#sp001

[amstories]

SP001: Kiss Her Good Night

Pairing: Jenica x Jeremy

Prompt: Jenica enters the wrong room

Setting: Jeremy is already aware of his feelings but they're not together yet.

Happy 6k reads, YMMS. 🫀

Kagagaling lang ni Jenica sa graveyard shift niya. First time niya ulit na maranasan 'tong schedule na 'to sa Terveys Medical Center. Usually kasi, pang-umaga siya. Nakipagpalit lang sa kanya yung katrabaho niya dahil may emergency raw ito kaya pumayag na siya. Pero hindi niya inaasahan yung ganitong pagod.

Naninibago pa rin si Jenica kahit na nasubukan na niya ito noon. Mas lalo siguro siyang napagod dahil kulang ang tulog niya. Emergency kasi kaya hindi niya napaghandaan masyado.

She opened the door to their apartment groggily, her eyes barely even open. She lazily puts the keys on the key holder. Her shoes were quickly removed by just using her feet. Nilagay na rin niya ito sa shoe rack. The last thing she wanted to wake up to was Jeremy getting angry at her for being so messy.

Feeling so exhausted, she didn't even bother to wash up anymore and went straight to the nearest room she could reach just to get some sleep.

*  *  *

Naalimpungatan si Jeremy nang maramdaman niyang gumalaw ang kama niya. Akala niya lumilindol. Kinusot muna niya ang mga mata niya para malaman kung lindol nga ba 'yon.

But he was wrong. He saw Jenica trying to be comfortable under his blanket with her eyes closed. Their shared calendar confirmed she just came back from her duty. Kaya siguro ito pagod na pagod. Mali tuloy ang kwartong pinasukan niya.

Jeremy was about to wake her up to tell her she came into the wrong room but he doesn't have the heart to. He knew how tired she was and she deserves to rest. Rather than waking her up, he tucked her in his bed instead.

Kumuha na lang siya ng panibagong kumot mula sa cabinet niya. Before leaving his room, he took one last look of Jenica up close. He fixed the hair on her face and tucked it behind her ear. He had a strong urge to not do it but whatever! She's asleep now, anyways. He went ahead and leaned forward to gently plant a kiss on her forehead. "Good night, Ryl," he whispered and got up.

He gently closed the door to his room and lied down on the couch instead.

*  *  *

Jenica woke up feeling hot. Ramdam niya ang pawis niya sa noo at leeg. Ang hula niya, kusa na sigurong namatay ang aircon niya. She was trying to reach for the electric fan that is usually at her left side of the bed without opening her eyes. Nang hindi niya ito makapa, napilitan siyang buksan ang mga mata niya.

Much to her surprise, the color of the walls was white even if she remembered having teal-colored walls in her room. Her eyes roamed around the room and she found herself unfamiliar of the things around it. White-colored sheets. Several medical books on the side table and a Breaking Bad Funko Pop on top of it. She could smell the strong scent of Jeremy's perfume lingering around the room.

Don't tell me... I'm in Jeremy's room?!

Agad siyang napabangon mula sa kama ni Jeremy saka lumabas para hanapin ito. She found him sleeping at the couch. Halatang hindi siya naging komportable sa pagtulog niya. She gently caressed his cheek to avoid waking him up. Her face softened as she watched him sleep. "Thank you," bulong niya.

[edgbones]

･ﾟﾟ･｡ ( aria shahghasemi, cis male, he/him ) — 𝒉𝒐𝒈𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 EDGAR BONES, the TENTH year RAVENCLAW student ! i hear that the TWENTY year old is known to be CHARMING and RECKLESS and also very PERFECTIONIST and CONTROLLING. however, if you ask me, the fact that they are a PUREBLOOD and leaning towards the side of the ORDER is a lot more telling.

hello friends :) here is my mans Edgar and a little bit of info about him underneath the cut. i’m excited to get going with all of you, and can’t wait to write and plot! i still have to get my second character’s blog finished/intro up, but i am super close to finishing that. anyways here’s some facts about Edgar!

full name:     Edgar Elijah Bones nicknames:  Amelia calls him Eddie, and some people might call him Ed, if they wanted, but he prefers to just go by Edgar. age: 20 gender & pronouns: Male, he/him sexual orientation: Bisexual

PERSONALITY TRAITS

charming: Fake smiles and warm, genuine tones came to him easily. In another life, perhaps he would have gone into politics. He would have been good at it, the speeches, the handshakes, and the small talk. It’s the marker of his effort to be perfect; being liked, universally, or at least liked by those that mattered. 

reckless: Edgar’s always been filled with a fighting spirit and a desire to stand up for those who, for whatever reason, can’t stand up for themselves. Each decision he makes is carefully tended to, and so he’s known to be impulsive, so very sure that he will succeed. This has led him into more than one aggravated letter from his parents.

perfectionist: Every decision, every action, they’re all done with the utmost seriousness. All details should be taken into account and no task should be left unfinished, or so Edgar thought. His duties were completed with great care, as could easily be seen if they were to glance into his journals, or the bundles of carefully written to-do lists stowed into his book bag. he’s hard on himself, and so anxious to make sure that all is well, even that which is out of his control.

controlling: Edgar truly subscribed to the view that each person was in control of their own destinies. It was because of that opinion that he possessed such a stubborn, festering need to make everything go his way. He works hard to shape the future that he wants to see. It’s given him tunnel vision, and a rigidity that has brought tension into most, if not all, of his relationships.

BACKGROUND

activism: Justice was never freely given, it needed to be fought for. For as long as he remembered, perhaps since he first ever witnessed injustice, Edgar wanted to be an auror. It was a hard profession, which required only those of the most sound mind, magic, and body. There was a nobility in it that he’d always felt drawn to. So of course, after the turn of his seventh year, when the Headmaster approached him about joining the Order, he joined in a split instance. With every passing day, and every new death to add to the list, Edgar is realizing that there is always something more to be done. One day he will even die for this cause.

quidditch: Edgar joined the team at the start of his fourth year, and ever since then, he’d maintained a steady hold on the position of Keeper. It’s not something he’s going to spend the rest of his life doing, but it’s a fun, pleasant distraction that keeps his mind off of the war. It’s also a good way to let out some aggression, if he ever needs to, and with the current state of the world, he definitely needs to. 

family: Edgar loves his family. He strives to be like his father, strong and resolute, brave and gentle all at once. And his mother; sharp, warm, and observant, someone he always wants to impress. He’d always been a dutiful child, doing as he was told for the most part and only making waves when he was very passionate about something. That was starting to change. Tension was growing more and more between himself and his parents. They thought him too radical, too eager to jump to violence as a mean to stem the blood supremacists. But still, the love there remained. And there was Amelia too, his beloved twin sister. She was his first best-friend and his first rival and were all but two sides of the same coin. He was older than her by ten minutes, but that was about the only thing he was first in. They matched each other step-for-step, word-for-word, and spell-for-spell, but Edgar would not have it any other way. 

gabrielle: Gabrielle was a fire in his heart. His love for her ignited so quickly, and burned so brightly, he could not even believe that they were no longer together. She was better than him. A better duelist, a better person, and certainly a better soldier, but surely one more year at Hogwarts wasn’t the worst thing she could do? Most of the summer was spent thinking about her, but now with school starting anew, he’s determined to stop his wallowing. He didn’t know how to reach out for, or if he even should, but maybe there was some way that they could become friends once again.

[ludovicbadman]

･ﾟﾟ･｡ ( michael evans behling, cis male, he/him ) — 𝒉𝒐𝒈𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 LUDOVIC BAGMAN, the NINTH year HUFFLEPUFF student ! i hear that the NINETEEN year old is known to be FUN-LOVING and CREATIVE and also very LAZY and UNTRUSTWORTHY. however, if you ask me, the fact that they are a PUREBLOOD and leaning towards the side of the NEUTRAL is a lot more telling. 

and now here’s my other mans, my schemy baby, ludo! which means that YAY, now i can actually start writing!

tw: parental death, substance abuse

full name: Ludovic Felix Bagman nicknames: Ludo is what most people call him, but he has no preference age: 19 gender & pronouns: Male, he/him sexual orientation: Bisexual

PERSONALITY

fun-loving: Life’s a party, and Ludovic is the guest of honor. At least as far as he’s concerned. For better or for worse, he is always looking for a good time, something light-hearted and casual to take his mind off anything bad in his life. He’d always been a goofy kid, but after the death of his mother, it was like he was a man on a mission; the mission being to always have a smile on his face. It showed him that life was short and there was no point spending it sad, if it could end at a moment’s notice anyways. 

creative: When he wasn’t on the quidditch pitch, he could be found in the Ravenclaw Common Room with pencils and paint covering the table before him. He wasn’t a generally ambitious person when it came to school and extracurricular, but art club was always a good way to spend an afternoon. This ability to think and create led to sticky situations too. He thought outside of the box, and it showed in the various schemes he crafted to get whatever it was that he wanted. 

lazy: Ludo’s smart, but like many talented people, he never applied himself. However, he was never bothered by that. His path forward was to be found playing Quidditch, and if that failed, to find some way to work in the industry. He’d polish the player’s brooms if that’s what it took, but he knew that he didn’t need good grades to get there. He stayed in school because his parents would cut him off if he didn’t, but he treated the entire thing with a laissez-faire attitude and so far that was working out just fine.  

untrustworthy: it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, or so the muggles said, and sometimes a wizard had to do what he needed to do. it’s different with his loved ones, the few people that he loves and values. his brother, his lovers (most of them, anyways), and a few close friends. he would never steal from them, and would never lie about anything bad or major. but everyone else? his teachers, his acquaintances, and especially those he disliked? well, they were fair game. it was standard knowledge that one did not leave their galleons out around ludovic bagman, not unless they wanted to be a few gold pieces short anyways.

BACKGROUND

quidditch: quidditch was in his blood. his father, Isaiah Bagman, was an athlete pulled straight from the legends, a master on his broom before an injury kept him off a broom after that. he introduced the sport to his sons, holding their hands as they saddled shakily over their small toy brooms. the farm which they lived on was perfect for windy afternoons atop a Cleansweep, pushing so high into the sky that it was just him and the birds. he breathes quidditch, and if all goes well, it’ll be a part of his life forever. he wants to go pro, to see his name in the papers, to feel the scream of the crowd. its the only thing he’s ever worked for in his entire life, and its the only thing he truly takes seriously about himself.

school: for awhile, school went okay. he was a slacker by nature, but he was quick with his wits and sharp in a test, and for awhile that was enough. his O.W.L’s were better than anyone ever guessed he would be, and aside from his tendency towards clownery, he wasn’t the worst student. but when his mother left this world, so did all of his will to care about his own education. he barely gets by now, scraping by just enough to satisfy his professors. when pushed to do better he just closes down and gets irritable, before shutting the conversation down entirely. 

family: before the incident, the bagmans were a relatively normal family. but ever since, they were a broken shell of the home they used to be. the love was still there. if anything, otto and ludo were closer than ever after needing to lean on each other after so many years. but things were not the same. holidays were different, and summers too. their home was too quiet and too far away, and it stifled and choked him until he wanted to sleep it all away. if it weren’t for his brother, he might have ended up running away as to not spend another second there. otto is on a different path now, running towards ambition and work. ludo worried that they were drifting apart, unable to understand each other anymore. 

spiraling out: ludovic was always an adventurous boy, and so he never shied away from alcohol or drugs. he always said he would try anything once, and besides, everyone enjoyed a break from sobriety every now and then. It was never too big of a problem until after his mother’s death. It’s easier to laugh at life when he was under a cloud of something better, and so he drinks whatever is handed to him, smokes whatever is lit up before him, and swallows any pill or tab set upon his tongue. it’s getting worse after this last summer, but he doesn’t want to talk about it, not even with his best friends and brother.

[jenevievemccoy]

Jenevieve McCoy Self Para 001

Location: Jenevieve’s room, ambulance, hospital

Takes place during Jenevieve and Sky’s current thread

Jenevieve hit the floor, she was lucky that Sky was there with her. Within minutes an ambulance arrive while she was still unconscious on the floor of the her bedroom. The paramedics took good care of her as the took her vidals and got her on the stretcher. 

The ride to the ambulance wasn’t much better for Jenevieve. She gained consciousness while on the way to the ambulance and started screaming. “Where am I?” She asked loudly and dazed. “Call... call JP!” She yelled “Call him...medical card....my-  my...phone.” She got out. She knew the drill incase something like this happened to her. She was lucky they noticed her medical bracelet. “You need to calm down miss.” The paramedic said to her. “Call him.” She said as she gasped for air. Within moments she was unconscious again. 

They got her to the hospital quickly, luckily with the help of her medical card, they were table to establish she was having a malfunction with her pacemaker. They pushed her right through the door and into trauma room one and she was in emergency surgery. Her parents were on the phone as they prepared her for surgery, they needed consent to operate. Her pacemaker was completely shot, it stopped work and left her on the brink of death. Pacemakers last up to 6 to 10 years, with Jenevieve’s conditions, she had one for a while. Her only mistake was ignoring the signs it wasn’t working properly. But maybe she wanted it to fail a little bit. Not just the pacemaker but her heart. She was sick of being sick. 

It was considerably crazy, Jenevieve knew her heart condition was bad and they were doing everything they could to help her. The pacemaker was a partial fix along with the medication she took. She always wondered when her time would be up, when she would die. Lucky for her, that day was not today. All of the preparation, medical information on the phone, medical ID bracelet, knowing what to say when coming too. 

It wasn’t a long surgery, they were able to get in there, change the pacemaker and close her up. Thanks to annasthesia she would be out for a couple hours, resting. After her parents got the call, they made their way to the hospital. Lucky for them Jene was out for a while so they had time to travel.  After the surgery was finished she was asleep in her recovery room. 

After a couple hours past, her eyes began to slowly open. “Wha-where am I” Jenevieve said with a sleepy tone. Jenevieve mother stood up and walked over to her and took her hand. “You are okay, Jene, you had to have surgery.” She told the girl in a soft tone. She looked over to see her father sitting in the room. He smiled. “You are okay now baby girl, you are okay.” Jenevieve rolled her eyes as he spoke. He was the last person she wanted to see in this room. For a matter of fact she didn’t want either of her parents there. Micah being around meant bad things for JP. 

“Get out.” She said harshly. “I want to be alone, get out.” She said as she pulled her hand away from her mothers. “The next person to walk through those doors better be a doctor or Jamie.” She said as she turned away from her weeping mother. “Jenevieve, we know you are ups-” Jene cut her off. “I said to get out!” she shouted, the volume level sparked a nurse to enter the room. “Maybe we should let her rest some more, privately” The nurse mused, holding the door open as her parents stepped out of the room. “Nurse?” She called out once her parents where gone. “Where is my stuff? I need my phone. I need to talk to my brother.” She insisted, “No, you must rest, you can do that later.” The nurse replied as she turned off the light and exited the room. 

[dressedtokillhertime]

"I'm supposed to be on my honeymoon right now." Freddie said as she stood in the doorway to Mollie's house. Both Knox and Mollie turned around to look at her, but Freddie couldn't look at either of them. The reception had been fun (more fun than it had any right to be, really), but now everything was over and she was left alone with just herself. Just herself when the day was supposed to be a celebration of her and Thom's love for each other. But that didn't happen. Because Thom cheated on her. He cheated on her on their wedding day. And now it was just her.

She felt her throat get tight, felt her eyes stinging, and she was vaguely aware that this was going to be bad. A sob fell from her lips and she brought a hand up to her mouth to cover it, but it didn't work as well as she wanted it to. She squatted in the doorway, her legs seemingly done holding her up. She felt arms wrap around her and she knew they were Mollie's, could hear her saying words of encouragement, felt her help her into a standing position and away from the door, hearing the click. All of this was going on in the background of the sobs that were wracking her body. She was sobbing so hard she was practically screaming, her body shaking with the force of it. She was crying like someone had ripped her heart out. And yeah. Wasn't that what had happened? How could she go on without her heart? More importantly, why did Thom take it when he clearly didn't want or need it?"

"Fred.... Freds.... Freddie. You gotta calm down, sweetheart. I know it hurts, I know. But I need you to calm down and breathe, okay?" Mollie said, rubbing her back. She said something else to Knox, but Freddie didn't care to hear it.

The next thing she knew (and it truly could've been seconds or minutes after Mollie told her she needed to calm down. She didn't know), she was sitting on the couch with tea in front of her that was supposed to be calming. She appreciated what her brother and sister were trying to do, but she was clocked out. Still, she took a drink of the tea.

Suddenly, she was in the bath tub. She had no idea how she'd gotten there, except the possibility that maybe Mollie had guided her and helped her get undressed. The water was hot against her skin, nearly scalding. Just the way she liked it. She couldn't get the image of Thom fucking that woman out of her head. Her eyes stung again and she let out a sob. She heard the door open and saw Mollie come in.

Flash. She was out of the shower and in her favorite pajamas (something she thought Mollie did again). Her makeup had carefully been taken off, her hair washed and brushed. She could taste the minty flavor of toothpaste, but she didn't remember brushing her teeth. Everything was coming to her in snapshots. She was in Mollie's room, on Mollie's bed, squished between Knox and Mollie. She felt so.... young. She hated it. She turned her face into the pillow, her tears starting up again. A hand rubbed her back while another stroked her hair. She wasn't sure who was who. They said their words of encouragement, but she didn't really hear them. She just cried. Knox and Mollie let her, comforting her and not rushing her to feel better. The only time they said anything was when it got intense, like that first time.

Eventually, everything went quiet as pure, sheer exhaustion overtook her. It was the most peace she'd gotten in a long time.

[yourlocalheartbreakgirl]

you can find happiness right where you are or the show must go on.

It wasn’t that Vada hated Eventfully Evers After or anything. It was just that when your mom owned the most successful event planning business in a hundred mile radius, it was a little hard to escape that also being your “thing.” Okay, it wasn’t her only thing. There was the half of town that knew her as Monica Evers’ daughter, the Party Princess extraordinaire who dressed up in fun costumes for events and kids’ parties, and then there was the half that knew her as Vicious Vada: a slut and a heartbreaker and an entirely different kind of “party princess.” And it wasn’t that she hated either of these things; she liked going out and having casual fun with a guy and having nice warm fuzzies before ending it and finding a different guy. If that made her a slut, so be it. She was slutty and proud.

She did, however, hate it when one of her mom’s girl’s canceled and she just expected Vada to fill in (and, like, okay, she usually did, but what else was she supposed to do?) on such short notice sometimes it was hard to get her costume on and together before it was time to head out to the party. It was worse when she had to cancel plans. It was even more worse than that when it was to play a character she didn’t really like. And tonight it was both of those things rolled into one.

She grabbed her phone and texted Alexis a quick message: “so don’t hate me, but my mom needs me to fill in at a princess party tonight. :(” She ran to the bathroom to grab her makeup bag and start getting ready. She had two hours before the party, it was a solid twenty minute drive, and her mom liked her employees there at least fifteen minutes early to make sure the parent wasn’t freaking out and was in a good mood. So Vada had just over an hour to get ready.

As she started applying her makeup, her phone buzzed with a text from Alexis. She picked it up to read “boo, you absolute whore. This is the third time you’ve canceled on me recently, doesn’t your mom have any other backup??” Vada rolled her eyes and set her phone down, not having the heart or drive to explain to Alexis, again, that when her mom could send a girl other than Vada (unless it was something she knew Vada would want and she wasn’t busy) she did. It was just this newest hire was pretty much a flake and no other girl would’ve accepted two hours notice that they had a new party. Monica used Vada because she knew she could count on Vada. Her phone buzzed again and she looked at it. “Is it at least one of the fun ones?”

That caused Vada to smile, just a little, and she typed. “i wish. i got stuck doing a snow white. ya know. my least favorite one. #prayforme.” she went to set her phone down but it buzzed again. “Thoughts and Prayers in this time. We can go out another time. I’ll have a drink or two for you, and kiss a hot frat guy for you too.” “yeah yeah. have fun.” “Love you slut.” Vada put her phone down at that, not bothering to reply. She liked Alexis (or Lexi, as she preferred to be called), but she couldn’t help but think that sometimes the only times Lexi wanted to be her friend was when they were going out clubbing or hitting on cute boys. And those were two of her favorite things to do, but they weren’t all of who Vada was. And sometimes she thought those were the only traits her friend wanted to acknowledge about her.

Pushing those thoughts away, she finished up her make up and hurried back to her room to get in costume and prep her hair for the wig. The thing about Eventfully Evers After was that it was successful - immensely so, by some metrics. They could afford to have multiple men and women on the payroll and book them for more than one event (sometimes more than one event in a day), but Vada remembers when they weren’t. Vada remembers her mom and dad working tirelessly to get Eventfully Evers After -her mom’s dream- off the ground. She remembers how proud her mom looked when they stood outside the finished building that was meant to be her home base, her arm wrapped around Vada’s shoulders. She also remembered the stress of the business ripping her parents apart, piece by bitter piece. She remembered nights of fighting and crying and then the silence that came after her dad left. After the divorce was finalized. And Vada vowed she wouldn’t be another reason the family fell apart. Not another reason for tears and sleepless nights. Not for either of them.

So, even if it sucked and she hated it sometimes, Vada would take the short notice jobs. She’d do her make up and put on the costume and wig and give the kids the best birthday party or event of their lives. Because that was what it was about. It was everything her mom worked for. It was her legacy. And despite herself, Vada couldn’t do anything to stand in the way of that. That didn’t mean she couldn’t try to meet up with Lexi later; she was a different kind of party princess too, after all.

[shxdowsofombra]

Special Prom pt 1

[David]

David could hear that things didn’t seem very good just by the sound of it. He knew how much prom meant to Hallie so he started to talk to some of the staff and her friends to try to set up another one for her once she was ungrounded. 

He left a note for her on her bed for the day she was ungrounded which told her to get her prom dress on and meet him outside. 

[Hallie]

Hallie came out of the bathroom and was confused on why her prom dress and shoes and everything was laid out on her bed. She saw a note and moved over to it before reading it. She smiled as she saw David’s handwriting, but she knew for a fact David wasn’t the one that put it out. 

She got ready regardless before slipping out of her room. She couldn’t hear or smell anyone in the house which confused her more as she walked outside.

[David]

David was standing outside with the limo there and the corsage in hand. “Since I know how badly you wanted to go to prom. I figured we could have our own together with some of your friends.” He smiles. 

[Hallie]

“I…” She stopped as she saw the corsage and the limo and couldn’t help but smile. “You did all this…for me?” She asked in disbelief. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

[David]

“Well I did some of it. Your brother helped with some of it too.” He smiles as he walks over to her. “Can I put it on you?” David asks while taking the corsage out of the holder. 

[Hallie]

“Emmett?” She asked in confusion before smiling as she nodded. “Yes, please.” She says as she held out her hand. “It’s beautiful.”

[David]

“No, not Emmett. It was Henry. He was the one that helped come up with the idea of having your own prom.” He tells her as he puts the corsage on her wrist. 

[Hallie]

Hallie heard her brother’s name and was even more confused. “Why did he do that? I thought he hates me.” She said as she looked over the corsage. “Thank you.” 

[David]

“He doesn’t hate you? Look I don’t know what you fought about but it seems like he really wanted to make it up to you.” He tells her. “You know siblings tend to say things they don’t mean when they get into fights. I know I have said my fair share of things to mine.”

[Hallie]

She pushed her hair behind her ear as she nodded, “Yeah…I said some things I didn’t mean. I was just really angry…” She said before sighing. “I will talk to him when I come back. Everyone is gone.”

[David]

“Well I mean your parents did take the weekend off for themselves so. That just means we have the house to ourselves once we come back.” He smirked. 

[Hallie]

She smiled brightly at his words and nodded, “You look really handsome by the way.” She said as she looked over his suit.

[David]

“Why thank you. You look absolutely stunning in that dress.” He tells her with a smile before leading her over to the limo. 

[Hallie]

“Thank you.” She smiled before walking with him to the limo. She saw him open the door before moving in to sit. This isn’t how she expected her prom to go, but it was a pleasant surprise and she couldn’t help being excited by what David had planned. She heard someone calling her name and smiled brightly and hugged her friends. She listened to them explain how David had planned everything for her and blushed as she looked at David. 

[David]

David got into the car after Hallie did. He noticed her talking to her friends and he got into a conversation with his friend sitting next to him as well. They were telling him how whipped he was for Hallie and there was no denying that by any means. 

[Hallie]

Hallie’s friends started asking her about DJ and she pulled her phone out to show pictures of him before they took her phone to look at them closer. She turned to David and kissed him softly, “Thank you David.”

[David]

David smiled as he felt her kissing him. “You’re welcome darling.” He tells her as he takes her hand n his. 

[Hallie]

She intertwined their fingers as she smiled, “Do you really like my dress?” She asked in his ear as it was starting to get loud in the limo.

[David]

“Of course I love it. Why wouldn’t I?” He asks while raising a brow before they were handed to glasses of champagne. “Well let’s have some fun tonight yeah?” 

[Hallie]

“Hm I was just wondering.” She says before seeing the glasses. She took one before nodding. “Okay.” She smiled before taking a sip of the drink.

[David]

“Do you like it? I made sure it was one of the best brands.” He smiles before taking another sip of the drink. 

[Hallie]

“Of course I do.” She smiled before her friends pulled her over to their conversation and started pouring more in her glass.

[David]

It didn’t take much longer for them to arrive at the school. The car door opened and the boys got out to escort the girls. David held his hand out and waited for Hallie to come out. 

[Hallie]

Hallie took David’s hand and got out of the car. She was a little tipsy with how much alcohol the girls had given her. She pushed her hair out of her face, “It’s at the school?” She asked. “How…how did you get them to say yes?” 

[David]

“I have connections, you know.” He smiles as he leads her inside. “Let’s slow down with the drinks though. Wouldn’t want you to forget tonight now would we?” David smiles while looking at her as they made their way inside. 

[Hallie]

“Okay.” She said as she walked inside with him. She looked around and her eyes flashed pink at all the decorations he put up. “This is…this is amazing.” She said happily.

[David]

“You like it?” He smiles as he looks at her. “I mean it took a while to convince them to give me the extra decorations from prom but your brother and I managed to convince them.” David says before leading her to the dance floor. 

[Hallie]

Hallie wasn’t really used to people doing things like this for her. Her parents were parents so they didn’t count, but David and Henry doing all this…just for her. “I don’t really know what to say David.”

[David]

“You don’t have to say anything. But I will have you know that Henry and Josh are here too. Originally Henry wanted to just have it be you and your friends but I convinced him to come as well since he put a lot into it too.” He tells her as he let his hands move to her waist. 

[Hallie]

Hallie felt David’s hands on her waist and smiled as she heard Henry was with Josh. “That’s good. It was pretty obvious they were going to get back together. Hopefully my brother doesn’t mess up again.” She said before feeling someone grabbing her arm. Her friends asked her to come to the bathroom with her. “Oh I…I…sure?” She said unsurely before feeling them pull her away before she could say anything to David.

[Claire]

Claire watched as their friends pulled Hallie away and she walked up to David. “It’s so sweet that you did all this for Hallie.” She said smiling. “She was telling everyone that you got a new job, which is so sad I really liked the class you were teaching.” Claire told him. “And it’s so cool that you are so okay with Hallie like staying late to practice with all the football players…they absolutely adore her.”

[David]

“Practice with the football players? Well I mean who doesn’t adore her?” He smiles. “I got a job as a permanent teacher at a different school.” 

[Claire]

“Oh yeah, she stays with them after all of us leave. We just assumed you knew.” She shrugged before touching his shoulder. “We are just really big fans of yours.”

[David]

“Yeah I do know. I am the one that picks her up after practice.” He says before smoothly moving away before she could touch his shoulder. “Right well I am going to get something to drink. You have fun though.” He says before leaving and going to the table where Henry was as he waited for Hallie. 

[Hallie]

Hallie came back from the bathroom and looked around for David before seeing him. She walked over to him giggling as she wrapped her arms around him before kissing him passionately. “Dance with me.” She said against his lips.

[David]

“Mhm okay baby. Let’s go dance.” He smiles before kissing her back and leading her to the dance floor. His hands going to her waist as they swayed to the music. 

[Hallie] 

She smiled happily as she followed him to the dance floor. She danced with him as she swayed to the beat. “They had really tasty alcohol in the bathroom.”

[David]

“In the bathroom? There is no alcohol in the bathroom, what are you talking about?” He asks her in concern. 

[Hallie]

“Hm no they had a flask.” She said before hearing the song change. “Oh I love this song.” She giggled. “You know I wanted you to like my dress so much you ripped it off. I begged my mom to buy it for me.”

[David]

“You took a drink from them not knowing what was inside?” He asks just to make sure he got what she was saying correct. “Well we can save that for later can’t we?” David teases. 

[Hallie]

“Yes.” She nodded before nodding. “I guess.” She smiled before remembering something, “Oh…oh, have you ever wanted a threesome? Or like are you interested in that? The girls said all boys are.” She said. “Orrrr you can sleep with them and I can sleep with um…um the guys and we can like swing?”

[David]

“Sorry what? Is that why she mentioned you were staying late with the football team? You want to sleep with them? I have no interest in sleeping with your friends, Hallie.” He tells her while looking at her. 

[Hallie]

“What? Who? No, I stay after practice because they…they said I have to be the one to put all the practice stuff away by myself. I’m new to the team. It takes forever, but I don’t mind. You know that?” She reminded him before feeling arms around her waist and one of the guys picking her up.

[David]

“They make you do that all by yourself…?” He asks before seeing one of the guys picking her up. “Can you put her down? We were having a conversation, you know.” He was starting to get irritated with her friends. 

[Hallie]

“Yes, I put away all the mats and the um jugs of water. And put away all the pom-poms and put the uniforms in the laundry and stuff.” She told him before hearing the boy tell David, he needed to talk to her before walking away with her. “Hey wait…” Hallie said squirming in the boy’s arms.

[Claire]

“Don’t worry David, it’s only for a second. They boys just wanted Hallie’s advice on something. Like you said…who wouldn’t adore her?” Claire said as she stood next to David.

[David]

“Yeah, no you all need to leave.” He tells them. He went over and took Hallie out of the guys arms and pulled her behind him. “You all need to leave now.”

[Hallie]

Hallie felt the boy putting her down before feeling David pulling her behind him. “Is something wrong?” She asked before pushing her hair out of her face. “It’s fine. It was a joke right? Let’s go back to dancing.”

[David]

“No, it’s not a joke. The way they have been treating you tonight is absolutely horrible. They need to leave.” He says before turning to her ‘friends’. “Get out. If you are here to be assholes get the fuck out.” 

[Hallie]

“Oh but it’s okay, really I’m fine. I promise.” She said as she made David look at her. “Come on, you planned all this for me. Let’s just enjoy it. I’m only a little tipsy. I promise.”

[Claire]

“Yeah, Hallie wants us here. She likes us. And this for Hallie right?” Claire smirked before some of her friends nodded in agreement. “We promise to give you space. We just wanted to hang with our friend.” She laughed.

[David]

“A little tipsy and on fucking drugs. They got you high in that bathroom didn’t they? And they keep dragging you off instead of asking what you want to do. That isn’t how friends act, Hallie. And friends certainly don’t try to hit on their friends' boyfriends either.” He says while glaring at her friends. “You are right this is for Hallie, not all of you so leave.” His eyes turned red. 

[Hallie] 

“They told me they wanted me to be the one to try to make sure it was safe…but I’m…I’m part shifter it will go by fast I…it’s okay. I-”

[David]

“Oh so they wanted to test their drugs on you to see if it will kill them or fuck them up? Friends don’t put each other's lives on the line like that. They shouldn’t be treating you the way they are and had I known they were treating you this shitty I would have taken care of it.”

[Henry]

Henry noticed that something was off about David and Hallie’s friends and he excused himself from Josh to go over. He happened to hear some of the conversation before going over to one of the guys. “You are testing drugs on my sister? The fuck is wrong with you? If he says stay away from my sister. Stay away from my sister.” He growled before punching one hard enough to knock him out. “David said to leave.” 

[Hallie]

“Well when you say it like that…I don’t think they meant it in a bad way though.” She tried to reason with him before seeing Henry walking over. She saw him punching one of the guys and moved over to him. “Henry, it's fine. Please don’t. It’s okay. Just go enjoy the night with Josh. I am fine.”

[David]

“Hallie the only way that it could be is a bad way. There is no good way to test drugs on friends to see what happens. There are no good ways to force someone to do everything at the end of the day and insinuate that you aren’t being loyal. The more you try to defend their actions the worse they sound. Since they drugged you, you don’t even hear what you are saying.” He tells her. 

[Henry]

“It’s not fine. Do you think mom would be okay hearing that your friends are using you to test their drugs on? Do you think that she would call your friends friends because I think you know as well as I do that they aren’t acting like your friends because friends are people who look out for your best interest. They look out for you, not use you.” He tells her as she stands by him. 

“They are using you and pretending to be your friends so they can do what they want and get what they want without the consequences. They need to go. I am sorry I invited them here. I thought they were better people than this.” 

[Hallie]

She looked at David before hearing Henry’s words, “No it’s…they are good. I promise. Mom and dad wouldn’t let me hang out with them otherwise. They…please just let them stay. We are all a little drunk, that's all. It’s not a big deal.” Hallie said as she looked at her brother and David. “Please.”

[Claire]

“I don’t think we are the problem. I think it’s you. Hallie says she doesn’t mind, so you should get over it. We are the ones that protect Hallie at school. Maybe you are taking advantage of Hallie. You are older than her and I’m sure her parents don’t appreciate that.”

[David]

“Interesting you think that. You weren’t there when she went through this already before. She had friends like you and they were horrible. You think her parents won’t kill you when they find out everything I will tell them you have done to her?” He said while stepping closer to Claire as his claws grew out. 

“Funny you say that about the older part. You and your friends couldn’t stop gushing over that earlier tonight.” 

[Henry]

“So if I were to tell mom everything they did to you tonight, would she be perfectly fine with them being your friends and being here with you tonight? Because that is what you are implying. And you know dad will not agree with what they are doing.”

[Hallie]

“Claire stop. That’s not true. David is great, perfect even. You don’t get to talk about him like that.” Hallie said before seeing David’s claws. “David, baby please stop. This is just a big misunderstanding.” Hallie said before hearing Henry’s words and her eyes widened. “No please don’t tell mom and dad. Please.”

[Claire]

“Hallie loves you and as her friends, we like you too. But you are the one that’s making people isolate her. I mean you thought her dating a teacher was normal. We are there for her. And Hallie likes pleasing us. So…I bet if we asked her to fuck the whole team she would.”

[David]

“Yeah? Ask her then. Go on. I dare you.” 

[Henry]

Henry slipped away and texted Hope and Zach about what was happening. 

[Hallie]

“Stop.” Hallie told them both. “This is so stupid. David can we please just go dance? She’s just joking. I would never do that and she would never ask me to. Please can we go?” She asks as she takes his hand.

[Claire]

“Didn’t you say you were okay with her staying with the football team late? Now you care if she fucks them or not? That’s funny. I wonder what people will think about Hallie’s boyfriend causing a scene and wanting all her friends to leave.”

[lifeonthewilderside]

Does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night changes? Or Congratulations, you won your swim competition! Your whole life is a lie!

It had been a long day. Getting up to go to school to be on the bus for the swim meet at seven am, to the hour and a half bus ride to the other school, to the actual meet. Plus there was hanging out with Rekha and Gwen afterwards and the fun the three of them always had. It almost didn’t matter that she had a gold medal around her neck and Coach DuBois had a trophy to go in the case at school. All Kennedy wanted to do was go home, change into pajamas, and sleep through till Monday morning.

Her parents, it seemed, had other plans.

The first floor of the house was quiet when she turned her key and walked in. Too quiet. The stillness that predicts disaster. The stillness that calls for something, anything, to ruin it. Kennedy was instantly on edge. She turned and waved at Gwen so her friend knew she had gotten in okay, before setting her keys in the dish and kicking off her shoes. Something was wrong; Kennedy just didn’t know what. It was times like this that she desperately wished Linx was here. Not that she and her sister really got along all that super well, but Dad was always in a better mood when she was home from college. But no luck. To prolong the inevitable, she went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, taking a long drink and walking further in.

She was on the stairs when she heard it, the yelling. Her parents were arguing. That hurt. Kennedy hated when her parents fought, especially because they seemed to do it so rarely. And okay, her dad had always held her at a distance for reasons Kennedy couldn’t begin to understand, but she had a good relationship with her mom, and she knew how much her mom loved her dad, so to hear them fight twisted up something inside of her.

Kennedy knew she shouldn’t camp out on the stairs and listen, but she couldn’t help it. Especially not when she heard her name.

“I’m just saying, it wouldn’t have killed you to come to her swim meet today! There were a ton of parents there! And you’re her father, don’ you think she’d want you there?!” That was her mom, Kennedy could tell because her mom was an emotional angry person, crying when she was angry. Kennedy got it from her.

“Am I, Grace? Am I really? We both know that girl doesn’t look a thing like me, doesn’t behave a thing like me.” Her dad’s eerily calm voice. Something in his tone, in the words he said, made Kennedy’s blood run cold. What was he saying? Why was he trying to pretend she wasn’t his daughter? Sure, she didn’t look much like him (or Lincoln, for that matter), and only she had the same red stained hair her mother did, but that didn’t make her any less his daughter.

“Really?! Really, Thomas?! You can’t say you forgive me for that, for everything that happened, and hold it over my head when it suits you! Either you forgive me for the affair or you don’t.”

Affair. Affair. Affair. The word was like a bomb, and the second Kennedy knew she fully processed it, she was going to explode. Her mother had had an affair? When? With who? She wanted to drop the water, to cover her ears and yell, scream and plead with them to stop fighting. She felt so young in this moment, so much younger than she really was.

“I’m doing the best I can. Done the best I can for the past sixteen years. But at least when you look at her, you get know that she’s yours. I look at her and see a permanent reminder that my wife wanted to have a fling with a rich, married man when I was away on business.”

“I’ve said I’m sorry, Thomas, I don’t know what else to say or do. I haven’t had any contact with him or the Ford-Clearys since I ended the affair. He doesn’t even know about Kennedy. You are her father. You’ve always been her father.”

That was all Kennedy could bear to hear. It was like she was on autopilot, her feet carrying her to her room, pulling out her book bag and a duffel bag, beginning to fill it with clothes and items. Her mother had an affair. Her mother had lied to her for the past sixteen years. Thomas Wilder wasn’t her father. It seemed like Thomas Wilder had no interest in being her father. She couldn’t say she blamed him. And while that knowledge cut like a knife, the person she couldn’t stomach looking at was her mother. This woman who had lied and kept things from her, important things, for her whole entire life and then turned around and claimed to love her? It was too much. She needed to get out. She had no idea where to go.

She knew of the Ford-Clearys. Knew they lived in a little town a few hours away from here. Maybe she could go to them. Maybe they would feel more like a family than the one in broken pieces at her feet. They at least deserved to know about her, right? She could barely think through the pain and turmoil she was feeling. Still, grabbing her phone with shaking fingers, she sent out a text to Gwen, asking her to come back, to take her to the bus station. She knew her friend was going to have questions, concerns, but Kennedy also knew she’d help her. She shoved clothes and books and stuff into the duffle, very carefully picking up her cassette player and collection of tapes and setting them in a compartment of her backpack, before also grabbing her roller skates. Would she need either? Who knew? But she wanted both. That was the only thought she had as she reached for the stuffed cow on her bed. It had been a birthday present from years ago, from a boy she didn’t talk to anymore, not since he had moved away and stopped calling or trying to hang out. Not that she could blame him, she had gotten busy, too. But there was a time when Gwen and Rekha weren’t her best friends, but a boy named Paxton, who had become her best friend in first grade and got her a cow stuffed animal for her birthday. She still didn’t like sleeping without it.

After all the clothes her duffel could carry were packed, along with the stuff (books and the cassette player and the roller skates and other things she couldn’t let go of), in both the duffel and her backpack, she grabbed her math notebook and ripped out a clean page, grabbing a pen off the desk (a mermaid set her parents had gotten for her at the start of the year, when she decided Swimmer and Ariel were what she was going to be) and wrote in shimmering purple ink:

I heard the fight. I can’t be here. I can’t look at you and not see sixteen years of lies and/or resentment. I have to get out of here. I suddenly feel like I’m drowning and I’m not that good of a swimmer. I love you, but I also think I kind of hate you right now. Both of you. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Maybe I won’t. I guess this is a dramatic way to announce that I’m running away. Please don’t come looking for me. I won’t come back. Not until I’m ready. If I’m ever ready.

-Kennedy

PS: I won my swim meet.

Setting the note on her desk, she took off the gold medal that was still somehow around her neck and set it next to the note. She went to a shoebox that held her birthday and Christmas money in it. There was close to a thousand dollars in it because she had been saving a little bit here and there from each birthday or Christmas, just in case. Well. Now was just in case. It was nowhere near enough, she was aware of that, but it was a good start. She grabbed the cash and shoved it in her wallet before grabbing Dottie the cow and sneaking back out. Her mom was full sobbing now and Kennedy didn’t know if it was because she and her dad -Thomas- were still fighting or because they had moved on from the fight and this was them making up. It didn’t matter either way, it left her wide open to getting out of the house. She pulled her shoes back on, grabbed her keys out of the dish as if on habit, her mind not stopping to think she might not need them anymore, and slipped outside. Gwen was already there, idling in the drive. Kennedy saw her friend look up from her phone and set it down, and she knew she had been about to text her.

She climbed into the passenger seat, shoving her duffel and backpack at her feet. “Kennedy, what the hell?!” Gwen said, her eyes wide, even as she started backing out. “You were home for twenty minutes and now you look like you’re about to be a teen runaway.” Kennedy held onto Dottie tightly, needing the comfort of the stuffed animal.

“I... I am, Gwen. I can’t stay in that house. Not after what just happened.” She felt pale. And cold.

“Okay, then come sleep at my house and we won’t go back until Monday morning for school.” Gwen said, even as Kennedy shook her head.

“Just. Trust me. I have to do this. I’ll explain everything. I just. Can’t right now.” Kennedy replied.

By the time they had gotten to the bus station, Gwen had coaxed the story out of her, and was immediately supportive. She even gave her the rest of the allowance her parents gave her for good grades and doing well in swim. It was almost another hundred dollars. They had even managed to google Denton and Lorelai. Her siblings. Half siblings. It didn’t make much of difference. It was just that they were so much older than her. Sure, she and Lincoln had an age difference, but these two were even older than Lincoln. Suddenly, uncertainty fluttered in her stomach. But then she thought about going home to her mom and Thomas, and the resolve instantly came back. Gwen managed to find where Denton was staying thanks to a picture on his Instagram that had a theater in the background. Googling the theater brought it up. It felt weird and creepy, but Kennedy knew she had to do this.

Finally, they went up and bought the ticket, Gwen asking for the millionth time if she was sure, Kennedy reassuring her for the millionth time she was. “Rekha is going to be so pissed we didn’t bring her.” Gwen said.

“Somehow I think you’ll find a way to make it up to her.” Kennedy replied, a small smirk teasing her lips. Gwen laughed, before pulling her into a hard, tight hug.

“Be safe, okay? And text me. I don’t want to lose you. Besides, I want to hear all about you and your new siblings - especially you’re new sister.” She teased, making a joke. Because that’s all they could do. If they were one hundred percent sincere, Kennedy knew they’d both be crying. So she nodded sarcastically.

“Oh, for sure. I’ll keep you updated.” She hugged her one last time before turning and buying a ticket, boarding a few moments later. She turned around to see Gwen watching her, making sure she got on the bus safely. She held up her hand in a wave, before climbing onto the late bus, finding a seat and crashing into it. Everything was different now. She knew there was no way it couldn’t be. But she was suddenly so tired, so physically and emotionally drained from the day, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Soon. She’d meet her new family soon. She just hoped everything was going to be okay.