#chris thread

[donnamottnoble-blog]

@christophersmith

Donna made her way over to Chris, with a curious smile upon her lips. Other than perhaps in the shower, she had never heard Chris sing before and from the looks of things, Jack’s surprise was karaoke.

 She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, “Hello there, stranger,” she cooed at him from behind, playfully, “you gonna head up on stage and sing something for me?” she teased with a little laugh; not really expecting that he’d sing anything, let alone a song for her.

[donnamottnoble-blog]

Starter - Meeting Christina

@christophersmith

Donna smiled before she even opened her eyes at the sound of Chris’ voice the next morning, memories of the night before still fresh in her mind. She stretched an arm leisurely over her head as she let her eyes flutter open, bringing it to rest upon his chest.

“What’s your hur…” suddenly she remembered exactly why they were up early and why the rush to get the day started.

Today was the day! They were to meet Christina TODAY!

Donna sat up with a shot, smiling so brightly, one might think it really was Christmas morning! With an excited laugh she was tossing the blankets to one side before straddling Chris’ hips, “YES! Absolutely, it’s time to get up!” she answered, grinning down at him before planting her hands on either side of his head and bending over at the waist to soundly kiss him good morning. She slid her lips over his, before pressing them more firmly against his, her hair falling forward, shielding their faces. She tugged at his lower lip, pulling it between her own.

She broke off the kiss with some reluctance, tossing her hair back behind her as she straightened back up. Her eyes shinning as she grinned at him before bringing her other leg over and sliding off the bed, her feet hitting the floor with a light thud. Donna turned back to Chris and took his hand, tugging him lightly, “Come on then! This is no time to be lazing about in bed. We have to get ready to go see our daughter! Oh, and after last night I think I owe someone some muffins with his coffee,“ she flashed him a cheeky smile that she simply couldn’t contain as she was so happy that she thought she might burst!

[donnamottnoble-blog]

Starter - Hello Mum and Dad

@christophersmith

Donna needed to take a bit of a breather. Rose had just agreed to help her get ready so she laid out Chris’s Tuxedo, shoes and everything else he would need to get ready in her office where he’d be sure to find them. She still needed to take a shower before she got dressed and gathered her things to take backstage with Rose. However, she was going to take 5, maybe 10 minutes for herself first. Once she had to turn on her club VIP hostess persona, it would be game on for the rest of the night she reasoned.

She noticed Chris wasn’t shadowing her around like he had been which was a bit odd, but didn’t think too much of it. Instead, she found his extra pack of cigarettes and took one and decided to head out back. James was already on her about how much she had to drink earlier, so while she didn’t smoke very often, she found she could use one right about now.

Donna slipped the cigarette and some matches into the pocket of her jeans when Peter appeared in the doorway of her office. He was holding an envelope in his hand.

Donna’s blood ran cold. She backed into her desk, instantly flashing back to the last letter she received. However, the former D.I. rushed in and quickly assured her that this letter was not from their tormentors. In fact, Peter couldn’t seem to wipe the grin from his face when he assured her she’d be quite pleased with this letter. However, no matter how much Donna pressed him, that was all he would say before excusing himself to go check on River.

Shaking her head, Donna shoved the envelope in her back pocket and headed for the rear exit of the club.

When she arrived, she was surprised to find no one at the door. John had been assigned to Chris’s old spot at the bar and it was still early  she reasoned as she put in the security code and unlocked the door with her key. Still, she hesitated for a moment as she still hadn’t seen Chris. Somehow, she had inadvertently ditched him. Donna went to pull her mobile out to shoot him a message... Let him know where she was when she realised it wasn’t on her! Frustrated, she groaned out loud! She must have left it in her office! Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone to inform them that she’d be outside for a bit. 

Donna decided she wouldn’t be long enough for anyone to really miss her and shoved the heavy door open, blinking against the fading sunlight. She exhaled slowly as she pulled out the cigarette and lit it, with her back against the slight breeze blowing over the parking lot. From her new angle, with her back to the door, she could see the building that once housed her flat. She was surprised when she realised she didn’t miss the place.

One glance at the older blue car in the parking lot gave her a good idea why that was. Donna found she was smiling despite the heaviness that hung in the air around the Club the closer it got to the doors opening.

She shifted and leaned against the rough brick wall of the club and let her head fall back against it, closing her eyes as she hit the smoke again. That’s when she remembered the envelope in her pocket. With a sigh, Donna let her eyes drift open as she pulled it out and looked it over. 

There was nothing special about it. It was just a plain envelope, though, it was a rather nice lavender colour, she’d give it that. With a shrug, Donna tore it open. She quickly scanned the first line, 

“Dear Mum and Dad,”

Donna let the cigarette slip from her fingers as she clutched the letter tightly. It was a letter from Christina! An honest and goodness letter from their daughter, to her and Chris. Donna’s heart was pounding so hard she was certain there was something wrong with it. She pushed off from the wall and started to wander, totally unaware as she read the short note in the swirly, feminine handwriting.

Dear Mum and Dad,

   I have imagined writing this letter probably a million times since I was about 5 years old. That’s when I found out I was adopted. Sometimes the letters were angry, sometimes sad, sometimes they were just to tell you not to bother; that I didn’t want either of you. Other times, they said just the opposite. Truth was, I never thought I’d actually get a chance to give either one of you a letter, so when D.I. MacDonald asked me if I wanted to write you guys one; I was (am) a bit scared.

   First, it is both weird and really incredible to even address a letter to my real “Mum and Dad”. For a long time I wondered what you both looked like, where you lived, what your names were? I wondered where I got this red hair from when everyone else in my family had brown or blonde, or blue eyes, when they all had brown?

   Then, the Detective Inspector, he brought us a photo and said it was of my parents. You have no idea how crazy that was?! But when I saw it, I finally felt like I really belonged somewhere for the first time. Anyway, I of course asked him the big question. Why? Why did you guys not want me? And he said that my mum, she did want me, very much, but was too young and that my dad, he didn’t even know I existed. (Which I thought was mean of my mother, but he said it was more complicated than that.) That giving me up for adoption was your way of taking care of me.

I had never thought about it that way before.

So, I wanted to let you both know, I am not mad any more. I used to be. And when you cancelled meeting me for tea, I swore I’d never met either one of you! But DI MacDonald said it had to be done to keep me safe, just like this holiday he sent us on. (I can’t tell you where. He made me promise.) I don’t understand what’s going on, but I hope you are both alright.

   So, real quick about me, I like to read, and science fiction is my favourite. I get good grades (science is my favourite subject) and I like to participate in plays at school. I’ve also been playing the violin since I was 7 years old and am the goalie for my school’s football team. 

  I have one brother, he’s younger and a pain. Our parents divorced a few years ago and we don’t see too much of our dad. He moved pretty far away, so while meeting my birth father doesn’t replace him, it is nice to think I have another dad out there somewhere. :) Our Mum stayed home with us growing up and we did all the typical family stuff. Picnics, summer holidays at the beach, big family Christmas... Happy stuff.

   Speaking of family, do I have any brothers or sisters? Cousins? Aunts and Uncles? Grandparents? Are you two still in touch? DI MacDonald sort of made it seem like you were together, which is fantastic if it’s true! I  mean, how lucky is that for me? 

   I know I’ve said a lot, but I have so many questions to ask! Where do you guys live? What do you do for a living? Did you go to Uni? What are your favourite colours? Food? Type of music? Are you allergic to anything? I mean, just everything! I’ll wait until we finally meet to bother you guys with all of those though.

   I hope we can try to meet each other again soon! I am really looking forward to it.

Your Daughter,

Christina

 Donna couldn’t even put into words what this meant to her!  Her hands were shaking as she grasped the letter. It was an honest to goodness letter from their daughter! Her words! On paper! She was holding them! Paper she touched! Donna felt a bit light headed with excitement.

She was going to have to thank Peter for this, but first, Chris needed to see this! Oh my gods, she wondered what he would think of it?! It was just so surreal! Donna looked up from the letter clutched in her hand and realised she had wandered almost all the way to the car park while she was reading! 

She needed to go find Chris and fast!

@christophersmith

[donnamottnoble-blog]

The flower delivery man came to the back door of the club with two bouquets of roses. One yellow. One pink. His instructions were simple. Deliver the yellow roses to the redhead manager, the pink ones to blonde singer. They needed to be together when it happened though. Once he handed the flowers over to them, he needed to press the small button hidden in his jacket and leave. Then his son would be free. He didn't know the button released an explosion of pig's blood that would cover the women.

Donna was quite surprise that someone had sent her flowers. Come to think of it, other than the ones Jack had sent her last week, she didn’t think anyone ever had before!

She shook her head as she went to meet Rose, assuming they must be from Jack, but secretly hoping they were from Chris.

She smiled and greeted Rose and held out her hands for the yellow roses. Whomever they were from, they did know what she liked, she’d give them that much.

Donna leaned in to smell one of the lovely flowers when the soft pop went off. As startling as that was, it was Rose’s scream that made her blood turn to ice, even as the blood ran down her face, dripped from her hair, and coated her clothes. The roses lay scattered at her feet, covered in the same sticky blood like some sort of morose tribute. She tried to turn to her friend but found she couldn’t move, as a matter of fact, she realised she could no longer hear Rose screaming. She could see her lips moving, the horror on her face… But she couldn’t hear a thing but a high pitched tone. She found she could jerk her eyes about but there wasn’t much to see as her vision was often blurred by the blood running into her eyes, but she couldn’t move to wipe it away. She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t scream. She wasn’t even sure if she was breathing as everything around her started getting fainter and fainter and the light more dim. Somewhere behind her, she was vaguely aware of John rushing about trying to do something... trying to calm Rose perhaps? Calling for Jack, or James?

Or Chris? Oh gods… not Chris. He couldn’t see her like this! It was too much! It was that single thought that snapped her brain into performing some basic functions again.  

Desperately, Donna inched her hand enough to grab her mobile and stab at it blindly to dial Owen’s number. As desperate as she was, she still felt like she was stuck. Couldn’t move properly, couldn’t talk… But maybe he heard Rose’s scream? Maybe he’d come anyway?

At least she was already prepared for something like this, she had a text message for Owen, James and Jack all queued up in case Chris was triggered and she wasn’t there. It was set up to go out to one or all of them, depending on what she chose, and attached to the “Help” message for Chris, there was a video Chris’s brother had shared with her from Christmas. It was of her, Chris and Maggie decorating gingerbread men and singing Christmas carols. Later it cut to Chris reading “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to them, with his niece in his lap reading along. She figured if she wasn’t there to reach him, maybe the video and the sound of Maggie’s voice especially, would? As soon as she hit the SEND button, Donna shut down, letting her mobile slip from her blood slicked fingers as she fell to her knees, slumping against the wall, amid the bloodied roses.

@christophersmith

[donnamottnoble-blog]

Starter

@christophersmith

Donna woke up from her nightmare and shot straight up, momentarily disoriented as to where she was. It only took a few seconds to realise she was safe with Chris and that he was right next to her where the poor guy had probably gotten very little sleep from her constant waking.

Glancing down at him now though, he appeared to still be asleep. so she lightly kissed his cheek, careful to avoid where it had swollen and bruised and slipped out of bed. She grabbed her mobile and smiled as Idris cocked her head curiously and followed along after her. She put her finger to her lips thinking afterwards that the poor dog probably had no idea what that meant as she quietly slipped from the room, Idris following.

She padded off silently to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. She hopped up on the counter and composed a text message to James, as he was usually up late, but couldn’t bring herself to hit SEND. He was probably busy with Rose and what did the message say really? Nothing important, certainly nothing that needed to be said at this hour, It was just that he was in this last dream too and it was weighing on her. It was weighing on her that she had been so incredibly stupid as to take those pills back on the rooftop and that even now, she was tempted to go take some of the medication Owen had prescribed her…even now as she stared down at what she did to her hand. She set her mobile to the side and noticed that Idris had slipped away, probably had gone back to bed. Even the dog had more sense than she did.

WIth a sigh, she slid down from the countertop and noticed some overripe looking bananas on Chris’ table. If she had been back at her flat and couldn’t sleep, she would have gone to her piano or ended up in the kitchen baking something. At the thought of her piano, Donna’s fingers involuntarily curled into position. She shook her hands to straighten them out and busied them instead with looking over the fruit. Just thinking about her flat brought a heavy, dark feeling settling over her and she didn’t want to go there. So she busied herself with quietly checking the contents of Chris’ cabinets and refrigerator.

Confident she had what she required to make some banana bread for breakfast, she started straight away, preheating his oven, mashing up the fruit. It was cathartic. At some point, Idris must have heard her moving about in the kitchen, no matter how silent Donna tried to be, and appeared by her side again. This time, dropping the ball she had brought her the first time she came over. Donna squatted down next to the dog and scratched her behind the ears, handing her a treat.

“I promise, give me two minutes, as soon as this is in the oven, I’ll take you out back okay. Just promise me you’ll be quiet. No barkin’ and wakin’ your Dad, got it?” she made a deal with the dog sealing it with another treat,  before washing her hands and finishing up.

The fragrant banana bread would take just under an hour to bake, so she rinsed up the few dishes she used and looked around for her jacket or something to throw on. She found Chris’  leather jacket and ran a hand over it lovingly before tossing a little smile and a shrug at the waiting dog. She wrapped herself in it and they slipped out the back door into the yard. The ground was cold under her feet, but Idris was beyond happy. So much so, that watching her run and jump and wag her tail as she tossed her the ball made Donna forget the time and chase her about the small yard, laughing and smiling at her antics. 

Maybe things were going to work out after all, She told herself as she stopped to catch her breath and  Idris dropped the ball at her feet again. 

[donnamottnoble-blog]

Starter

If she was going to have to stay off of her ankle for a bit, the least she could do (after finishing up the paperwork for the club that is) was start on the prep work for the pie she was supposed to bring to Chris’s house tomorrow.

Earlier that morning, she had the put in her order at the grocer’s and had them deliver what she needed to the club. She would be able to sit in the kitchen and do her prep work, or at least not have to move around as much with the exception possibly needing to lean up against the stove for a bit. It took a good hour to make the pastry cream, and much longer than that too cool properly, but while it was cooking, it needed to be stirred constantly.

She sighed as she tried to sort out the ingredients in front of her, at least there was more room to work here than the small kitchen back in her flat. Still, she wasn’t even sure if she should bother, not after he bit her head off about the whole mistletoe nonsense.She was beginning to think that he could find fault in just about anything she said at this point! She failed miserably at flirting with him (though, she never did consider herself very adept at it) and now she even failed at joking around with him! All she was trying to do was to alleviate some of the awkwardness of the situation. 

I mean, the entire thing was just ridiculous! All the talk... the questions. It is like someone is trying to cause problems!

Her knife was beginning to pick up pace and intensity as she cubbed up the butter, her actions unintentionally mimicking her mood.

She finally glanced down at her cutting board when she realized what she was doing.  She had done much more than just cube the butter! Donna groaned. It was a good thing that wasn’t an important step, just a formality. She quickly slide the butter into the double boiler and whisked it in.

“Well, he is supposed to call me about tomorrow. I’m certainly not going to chase him down,” she scoffed quietly to herself.

If he didn’t arrange a time or pick her up, then she’d just leave the pie at work for everyone to enjoy. They always did go, well...bananas, whenever she brought one in. 

She slowly started whisking in the cream and whole milk; keeping a learned eye on it.

She shook her head, “Dammit, somehow I always manage to cock everything up, but I honestly didn’t do anything this time; at least not on purpose!” she huffed, 

“...joking,” she mumbled, mockingly, “’ello?! Pot calling kettle.”

It’s almost like he’s looking for a reason to be angry with me. If that’s the case; so be it. I can’t fix that and even if I could, it’s not like he’d even let me try, she thought to herself wistfully.

She tried to keep her thoughts focused on the task at hand but it wasn’t easy. She often found herself going over all of the things she could have said or done better since Chris’s arrival at the club and it was quiet an extensive list. At least in the kitchen, she was almost guaranteed a small amount of privacy; it was rare for anyone to ever come in here. She slipped her ear buds from her pocket and inserted them into her phone. She hoped listening to a little music while she worked on the pie would prove to be a good distraction.

[donnamottnoble-blog]

The shivering rattled her. She wasn’t sure if it was her nerves, adrenaline, emotion or just the chill coming through the door. Whatever it was, her heart was racing and her eyes were still clamped tightly shut. She knew she couldn’t stay here, River would be checking to see if she had left, but she needed a moment. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she was so damned determined to kick her out tonight. Other staff members had crashed overnight before, why was she on her case? They had talked. She seemed to believe her when she said nothing was going on between her and Harry. So what was her problem?

She opened her eyes and fished her mobile from her pocket and fired off a quick text to James:

[Text: James]

Thanks. You are the best, but you already know that. I will make it up to you, as a matter of fact, I already am! Taking Rose out for a makeover in the AM so she’ll be even more beautiful for you. I’ll call you 2morrow.

XO Donna

Donna hit send and dropped her phone next to her. She was spent. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, she let her head fall forward upon her knees, just like she had upstairs. She had been repeating this position since she was a small child, curling up to hide from Sylvia.It was her “I can’t...” position.

Three days ago, Christopher Smith was a distant memory. A painful, beautiful memory. After 15 years, she had absolutely no reason to believe she would ever see him again. For the first year or two after their summer, she romanticized their summer in her mind into something akin of a Shakespearian tragedy. The young lovers... separated by cruel fate and all of that. Then, as time marched on, it became harder and harder to remember if he ever DID say he loved her? Maybe it was just something she imagined. Maybe she needed to invent those moments to cope with the pain and rejection she felt? The incredible loss of feeling so special one moment and then forgotten the next.

And then there was the baby.. and the guilt and the loss of all that could have been! She would have loved that precious little girl forever. She would have moved heaven and Earth to keep her if someone could have protected them both from Sylvia.

But she was alone. Always alone.

More time went on and she gained perspective. She never quite got over her funny, kind... gorgeous fella from the North, but he was wrong. She did move on. It was just that there was no one to move on with, it wasn’t that she didn’t try.

She hadn’t spoken aloud of their summer to anyone. Keeping it to herself meant protecting him, so she did. She always would, if it would keep him from jail.  However, there was a lovely young girl out there,with steel blue eyes, and ginger hair who might try to find them someday. What would happen then? Would he even want to see her? She understood how overwhelmed he had felt with everything she told him tonight, but he hadn’t even taken the picture of her to look at, he just glanced at it over her shoulder. Was he just not interested? She didn’t expect, nor did she want him to run out and go looking for her, but he had seemed more concerned about the age difference than his daughter. Then again, he really did have a lovely, big family... a niece and nephew that adored him. She didn’t have anyone, but the people she worked with and a sadistic old woman that gave birth to her.Maybe it was just a much bigger deal to her?

Three days ago, she had found herself under Harry’s spell. (How long had they known each other now?)  In her wildest dreams,she never would have imagined he would be interested in her, but the way he looked at her... the way he spoke to her. The way he made her feel, like she was the most important woman in all of creation! In that one moment, there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t have done for him.

Then the very next day, Chris was standing at her bar. Her new security guard. Her heart both soared and sunk at the same time. How could she have known?

What did she do to deserve this? Chris said he didn’t reject her, but that last comment...the way he said it, even as he took it back, it still hurt. Yes, she did sleep with Harry, once, but he was gone...15 years gone. He left her. He left her pregnant. He moved on. He didn’t say that he ever thought about her, that he ever tried to contact her. No, only that she wasn’t a notch on his bedpost. It was she that thought about him, she was the one that carried the torch.

Oh she was a bleeding fool. That’s all she’s ever been to any man. A story to brag about back at the local.

Even now, he didn’t know if he wanted to be with her. She understood, she honestly did, but still, knowing that he could go to jail for something that happened between them 15 years ago made her feel incredibly guilty. Especially in light of his PTSD. She dumped this all on him and he collapsed! What kind of monster does that to a person?!

All these thoughts were burning through Donna’s head. They raged like a wildfire, consuming her.

Enough! RIver wanted her gone, so be it. She’d go. Maybe she’d put in her notice in the morning? 

That would save Chris from dealing with all of the drama associated with her. She could find work elsewhere, though she knew she’d never find another group like this one. She loved these idiots. The more she thought about it though, the more convinced she became that maybe it wasn’t Harry they needed to fear as much as Missy.

Something was up with her. The way she arranged for her to walk in on Harry... her little confrontation with Rose and Osgood. The way she spoke to James in front of her. It was almost like she was taunting he for some reason.

Donna slipped her hand out to from around her knees to blindly grope the floor for her phone.  

[thexsportyboys]

"The house was way dustier than it should've been when I got back."