#clean like him

[pynkhues]

Clean Like Him

27k words. Beth x Rio. Also features: brief / implied Beth x Dean, Rio x OC. Explicit.

Sequel to Drive You Mad (wear me out).

One million thank you's to @mego42 for th banner, I love it a lot!

-

It’s not a thing.

It’s not.

Okay, so they might have had a lapse that night during the campground job, but that’s all it was.

A lapse.

He’d made that perfectly clear when she’d woken up the next morning to find an envelope with her name on it in her mailbox, nothing but a morning after pill inside (which she’d taken, but god, it hadn’t gone down without a flush of humiliation and a chaser of fury). Made it even clearer when he’d refused to answer her calls the entire week (or, well, the one call she’d made, because maybe her pride wouldn’t let her make any more), and maybe the next time she’d seen him at a Paper Porcupine drop, he’d been standoffish all over again, like he hadn’t been all - - you know in his awful new car the last time she’d seen him, and maybe he’d hung around after the drop.

After Annie and Ruby and Mick had gone.

Lingered like he wanted to talk, but he’d been so flat out rude to her in front of the others, and maybe she was still smarting from the pill, but Beth would be damned if she was going to like - - reward that, and so maybe she was a little snippy, and maybe he snarled at her, all teeth, which only made her want to throw the bag of Congratulations! confetti she was trying to restock at him, and then maybe she had, and then he’d stormed out, and - -

Okay.

It didn’t matter.

What mattered was it had been two months now, and she’d been distracted anyway. Taking over Dean’s - - friend’s - - business and establishing it in their name instead.

What mattered was getting Boland Bubbles operational. What mattered was making sure this worked.

Read it here.

[pynkhues]

Clean like him was amazing😭 I was wondering what was Rio thinking about when Dean thanked Judith instead of Beth in his speech? And what was he about to say in the kitchenette when he said

“he ain’t—“?

My blood boiled and my heart broke for Beth when Dean just disregarded her omg

Hahahaha, thank you!! And you got it - he was gonna say "He ain't shit," but Rio was really in the same headspace as Beth where he was thinking that wasn't something they do. They're a mess!!

As for what was going through Rio's head when Dean thanked Judith instead of Beth, I think he was unsurprised more than anything. He doesn't exactly have much of an opinion of Dean at the best of times, haha, and he knew exactly what Beth had done to make it all happen. It's why he followed her, but beyond that, he didn't really know what to do about it or what Beth needed, because again, that sort of communication is not something they really do.

That might change later in the series though, haha, or, well, as much as it can change between these two disasters, haha. ;-)

Thank you again! I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Even if it made your blood boil too, hahaha.

[pynkhues]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

That is so many roses, hahaha.

Have an excerpt from Clean Like Him:

-

There’s a smudge of red on the back of her hand.

Or not red – crimson maybe, something sweet and rich. A dash of colour cast bold against her pale skin, and she turns her hand over and she thinks:

Strawberries on the blancmange, crushed into her flesh.

Then, heart skipping, she thinks:

In her bedroom, on her bed, back when she still had one. Biting down on the flesh of her hand to keep from moaning. Thinks of his fingers, gently easing it out of her mouth, entwining her fingers with his own.

“Don’t gotta do that this time, yeah? Nobody here but us, mama.”

Remembers blinking open to him above her, still inside of her, sees the smudge of lipstick on her peaked flesh, the indents where her teeth have left their mark. Remembers the way she couldn’t breathe when he lifted her hand to his mouth, kissed it, the way he’d been something close to tender, the way she’d thought - - she’d just thought - -

This will never happen again.

But it had.

But they - -

She - -

Her hand trembles as she brings it to her nose, drops the tip of it to her skin, grateful that it’s warm, not cold like it had been in the car that night, and oh, she thinks, inhaling.

It’s just ink.

for every "🌹" received in my inbox i'll post one random sentence of a random WIP i'm currently writing

[pynkhues]

tagged by @carry-the-sky and @mego42 (thank yooouu <3 <3 <3) to do Six Sentence Sunday / Tuesday / Thursday for me!

Instead of posting a scene, I’m going to try and do this Meg’s way and just post six out of context lines of dialogue, haha, and since I’ve had a couple of asks about it lately, I thought I’d do six from the Drive You Mad sequel, Clean Like Him.

“Guess my invitation got lost in the mail, huh?”

“It’s our business. Rio, Dean, they’re both just - - decoration.”

“Woah, who’s the babe?”

“Try kissin’ that dumbass husband of yours now.”

“Do you want to know where he touched me?”

tagging: @riosnecktattoo @bethsuglywigs @nakedmonkey @sothischickshe

[pynkhues]

Hii queen. Is Clean Like Him under a different name on your AO3 'cause I can't seem to find it??

Hi! Thanks for all your lovely messages! I haven't posted it yet unfortunately, but it is finished, which is exciting!

I was planning on giving it one last read-through two days ago before I posted, but Melbourne's had it's first COVID outbreak since before Christmas and it's been a very stressful two days as I was supposed to be on a plane to go to a very good friend's wedding in regional Australia today.

I've pretty much been watching the news for 48 hours trying to determine a plan, but I've made one now and am staying home, which is pretty upsetting. It's someone I've been friends with for almost 20 years, so it was a really hard call to make, but they're getting married in an area that's had no cases the entire pandemic, so it felt way too risky to be coming from somewhere that was so exposed right now when Australia's barely vaccinated.

That's more information than you need, haha, but yes, point is, I'm sorry! I'll post over the next couple of days, I'm just not in a very good headspace for proofing right now. I'll be fine! I just need a minute. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait ;-)

[pynkhues]

what did beth send to Rio ( in response to his booty call message)? I couldn’t see the image :(

Ah, thanks for letting me know and for your kind words <3 I had an absolute nightmare trying to upload them last night (I think it seriously took me about an hour - I tried different hosting sites and browsers and everything) so to wake up to the news that it didn't work is both not a surprise but also a bit of a bummer, haha. This is what I get for trying something new!!

I'll try and fix it now, but in the meantime, here are the three graphics:

1.

2.

3.

[pynkhues]

Do you have any fics you’ll be posting soon? It’s always such a pleasure to see you post a writing piece! Your writing is so unique and wonderful, I can never get enough! Hope all is well :)

Ah! Thank you so much, anon! You’re so sweet! I’m hoping to post the sequel to my fic Drive You Mad really soon! I was aiming for this weekend but got a bit swept up in the Easter chaos and didn’t get anywhere near as much done as I wanted to.

You can have a little excerpt though if you like.

-

It’s with practiced hands that Beth rolls the muslin out across the mouth of the bowl and pours the watered almond mix in.

It fills it quickly, the liquid dripping clear and clean down through the cloth, steam curling like scrapping fingers from where she’d fried the almonds’ skins, crushed the nuts and then boiled them on the stove. Rested them on the counter while she checked dinner, her phone, Jane’s homework then Danny’s, almost knocking over Dean’s scattered model showroom in the process, and why did he leave that on the kitchen island? Even Jane knew to pack her toys before dinner, but - -

No.

Not the point.

Beth inhales deeply, wraps up the muslin and squeezes the last of the almond liquid out, dumps the scraps, and then it’s quick. It’s two cups of almond milk on the stove and half a bag of sugar. It’s bringing the sweet, heady scent of it to the boil, letting it fill her nose until it’s all she can smell. Then it’s gelatine leaves in cold water, then out, and into the boiling milk instead.

It’s filling the sink with icy water, letting her fingers dip in to test the temperature, to feel the cold break there (and god, she knows if she blinks she’ll be back at the lake, plunged into the sharp and frigid water, bullets whirring overhead, her legs beating, Rio behind her, gaining like a shadow). Beth pulls her fingers out. Clicks her jaw.

She grabs a plastic bowl, rests it like a boat on the still water, and the second the sugary, milky concoction bubbles on the stove, she yanks it off. Pours it in. Lets it gasp as it hits the cool bowl, lets it splutter like a breath then start to congeal at the very edges and then - -

Well.

Then she checks the clock.

Thirty minutes.

Hurry up and wait.

The saying was a regular one on her mother’s tongue – right next to you get what you get and you don’t get upset, right next to you listen here, right next to because I said so, right next to who do you think you are, and - -

God.

Why the hell is she thinking about her mother?

[pynkhues]

Hi Sophie,

Are you still planning on posting “Clean Like Him” this weekend? I just binge read all of your stories on A03 and I’m obsessed with your writing! It’s so good. I’m new to the fandom so your stories have been a nice introduction for me.

Hi! Welcome to the fandom, anon, and thank you for your kind words! You sent me this last week, and I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to reply – obviously I did not end up posting last weekend, haha. Clean Like Him is pretty close though (and extremely long), and it’ll definitely be the next thing I post. 

I’m setting tomorrow aside to work on it, so I should have a good indication of how much work I have left on it by tomorrow night! I’ll let you know ;-)