#arexyouxafraidxofxthexdarkv5

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

A Chance-Ferrari Thanksgiving

[Tessa & Ryan]

Since Max was still on his way with his girlfriend Joey, Will was doing a morning shift at work and Zach had taken the car to go pick up Marley and her older sister who had agreed to interpret for the night, Tessa was left with the difficult task of getting the rest of the Chance clane to Cody and Devin’s house. It was a difficult task yes, but Tessa was up to it. She was used to cauraling her younger siblings around for one thing or another, and she managed to get everyone up, feed and out of the house before noon. She let Zach take the car that the older four shared between them, since she couldn’t fit everyone that was with her in it anyway. That meant taking public transportation. Tessa made everyone pair up, using the buddy system to make sure that no one got lost, and if someone did, they wouldn’t be alone. Kyle and Cooper were paired, Ryan had Sam and she took Haley.

While they rode the subway toward the Ferraris’ house, Cooper and Haley told Ryan all about the house they were heading toward. They had been there before on Halloween and hadn’t stopping talking about it since. Sam sat, twisted around so that he could look out the window, and Kyle read the book that he brought with him. Tessa made sure to pay attention to every stop. She knew the route well at this point, because lately when Cody made any effort to reach out to her, it was for a booty call and those never happened at the Chance apartment. There was always way too much going on there.

Ryan was more than a little excited to see Joey in person after all these years. She missed her friend dearly and couldn’t believe it when she heard that Max and Joey had fallen for each other. Now they were having a baby, Sure, Tessa had her trepidations about the whole having a baby thing, but Ryan was only happy for her big brother and best friend. The fact that Joey didn’t terminate the pregnancy, proved to Ryan that Joey was clean, and that she was truly in love with Max.

After a screaming match with Tessa the night before, Ryan had agreed not to bring any drugs to Cody and Devin’s house. Of course she lied, and in her bag was a small baggie of cannabis laced jelly beans. Tessa didn’t have to know that. Ryan didn’t bring any hard drugs, so she felt like she was holding up her end of the deal. She wasn’t going to go to a big family event/party sober. That would be just too much. Ryan was a functioning pothead anyways. No one would have to know, though Joey might catch on.

She sat and listened to her two youngest siblings as they went on about the house there were heading toward. Ryan wasn’t sure how much of what they were saying was true and how much was an over exaggeration. When Haley and Cooper got going, their little minds would come up with some fantastic fantasies. Haley was going on about the movie theater basement, when Tessa got up from her seat, reaching for Haley’s hand. “This is our stop, come on. Kyle, Sam, let’s go.” Everyone followed Tessa onto the street, and roughly ten minutes later, Haley was standing on her tiptoes to ring the doorbell

[Zach, Marley & Maxine]

Things had gotten a lot smoother with Zach and Marley’s older sister Maxine since they had first met. After a very humbling experience in the illegal fighting ring, Zach agreed to both, keep Max’s secret from Marley and to start working for the older woman. He was finding a that he had a lot of respect for the older woman, and that there was actually a lot he could learn from her. Hopefully she was getting a better impression of him now too. Zach was glad that Max was there when he invited Marley to his brother’s girlfriend’s thanksgiving party. For a second, it seemed like Marley wasn’t going to go. Max understood that it might be hard for her to be in a place with a crowd of people who didn’t sign and were not used to making sure they were facing her when they spoke. Luckily, Max had agreed to come along to translate for Marley.

When Zach got to Marley’s apartment, He sent a group text to both Hudson sisters. [Text: Hey, I’m outside.] Then he waited, double parked right outside.

[Will & Kendra]

“You should just come to our thanksgiving thing. I’m sure Devin won’t mind,” Will pressed, trying for the fifth time that day to convince Kendra to go with him. Kendra had mentioned earlier that day that she didn’t have any plans and Will wasn’t having it. He pestered his friend relentlessly until she finally agreed to go. Then he sent Devin a quick text asking if Kendra could join. [Text: Hey, can I bring Kendra tonight? She didn’t have any other plans.]

[Max & Joey]

Max stood next to the car, pumping gas as Joey used the restroom at the station. Their road trip had gone surprisingly well and they were only a hour or so outside of the city now. Max was getting more and more excited, but there was also a part of him that was nervous. When they entered the city, they would be putting Joey in a bit of danger. If any oc Scott Mason’s men spotted and recognized Joey while they were there, there would be trouble. Luckily, Joey looked like a whole different person now that she was sober and pregnant. Hopefully that would be enough to confuse any criminal who spotted her.

Max smiled when he spotted Joey coming back to the car. “On a scale of one to ten, who gross was that one?” He asked. This was a game they had been playing the whole drive. On a scale of 1 to 10. They were putting almost everyone on scales. Maxi’s excitement at this point was at a 9.5.

[Sam & Briar]

Briar and her older sister Samantha were on their way to a thanksgiving party at one of Samantha’s army buddies house when Briar’s phone buzzed with a text from her friend Lark. Briar frowned at the message then looked at her sister. “What’s wrong?” Sam asked. She had only glanced her sister’s way, but she knew the look on Briar’s face all too well. “It’s Lark. She needs me,” Briar said. Samantha rolled her eyes. “Booty call?” Sam asked. Briar shrugged. It had actually been a long while since her and Lark had slept together. Not since Lark’s new work partner Cody came into the picture, but there was drama with that right now so it was a possibility. “Can you drop me off at her place?” she asked. Samantha frowned. “I was hoping that you’d come to this thing,” she said. Briar shrugged again. “My friend needs me.” Samantha sighed and flipped the turn signal on her car. “Alright, fine.” @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

What if

It was late into the night, Lark and Cody had been invited to a poker game at a bar by one of the higher-ups in the crime syndicate that they were getting information on. They had no reason to refuse, and neither of them wanted to once they learned some of the big players that would be there. The two of them had spent the night in their roles, Cody played up her flirty girly character, losing most of her hands, then pretending that she didn’t know what she was doing right when she won. Lark stayed quiet for most of the night, staying in her stoic role and observing everything that was happening in the room. She counted cards, but didn’t use that talent to turn the game in her favor. She even gave herself a fake tell that a few of the other players had noticed and were convinced was real. She reeled Cody in whenever the other woman got worked up, and flashed threatening looks at the men who tried to hit on Cody in front of her.

Closer to the end of the night, people were starting to leave, and Lark noticed that one of the men there was paying extra attention to her specifically. At first, she guessed that he was simply checking her out, but as time went on, her instincts told her that it was more than that, and her defenses started to go up. While Cody was talking to someone else, the man who had been watching Lark, got up and walked past her on his way to the back door.  He dropped a note on the table as he passed and Lark slipped it down to her lap so that she could read it more discreetly. Lark’s stomach lurched as she read what was on the note. It was just one word, but it was enough to shake her, which was next to impossible. The word was Drake. Nothing else, just her father’s last name.

Now, Lark and Cody had plenty of different signs and code words that they used when they were in their undercover roles. Lark leaned over to Cody and told her that she was going out for a smoke. Something that to most people would seem like nothing, but the way she worded it told Cody that something was up, and that if she wasn’t back in five minutes to follow her. Lark was pretty sure that she could handle this herself, but it would be good to have Cody as backup just incase. She kissed Cody’s temple, then followed the man out the back door.

The second the door closed behind her, she pulled her gun out of it’s hulster. She let her years of training take over and immediately took in everything her senses would allow in that back alley. What she didn’t see, was the man she had followed out there. Lark’s heart sped up as she started to walk down the alley, eyes and ears picking up every movement, every sound as she searched for the man. Lark was almost halfway down the alley, when there was a sound back by the door that she came through. She quickly turned around and saw nothing but a rock rolling toward the building.

Lark cursed inwardly as she felt the cold metal against the back of her neck. The gun slid down between her shoulders and the man spoke. “Drop your weapon, Nat.” Lark let out a slow breath, trying to come up with an idea of how to get out of this. She couldn't believe that this man had actually gotten the drop on her. He had used one of the oldest tricks in the book, by throwing a rock to pull her attention away from where he actually was, and now she was being held at gunpoint. Lark slowly and carefully bent down to place her gun on the pavement. Then she stood back up. “Kick it away.” She did as she was told. “Now, what’s David Drake’s partner doing at a place like this, under a different name? Why aren’t you in jail with your boss?” So he didn’t know about the family connection, at least there was that. @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

Not That Simple

Ever since Halloween, Will had started noticing Devin’s pull toward kids and the idea of having a family. At first she was subtle about dropping hints, possibly hoping that Will would be the one to bring it up, but as time went on, she seemed to have dropped all pretenses of subtlety. She was still trying to get Will to say it, but it was clear that she wanted to have kids, and her own mortality was making her want to speed up the process.  

Even though it was clear to Will that Devin wanted to at least start the conversation, he had being doing everything in his power to redirect her, or act oblivious to her wants. You see, even though Will had agreed to an all or nothing relationship with Devin in the beginning, the more he thought about having kids and then losing her, the more he thought it was a bad idea. The problem was, Will had no idea how to explain that to Devin.

So in the morning, when Devin tried to bring up the conversation yet again, Will made up a hurried excuse to get out of the house quickly, and went to work without eating breakfast. He stopped at a cafe on the way to the hospital and bought himself a breakfast sandwich, then made his way to work.

Work was slow for the most part. Kendra and Will had plenty of time sitting in the parked ambulance, talking through Will’s problem and what on earth to do about it. Kendra told Will that he should just be honest with Devin, but Will was scared that she would want to end things if he told her no kids. When they finally did get a call, it wasn’t a huge emergency. A young boy had fallen out of a tree and broken his arm, the whole drive there, Will had to listen to the mother of the boy apologizing for not watching him while he was outside. She was a single parent, and was busy doing housework while the boy was out playing. Everything about the idea just reinforced Will’s worries about raising a kid alone.

When they dropped off the boy, Kendra went in to sit with the mother and help comfort her, while Will went to the break room for a snack. When he walked into the room where he first met Devin, he was surprised to find her there yet again. The first thought it had was on a panic. His eyes darted to Devin’s wrist. Even though she was wearing normal clothes, he couldn’t be sure that she hadn’t simply snuck out of her hospital room. She had been known to do that after all. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?” He asked, knowing that Cody would kill him if something happened to Devin and he wasn’t there to take care of her while Cody was away. @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

Harris/Reynolds Thanksgiving

Nathan read the text he had just received from his friend Sam, his smile falling at her words. “Looks like Briar can’t make it after all,” he said, looking up at his girlfriend. “Do you think Nora will still have a good time if she comes?” He wasn’t going to uninvite Elise’s younger sister, but he was worried that she wouldn’t have fun if Briar wasn’t there. Nathan didn’t want to encourage Sam and Elise’s plans to set up their little sisters, but he backed whatever choice Elise made. “Sam is on her way, though.” He said with a shrug. “Would he be so bad if they hit it off?” Sure there was a bit of an age difference, but Nathan knew from past experience that that didn’t bother Sam that much. Her ex husband was a few years older than her, and her ex girlfriend was around Nora’s age. Though Nathan knew not to bring Private Rose up around Sam. Even though she didn’t let it show anymore, he knew that Sam still blamed herself for the deaths of the rest of their unit while they were overseas.

When Sam got to Nathan and Elise’s place, she found a place to park her car, then made her way to the door, sending Elise a text instead of knocking. Once the door was opened, she smiled at her friend. “You look amazing, as always.” She said, before getting her friend with a hug. “Where’s the hubby?” She asked. Even though Nathan and Elise weren’t married yet, Sam liked to tease them about how they already acted like a married couple. Nathan was in the kitchen, working on the dinner.

@arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

Don’t Waste the Time We Have

Even though he tried not to think too much about it, Will couldn’t stop thinking about Devin, and how she had told him that she would never have the on thing she wanted. Love, a family. Well, maybe no to a family, but why should she miss out on love just because she was sick? Why should she hold back from living the best lief she could? Thoughts of Devin were getting in the way of Will’s everyday life to the point where Kendra actually had to yell at him for being dumb and not just making a move. “Sure, she’s probably going to die within the next couple of years. So why are you wasting your time with worrying if she’ll reject you? Just ask her out, idiot.” Kendra had a way with words. With both her and Tessa’s encouragement, Will built up the courage to go to Devin’s house. She wasn’t the only one who could do some sleuthing.

Will knocked on the door, an origami rose in his hand. He stood and waited, trying not to let his nerves get the better of him. @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

One of Those Days

Lark had been having one of those days. You know the type. The type of day where it feels like everything that can go wrong will? The type of day where the cards just aren't dealt in your favor. For starters, Lark woke up hungover and late to her cover job at the hospital. She rarely drank enough to get her intoxicated enough for a hangover, but Briar had been persistent in keeping her, “hydrated” at the bar the night before. Lark had a pretty high tolerance, but Briar was like a bottomless pit when it came to alcohol. So Lark woke up feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her temples. And she woke up because one of the neighbor’s cats had gone into her back yard and set off her five dogs. It took Lark a confusing and painful ten minutes to get all her of her dogs to quiet down, then she realized what time it was, and that her alarm hadn’t gone off.

After letting the dogs out into the yard to do their business and feeding them, Lark barely had time to get ready herself before she had to be out the door. So, without the shower she had so dearly wanted to take, and without breakfast, Lark had left her house and made her way to her cover up job. She needed to be seen at the hospital for a few hours before she could actually go to her real job.

Her time at the hospital was a shit show. . . literally. We won’t go into that though. We’ll just say that luckily, she was able to take a quick, and unfortunately cold shower while she was there.

Her hangover was nearly gone when she got in the car to head to her government job. It was a hot day, and of course, her old car decided it was a good day to not let AC work. So Lark was covered in sweat when her left front tire blew out a few blocks from work. She cursed, then parked the car on the street, choosing to deal with the tire situation later. She walked the rest of the way to work.

Air conditioning was a welcome change of pace as Lark walked into the headquarters of her department. She greeting her boss expecting to get about the rest of her day on the usual paperwork, but no. Remember, it wasn’t the type of day for the usual. Instead of being sent to her desk, her boss asked her to meet with him in his office. So, with a grumbling stomach, Lark followed the higher up. He handed her a new pile of paperwork for a new case, and the news that she wouldn't be working on the new case alone. Lark would be partnered up with Cody Ferrari, the new transfur who had been suspended and transferred after a physical altercation at their last placement. Rumors had been moving around for a while, and Lark was not looking forward to working with some violent ass who probably wouldn’t respect her as a partner because of her gender. A lot of the men who had been in the business for long, treated Lark, or any woman agent with disrespect. Of course, all the men who worked here knew Lark, and treated her with the respect she deserved. They didn’t know much about her past, but that’s how she liked it.

As Lark walked down the hall to the room where she was supposed to meet with agent Ferrari, she tripped and all the evanly sorted paperwork she had been holding fell to the floor in a messy pile. Lark took a long slow breath and gathered the papers and files, then she got up and pressed forward. She opened the door to the room and her eyes fell on. . . a woman. A beautiful woman. “Oh, uh, have you seen agent Ferrari?” She asked with a slight frown. @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

A Rare Chance to be Ourselves

It had been two weeks since Lark and Cody had gone into deep cover with the new york city crime circuit, and things were going surprisingly well. After the scene they pulled at the pool hall, the man with the dragon tattoo recognized them and without his scary friend around, he seemed more comfortable getting to know the two of them. Lark had been right, the woman who had walked in the dropped the gum wrapper for him had been a scout for the scary man. Cody was also right and the man with the dragon tattoo was just the tip of the iceberg. He was a small fry in comparison to the people they were mingling with now.

Because of the quick cover story they had made up for themselves at the pool hall, they had to pretend that they were a couple around the other people. At first that had been awkward. Cody told Lark that her and Tessa weren’t serious and that she had told Tessa not to wait for her just in case something bad happened, but lark couldn’t help but feel like the other woman, which was strange. With the tension between them, they were less physical than they had been at the pool hall, but they were still pulling the act off, and as time went on, it was easier to slide into the act and not think about Cody’s girl back home. It helped that Cody never talked about Tessa when they were in their apartment together.

Lark woke up before Cody, as usual and went out into the kitchen/living room second of their one bedroom apartment. She had to squint as her eyes adjusted to the light in the other room. They had nothing planned for the day, it was one of their few rare days off. Lark did her morning routine, she made coffee for both of them, did some ti che, then took a quick shower. When she got out, she checked to see if she had enough time to leave and come back before Cody work up. Since she did, Lark left quietly, walking a few blocks to a small bakery that Cody had found with in two days of them moving there. Lark bought a few doughnuts and made her way back home, when she got back, Cody was already up and sitting at the table, reading the paper. Lark smiled and walked over to the kitchen counter to pour them their coffee. At this point, Lark knew how Cody liked her coffee, so she prepared it and placed one of the doughnuts on a plate than walked over to the table.

“We have a free day today.” she said as she placed Cody’s coffee and doughnut down in front of her. “Do you wanna just stay in and be ourselves all day?” @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark

[mollysmythtymsyllom]

Just Here for the Doughnuts

Tessa couldn’t believe she was actually doing this, but Will had madea deal with her. He would go try and convince Devin to try and have the romance she wanted with him, if Tessa would also find a date. Tessa rarely found the time to date, so she was a bit rusty, and she really didn’t want to go to a bar and try and pick someone up. The idea of even finding someone to date was a little exhausting to her, then she found the folded piece of paper that Devin had given to her the night they met. The information on where Devin’s older sister who liked women could be found. There was a good chance that after all this time, Devin’s sister wouldn't be single anymore and there was a good chance that Cody wouldn’t even be at the bakery that was listed on the paper, but Tessa had made a deal. So she went to the doughnut shop. When she got there, she felt ridiculous, she didn’t even know what Devin’s sister looked like. Was she just supposed to hit on every women that came in until she found the right one? This was crazy. Tessa almost turned and left, then she decided to buy some doughnuts for her siblings. She might as well. They could use the treat. Tassa walked up to the display case to look at the goodies that the bakery had. When she noticed that there was someone standing next to her, she spoke without looking. “Any suggestions?” @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark