TXF/Sex Ed - Introspection

Follow up  - Mulder joins Scully as they sit down with Dr. Milburn

“I don’t know about this woman Scully,” Mulder said as they approached the house settled up in the hills. Mulder had been having second thoughts all day, but the closer they got the bigger the ache in his stomach grew.

“The least we can do is be cordial. Her son is dating our daughter,” Scully returned and fixed her violet skirt over her knee.

“Don’t remind me,” Mulder grumbled.

“He’s a sweet boy.”

“ He’s not my concern.”

Scully consoled him, skimming his knee and tracing the inside of his thigh. For a moment he considered taking the scenic route. “She can take care of herself,” Scully reminded him. “She takes after her father.” Scully fluttered her lashes and flashed him an innocent smile.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Mulder returned.

Inside Jean’s home office, perched on her chairs, Mulder hadn’t been there five minutes before he had decided they had overstayed. He must have missed the memo that it was long skirt day as Jean had on a pleated black one that went well with Scully’s plum. Her dress was more conservative than the last time they had met. A simple black silk blouse with basic designs accompanied by a silver choker. This blouse, like the one before was knotted in the front. Mulder wondered if maybe she had a fetish where men were required to chew it open using only their teeth while strapped to a Texas Longhorn. Or maybe he was just in the mood for a juicy ribeye.

“Six years? But why?” Jean asked perplexed, pulling Mulder’s attention back towards the conversation.

“It wasn’t worth risking our friendship,” Scully answered.

“But you were attracted to each other?” Her probing gaze narrowed over her glasses. “I mean, you undressed for him on your first case.”

Mulder attempted to come to Scully’s rescue, but stumbled. “Well, that’s only proof that we were just friends because even though her soft, porcelain skin reflecting off the warm candle’s glow was close enough for me to reach my tongue out and lick it, I didn’t.”

“You are an odd bird aren’t you?” Jean responded with upturned lips.

Now it was Scully’s turn. “Someone who is more than a friend doesn’t restrain their obvious erection in their waistband while I check him for head wounds or allow me to nurse him to health naked in a bath and have nothing happen. Several times I might add. Not to mention shower together with little more than a glance.”

Jean’s eyebrows raised almost meeting her hairline. “Well, okay.. You spent the night together frequently when you were platonic?” They both nodded. “Hmm... Inhibited sexual desire perhaps.”

“We had desires,” Scully said sounding almost insulted.

Jean addressed Mulder. “Do you believe your proclivities for porn became an addiction? Perhaps masking intimacy issues?”

“No,” Mulder said shortly crossing his legs, immediately finding it uncomfortable and uncrossing them.

“When you had other relationships, it didn’t interfere?”

Mulder and Scully exchanged some knowing looks. Scully answered. “No… well... we worked through it.”

Jean crossed her legs to rest her portfolio. “Well this might be something worth exploring, how did they end?”

“Badly,” they both said in unison.

“How’s that?” Suddenly, very intrigued at their shared, quick response.

“They all died,” Scully said innocently.

“Pardon?” Jean asked pulling her glasses to the end of her nose so she could peak out the top.

“All our exes… They’re dead,” Mulder repeated, shrugging.

“Did you kill them?” Jean asked in her delightful sarcasm.

They paused and frowned. “No.”

“Are you certain?”

“Phoebe is still alive,” Mulder reminded Scully.

A line formed between Scully’s brows as they tried to merge. “And how would you know that?”

“I-I don’t,” Mulder stammered back, shifting in his seat. “I just know she left us alive.”

Okay,” Jean interrupted realizing the conversation was going nowhere. “Let’s fast forward shall we? If you weren’t having a sexual relationship with others and you weren’t having one with each other then how were you releasing your sexual desires? All self stimulation?”

She arched a brow as Mulder and Scully glanced at one another.

“I’ll admit I am a bit baffled,” Jean continued, shaking her head. “It’s obvious you were attracted to one another, there’s a clear devotion, whether you saw it or not you were in an exclusive relationship with each other. Why go all those years with only masturbatory gratification if the answer was right there?”

“My father,” Mulder finally murmured, defeated.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Jean said pushing her black frames back towards her face. “And how did your father stall your sexual relationship?”

“He abducted Scully, stole her ova, medically raped her, experimented on children, made secret deals with aliens…”

“So pretty normal then,” Jean sighed, at a loss for another response. She turned to address Scully. “This trauma affected you.”

Scully swallowed hard shaking her head and wringing her hands. “Maybe it did.”

Scully glowed at Mulder taking his hand. “Mulder was patient with me. He’s been an incredible pillar of strength.”

“And he waited,” Jean said a little stunned. It was obvious she had yet to come across a couple so dedicated and committed without even pretense or labels.

“He did,” she said squeezing Mulder’s hand, and he squeezed hers in return.

“Did you feel responsible?” Jean asked, blinking hard.

Mulder avoided eye contact. “Yes. I’ve always taken responsibility for my father’s actions. Especially when it came to Scully.”

“Given your abduction,” Jean turned the page reading some of her previous notes. “Excuse me, multiple abductions, by several men, do you see that affecting your need for control in the bedroom.”

Scully gave Mulder a knowing glare. “Possibly.”

“I have some workbooks the two of you could be greatly helped by if you're interested, and aids to accompany them.”

Scully relented and gave her a nervous nod.

“Do you believe your son had a lot to do with your breakup?” She asked Mulder taking the pressure off of Scully.

“Scully suffered privately, she... I think it had a lot to do with my depression and when 2012 came and went it was like all our sacrificing was for nothing,” Mulder answered, scoffing, his eyes barely containing his pain.

“2012?”

“The armageddon,” he deadpanned.

Jean nodded and comforted her bottom lip with her tongue. “Right. Have you ever been on prescribed medication, Mr. Mulder?”

Mulder frowned, rolling his eyes. “No. Why do doctors always ask me that?”

Jean took a deep cleansing breath. “Let’s change tracks. You also mentioned a retarded ejaculation?”

“No need for name calling,” Mulder returned.

“Delayed ejaculation,” she restated. “Do you find it affecting your intimacy?”

“At times,” Scully answered.

“Dana, are you experiencing pain, dryness…”

“No, but I’ll have three orgasms before his one and we’re not young anymore. It can be exhausting,” Scully admitted and gestured towards Mulder’s smirking face.

“Th-r-e-e to one?” Jean said, her head physically retreating as if hit with her words.

Scully nodded.

Jean put her note folder down. “How about we take a break. Go out on the lanai?”

“That is a great idea,” Mulder said lifting himself up off the chair and holding a hand out for Scully.

“Do you know the way?” Jean asked as she put away her notes.

“Yes,” Scully acknowledged and led Mulder.

“Splendid! I’ll meet you in a moment.”

Jean returned carrying what Scully believed to be a vape. Scully watched her very casually lean against the railing and inhale deeply, holding the stick delicately between her fingers, tilting her head back exhaling systematically. A strange vision passed through Scully’s mind as if she was experiencing a preview of an orgasm Jean might experience.

“Do you partake?” She asked waving the smoke away from Scully’s eyes. It was obvious from the odor that there was much more than a nicotine based substance in the cartridge.

“No,” Scully answered not able to take her eyes off of it.

Jean held out the stick, “Would you like to try?”

Scully shook her head and smiled politely. “No, thank you.”

“Come on, Scully,” Mulder urged with a devious grin. “I’ve always wondered what you would do if you were that stoned.”

Not shying away from a dare, or maybe she just wanted to, Scully smiled warmly at Jean, gave Mulder a condescending blink of her eyes and held out her hand. Jean passed it to her.

Mulder laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day, Dana Katherine Scully, if only the nuns could see you now.”

Scully squinted her eyes at him and raised a brow, pushed the button and took a quick inhale without breaking eye contact. On the exhale Scully blew out large rings, only to back it up by filling the center forming an atomic bomb. Mulder pursed his lips.  

“Okay, Mulder. Your turn,” she said smugly.

Mulder grabbed it away from her over exaggerating his exasperation and took a good clean long inhale and held it, his eyes starting to water and Scully could almost feel the burn. He let it out in a smooth long stream, a walking stick of haze.

“You’re fairly good at that,” Jean remarked.

Mulder shrugged, but seemed to answer Scully. “Langley.”

“Should have known,” She huffed.

The conversation dulled and Scully lost track of time. The view was breathtaking. Mountains and streams. Wildlife under a clear blue warm sky. She wasn’t certain how anyone else was doing, but she didn’t feel a thing. Maybe she was immuned or it was weak. She wondered if anyone else was having any luck.

Mulder had a goofy smile on his face, but that was nothing that unusual. Jean appeared to be in her own world. Scully looked back out at the trees and they moved, not from a breeze, no, they moved in waves as if marching. She swallowed and felt the cilia in her trachea push the saliva down her throat. Each individual hair. Deep cleansing breaths she thought to herself, but that only made her feel the air pass through each bronchi and then the bronchioles. She started to panic. Was she supposed to remember to breathe? Would her body forget to do it on its own?

She had to take a step back from the railing and convince herself she wasn’t indeed floating out of her body.

Scully excused herself and walked in the house in search of some water still uncertain if she was going to stop breathing, but that fear was overtaken by concern over feeling her heart pumping the blood into her veins. Oh, no she worried, did she have to keep track of that too? Had her involuntary actions shut down and pushed all the responsibility into her conscious mind? What if she forgot, would her heart stop beating?

Back from her water adventure she stepped out on the patio ready to be sober again, a little angered that she would have to wait a full two hours for that to occur. Scully stopped mid thought and saw bright crimson. Jean and Mulder were in a fit of laughter - about her? And Jean, was sneaking in little touches all over Mulder. She touched his arm, patted his back, reached way up and squeezed his shoulder. Ran her hand along his chest and stomach on her way down.

Mulder stumbled back, avoiding her touch, but Scully still saw red. Like a bitch was going to bleed, kind of red. She moved between the two of them in an odd haze of temper and THC, plastering herself to his side and pushing her roughly out of the way with her body. Scully ran her hand along the line of his chest and abdomen where Jean had touched, as if her touch could erase it. Jean was jostled by her sudden movement and clearly surprised.

Scully ignored her too busy staring at Mulder. “Why were you letting her touch you?” she asked him quietly.

Mulder looked half-amused. “Did you find some alcohol while you were gone? You’re acting a little…strange. You know you shouldn’t mix the two.”

Her anger immediately rushed into her cheeks, but was quickly replaced by embarrassment. Maybe she misinterpreted the situation. Her brain was spinning inside her skull trying to find an exit.  And she wanted to leave, so she did, darting into the house and up the stairs searching for a bathroom to lock herself in.

Mulder found her in one of the bedrooms sitting on the bed with her head in her hands, never able to locate the bathroom. Without a word he approached her kneeling between her legs, drawing her close. She dropped her hands to his side and joined his Caspian seas which were currently eclipsed by his pupils. He was definitely feeling the effects as well.  

“What does it do to you when someone else puts their hands on me Scully?” he asked delicately. “Even when it’s innocent, does it still make you that crazy? Like you might do something violent? After all these years, do you continue to get that sick feeling, deep in the pit of your stomach? Does it make your chest hurt, your insides clench, your brain freeze? Answer me Scully.” He moved against her as he spoke, speaking directly into her eyes, his tone so even it made her whole body shiver and she lost all coherent thought. Mulder was in a mood, he knew damn well how she felt when other women paid him attention and that was always dangerous. Yet, Scully entertained his questions.

“Yes,” Scully answered breathlessly, closing in on his lips. “Sometimes I don’t recognize the person I’ve become. You’re the only one that brings that out in me and I hate it.”  

Mulder was adjusting her body as she spoke, bringing her hips to the very edge of the bed. “Good,” he said arrogantly stroking her hair and taking hold of her hand.

“Why is that good?” Scully asked, her eyes not able to leave his own, everything in the room floating around them.  

“Because that’s exactly how I feel when someone even talks to you. It’s always been that way. I feel jealous, covetous.”

“Always?” She stroked his chest through his shirt, pausing at one of his nipples.

Mulder nodded in an exaggerated manner.

“From the first time I saw you run your tongue over that plump, dangerously sensual, bottom lip of yours.” Mulder reached for her lip with his teeth and sucked it into his mouth and Scully let out a harsh moan. Mulder released her only for his teeth to settle in on her earlobe. She closed her eyes and tilted her head so he could work his way down her neck. Her finger hardening the nipple underneath it.  

“I want to feel your skin,” Scully demanded in her haze and thought, now she had done it. She had to touch him. That was worse than being high, an addiction to Mulder that ran through her veins. Now she couldn’t seem to focus on anything but touching more of him.

“Have you ever considered helping with an instruction video Mr. Mulder?” Jean asked, leaning against the doorway holding a cardboard box. “Because your penis would be a perfect demonstration model.”

Scully pulled away from Mulder, but she was so high and Jean’s voice so slow and distant she didn’t even mind that she was in the room. Scully lowered her gaze to see what had captivated Jean, following Mulder as he stood. Mulder’s jeans had bulged and were extended so profusely, it was borderline obscene.

Jean took long strides into the room and Scully laughed thinking her legs might be made of stilts. She sat the box on the desk. “This is actually my son’s room.”

“I apologize,” Scully said rosy cheeked. “I mistook it for the bathroom door.” Scully giggled. “Not that I used it for a bathroom.”

“Quite all right. A lot of people make that mistake.” Jean ran a hand through her hair. “Dana, I wasn’t trying to overstep my bounds.”

“No, no.” Scully said, shaking her head. “It’s me. I overreacted.”

“I brought the marital aids we were discussing. We could, very professionally, walk you through a scenario.” Jean held up three bars and flashed her addictively wide smile that Scully was forced to mimic. “And I brought some edibles, if you care to try. Pineapple delight.”

fate

summary: Thirty-two years of sisterhood sounds like forever, she thinks, but is is not enough.

sort of post ep for paper clip. part of my series of fics i’m writing as i rewatch the x files.

“I think it's about something we have no personal choice in. I think it's about fate.” - Fox Mulder, 3x02 Paper Clip

1964

They've discussed names, a little unseriously. Bill had insisted that it would be another boy, so they had agreed unofficially on Charles. (He liked to name the children after family members; there was Billy, and then Melissa was after his mother and Charles after his father. But they hadn't discussed girl names.)

“I liked that one name you suggested,” Bill offers the next morning. They know the routines of early parenthood well, but he is no less fascinated by the baby, moving his fingers through the sunlight for her to track. “What was it… Dana.”

Maggie smiles; Dana was her favorite of the considered girl names, but she'd figured Bill would never go for it since it wasn't traditional. “Dana Katherine,” she offers, stroking her daughter's downy red hair. The baby snuffles, turning her face into Maggie’s shoulder. “For my grandmother.”

They take the baby home after a few days. Bill goes in first - wisely enough, Missy and Billy tend to be rambunctious, especially right after breakfast. Maggie’s mother has been staying with them, and she embraces Maggie at the door before leaning over the baby carrier. Missy and Billy leap at her before their father stops them. “Go and sit on the couch,” he says in that kind but stern way he has. Billy sticks out his lower lip and stomps over to the couch. Bill scoops up Missy and sets her next to her brother; she swings her legs in excitement.

The kids have been arguing for a few weeks now about whether or not the baby would be a brother or a sister (Billy in favor of the former and Missy of the latter). Maggie opts to sit between them with the baby in her arms so they won't come to blows over who was right. “Kids,” she says. “This is your new sister, Dana.”

Billy pouts, flopping back against the back of the couch, and Bill and her mother swoop in to scold him. But Missy is intrigued, crawling closer to get a look. Dana half-dozes, tiny hands waving in the air. Missy pokes her foot. “Day?”

“Dana,” Maggie corrects, amused. “Don't poke her, sweetie, you have to be gentle.”

Melissa reaches for the baby again, and Dana catches her sister's finger in her little hand. “Day,” she says, satisfied.

1969

The baby is too little to play with Billy yet, so Dana shifts back and forth between her siblings, an ambassador of some sort. She's big enough to be some fun, so Billy takes her on some of his self-professed adventures and brings her back with scraped knees that her dresses don't hide. Others, he insists on going on by himself so Dana ends up back in their room, begging Missy to come play. Most of the time she will.

They have “sides” in their bedroom, made clear by the stark difference between them. Dana listens to their parents when she's told to keep her room straight and Melissa doesn't, so her side of the floor has permanent piles of dolls and stuffed animals. Her bed is always a rumpled tangle of quilts and sheets; when they make a fort out of blankets and kitchen chairs, Dana always gets the blankets from Missy’s bed.

Missy is less wild than their brother; she likes to play make-believe. She helps Dana learn to spell big second grade words. Maggie keeps Dana’s hair cut short (and always neat, except for the times she goes to play outside with Billy), but Missy grows hers long so she can feel it blow out behind her in the wind. (She insists, whines at the sight of scissors.) It is always knotted and a pain to brush; their mother encourages her to cut it, and she always refuses.

Dana gets into a fight with Billy and Missy helps her hide the rabbit Bill is threatening in a lunch box. When she finds it dead two days later, Missy helps her throw a funeral. They bury it under their mother's rose bushes, and Missy scatters a handful of petals over the dirt.

One Saturday, Maggie finds them in her bathroom playing with her makeup. Dana is sitting on the closed toilet, shorts and a Band-Aid on her knee, whining as Missy pokes at her face with a mascara brush. Missy has already transformed her own face, as well as gotten into her closet and stolen several scarves that she’s woven around her dress. Maggie laughs until she cries before washing their faces and sending them to their room for a time-out.

 1972

The day Dana turns eight is cloudless and sunny, stunningly cold for California, even in February.

After school, Missy dares her to race home. “We have something to show you,” she whispers seriously. “Billy said you were old enough.” Dana runs fast enough to beat her home, shoes scuffing the new pavement and lunch box banging off of her leg.

Missy and Billy lead her up into the woods behind their house, so far that Dana’s fingers grow numb from the cold, but she doesn't say anything from the fear that Billy will proclaim her too little and make Melissa take her back. Finally, they reach a little stick structure with what looks like a handmade sign stuck between the sticks. “Billy carved it himself,” Missy tells her.

Billy stands beside the fort with his arms crossed in front of his chest, spine straight like their father and the naval men he brings home for dinner sometimes, a proud twelve. “I made the fort, too,” he says. “Missy didn't help, she just found me out here and I made her swear not to tell.”

Missy scowls at him, sticking her tongue out. “But I come out here now, too, and now that you're eight, you're old enough.”

Awed, Dana steps closer to the little fort, reaching out to touch the floral sheet as a makeshift door. “Does Mom know you stole a sheet?” she asks slyly.

“No, and you better not tell her,” Billy says sternly, in his best imitation of their dad. Except their dad would never steal one of their mother’s sheets to use as a door for a fort.

“Shut up, I won't!” She glares fiercely up at him, feeling smaller than usual.

“You can't tell Charlie, either, he's too little, he won't keep it a secret,” Melissa says seriously. “Go check it out, Day, it's really neat.”

Dana grins, drops to the ground (even though she knows her mother will kill her for getting her dress dirty) and crawls inside. It is cool and dark in the fort, shadows on the wall that look almost scary, and a pile of pilfered stuffed animals and toy soldiers and Billy's B-B gun. Dana smiles. Billy grabs the gun and stalks away from the fort, but Melissa crawls in beside her, smiling back as she sits across from Dana and shows her the games they've stuck up here; being in the fort together is companionable, a secret.

 1978

The most rebellion on Dana’s part comes from taking the long way home from school and taking a few hours longer than necessary, or sneaking out to smoke pilfered cigarettes on the back porch. (Missy can see the brief flicker of light, the red glow, outside her window.) She is testing her boundaries, but when it comes down to it she's still a baby. She still reads under the covers with a flashlight, for God's sake. Melissa waits an hour after bedtime, looking for a muted flashlight beam or for her footsteps across the rug. Silence. She slips out of bed, still fully clothed, and rummages for her shoes on the dark floor. She ties her hair back before tiptoeing across the room and opening the window.

A light shines in her eyes. “That's really dumb, you know,” Dana says with a sense of self-satisfaction in her tone.

Melissa makes a face at her, shielding her eyes with her hands. “You should be a cop, Dana, you're very good at pretending you're in charge.”

“I'm just saying it's dumb,” she says, very matter-of-fact. Dana is a very self-righteous fourteen, and it is annoying as hell. The light bounces off her braces as she sets it in her lap. “Billy never sneaks out.”

“Billy's a kiss-up, and it's not as if I'm not careful. I never sneak out when Dad's home.” Melissa keeps her voice to a whisper, even though their mother can sleep through anything. “Besides that, your little cigarette habit hardly makes you Little Miss Responsibility.”

Dana blushes bright red. “That's… different.”

“Suuuuure,” Missy says at length, grinning at her little sister. Dana doesn't smile back, flipping the flashlight on and off. “It's just a party,” she adds. “I'm meeting Lucy around the corner and she's driving, she doesn't drink or anything. I'll be back by one. You should come, you might have fun for once.”

“I'll pass,” she mumbles, tossing the flashlight down beside her on the bed.

Missy heaves a dramatic sigh, opening the window a little. “Whatever you say,” she groans, hooking her foot in the crook of two tree branches. She looks back to Dana on her bed, bright hair swishing around her face. “You're not gonna mention this to Mom, are you?” she asks cautiously.

“Not if you don't mention the cigarette thing,” says Dana. Missy snickers, and she lobs a pillow at her head. “Shut up, I didn't know you knew.”

“Consider yourself before you lecture others, little sister,” Melissa says, placing her other foot on the branch and poising herself to swing out.

“I just worry about you.” Missy positions herself in the tree before looking back at her sister. Dana is resting her chin in her hands. “Haven't you heard about some of those kids? Bad things could happen.”

“Bad things can happen everywhere, Day,” she says. “Quit worrying so much.”

 1980

Their father buys Melissa a car before she leaves for college - a rusty old Volkswagen that seems to fit her. She's delighted with the car, driving Dana and Charlie down to the coast two days before she leaves. Charlie throws rocks into the ocean in the quiet way he has about him. Dana gathers shells as she trudges behind her sister up and down the sand. “You should take some with you,” she offers sheepishly, writing the beginnings of her name in the sand with her big toe (D-A…).

Missy laughs and tousles her hair. Dana glares at her from under a loose strand hanging over her eyes. “You're such a sap, Dana,” says Missy. “Here, give me one.”

The three of them trail barefoot up the beach, scattering tiny particles of sand along the upholstery, and blast the radio on the way home.

Dana helps her pack that night, folding clothes methodically and putting them into suitcases. She's inherited their mother's neat packing skills. “You can't keep all that, you know,” she tells Melissa, who is digging through flowery-handwritten school notebooks and notes her friends passed.

“Watch me,” Missy taunts and Dana rolls her eyes. She grins; she's going to miss her sister trying to boss her around. More importantly, she's going to miss actually bossing her around. “Are you going to miss me when I'm gone?”

“Of course not,” Dana says slyly. “I'll get the room to myself.” She bursts into giggles when Missy lobs an English notebook at her head.

 1986

Dana vanishes to the roof sometime after dessert. Melissa goes upstairs to find her. “It's too cold to sit out on the roof like we used to as kids,” she says, sticking her head out into the November-in-Maryland cold.

Dana looks grumpy, holding a cigarette in one hand. “Thanksgiving is overrated.”

“Believe me, I know, but something tells me you're not in the mood for a rant.” She crawls out onto the roof. “What's up?”

“Stress.” Dana takes a drag on her cigarette. “Med school, and whatever the hell is going on between Dad and Charlie…”

“He just skipped Thanksgiving, it's not the end of the world,” Melissa says.

“Mom says tension was building before he even left for college.” Dana exhales, smoke leaving her mouth in a thin rope.

“You're in med school, Day, you should know better.” Missy waves a hand at the cigarette.

Dana makes a face. “There's a lot of potential retorts to that, but I won't bother.”

“Good. You know I can beat you in an argument.” Melissa smirks. Dana sticks out her tongue like they're children again, stubs her cigarette out on a roof tile. “C’mon inside, little sister,” Melissa adds, crawling across the roof. “We're too old for this, and I doubt you want Mom to catch you smoking.”

Dana follows her across the sloped surface. She spent the last half of her teen years on the roof, is an expert at navigating them. “Oh, I don't think we could ever be too old for this.”

 1993

“You're telling me a parasite almost ate your brain while you were trapped in the fucking Arctic?”

“First of all, it was Alaska,” Dana says matter-of-factly. “And second of all, it wouldn't have eaten my brain if I'd been infected. It would've made my actions more erratic, making me a danger to myself and others.”

Melissa shudders. “Sounds horrific.”

“I've stopped expecting anything else from this job.”

She smirks at her sister across the table. “Sooo… any steamy moments with that partner of yours?”

“For the last time, Missy, it's not like that,” Dana says, frustrated.

“No cuddling for warmth?” she asks innocently. “No lingering touches?”

Dana’s cheeks pink in a way that shows her bluff. “Don't be ridiculous. We were on the brink of death and didn't know who to trust in freezing weather. That's about the furthest thing from romance.”

“Ahh, near death experiences,” Melissa says dramatically. “They ruin everything.” Dana rolls her eyes, punching holes around the rim of her coffee cup with her thumbnail. “Seriously, Dana, you have to stop almost dying on us. What would I do without our cigarette-on-the-roof tradition every holiday?”

“Our more festive of traditions,” Dana deadpans.

Missy laughs. “Maybe I should cast some sort of protective charm on you,” she says, half-joking - she knows exactly what her sister thinks of stuff like that.

“Maybe you should. Mulder would love that.” Dana smirks. “Near slips like this are part of the job, but sometimes I envy your nice and easy, non-life threatening job.”

“I have a feeling we're both exactly where we need to be in the world,” Melissa tells her seriously.

“Fate? Destiny? If that's telling me I'm going to go to a liver-eating monster, then I'll pass.”

“I thought you caught that guy.”

“We did. It hasn't gone to trial yet, and Mulder says our case is weak.”

“Oh, great.”

Dana rests her hand on her cheek, looking like she's lost in thought. “At least Mom and Dad will have you,” she says. “If something were to happen to me.”

Melissa believes in fate, but she also believes in her sister. “Don't be ridiculous, Day. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

 1996

Her nightmares are haunted by bloodstains on the floorboards and an empty hospital bed. Scully wishes she believed in ghosts, because if she did she'd ask for Mulder to come summon up Melissa. She needs to see her one more time, to apologize.

She drifts to her sister's funeral, holding onto her flowers as some kind of an anchor. Some cousins drift around, offering condolences to her; they probably don't know she's the reason Melissa’s dead. Charlie doesn't show. Traitor, she thinks, furiously. Mulder lingers awkwardly on the edge. She doesn't know why he's here, he only met Melissa a few times. Maybe it's a thank you for going to his father's funeral. He approaches her once and gives her a hug but doesn't hover, leaves after the service. Scully sits alone and stares at her knees. Tear droplets fade into her dress, unseen.

When they were kids, Melissa helped her bury her pet rabbit in the backyard. She'd scattered rose petals over the grave. Scully pulls a handful of petals from her bouquet and scatters it over the coffin. She trails back into the funeral home silently. She has no idea what to say. The wake is at her mother's house. She sneaks up to the roof but doesn't light a cigarette. She sits alone until she gets too cold. Her dress rips when she climbs back inside.

Scully goes back home and climbs onto the couch without changing. She twists her cross between her fingers. Its twin is six feet under right now. She watches the spot where Melissa fell and waits for her ghost. Thirty-two years of sisterhood sounds like forever, she thinks, but is is not enough.

Open Coffin | Chapter 03 “Here to pick up the pieces” (Part 2)

Pairing: Kol x Reader (eventually)

Chapter Summary: Klaus leaves Y/N no choice then obey his compulsion as her brothers each have to fight their own battles.

Warnings: skipping a few scenes since you all know the canon info´s anyway, blood, typical tvd violence

Word count: 4012

Tags & Author Note at the bottom. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

Open Coffin Masterlist

<— Chapter 02 

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Recap: “I want you to start walking and don’t stop until you reach the next town borders.” he smirks as you nod and turn around.

Normally you would have been protected by the small amount of vervain you take in every day, but being locked up in the back of a truck prevented you from doing that.

“There is nothing worse for you than abandoning your brother who is about to dig into his true nature, now is there?” Klaus adds smirking in triumph.

No there certainly is not…

Y/N | Gym

Klaus watches you leave the gym with a satisfied smirk on his face “That takes care of that problem, now where were we? What are you waiting for, Stefan? Kill them.”

“No! Stefan don´t. He’s not going to hurt me. He already said-”But before Elena could finish her sentence Klaus violently strucks her across the face and she falls on the floor. 

Stefan quickly runs for Klaus but he stops him by grabbing his throat.

“She means nothing to you? Your lies just keep piling up.” Klaus notes, his eyes boring into Stefan’s.

“Let her go! I´ll do whatever you want, you have my word.” Stefan promises.

“Your word doesn’t mean much. I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this…” He begins to compel him as well “Stop fighting.”

“Don´t do this, don’t do this.” Stefan begs.

“I didn’t want to. All I wanted was you allegiance. Now I´m going to have to take it..” Klaus replies sternly.

“Don´t…Don´t…Stefan begs once more.

“You will exactly do as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey.” Klaus compels him “Now kill them. Ripper.”

Stefan eyes slowly travel over to his prey and he vamps out and rushes towards them Dana´s scream filling the echoey gym halls and reach your ears as you leave through the main entrance.

Damon | Middle of nowhere

“This isn’t going to work.” Jeremy tells Damon and Katherine firmly, sitting on the picnic table, his phone beginning to vibrate next to him. Katherine grabs it and saw a message from Bonnie.

“I think your witchy girlfriend is worried that you’ve run away with your ghostly lover.” Katherine chuckles.

“Stop with the teeny bopper drama.” Damon orders narrowing his eyes once again “Focus.”

“I´m not helping them.” Anna tells Jeremy.

No, it´s okay to help.” Jeremy promises.

To Damon and Katherine there is only empty space, but Jeremy could see her clear as day “They are looking for a way to stop Klaus.”

“I don’t care. Katherine is not a friend to you. Neither of them are.” Anna crosses her arms stubbornly over her chest.

“What´s she saying?” Damon asks impatiently.

“Well, she doesn’t want to help you.” Jeremy shrugs.

“My advice?” Katherine looks at Damon and lowers her voice so only he could hear her “ If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs.”

Damon understands what she is referring to and turns his head “Jeremy I want you to know, it’s nothing personal” he grabs Jeremy´s hair and slams his head against the table he has been sitting on.

“Ow! What the hell!?” Jeremy growls.

“Jeremy!” Anna calls out in concern.

“Anna, I know you can hear me.” Damon yells into the void “Tell us what you know. The sooner, the better for your little boyfriend here.”

“They’re looking for Mikael.” Anna told Jeremy.

“Mikael!” Jeremy calls.

“Mikael. Is that his name?” Katherine asks.

“Who´s Mikael?” Damon asks giving her a clueless look.

“The vampire who hunts vampires.” Anna explains to Jeremy “You don’t want to wake him. He will kill all of you.”

“What´s she saying?” Damon looks at Jeremy who had been watching Anna talk.

“He´s a vampire and a hunter, and you guys would be idiots to wake him.” he replies and looks back to Anna “What do you mean, wake him?”

“It´s time to go and find the keys.” Damon tells Katherine and she agrees with a nod.

Stefan | Mystic Falls Gym

Stefan is feeding on Chad, his screams have died out by now and Dana was already dead at his feet “´It’s always so nice to see a vampire in his true element. The species has become such a broody lot..” Klaus notes.

“No. You did this to him.” Elena spats.

“I invited him to the part, love. He´s the one dancing on the table.” Klaus countered as Rebekah storms in the room rushing for Elena.

“Where is it?” she yells “Where is my necklace?”

“What are you talking about?” Klaus asks rather annoyed

“She has my necklace. Look!” Rebekah hands him Elena´s phone and he saw the necklace that he needed around Elena´s neck.

“Well, well. More lies.” Klaus looks at Stefan.

“Where is it?” Rebekah asks again, her voice dangerously low.

“I don’t have it anymore.” Elena promises.

“You’re lying!” Rebekah screams, dark veins appearing under her eyes and she hurries over to Elena biting her neck but Klaus pulls her off.

“Knock it off!”

“Make her tell me where it is, Nik!” Rebekah screams like a child that has lost its favorite toy. Klaus walks over to her and looks into Elena´s dark brown eyes “Where’s the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest.”

“I´m telling the truth. Katherine stole it.”

“Katerina. Of course. Well, that’s unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we’re doing this the hard way, let’s put a clock on it, shall we?” he grabbed a remote and the board atop the gym buzzes once the clock appears“ 20 minutes” he walks over to Stefan and compels him once again  “If Bonnie hasn’t found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to. If she tries to leave, fracture her spine.”

He smirks at them and leaves, Rebekah following close behind.

Damon | Random highway

Jeremy is still sitting on the bench slowly falling asleep while blood trickles down his forehead where his head hit the table earlier.

“Don’t fall asleep, Jer.” Damon calls out as he approaches him “You might have a concussion.”

Thanks for the concern, dick.” Jeremy retors.

“Oh, stop pouting” Katherine orders “He took one for the team. Everyone back home will thank you once Klaus is dead.”

“Where’s my phone?” Damon asks, feeling like he must have lost it somewhere.

“Do you need to check in with Elena? Make sure it’s okay you pummeled her little baby bro?” Katherine smirks.

“You know you have it.”

“What can I say? I needed you present here and now.”

Damon holds out his hands “Katherine, phone, now.” She sighs and gives it to him and he looks at it “Bonnie’s been texting me.”

“What is it?” Jeremy asks concerned.

“It’s Klaus.”

“No turning back, Damon.” Katherine reminds him.

“Shut up, Katherine.” he hisses.

“Hey, look at the big picture. The best shot at taking out Klaus is by finding Mikael.” she tries to keep him on the task at hand once more but with no avail.

He looks at Jeremy and presses the car key to his chest “Stay with her so Anna can guide you. I’m going back.”

You’re going to get yourself killed.” Katherine calls out and Damon turns his face to her “The Damon I remember wouldn’t have been that stupid.

“I wouldn’t have done it for you.” Damon deadpanns and takes off.

Stefan | Gym

There are only a few minutes left on the clock and Stefan begins pacing up and down the wooden floor.

“Stefan, you can control this. When that buzzer goes off, just…just drink from me.”

You don’t get it. I can’t stop, Elena! I’m a ripper!A ripper doesn’t stop! I listen to the words that come out of your mouth, and all I hear is the sound of your heart pumping blood through your body.” his voice is cold as he drags his fingers through his disarranged hair “And when that clock ticks down…I’m going to have to feed on you. And you want to know what’s worse? I’m not going to be able to stop.”

“I don’t believe that. You can fight it. You just have to want it bad enough.” Elena assures him.

“Why, because I love you?” his voice breaks.

“Yeah! That’s right, Stefan. Because you love me. You’ll fight because after everything that we’ve been through, you owe me that!” Elena tells him as tears roll down her face.

“You know what, you’re right. You’re right. I owe you everything. Because through all of this, you are the one thing that has kept me from giving up; from turning it all off. But I can’t help what I am, Elena. The more blood that I get, the more I want, and if I get so much as near yours…You are dead.” Stefan confirms.

Stefan looks at the clock and realizes that only a few moments are left “Elena, you’re going to have run.”

“But Klaus said that if I run-”

“I know what he said, but if you stay, it won’t matter.” The clocks is getting closer and closer and Stefan begins to panic  “Elena, please, please, please. Elena, there’s no other way.”

“There is another way, Stefan. It’s for you to fight.” Elena tells him as the buzzer rings, signifying that the time as run out. “Stefan…I love you. Fight, Stefan. Don’t give up.

“I can’t hold it.” he vamps out and charges towards Elena. She screams but Stefan manages to rush past her to the opposite wall “Elena, run! Go!”

Elena takes off and runs through the school, passing through numerous of hallways, while Stefan tries to hold onto everything in his way so he does not have to hurt Elena. But eventually, he rushes out of the gym and crashes from side to side through the hallways. Elena goes through another door and bumps into Klaus once again.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Klaus smirks.

Stefan runs into the cafeteria and grabs a wooden mop that the janitor placed there, and he takes it and breaks it on his knee. He holds the remaining makeshift stake in front of him and stabs himself in the stomach. Klaus enters moments later with Elena firmly in his grasp.

“Now this is fascinating. I’ve never seen this before. The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl. Why don’t you turn it off?

“No!” Stefan growls.

“Come on. Your humanity is killing you. All the guilt must be exhausting.Turn it off.” Klaus suggests.

“No!” Stefan growls again.

“Stefan…” Elena whispers.

“You’re strong.”Klaus reaches Stefan and removes the stake “But you’re not that strong. Turn….it…..off.”

“No!”  Stefan shoves Klaus away from him and ignites Klaus´short temper with that action. He pins Stefan against the wall and compels him yet again.

“Turn it off!” He yells and Stefan respond immediately this time, his face features hardening and his eyes turning emotionless.

“What did you do?” Elena whimpers

“I fixed him” Klaus himself seems oddly surprised by his own rash action “But I think a test is in order, don’t you?” He charges over to her and holds her firmly against his chest “Ripper…Perhaps you’d like a drink.. from the doppelgangers neck?”

Dark veins crawl up Stefan’s eyes and he zips towards Elena and bites her neck.

Y/N | Near the Mystic Falls border

You have been walking for quite a while, trying with all your might to resist Klaus´ compulsion, sadly with no avail.

 You are near your hometowns border leading to the next town. As your eyes fall upon the city sign, a memory manifests itself in your mind

New Orleans 1912

“Kol, do you ever miss your home?” you ask tracing your fingers over the letter Stefan had sent you.It has been a few weeks since you briefly reunited with your brothers for your uncle’s funeral, but as usual, things did not work out quite the way you hoped“The one in Mystic Falls I mean?”

The sound of Kol flipping several pages fills the rounded walls of the tomb “No.” he replies “Why? Do you?”

“I miss how close we were.” you reply folding the letter and putting it aside “But the town itself? No. If I never set foot in this city again it´ll be too soon.”

Kol looks up and notices your slightly furrowed eyebrows. He closes the book and walks in your direction “You’re worried about your brother, aren’t you?” he asks. You nod.

“Listen, Y/N” he gently rests his hands on your shoulder, his brown eyes staring into yours “from what I gathered, your brother seemed to have handled this situation before. I am sure he will again.”

“If you mean ripping people apart, then yes, he´s handling that very well.”

“No, what I mean is that you are not at fault for the choices he makes. You should not feel responsible to clean up his messes. Not anymore.” his right hand drops down and brushed over yours, holding onto it carefully “And for what it’s worth, you will always have a home here. Even in a tomb like this.”

“Thank you. You´re a good.. friend, Kol”

“Friends..right.” he forces a smile and retrieves his hand,  Something has changed in Kol´s eyes, but you cannot quite make out what it is.

Is he…is he hurt?

Y/N | Present time

Bright high beams rip you out of your nostalgic memory as the care comes to a step next to you, a voice calling out you have not heard in a while.

“Y/N? What the hell are you doing?” Damon asks backing up his car slowly..

“I´m taking an involuntarily late-night walk.” you reply and turn your head to your older brother “Klaus compelled me.” you clarify.

“How do you know Klaus?”

“Long story.” you wave him off knowing that eventually you have to fess up “But we don’t have time for this right now. Just go and help Stefan.”

“Right.” he nods and stops the slow-rolling car “Get in.”

“I can´t. But I´ll come back as soon as I can.” you shake your head. You know all too well that Stefan is in danger right this moment and there is no second to spare. Sure, Damon could have sped you to the next town border and turn around to head for Mystic Falls. But maybe the minutes he would have wasted on breaking your compulsion may be the minutes to save Stefan´s life.

“But-”

“Just go, Damon!” you cut him off, gesturing him to finally listen to you.

Damon nods and drives off leaving you to continue your not so lovely late-night walk

Klaus | Highschool

Moments later Klaus enters the classroom where Rebekah, Tyler and Caroline are currently in “Well, the verdict’s in. The original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead.

Rebekah grins and rises from the seat she sat in “Does that mean we can kill her?”

"No, I’m fairly certain it means the opposite."

"What?!" Rebekah hisses. not amused in the slightest.

"Call it a hunch…”Klaus begins and slides a  vial with blood over the table while Rebekah brings her arms around Caroline and restrains her .”Elena’s blood. Drink it.”

"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don’t!” Caroline screams.

“If he doesn’t feed, he’ll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment” Klaus shrugs as Tyler grabs the vial and gulps it down “There we go. Good boy.”

Tyler immediately starts coughing and falls from the desk he has been lying on and groans and writhes in pain once he hits the floor. He holds his head in his hand and continues screaming until suddenly, he looks up and his eyes changed into a bright amber color with prominent black veins underneath.

“Well, that´s a good sign” Klaus smiles, satisfied with the result

Elena | Mystic Falls Hospital

Later on the same night, Elena wakes up in a hospital with a nurse by her side. “Where am I?”

“In the hospital sweetie. You suffered through a terrible ordeal” the nurse replies.

“I have to get out of here.” Elena sits up but the nurse gently forces her down again.

“Ah. Not an option. You´ve lost a lot of blood.” she gestures to the filled blood bags on the table in front of her

“Wait you’re taking my blood?”

“Of course. It´s very important for your friend Klaus.” the nurse replies and Elena starts struggling, trying to get free but the nurse injects her with another set of sedatives “Don’t fight it, sweetie. He told me you need plenty of rest.”

Elena´s sight blurry and she falls back on the pillow fast asleep.

Meanwhile in front of the Hospital

“So the doppelganger isn’t the problem.” Rebekah concludes “Her blood is the solution.”

“Seems so” Klaus sighs.

“How did you know?”

“Well, you know how much the original witch hated me.” Klaus explains “Do you honestly think I would do anything other than the opposite of what she says?”

“A thousand years in the grave and she’s still screwing with you.” Rebekah huffs.

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it from her perspective. It was her fail-safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead…”

“Then you couldn’t use her blood to sire yourself a new species.” Rebeka concludes.

“Leaving me alone for all time.”Klaus nods, sadness overshadowing his being for a mere second.

“Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids?” she looks at him, hurt that she is not good enough for his brother to be happy “You just don’t want to be alone?”

“What I want is to take my girl, take my hybrid and get the hell out of this one-pony town.” himpatiently “You know, why don’t you, uh, get the truck? I’ll get Elena.” Rebekah scoffs and leaves just before Damon arrives.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party.” Klaus smirks

“Where is she?” Damon asks, instead of asking for Stefan´s location.

“Elena? Ah, she’s making a donation to a greater cause.”He answers, his eyes switching over to the hospital “

Damon goes toward the hospital, determined to save Elena himself but Klaus stops him “I’m afraid I can’t let you interfere, mate.”

“You’ll have to kill me.” Damon replies in all honesty.

“Oh, I would love to kill you, but I made a pledge to your brother, and unlike him, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn’t care that much anymore.” he throws Damon on the hood of a nearby car ready to plunge his hand into him and rip his heart out.

"Don’t you want to know about your friend Mikael?” Damon says while Klaus´hand is wrapped around his throat

Klaus smug expression instantly get overshadowed with fear “What do you know about Mikael?” he asks , his voice trembling.

"Just that he knows you’re here.”he taunts, knowing that he found the big bad hybrids weak spot.

“You’re bluffing.”

"Katherine and I found him. Consider it our leverage.”  Klaus closes his eyes for a second, probably cursing in his mind that his nemesis Katherine found Mikael with Damon´s help. He then throws Damon against another car and Damon falls  to the ground. He gets up a minute later to defend himself against Klaus, but  he has already disappeared. Damon seizes the opportunity and hurries inside the hospital. He  passes a few rooms before he finally find Elena.

“Damon…” she whispers.

“Hey.” he brushed a few strand hair out of her face with a relieved smile is on his face. He puts his arms under her and lifts her out of the bed and carries her out of the room.

Y/N| Boarding House

After you finally reached the town border, you instantly mad your way back to town. You “borrowed” a car and sped back to Mystic Falls where you stopped by the school first. However, Stefan or Klaus where to be found anywhere, so you decided to check your old home.

With squealing tires you bring your car to a stop in the driveway, parking directly behind Damon´s Camaro. You take a deep breath before entering your old home and your mind instantly flooded with nostalgia. You have not been here since you briefly visited in the 50´s.

You use your vamp hearing to determine where Damon and hopefully Stefan are, but you only hear Damon talking to a female voice. You make your way towards the library and you have to realize that to your disappointment, Damon chose to comfort the doppelganger instead of finding his brother.

“Are you serious?”

“Do you ever knock?” Damon sighs, avoiding your glare.

“Never have, never will. Besides, this was my house too once. “ you remind him as your eyes fall upon Damon´s hand on Elena´s knee.

“Well isn’t this cozy?” Stefan interrupts and leans against a pillar at the opposite side of the room.

Damon quickly retrieves his hand and gets up“What are you doing here, brother?”

Stefan walks into the room to the drink table and pours himself a drink.

“Last I checked, I live here. “ he reports “Klaus is gone, but he’s asked me to keep watch on you until he returns. From now on, you’re under my protection.”

“Gone? What do you mean Klaus is gone? Where the hell did he go?” you ask  but Stefan only shrugs.

Stefan looks over to Elena and raises his glass to take a drink “Mmm, by all means. Carry on.” he smiles and leave the room.

Oh this is going to be interesting.And not in a good way. There is no way you can leave now. That means you are here to pick up the pieces once again..

Chapter 04 —>

                                                           Open Coffin Masterlist

Author Note:  Damn there is so much going on in that episode.. But hey finally Kol appeared! Well, in a flashback but still.  Do let me know what you think and if there’s anything you want to see, just shoot me a message or write it down yourself in my Google Doc

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Thank you for reading. Have a lovely day/night and I hopefully see you next chapter ;)

Story Time

This day, this freakin day, is maybe the WILDEST of my life. I am not exaggerating. This is probably going to be the longest post I ever write on this blog, I couldn’t make up everything that happened if I tried, and I feel like I probably won’t even remember to write down everything because there was so much, but I’m going to do my best get ready kids. The night before Sarah had told me that they wanted to shop at 10 and do tea at 11, so I set an alarm for 8 to get up and get ready because I had to shower and stuff. And just to preface, the start of this day was TERRIBLE. NOTHING went right. So I get up all responsible to get ready and turn the shower on and realize the water will not get warm. Literally let it run for a half hour and it would not heat up. But I went to a show the night before and looked HEINOUS and dirty so I had to shower. So I got in and tried as hard as I could to cope but I literally had to shampoo my hair in freezing water so I gave up and did that and just used leave in conditioner after. So things were already going bad and I was freezing but I was keeping a good mentality about it and knew the second I blew dry my hair I’d warm up. Low and behold… my hair dryer has been STOLEN. Straight up stolen right out of my room. I used it the night before, not even 12 hours prior, and it was still plugged in and now it’s gone. So I start freaking out and panicking because that means either 1. someone broke in and took it or 2. my ex-roommates still have keys and have been in the room and stole it. I live next door to the RA so i go to her to tell her what happened and you know what her brilliant response is? “Maybe it’s stuck in a drawer or something.” One, MARY, we don’t have drawers!!! TWO it was on my table when I left my room last night. THREE I always lock my door and I’m the only one living there so it’d be SUPER hard to misplace a HAIR DRYER and not be able to find it. So she was no help and i was panicking and upset and not sure what to do and on top of it I now had no way to blow dry my hair and continue getting ready and was just pacing all unsure. So then my hair is half dry and I just say F-it and start straightening it wet because didn’t want to be late. So I’m like almost ready at this point and message Sarah asking what the plan is, to which she replies that she just woke up and Dana and Amelia aren’t even awake yet…. so on top of everything I just went through to get ready they weren’t even awake/ready/going to be ready on time!!!! So I was STRESSED and mad and not wanting to go so I was like whatever let me know. So then my friend Alex texted our group chat asking if anyone wanted to go for brunch. At that point I had no idea when Sarah and them would be ready and realized I didn’t wanna go for tea anyway and I was so stressed that bottomless alcohol sounded so good so I said yes. Of course the second I agree to that Sarah texts me with the plan so I was like oops sorry I’m going to get drunk and eat brunch now so see you after. So the day started looking up, and me and Nat met Alex, Allie and Hannah at Dirty Bones (my fav brunch place) and there was already a glass of prosecco waiting for me when we got there. We had the most delicious food ever, eggs with avocado on scones and breakfast fries and also had 4 drinks each (at 11am might I add, but we’re in college so we don’t count as alcoholics yet) I had two types of prosecco, a spiked iced coffee, and a bloody mary with a sour cream and onion pringles rim. I’m including what I drank because alcohol was very prevalent this day, and you’ll see that later on, but I was actually drunk for 18 hours straight probably. I love study abroad. So brunch is ending and so is Sarah’s tea and we all agree that we want to all meet at Borough Market. Allie and Hannah leave to go home and shower because brunch was last minute and they weren’t ready and so me Alex and Nat head off to meet Sarah, Dana and Amelia and their guy friends (only one of who I know) at the market. We get there with no problem and are trying to figure out where to meet when Sarah texts me that a protest affected their ride and they were stuck on the tube for 30 min and finally got off and had to transfer and stuff so they’d be a little. So us, already being 4 drinks in were just like “ok lets go pub it until they get here”. So we found a really cool pub and all got cider and chilled until they came. I love cider?????? This one was spiked plum and omg so delicious. Finally Sarah lets me know that they are in the market and tell me where to meet them so me Alex and Nat are walking around making our way, trying some samples, mostly cheese and PROSECCO (i love london) and finally find them. Sarah took one look at me and goes “oh man ok drunky” because she’s my mom and just knows but has to love me anyway!! So we decide that we all want to go buy some drinks and have a “picnic” in this park-ish thing near the bridge, really stunning area. So we go to Tesco and buy some wine and cider and prosecco and head off and just spent some time there hanging out and drinking and taking pictures and it was so nice out and so relaxing and just a lot of fun. So as a side note, one of my friends from Canada who is studying abroad in Dublin currently is in London! And she saw on my snapchat that I was near the bridge and she was like oh my god I’m here too so I got to see her!!! Eventually everyone started leaving to go to dinner and do other things but me and sarah were still there because we were doing dinner just us two so I spent some time talking to Sarine (canada) until we realized we needed to leave for din because we had plans later too. So me and Sarah went to this mexican place called Wahaca (thanks for dinner mom) and got some margaritas and appetizers and caught up and were getting ready to order more food when we got a text from our friends that instead of being at our plans at 10:45 our promoter actually wanted us there at 10:15. Basically this guy who gets us into clubs and stuff for free and gives us free alcohol and it was his “promoter birthday” so he was holding this thing at the Vaudeville. So we paid and left and went home and we’re only one tube stop away from each other so I went home quick to change and so did sarah and then we all met at the airbnb that the guys were staying at so we could pregame. We were having fun there just hanging out, everyone was really nice and I was getting to know her friends better but then stuff started to go wrong again, as was the theme of this night (don’t worry there’s a happy ending) also keep in mind this was all of their last nights in London. So one of the guys who was there, I think his name was Daniel, was doing fine and then all of a sudden out of nowhere he was SO. DRUNK. like blackout, puking, lights out no one home drunk. But somehow his friends didn’t make him stay home because they didn’t wanna ruin his night and some of them thought he’d be okay to come. Okay whatever, I said nothing because not my friend and not my issue. So we ended up getting there like 20 minutes late and had to wait on line which is why Gary wanted us there early so we wouldn’t have to wait but it was whatever. So we’re in line realizing this kid is so drunk and none of us think he’s gonna be let in, at this point i’d been drinking for like… 12 hours straight? and I wasn’t even as bad as him. So we get let in and me and Sarah get let in first so I didn’t see what happened so like we’re in the club waiting for everyone else to get let in when realize it’s only the girls and two of the guys, and that Daniel and this kid Jeremy are still up there. Eventually Sarah’s friend Kenny (the one I knew) tells us that they’re refusing to let Daniel in because he’s too drunk (duh anyone could see that) and that Jeremy was up there fighting for him to get let in. We decided to ignore it because didn’t want it to ruin our time and we didn’t have to pay to get in but Kenny did and like everyone just wanted to have fun so Kenny bought drinks for everyone and we were chilling trying to have fun when Dana decided to go upstairs to see how the situation was going. She comes back down and tells us the club is threatening to get the police involved because these guys have literally been fighting with them for an hour. At this point they weren’t even fighting for him to get let in but the really drunk kid Daniel was claiming that the club took his ID to check it and didn’t give it back and still have it (this wasn’t true) but yeah so they refused to make it work and everyone started freaking out because like this kid was ruining all of their last nights there and it was putting them all in a bad mood that after like an hour and a half of trying to make it work we just decided to leave because wasn’t worth it. We weren’t going home tho, we just wanted to leave this place because so much negative energy about it. So we all leave and go outside and realize Daniel and Jeremy were gone which was great and we were ready to all move on and have fun. So Dana tells us about this place she used to go that was really fun so we all agree we’ll just go there instead. We all get Ubers and go over only to find out the place is closed lol. But no one was too upset, everyone wanted to save the night and were really motivated to make it work when all of a sudden who pops up but Daniel and like jumps on one of their backs and is like hey guys what’s up!!!!!!! And everyone is so annoyed to see him like GO AWAY. Literally one of his guy friends was like you need to go you literally ruined this night but he was so drunk he didn’t comprehend and was just like why’s everyone upset!!!! So him showing up really upset people again, especially this girl Amelia and at this point Sarah wanted to leave too. I was back and forth about going home but like 1. I had been drinking all day and it wouldve been a waste to just go to sleep and like 2. we’re supposed to be having fun i didn’t wanna go home all pissed and waste their last night. So I like half agreed to go home and sarah called an uber for her and amelia but when it finally came i impulsively was like nah I’m staying. So it’s like 1:30-2:00am at this point and the only people left are me, Dana, and Kenny. Jeremy was also around but hadn’t met back up with us yet. He’s Kenny’s best friend from high school so it was all of our first time meeting him. So the three of us are standing on this street corner wondering what to do, so we decide to go to Oneilll’s which is this really fun 3 story pub/club that we’ve all been to before and enjoy so we head over there. So things are looking up again, I even ran into Sarine again because when I saw her at the bridge she asked for recommendations and I told her about this place and she ended up going! So it was me and my friends and her and her friends and we were all hanging and got a drink and having a great time and then Jeremy showed up and everything was still fun until suddenly he realizes that he left his phone in his uber. Simultaneously Kenny spilled an entire cider on my phone (my phone is totally fine tho no worries) and now suddenly all of us are stressed out about finding Jeremy’s phone and trying to track it down and figure out what to do and we kind of get in touch with the uber driver but not really and we realize the driver was probably going home because we were tracking the phone and saw it was 40 MILES outside of London… and it’s like 3am at this point. We weren’t ready to go home but we left O’neills so we could hear better and try and figure out what to do so we’re on the streets of chinatown now just trying to figure it out but Jeremy had a really good attitude about the whole thing and eventually was like, “i’m obviously not getting it back until the morning lets just keep having fun” so we decide we want to go to Duck & Waffle because we had talked abut it all night and the four of us were really set on having a good time. Also, me and sarah had planned to get coffee the next morning before her flight and my trip to harry potter but then she texted me saying she wasn’t sure she’d have enough time anymore so i was pissed/upset and was like ya let’s just go have fun. Duck & Waffle is this super cool place that I’ve always wanted to go to. It’s in this 40 story building, and it’s the only thing in it like there’s no other floors just this at the very top and it’s this 24 hour fancy restaurant that all the walls are just glass and you can see the whole city and one of the like bucket-list things that people do is make a sunrise reservation at 6ish am to watch the sunrise from the top. We get there at like 3:30am and wait in line until about 4am. While we were on line we made friends with these people from Scotland and Ireland who were really funny but you definitely had to be there so I’m not gonna try and put it into words but it was really enjoyable. So we get up there and were like hahah wouldn’t it be funny if we stayed until 6:20 when the sunrises so we can see it. But at this point we were just so hungry and wanted to eat and stuff so we’re sitting and ordered food and this place is bumping and everyone who was there too was so nice and funny and friendly. It was one girls birthday and the whole place sang to her and then she stood on her chair to make a speech until they told her to get down so the whole place boo’d the employees lol but her speech basically ended up being “here’s to being young and getting drunk” so like pretty good speech in my opinion. We also made friends with the table next to us because they started making convo and then the girl who we are not sure how old she was literally could’ve been 23 or 35 or 50 idk why we were so confused about her age but she whispers to Dana that she thinks our friends are cute and I think her really buff (we later found out finance) heard her because he like pulled her over and then she looked at us and sighed and pointed to her engagement ring it was so funny but they were all still super nice about it and giving us recommendations for food and stuff. Me and Dana got colombian eggs (idk how to explain them but best scrambled eggs i’ve ever had) and avocado and toast and Kenny and Jeremy got the duck and waffles. We had SUCH a good time they’re all so friendly and funny and like the mood had changed so much and the night as a whole was just so good at this point we were joking around about all of it I had so much fun. Like despite being friends with Dana we’re still not like super close and I had only met Kenny once before. Like these are Sarah’s friends not mine but we all had the best time together. I can’t even emphasize enough how friendly they all are literally when we first got to O’neills Kenny bought all of us cider and I was like no no no you don’t have to do that and he was like “look you’re one of sarah’s friends so that makes you my friend”. So we’re done eating at it’s like 5:15am at this point. We’re not really tired yet, Dana is a little tired and we’re like…. lets just stay until the sunrise!! So kenny orders a bottle of red wine because why not at this point, literally our motto for the night was to just roll with it. So we’re drinking and eventually people start clearing out and it’s like almost 6am and Dana is ready to pass out but we’re like nope!!!! gotta power through!!! and the sky is starting to get a little blue so we were like okay we’re so close we have to. But then at like 6:05am our waiter is like lol i was supposed to kick y’all out at 5:30am because you were part of late night dining and we have to let breakfast people in now who have reservations and i’m gonna get you to stay as long as you can but you gotta go soon. So we were like okay thanks and he was really nice he like convinced his manager we had a valid reason to stay and stuff. So even when we finally got the check and stuff we were messing around and stalling so bad literally Jeremy sat there reading it for 20 minutes pretending to get the words wrong and not knowing how to pronounce it and starting over, it was hysterical, you had to be there tho. So finally we start to see a bit of the sunrise and they really want us to leave at this point so we’re like okay see ya and we leave the dining area to stand by this area with the elevators and the bar but then the guys are like lol lets stall longer so they both pretend to go to the bathroom for like 15 minutes and the manager is just like y’all… and we’re like lol. But then this random waiter is like can I offer you coffee or something and at first we said no but then we were like wait a second, if we order something we can stay!! (also we asked this before, but they said no in the dining area because of reservations but the bar area was fair game) so we all get coffee, which granted wasn’t my best move because still being drunk + caffeine = heart palpitations apparently. So we ended up staying until 7:30am and the sun was fully risen it was actually ridiculous like we somehow managed to stay at that place for FOUR. HOURS. So we finally decide to leave because I had to get ready for harry potter and I also decided to surprise Sarah at their airbnb with coffee since at this point i still thought she couldn’t make it. So we go to leave and on our way down the elevator we realized how FAST it was like we literally went down 40 stories so quick it was so fun so we went up and down three times… because we were drunk and delirious and caffeinated and five years old apparently. But yeah so then we split up and me and dana made our way to starbucks so i could get sarah coffee and literally as we walk in she texts me she had time to meet so i was like lol and ignored it and bought her the coffee anyway and just went and hung and said bye and yeah that’s where that ends lol WHAT A WAY TO SPEND 24 HOURS AM I RIGHT. Also props if you read this whole thing.