is where I would put this entire exchange:

Jon: You are my sister but I am king now.

Sansa: Will you start wearing a crown?

Jon: When you question my decisions in front of the other lords and ladies, you undermine me.

Sansa: I can’t question your decisions anymore?

Jon: Of course you can but …

Sansa: Joffery never let anyone question his authority. Do you think he was a good king?

 Ahem … guys, I reeeally don’t think you’re fighting over what you think you’re fighting over. Also can you air your dirty married laundry in private? You’re making everyone uncomfortable!

 Now, Like an Old Married Couple is usually served with a generous helping of the Belligerent Sexual Tension and/or Unresolved Sexual Tension tropes on the side. Which would explain the seemingly random insert of Joffery in this whole conversation (there’s more to it than that but more on that later). I mean doesn’t every girl compare her brother to her ex-boyfriend? Isn’t that a thing that people do all the time?

 The thing that is very interesting here is the way these two are operating. There’s nothing really sibling-like about this interaction. This is two partners having a fight.

 But this is where it gets interesting. Because this exchange is followed by another trope:

 Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: No matter how much they fight, they really do care about each other very much.

Jon: You think I’m Joffery?

Sansa: You’re as far from Joffery as anyone I’ve ever met.

Jon: Thank you!

 Throughout my series on the Jon/D*ny romance (X) (X) (X) (X) (X), I kept talking about how Jon and Dany never seem to reach a consensus or resolve anything in any of their fights. Every Jonsa scene comes in direct contrast to that. It isn’t the absence of fighting that makes a couple work, it’s them being able to resolve and move on from a fight that does. And this is where this trope comes in. No matter how hard Jon and Sansa have a go at each other, you are never left in any doubt that they care about one another.

 But there’s more …

 Dismissing a Compliment: A character doesn't believe something nice their Love Interest tells them.

Sansa: You’re good at this, you know.

Jon: At what?

Sansa: At ruling.

Jon: No …

Sansa: You are. (beat) You are.

 Why don’t you say it again, Sans? I don’t think he heard you the last two times …

 Sansa: They respect you. They really do …

 Ok, ok. Sheesh! Are we also going to talk about how cute his hair looks today and how dreamy his eyes are?

 This is followed by the hyper-analyzed “but” lines:

 Sansa: … but you have to … Why are you laughing?

Jon: What did father used to say? Everything before the word but is horseshit.

 This may or may not have plot implications later on but for the purposes of what we’re analyzing here, the point I’m trying to make is that Jon is dismissing every nice thing Sansa has said about him and focuses only on the word “but”. Because he’s Jon Snow … You can’t pin a compliment on this guy to save your life.

Also …

 Laugh of Love: The tendency to laugh when in the presence of your Love Interest.

 (no idea who made this. sorry but thank you!)

As well as pretty much every other scene he has with her. Either Sansa is a proficient stand-up comedian or Jon is just really, really happy whenever he’s around her, even when he’s angry at her. Totally platonic, guys! Nothing to see here!

 Caught the Heart on His Sleeve: Ship Tease moment where one partner grabs the other partner's arm/sleeve.

(gif credit to @baelerion)

Complete with Jon looking down to see Sansa touching him either because his senses are overloaded or because he can’t feel anything through the thick sleeve of the jacket Sansa most likely made for him. Also notice that this is described as a ship tease. We’re teased all right …

 Sigh of Love: Sighing dreamily when in the presence of or thinking about your Love Interest.

And because Jon can’t let Sansa steal the spotlight on this one:

(gif credit to @baelerion​)

This is not a competition but if it were, Jon would win. Sorry, Sans! His is longer and deeper. Still love you though!

 And lastly ….

 Like Parent, Like Spouse: A character's Love Interest is similar to one of their parents, be it in looks or personality.

 In every god damn episode they have together and also here:

In conclusion, for those at home not keeping count, that’s 7 tropes used in a 3 minute scene. Is it any small wonder this might seem familiar to people? Either way you want to slice it, you have seen these visual and narrative cues in other stories. Tropes don’t become tropes because no one ever used them.

 Now I did title this meta “the infamous undermine me scene” for a reason. That’s because this scene, as almost all Jonsa scenes, has three layers that are all thrown at the audience simultaneously. Two of these layers are good, one of these layers is BAD. Let’s see if you guess which is which:

 What the characters are fighting about

 This is where the whole text vs. subtext analysis comes in. Ideally, any scene in any story you ever read or watch, should have both a surface level as well as subtext. Now and again you will get scenes, out of necessity, that are simply what they say on the tin but writers are actively dissuaded from doing this on the whole. It would be very boring and frankly poor storytelling if subtext was non-existent and people simply talked at each other, complete with an accurate, objective narrative on what they’re saying and why they’re saying it. To put it simply, it wouldn’t be a satisfying journey for the audience.

 So what is the surface level? Well, this is a direct follow-up to the preceding scene where Jon pardons Alice and Ned and Sansa argues against it. The argument got pretty heated between the two of them so now we’re given a scene where we can see the resolution of said argument.

 What you should keep in mind at this stage is how that argument ended:

Sansa: They died fighting for Ramsay. Give the castles to the families of the men who died fighting for you.

Jon: […] I will not punish a son for his father’s sins and I will not take a family home away from a family it has belonged to for centuries. That is my decision and my decision is final.

 Check-mate, as they say. Jon won that argument. He is the king and he made his decision. Case closed. On a purely surface level, that argument was finalized. We didn’t really need the “undermine me” scene unless we attempt to infer things that are no presented to us directly.

 Which brings us to …

 What the characters are really fighting about

Jon: You are my sister but I am king now.

Sansa: Will you start wearing a crown?

Jon: When you question my decisions in front of the other lords and ladies, you undermine me.

 The question here is why does Jon feel undermined? I think the answer is not because he doesn’t want Sansa questioning his decisions, as she seems to believe. Nor is it because he suspects some sort of nefarious ulterior motive (we’ll leave that for that pesky 3rd layer we’ll talk about shortly).

 We all know Jon values dialogue and collaboration. What we also know is that whatever Sansa says affects him very deeply. You can deduce this from their scenes but, for confirmation, we also have Kit saying that Sansa “twists” Jon. So we can assume that their argument hurts him in some way and even though he put his foot down during the meeting, he still feels the need to clarify the issue with her which is why they’re having the conversation.

 Now people have pointed out that, as one of his vassals, Sansa has every right to question him publicly. The problem is that’s not how Jon sees her. He very distinctly separates Sansa from the rest of his court. And since we already had the “we need to trust each other” scene at the end of season 6, I think it’s safe to assume that he sees the two of them as a unit that is supposed to be on the same page so the fact that Sansa speaks out against him in public, instead of privately, feels like a betrayal.

 There’s also his character and history to consider. Jon has never been the kind of person to take criticism very well, mostly because he’s felt unworthy and rejected all his life. And now he’s gone from the Bastard of Winterfell to King in the North in the span of a few months. That would leave just about anyone feeling uncertain of how much people truly trust their judgement.

 However, if there’s one thing you learn sooner or later, is that there are two sides to every story. That’s why it’s never a good idea to side with one party whenever couples fight.

 Because if we look at things from Sansa’s perspective, you can see how she might feel dismissed. The fact of the matter is Jon isn’t the world’s greatest communicator and failed to talk his decision over with Sansa before announcing it to the Council, which in turn makes Sansa feel sidelined, hence her aggressive snark and Joffrey digs. And we get an explanation of that here:

Sansa: He [Ned] was trying to protect us. He never wanted us to see how dirty the world really is but father couldn’t protect me and neither can you. So stop trying.

 Sansa is operating under a false assumption as well. Jon looks at their argument and feels undermined. Sansa looks at Jon avoiding her counsel and thinks that he does it because he sees her as his little sister that is in need of protection.

 Now Jon, bless his heart, does try to put Sansa in the little sister box at times but he fails at it miserably, partly because Sansa doesn’t let him and partly because what he needs from her is very far removed from what sisters usually provide.

 So there they are … two “siblings” stuck on a balcony having a lovers quarrel. Just another day at Winterfell.

 Which brings us to what I like to call …

 The “D&D screwing with us” layer

 Why do I say that the writers are screwing with us in this scene? Well, because of this:

Sansa: Joffery never let anyone question his authority. Do you think he was a good king?

 There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for why they felt the need to bring Joffery, one of the worst people this show has ever inflicted on us, in this conversation. Firstly, because there is no parallel to be drawn between Jon and Joffery in this situation. For one, if Joffrey was the king here, Alice and Ned’s heads would be decorating the walls. They would certainly not have been brought back into the fold which is what Jon has done for them. Secondly, since Jon is very much talking his head off to Sansa at the moment, it’s pretty obvious that he isn’t above explaining his reactions.

 What she says is, honestly, incredibly insulting which is why she backtracks out of it as quickly as the writers would allow:

Jon: Do you think I’m Joffrey?

Sansa: You’re as far from Joffrey as anyone I’ve ever met. (all the while looking extremely guilty)

 If the mention is here in order to clue us in on the fact that Sansa views Jon as something other than her brother, by comparing him to the only person she’s ever had romantic feelings for, there’s again no need for that. Seven romantic tropes in one 3-minute scene is more than enough to get that point across.

 So why do the writers have her say this? I would argue that this mention is in here in order to advance the “darkSansa” agenda, particularly since this is a scene where Jon says he feels undermined by her twice.

It doesn’t matter that Sansa backtracks on the Joffrey fiasco, it doesn’t matter that she tells him she doesn’t want to undermine him, while desperately sighing with loving eyes that she wants him to listen to her.  The “darkSansa” idea sticks.

 And that’s because the audience support is very much skewed  in  Jon’s favor. Being on tumblr, sometimes you forget that the Jonsa fam is very much the minority and that exclusive Sansa fans are the unicorns of this fandom (#love4unicorns). The vast majority of this audience will not look at Jon as an unreliable narrator, as every character in this show is, but as the ultimate authority on how this scene should be viewed.

 If he says he feels undermined, then it must be because he’s being undermined, which by extension means that Sansa will betray him. And her mentioning Joffery only helps to further antagonize the audience against her.

 Does that mean the Ds want us to hate Sansa for no particular reason? Not really. What they really, really want is to, yet again, beat the “Starkbowl” horse until it expires from exhaustion. And they’re willing to compromise emotional development and cut off the audience from essential POVs to achieve that.

 In season 6, when they first teased Starkbowl, they did it for emotional turmoil. They gave us that beautiful, heart breaking reunion scene only to immediately have Sansa start to be seemingly duplicitous. Because wouldn’t it be just so tragic that after Jon found new purpose in life through Sansa and she finally found safety and comfort with someone that actually cared for her, she would turn everything on its head and betray him?

 In season 7, they wanted to resurrect it because of the Littlefinger twist ending. This little “Joffrey” titbit and the “undermining” conversation helped plant the seeds for it so when Arya (another fan favorite) began accusing her of plotting against Jon, the audience would have this early scene to fall back on, despite the fact that Sansa continuously supports Jon’s policy while he’s away and constantly talks about him, to the point where she almost sounds like Sam talking about Gilly.

 What I’m trying to get at with this example is that the writers are not operating in good faith when telling this story. They will constantly throw things in to tease plot points that never come to pass. I don’t like this narrative choice at all, because it requires being cut off from certain characters POVs (Jon and Sansa are champions of this in season 7) which in turn puts distance between the audience and them, when the core of good storytelling to me is seeing characters wrestle with decisions and emotions not off-screen, but right before our eyes.

However, at the very least, what all of this should tell you, is that you should never simply relay on what the ‘explicit’ meaning of a scene is because there’s far more lurking beneath the surface. 

The ask for this got lost forever in my inbox, but the prompt was from that Day unrequited love angst I wrote a long time ago, but a different scenario. This time it’s Zenos falling in love with MC, who is with Day instead.

Under the cut for length (2.1k words)

Gods, you were adorable. Irresistible. Not without flaws, but lovely all the same.

Anyone would be lucky to have you.

Except for him. He couldn’t be so lucky, because you are not his. And you never will be...

He’s not bitter. In fact, he’s happy for you and... for the man you chose instead. He’s mature enough for that, he’s strong enough. He never told you his feelings, because why would he? You didn’t have an interest in him, did you? He could tell he was not the one in your heart, and he accepted that.

You chose Day. He doesn’t know why, but he won’t pretend to ever know why the heart does what it does. Like why his beat for yours knowing yours would never follow the same rhythm.

He accepted that, gave Day his blessing, and moved on. Or so he told himself he moved on. But when he opened the front door to see you in Day’s arms, lips locked with the man he calls a dear friend, he can’t deny the way his heart shattered.

Shaken to the core, he put on a perfect mask of nonchalance and made a teasing joke that somewhat embarrassed you before fleeing as casually, yet quickly, as he could to his office.

The slam of the door behind him freezes his spine solid, forcing a gasp past his lips. He breathes shakily, almost desperately, a hand coming up to curl around his throat as if that could relieve the feeling of it closing up. What the… hells…

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Zenos’ back slams into the door, violently startled by the sudden voice. His eyes frantically scan the room until they land on Niina at his desk, her eyes wide and hands up, just as surprised as he is.

“Wow,” she starts slowly, uncrossing her legs and standing up. “Didn’t think I’d scare you that much. Especially given you were supposed to be expecting me.”

Zenos sighs, bringing a hand up to his forehead as he tries to force the accumulated tension from his muscles. “Gods, Niina, I’m sorry. We were supposed to talk about the budget, right? It’s just… been a bit of a day.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Was it really a ghost?” She draws closer, a tentative but teasing smile on her lips. “Or… a crush, maybe?”

Ugh, he feels sick… Which seems to show on his face, because the smile fades from Niina’s.

“Sorry…” She sighs, backing up to give him some space. “Can’t believe you fell for the guy we practically picked up off the side of the road.”

“Not what happened.” He pauses, his eyes trailing the light across rows of bookshelves. A thought he’d normally never have creeps into his subconscious and he finds himself mumbling it before he can banish it from his mind. “I can’t believe he fell for the guy with the communication disorder.”

“You don’t mean that.” Niina smiles knowingly.

Zenos frowns. “Of course not… But damn, I wish I did.”

He eyes his desk, feeling jitters through his nerves down to his fingertips. The sick tension in his stomach tightens. Breathing doesn’t want to come easily. Gods, he doesn't want to do this. He can’t be the boss right now.

“Hey,” he starts, almost absentmindedly. “Do you think we can put this off for now?”

His glaze flicks to Niina’s, who straightens up a bit. His tongue swipes out to wet his suddenly dry lips.

“Mr. Kylan gifted me an expensive wine last month. Remember, when I personally played private investigator for him?”

Niina tilts her chin up a little, smoothly raising an eyebrow. The corner of Zenos’ mouth twitches upwards.

“Wanna get Dani, her not-secret liquor, and forget our problems for a bit?”

...

And that’s about all his foggy mind remembers right now.

Next thing he knows, he’s waking up horizontal, staring through bleary eyes at a dark wood ceiling. He feels like an old spirit awaking after centuries, long forgotten in a sealed tomb. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth, his head pounds, his muscles are stiff, and he might be still a little drunk.

His voice cracks as he lets out a pained groan. Yeah, he’s gonna have to stop drinking so much. He picked a bad remedy for heartbreak.

Ah, but… it seems like such a good idea in the moment, when his heart hurts the most.

“Are you awake, responsible leader?”

The deadpan sarcasm is a dead giveaway to whose house he’s found himself in and, internally, he groans again. He really doesn’t feel up to that kind of guilt right now.

Zenos’ gaze slides away from the ceiling to the carmine eyes watching him, thoroughly unimpressed with the no doubt sloppy state he must be in.

“...Did I do anything to be embarrassed about?” His mouth is dry and his throat sore, making the words come out rougher than his usual honey way of speaking.

“Not particularly.” Day’s kind enough to hold a hand out, which is gladly taken, and pull Zenos into a sitting position.

He pushes a glass of water into Zenos’ hand as he continues, “You banged on my door until I opened up, invited yourself in, and started talking about… I wasn’t listening. Something about ‘horny’ and ‘stupid’, which, I admit, is not what I tend to expect from you.”

He pauses, eyes flicking around as he lets out a heavy sigh. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t want to be talking so much, energy already seeping out of him like a leak in a dam, but he’s toughing it out. Right about now, Zenos can relate.

“Then you were really insistent on us being on the same page. You really wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I thought for a while, but… Yeah, I still don’t know what it was you wanted us to be on the same page about.”

Zenos lets out a dry laugh. The corner of Day’s lip twitches in turn.

“And… then you passed out on my floor. I mean, passed out.” He tilts his head. “Does your head hurt, by the way? I didn’t catch you.”

“Day.” Zenos rubs a hand over his face. He feels like garbage. “My head hurts for a lot of reasons. You’re fine. And yes, I know you weren’t apologizing anyway.”

Silence falls, thankfully, and Zenos concentrates on downing the water while trying furiously not to throw up from this hangover situation.

He feels like he needs a bath, but as his mind settles in on the events of the previous- or is it still the same day?- he finds he wants it for many reasons. His self-loathing floods his veins again, the painful memory of seeing you kiss Day, smearing his unrequited love in his own face like he’s a misbehaving dog, brings the pounding in his head to a crescendoing thunder.

“Oh Gods…” he whimpers under his breath, gently touching his fingers to his temple. It’s just too much. He really hopes he’s already cried too much to shed anymore tears.

“You don’t get drunk without a reason. Should I ask why this time?” Day sounds like he’s choosing his words carefully. There’s typically only one reason Zenos gets drunk. The suspicion is there, it has to be, but neither of them want to say it out loud.

“I…” Zenos’ voice cracks and he winces. Embarrassing. Why does he have to be so broken up over one guy? Why is he always so soft-hearted? Setting his jaw, Zenos lets out a huff and tries again.

“What reason is it usually? I got my heart broken. That’s not something that concerns you anyway, does it?” He frowns, picking at the rips in his pants if only to not have to look Day in the eye. He forced defensiveness in his voice, but he knows it’s nowhere near as strong or convincing as what Day’s capable of.

“Not particularly, no.” Day’s lips thin into a straight line. He kneels down, though Zenos is still refusing to meet his gaze. The next question is unsure, tentative. A tone unbefitting Day, but the subject makes it understandable.

“Who?”

Who broke his heart? You know who.

Muscles tense, a dull ache settles in Zenos’ lower stomach. Each breath feels cramped in his lungs. His brow furrows in a fierce frown as if showing his abhorrence at himself would stave off the pressure behind his eyes, the hot wash of shame in his face. He’s too hungover for this.

“I’m sorry.” The apology spills from his lips before he could even realize it was coming. A shaking sets in.

“For what?”

Stop asking what you already know.

“I’m… sorry.” His voice loses all its confidence.

“I’m sorry.” It slips out again, and then again. He pulls his knees up, curling into protecting himself with his trembling arms. Tears fill his eyes. He’s such a mess. Pathetic. “I didn’t mean to.”

He didn’t mean for this to happen. He didn’t mean for it to turn out like this. He hates his stupid, fragile heart.

“What did you do, Zenos?” Day’s question twists the dagger. There’s now a steel in his tone, protectively hiding the uncertainty from earlier now that his suspicions are confirmed. He knows. He knows and it’s over.

It hurts.

“I’m so sorry, Day,” Zenos sobs, the tears finally slipping free. Maybe it’s the hangover, maybe this was just inevitable, but he can’t bottle it up anymore. He needs to say it out loud.

“I love him, Day. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” His fingers dig into his arms, scratching pain in old scars. There’s a steam hammer in his head, throbbing around his eyes that’s making this unbearable.

“I’m in love with him and I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want this.” His shoulders shake with his sobbing, the humiliating salty taste of tears on his lips. “I’m sorry…!”

Day’s gaze softens, just a bit, and so does his tone when he murmurs, “You need rest.”

Zenos doesn’t protest when Day’s strong hand curls under his bicep, coaxing him to his feet. He stumbles, falling into Day’s side, the strength sapped from his legs.

With a sigh, Day slings Zenos’ arm over his shoulder and helps him towards the bedroom. Zenos hiccups, scrubbing his face.

“I love him, I love him…” he repeats, a mantra of self-torture that has Day’s grip on his waist tightening.

“I know,” he murmurs, unheard. He carefully pushes open the bedroom door and beckons a flame to light the lantern hanging by the door.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Day.” Zenos whimpers, lost in his own world of tipsy, sick self-loathing.

“I know,” Day repeats right back. Coming to a stop at the end of the bed, he lets Zenos slip from his grip to fall heavily onto the wide bed.

Day stares down at him sinking limply into the blanket, chest shakily rising with each struggling breath only to cave in as it expels in a sob. Day’s shoulders sag and he looks away, brow furrowed.

“I’m going out for a bit, but I’ll be back to kick you out later. Get some sleep while you can.”

With that, Day turns on his heel and heads for the door. Where he might have left without waiting for a reply, he instead pauses in the doorway. His hand slowly reaches out to turn the lantern down to a soft light, not painful for Zenos’ currently sensitive eyesight.

It could’ve been totally missed, a ghost of a whisper dispersed in the morning air. Unbefitting his personality so it couldn’t be real. His lips move once more before he turns his back for good and leaves.

“I’m sorry, Zenos.”

Left alone in his misery, Zenos curls in on himself, hugging himself with arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” The apologies fade to hoarse whispers, your name thrown into the mix as he shakes his head, burying his face into the soft blanket.

The tears keep coming, choking him and making his migraine so much worse. And they don’t stop until the energy has drained from his body, exhaustion too heavy to keep crying settling in and bringing him the relief of the cool, dark waves of unconsciousness sweeping over him.

He needs rest. Because when he wakes up it will be time to repress the events of the last two days. So you’ll never find out about his feelings. So you’ll still be around him. So he can look at you with Day and be reminded again and again that you can fall for men, but you can’t fall for him. Reminders everyday there must be something that makes him unlovable.

He needs to sleep. So that the cycle can start anew. Breaking him a little more each time.

Weeds are flowers too (once you get to know them) - 6

Word count:

Summary: PRIDE PRIDE PRIIIIIIDDDEEEE

a/n : dont attack me just be happy i got off my ass and wrote the chapter okay,,, also i feel like there isnt a lot of dialogue in this chapte but when there is its important 

i || ii || iii || iv || v || ao3  

After a silent car ride that felt like it had taken forever the quirky group of girls finally arrived at their first destination of the day, McDonalds. Originally this was nowhere near in the plan for pride, but neither was being hungover or the fact that Toni and Cheryl had a moment when they were making pancakes. Actually none of their plans had even accounted for Toni being there first thing in the morning because they weren’t actually supposed to get drunk the night before.

They made their way into the, unsurprisingly, busy fast food chain. All the noise was only making the two girl’s migraines worse, but they would be damned if they missed this day. What was fun without a little bit of pain anyway. It wasn’t going to kill them to be proud of their sexualities, or in Cheryl’s case just “supporting her friends”, just their heads. But the other two girls were as happy as they could be, holding hand and talking about something or the other.

Even though the restaurant was busy there still wasn’t much of a wait because of where they were. It only took a few minutes before they were situating themselves in one of the booths and waiting for their number to be called. On the way there was a lot of advils that were taken so the headaches that were there before were slowly starting to go away. This meant that they were able to actually hold a conversation for a moment.

Shortly after the first sentence had left one of the girl’s mouth their food was being called. For some reason both Cheryl found herself going up with Toni to collect the shitty food mumbling something or the other about the tattoo artist not getting enough syrup.

They both walk in completely awkward silence as they head to the tray and back to the table. Setting the pancakes on the table the two younger girls wasted no time digging into the pancakes they had. With a roll of her caramel eyes at their grubbiness, Cheryl turned to give Toni a look. But that’s when she realized how awkward things were between them as the brunette looked in a different direction.

With a deep sigh, the florist ran a hand through her curly, red hair before taking a seat in the booth. Toni followed after and God, were these booths always so small? Their thighs are basically touching as the tattoo artist rummage through the debri for the food that was actually there’s. She finds it with a small, cute “aha” before handing Cheryl her’s.

“Didn’t anyone teach you how to eat, Danielle?” The redhead scolded the girl that was like a little sister to her, even going as far as to give her a glare. For the most part, she had gotten away from her rich roots, but there was still little parts of it that shown through with the money. It wasn’t like she was living a rich lifestyle or anything, but she was. There was actually a bit of surprise on her part when Toni didn’t seem that interested in it.

Once the words had registered with the table of girls, the youngest girl only rolls her eyes and throws an unused butter at the redhead. Cheryl only gasps before throwing it back at her, and before they know it the others had joined in. Unused packets were thrown back and forth an group of laughing people.

All their fun had to stop though, after they nailed some grouchy person in the back with one of the sauce packers, which prompted the old man to turn around an lecture the four girls. Once he decided that he had enough of lecturing them he brought his attention back to whatever he was eating and all of them burst out laughing. It wasn’t the most respectful thing to do but it was also ridiculously funny to them all.

After that they fell into a comfortable conversation as they finished their food in no rush. The event didn’t actually start for a while so they had some times, although a lot of people had already begin to start the parade early. Still no one actually wanted to rush into the event, no matter how excited the two younger girls were for their first pride, so that meant that could take all the time they wanted on eating and getting over hangovers.

Eventually they all finished and made their way over to the actual event, Dani and he girlfriend skipping was ahead of the two older girls. But that was okay because they had already talked about what would happen if one of them got lost or kidnapped. So they weren’t entirely worried for the two teenagers, they had proven to Cheryl they could fend for themselves many times in the past.

That left the tattoo artist and the florist walking next to each other in what Cheryl hoped was a comfortable silence. Yeah, this was a comfortable for sure. Was it? No, it was. There was no reason why it would be awkward, right? Well besides the fact that they almost kissed while making pancakes that morning but that didn’t mean anything. That wouldn’t make anything awkward because friend almost kissed all the time. Yeah, that made some kind of sense.

It was like Toni could sense the internal panic that was happening in the redhead’s head because she slipped her hand into hers and gave her a soft smile. That was probably supposed to calm her down but that only seemed to make her more nervous. And oh god was her hand sweating? Was she getting hand sweat all over the other girls hand. What if she didn’t like that and they never held hands again, because Cheryl couldn’t control her hand sweat!

“Relax, flower girl, I know it’s a lot of rainbows for a straight person to take it but we can ease you into it slowly.” There’s a teasing tone in Toni’s words that makes her relax a little bit, the hand squeeze that was sent her way also helped her calm down a little bit. Something about the pinknette had an aura to her that pulled Cheryl in but also terrified her while simultaneously making her nervous and calm. It was the most confused the redhead had been in a while.

Without actually thinking about it the florist tugged her new found friend closer to her body, blushing lightly as she did. They both had their eyes one Dani up ahead so it was more leisure than fun for the two girls who were watching them. Not that they weren’t having fun, but there also a sense of responsibility to it.

“It’s not the rainbows I just think I’m gay. Maybe. Possibly. I think. I think that I’m gay. Yeah. No maybes, just, I think that I’m gay.” She was rambled nervously because she wasn’t sure, even if a part of her had known it for her whole life she was just now coming the realization. Her free hands run through her red curls the nerves getting to her. She had no idea what Toni would say to that but at least she knew that is wasn’t going to be mean.

Actually it was far from mean. It started off in a light teasing tone but it wasn’t mean because it was coming to the tattooed girl to always tease Cheryl and she really liked it. Not in a weird way of course.

The two of them stopped in the middle of the bustling crowd, Toni turning so that her body faced the redhead’s. Reaching out she took her other hand in her’s, rubbing her knuckles softly and giving her a kind look. Years ago, she was in the exact same situation that he new friend was in so the least she could do was help her out with figuring herself out. After all that’s what she had when she started out, well she had her best friends but they had no idea on how they even starting dating each other so they were useless.

“Most straight girls don’t almost kiss their friend after a night of cuddling.” Her tone is light as she teased the redhead, but her expression quickly turned to a more serious expression. “But if you’re gay then that’s great or if bi or pan or queer or maybe just questioning that’s all great because love is important. So it doesn’t matter if you fall in love with a girl or a guy or even a pal, just that you find someone who loves you as much as you love them.”

She paused and looked down at her feet, trying to decide what to say next. The crowd around them seemed to have just disappeared, like in the movies, and it feels like it’s just the two of them in the moment. “So yeah, if you’re gay there are plenty of pretty girls surrounding us if you decide you want to experiment today or not, or even flirt with someone so you can experiment in the future.”

In reality Cheryl was nervous just around one girl that she’s friends with she had no idea what she’d turn into if she was trying to flirt with pretty girls… or even kissing them. The whole time would be filled with panic and yeah, it wouldn’t be good for the redhead at all. Well kissing a girl sounds pretty girl sounds pretty good in the long run, just not right there were Cheryl would probably panic and run away.

Without really thinking for once she pulled her new friend in a tight hug, ignoring the tears that was ruining her makeup but she didn’t care. The last time she had voiced anything about being gay was when she was in middle school and that didn’t end up well for her or the girl she was caught with. After that she completely ignored any feelings for girls that could be considered more than friendly.

“Thank you.” She whispered as she hid her face in the tattoo artists neck with as she attempted to stop crying. This was the first time she actually felt validated for all the way that she felt. For being the way that she was, she didn’t know what that was yes but she had time to figure it out. Ot at least she thinks that she does, it feels like she does but she could be wrong.

After a few minutes of hugging Cheryl pulled away from Toni and wiped at the tears. “I need to put rainbow or something on my face so you can’t tell my mascara is running.” She joked lightly as she wiped away the rest of the tears, giving the tattoo artist a small smile. Lacing their fingers back together she dragged her away from the spot, successfully merging back into the crowd in search of Dani and her girlfriend.

It only took them a few minutes to catch up to the two younger girls and come up with a game plane. Once they had decided on a time and a place to meet they went their separate ways ready to enjoy the parade at its fullest. The two older girls were partnered up and the two younger ones were partners because that only made the most sense. Couples stayed together. Not that Toni and Cheryl were a couple, like a couple of people. Yeah, that’s exactly what it was. Just a couple of people partnering off so the real couple could have fun.

Hours passed in what felt like no time at all. It was getting dark, late, and Cheryl promised that he would have Dani and Riley home by eleven and it was getting extremely close to that time. The tattoo artist and florist, who were now covered in confetti and beads and a lot of other things, made their way over to the meetup spot they had decided on.

When they got there the other two were already there, Dani half asleep on top of her girlfriend. The redhead didn’t really blame them because she spent all day on her feet for work and even she was exhausted. Once Riley spotted them she woke her girlfriend up and walked over to them.

“Hey girls! Have fun?” Cheryl asked them once they were over to them, which only got a tired replies of yes and something else that she couldn’t quite figure out. That’s when they made it clear that they were too tired to have a conversation and just wanted to go home. Which is why Toni’s was leading their way through the lessening crowd and ordering an uber for the group.

Almost all of the car ride was spent in silence as the redhead rested her head on the tattoo artist, her red curls sprawling over her shoulder. The shorter girl didn’t mind as she ran a hand through the curls, humming softly to the music playing on the stereo. Meanwhile the other two girls fought sleep as they got closer and closer to the house they were staying at for the night.

Once Dani and Riley were dropped off the comfortable silence remained, the two of them getting out when they got back to Cheryl’s place. Both of them stood outside of her door, waiting for the other to say something. It was the awkward, flustered redhead that was the first one to speak up. “Thank you for today, I had a lot of fun.”

Pink haired moved as the shorter girl nodded at her words, leaning up to take the stray hair behind the florist’s ear. “You’re very welcome, flower girl.” She replied and gave her a soft look. Something about it made the redhead’s impulse control go out the window as she leaned down and connected their lips, kissing Toni.

Instantly the other girl was kissing back as her arms went up to wrap around Cheryl’s neck, supporting herself a little as she pushed up on the tip of her toes. There was just enough of a height difference for her to need to do that, which would probably get her teased later on. It didn’t take long before the redheads hands were on Toni’s hips as she pulled her together.

The kiss felt like mix of perfection and like it was never going to end, but the redhead was the first one to pull away. A deep blush had taken over her features as she stared at her, quickly disconnecting their bodies from each other. “Yup! Not gay! See you on Monday!” It was definitely the panic talking as she chirped out her words.

With that statement she made her way into her house leavine a stunned  Toni staring at the maple wood door in utter confusion.

DANY III - I’m Ready When You Are

@helloimnotawesome - Finally an update for you! Chapter 10 - Dany/Arya/Ghost/Jon bonding. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for your patience! <3 Have about a week left of uni (before Christmas) and then we’ll be back on track! 

DANY III - I’m Ready When You Are

'Come say hello to Ghost', he said. 'It'll be fun', he said. The fun had mainly consisted of watching Arya's face. It had been a pendulum swinging between awestruck and pure childish joy. From her trembling it was clear she had to physically restrain herself from just running over and hug the dog tightly - like she'd done with Jon. Ghost on the other hand hand been completely mellow and had an overbearing look to him. Probably due to the pain meds Sam had giving him not long before they arrived back in the room. Twice a day Ghost was still given a small doses of meds to help with the pain from the burn wounds. Though healing up well they were still very sore and causing him a large amount of pain especially when touched. And, she'd shown Sam where the vials were kept and how to administer it for the times when he and Ghost were alone.

They'd given Ghost his own mattress on the floor over by the wall. That way it was easier to get him up on his own, no need for any lifting. Simply being in same room as Jon seemed to be enough now, and this way he has facing the door which was another calming factor. So all in all they'd managed to make him a pretty chilled out winter dog at this point. Arya was laying on her side next to Ghost on his mattress. His mattress very important detail - the dog had literally tipped his head while glancing to the mattress to invite Arya to join him. A detail that had excited Arya even more!

As her and Jon had foreseen, Sam had protested mildly when told he could have the night off, but it was clear to all it was a half-hearted attempt out of politeness. Before leaving he had giving Jon his nightly dose of pain meds as well, and Jon had fallen asleep not long after. Leaving Arya and herself alone - and awake.

Hours later she was sitting in her usual chair - conveniently sandwiched between Jon's bed and Ghost's mattress - quietly catching up on paperwork when Arya started her, expected, third-degree.

"So..." Here we go. Brace yourself Dany! "Why weren't you welcoming Jon back home?"

Keeping her eyes on the papers she continued to write. Don't look up, Dany! This is just a tiny matter. No need to fuel her curiosity. Nothing to see here. Move along.

"Because I was here last night when Ned and Sam told him."

"Why?"

"Because he asked me to stay."

"Jon did?"

"Yes, Jon did." Don't look up, Dany! Remember this is just like any other boring conversation you don't want to be part of.

"Of course he did." Arya chucked lightly. Write, Dany, write. Stay busy. Stay focused. "Anyone could see the way he looks at you."

"How does he look at me?" Oh gods, she's smelling blood!

"Oh don't give me that!" She could feel Arya's eyes on her, seeing right through like a laser.

"I'm not. I don't know how you think your brother looks at me." Well done! You almost didn't sound desperate to know how Jon looks at you. Mentally rolling eyes at self. For fuck's sake, Dany!

"Like you're the oasis in his desert. Like you're the rescue-boat in his ocean." Despite teasing there was a softness to Arya's voice.

The thought of Jon looking at her like that took her breath away. Could it be? She hadn't just imagined that little exchange about 'crossing lines'? Breathe, Dany, nice and easy.

"...like you're a shelter in his storm...like you're a fire in his freezing winter..." Arya was still yapping away.

"No he doesn't." Oh gods, does he? Please let it be true.

"...like you're Marg and he's Robbie...like you're Brienne and he's Tormund"

"Alright, I heard you, Arya." Now she's just being ridiculous. Right?!

"...like you're a library and he's Bran.."

"I said I heard you."

"...like you're a pair of Jimmy Choo and he's Sansa!" Arya had trouble containing her laughter now.

"I heard you!" She hissed and finally looked at Arya. Oh yes, please let me be all that  to you, Jon, and more! Sending her, what she hoped was, an angry look - not that Arya would really care anyway. Giving a quick glance towards Jon before looking back at Arya. "Keep it down! Please."

"Ok, alright. Sorry." Arya mockingly put her hands up as if surrendering. Mumbling she added "...and you look at him the same way."

"What?! No I don't!" Oh gods am I that obvious?!

"'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.'"

"No, I'm not." You are and you know it...

"Protesting too much or lying?" A smug look on Arya's face now.

"Both. Neither. I mean..," she sighed in defeat. Damn it!

"If you say so li'l miss heart-eyes," another chuckle from Arya.

"His wife—"

"—was Naathi. For them it's as simple as 'you love each other till you don't' - 'you're together with someone till you're not.'" Arya slowly got up and moved closer. "For Jon to love her she must've been a special woman and I'm sure she'd want Jon to be happy with or without her. If being with you makes him happy I fail to see how that would be a bad thing."

She had to admit that Arya was right. When she had left, fled from, this room in the afternoon, maybe 12 hours ago, all flustered she'd gone to see Missandei. Just like Arya she'd seen straight through her - and she'd told her pretty much the same thing as Arya. What was it Elia's brother always said? 'The heart wants what it wants'. Yes, ok fine, but why does it want something at a highly inconvenient time?! And what if this 'thing' didn't work? Then what? How would that affect their families? Would it ruin the whole dynamics, the 'one big family' feeling they had going and that she and all the Stark kids had grown up with?? Dany, you're over-thinking again. Stop it! Stop. It.

With a sigh she warily looked at Arya. "I guess, you're right."

"I know I am."

Shaking her head slightly, she couldn't help but smile at the level of confidence Arya was displaying on this subject.

"Look, I'm not saying you should throw yourself at him but if something hasn't happened in like...I don't know...a week—"

"A week?! Are you crazy?!" she hissed again, but as usual Arya kept going completely undaunted.

"—then I'll plaster this room with mistletoe! Neither of you would be able to move even a nanometer without being underneath one - and we all know what must happen underneath a mistletoe."

"You're incorrigible!"

"I'll take that as a compliment." Flashing a big grin she sat back next to Ghost.

That's when the fun stopped for everyone.

Though clearly still sleeping, Ghost was growling and his big fangs were showing. The look in Arya's eyes instantly went from mirth to fear and worry. Slowly backing away she went closer to Jon's bed until she couldn't get any further.

"What's happening?? I didn't hurt him, I swear!"

"Arya, I know you didn't. He's having a nightmare. He's been having them all week - just like his pack-leader up there." She tipped her head slightly to indicate who she was talking about.

"Jon has nightmares?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, but right now we need to concentrate on calming down Ghost before he might do something that could harm himself - or others."

Hearing the last two words Arya's eyes grew even bigger before seemingly calming herself down and proceeded to ask, "anything I can do to help?"

"I know how this'll sound considering how angry he looks right now, but the best way to calm him is to gently touch him and just talk to him in a calm, even, and friendly voice. Can you do that? If not, it's ok and then just stay over there by Jon."

"Yeah I..," she swallowed, "I can do that."

"Ok, then take a couple of deep breathes to steady yourself before quietly sitting down next to me."

Arya nodded eagerly.

She placed herself so that Arya was still close yet behind her. 'Just a precaution'.

"What do I say to him?"

"Anything as long as you keep your voice calm and friendly. You don't need to whisper though," she glanced to her side catching Arya's eye and received a sheepish smile in return.

Arya began telling a story about a little black cat who was scared of everything, and gently stroked Ghost on his head and down his neck and back. Getting her stethoscope from her bag next to the chair she was checking his breathing and heart-rate. Both were still more rapid than she'd like. He'd stopped growling at least. Noticing Arya's eyes on her she nodded slightly indicating for her to keep talking. Now the little cat had arrived at Dr. Owl's office where he was being tickled with a feather and asked if he got enough vitamins. How does she come up with this stuff? His breathing slowed down to a more acceptable rate, but his heart was still racing. Expected as gods know what awful things he must've seen in that sweet head of his. His fangs weren't showing anymore either. Arya's little black cat had now been given a courageous heart by Dr. Owl and was now happy as could be and playing with everyone he met. Again, she couldn't help smiling at Arya's wondrous mind. That girl sure is one of a kind!

Finally Ghost had calmed down and was peacefully asleep again.

She looked over at Arya. "That was really good work," winking she added, "you'd make a great vet."

"Thanks, but think I'll stick with being a paramedic for now."

"How did you come up with that story off the top of your head?"

"I didn't. It's called—"

"—Fraidy Cat." A gruff voice answered from the bed behind them.

Briefly they looked at each other before in unison getting on their feet and over to Jon.

He turned his head giving them a lazy smile.

"It was my favourite story as a kid. Mom read it to me every night before bed." There was a light chuckle. "Dad had read it to me and I instantly loved the story. Mom didn't know it and I wouldn't go to sleep without it. On nothing but willpower I kept myself awake all night and late into the next afternoon. Gods I hope my own kids aren't that stubborn!" They are and the next ones will too. DANY!!!

They all laughed at that.

"After that she had Aunt Lya come and tell it to me until mom had learned it too. Never understood how Aunt Lya knew it though."

"Because dad used to read it to her when she was a child." Both her and Jon looked at Arya in surprise. "He's read it for all of us. He calls it a family heirloom. By the time me and Bran were born the book had been worn out so now we just all learn it by heart." She gave a little shy smile. "I can guarantee he'll be telling the story to Adei and Amador as well if he hasn't already." The smile had grown bigger now.

"I'd love it if he did." Gods, I'm getting all teary again. Get a grip, Dany! "Thank you for calming Ghost down by the way. Must be the accident."

"But Vis told me you were a K9 unit..," Arya trailed off.

"I was - with another dog. Ghost is only a few years old. Luckily he hasn't had to go on any missions with me."

"Oh, I'm sorry I just thought..," again trailing off.

"It's ok, Arya. How could you've known?"

"Right." Looking between Jon and her Arya cleared the throat and said, "Well, it's almost time for my shift to begin, so should go get some food and get ready."

Arya leaned in to give her brother a hug and then left giving her a wink as she walked out the door.

"What was that about?"

"What?"

"The wink."

"Oh nothing, just something we talked about earlier when you were sleeping." Wait! "You were sleeping, right?"

"Yes I was." He chuckled. "Why? What did you talk about?"

"Nothing." She smiled nervously "Why? What did you hear?" Oh gods no!

"Nothing." Is he laughing? Oh gods he's laughing! Why is he laughing? "Though I'll take your nervous denying as a sign that you were talking about 'something' rather than 'nothing'. Is he smirking at me?!

"Oh for fuck's sake! Reading me like a godsdamned open book!" She stared at him horrified. "Oh no! That wasn't supposed to be said out loud!" Embarrassing! Turning to leave her hand was grabbed before she could step away.

"Dany! Please. Stay." That husky but oh so soft voice. Damn it! She slowly turned around looking down at their hands. "I let you run out on me once, I can't let you do it twice. You asked me not to hide from you, remember?" She nodded slowly. "And so I didn't and I won't." He squeezed her hand. "Now I'm asking you, Dany, to please don't run from me."

She took a deep breath as she slowly lifted her eyes to look at him.

"I'm afraid...with you."

There was a slight smile on his face at her mimicking his words from the day before, and he played along saying, "sorry if I've crossed any lines with you. That was never my intention."

"You haven't," she removed her hand from his to balance herself as she leaned in closer to lightly touch his forehead with hers, "but I'm afraid I might want you to."

From this position all she could see was steel grey eyes swimming with something she was too scared to name yet.

Moving his head slightly giving her a quick little peck at the tip of her nose he said, "I'm ready when you are."