Hi, hello! I hope life is treating you well. I know this is kind of out of the blue but I’ll be leaving Tumblr as of the time of posting this (the account/masterlist will stay tho don’t worry).
I know you probably don’t care of the reasons lol but for the stories I’ve yet to finish, I’ll post all of them up don’t worry :) They’re already queued to be released in the next couple of days so don’t worry too much, I won’t leave you hanging. I’ll just log in when I can to fix up the masterlist and all that.
If you are curious as to why I’m leaving--I guess...I just feel like I can’t offer you guys anything more than what I’ve already written. Beyond the lack of time...I guess I just feel empty. I don’t want to string you guys along and make you think I have anything else to offer after my Colt and Logan series (+IDOL). I honestly don’t and it’s been eating at me for so long. I always tell myself that I’ll write more, I’ll make more--but the motivation, the passion and the drive is not there. I tried writing for other books (MFTL) to break the feeling but it just didn’t feel right you know? I know it’s such a stupid and petty reason to leave but that’s how I feel. That’s what I’ve been feeling for a while now. I did think of just going on another hiatus but it wouldn’t be fair to those who read my stories to just leave them hanging without a proper ending when I didn’t know when I’d be back.
Also, I lost my confidence as a writer. Plain and simple hahaha It’s a gross feeling but eh, what can you do.
So yeah, that’s it. Thank you so much to everyone who has welcomed me into this community and for being such a fun place to write and post my work. To everyone who’s ever liked, reblogged, and commented--I can’t begin to describe how much you’ve put a smile on my face. In the short time I was here, I hope I’ve also brought you a drop of happiness :)
Am I coming back? I’m not too sure yet. Probably if PB drops ROD2 you bet your booty I’ll be crawling out of my hole because how could I not. I might even come back to participate in RoDAW next year! Until then, I hope life continues to treat you well wherever you may go.
Pairings:
(Major) Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
(Minor) Platinum | M!Raleigh x Cadence
Warnings: PG13+
Word Count: 11k+
A/N: I can’t even begin to apologize that I’m leaving this story unfinished. I tried to finish it, I really did but school is just so heavy right now that I barely have time to do anything else. And as I’ve said, the passion isn’t there anymore. I’ll post up to whatever I’ve written and if given the time, I’ll definitely come back to finish it. If you decide to drop this story, I completely understand. I’m sorry that I let you down :(
@troublemakerinspace @raleiighcarrera @harrys-wheezys @raleeeighcarreras
“Wow, when you said you’d pick me up I thought you meant your manager was going to drive us.”
“The option was definitely there,” Logan grins as he pushes himself off of the yellow and black-striped 2005 Devore GT to stand in front of her. “But I thought it would be nice if I drive.”
Ellie chuckles as she makes her way to the passenger’s door and takes her seat just as Logan slides into the driver’s seat.
“Are you a good driver?” Ellie asks teasingly as she buckles her seatbelt. “If I get into a car accident and Mona finds out, she’ll call the ambulance and tell it to turn around.”
“I’m a great driver,” Logan chuckles as he revs the engine and he pulls out into the road. “Do you trust me?”
Ellie blinks at him for a moment before a smile tugs on her lips. “Weirdly enough, yes.”
The smile on Logan’s face strums the little tiny strings of her heart. It’s absurd how good he looks behind the wheel. If he was handsome during the any normal setting, it’s magnified by tenfold at how easy and comfortable he is as he drives. She tries not to stare at him, telling herself that she has set ground rules for how she’ll interact with Logan, but she seems to be breaking them every minute she’s in his presence.
“As an honored guest of the Devore, you have the privilege of picking the song.”
Ellie chuckles as she pulls out her phone and scrolls through her playlist. “Do you treat every passenger like this?”
“Only the pretty ones,” He glances at her with a devilish smile and a small wink.
She ducks her head to hide away the blush before her eyes light up at the instrumental track of Candy. She had asked Micah to send it to her so she could practice a little on her own before promotions truly start and they’ll have to start appearing on TV to sing it. She clicks on the song and the intro of the synth fills the car and a smile pulls on Logan’s lips.
“Logan, let’s do it live.”
“Huh?”
Logan barely has time to register her words when she starts to sing the intro of the song as she dances and does small body rolls in time with the beat. Logan lets out a laugh and he glances at her in amusement as he listens to her and waits for his cue.
Their voices fill the inside of the car—teasing, playful, flirty—and Ellie feels light and free. She’s never had this before, someone she can sing along with without the pressure of hitting the right note or conveying the right emotions. Even when she’s singing with Raleigh or Cadence, there’s always a certain standard she has to hold herself around them. After all, her voice croaking in front of those two would send her into a spiral of embarrassment.
But she doesn’t have the same worry with Logan.
Cadence had told her of this feeling—the feeling of being able to sing with someone that you’re so in tune with that it feels natural when there’s only you, the other person and the music. Cadence said that she has that with Raleigh.
And now…Ellie can admit a little that she just might have it with Logan.
The fourth verse comes in and he glances at her briefly, their gaze locking, and she grins as they sing out the next lines together in a perfect blend of light and husky.
I say, I want to be clear and simple
I want to adjust just for you, oh yeah
I'll give you something original
I know how complicated you are
Logan attempts the sustained high note in the bridge and Ellie rolls her eyes because of course he still has excellent breathing control and can let out a perfect G#4 note even while seating down. At this point, Ellie feels like there’s nothing this guy can’t do.
The song finally finishes the last of its note and the playlist jumps to the next song on her list, a slow and soothing song from Cadence’s new album. A comfortable silence settles between them and Ellie is once again amazed that even in the silence, it doesn’t feel awkward or stifled.
“I’m probably the luckiest fan in the world,” Logan says as he turns into an intersection. “I get to hear you sing live with only me as the audience.”
Ellie smiles. “Don’t sell yourself short. I’m pretty lucky to hear you sing live as well. You have a great voice.”
“Thanks,” He chuckles a little as he stops at a red light. “I’m really glad that I got to do this collab with you Ellie.”
“Me too,” She leans back and lays her head on the window. “Which reminds me. I never got to ask. Why the sudden genre shift? The song’s great but it’s not your usual release.”
Logan nods with a small smile, a look of apprehension crossing his face in a blink of a second.
“I really don’t like my songs. I just got roped into singing it because it sells,” He takes one hand off of wheel and gestures to himself. “Along with the whole heartbroken bad boy image.”
Ellie nods and looks at him sadly. It’s not that uncommon for companies to completely have control over an artists sound and image. It’s usually for younger and newer artists where they have no power to truly choose what they want to do with their music. She was lucky than when she started out, she had Raleigh and Cadence backing her so whatever musical direction she was going to venture into was going to be supported by two music industry giants. But for artists like Logan? They’re perpetually bound to whatever their producers want for them until they can somehow break out of the image without alienating their current fans. Fortunately for Logan, their collab single ‘Candy’ is a big hit. Maybe this will even open up the path for him to finally sing songs he actually likes.
“Are you saying that you’ve never had your heart broken then?” She teases. “Is that why you can’t fully commit to the heartbroken bad boy image?”
“Maybe I’m the one that breaks hearts,” Logan says, his voice almost pained, before the light turns green and he drives. “Or maybe I just don’t like the bad boy title.”
Ellie chuckles a little. “Yeah it’s pretty outdated. Plus, if you can’t hold yourself to the same standard as Raleigh Carrera then why even try?”
“What? Property damage and grand theft auto?” He smirks. “I could totally do that.”
“Hey! The courts cleared that up, the car was legit,” She laughs and leans back on the seat. “It created a shitstorm in the company though and any car he wants to buy has to go through the suits now. Cadence was not happy.”
“I’ll bet,” Logan snickers as he pulls up to the restaurant he had recommended to Ellie the night before. “Cadence seems like she doesn’t take any of Raleigh’s shit.”
“You have no idea,” Ellie chuckles as she unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car. “But I guess that’s what makes them work.”
“Yeah?” Logan grins as he opens the glass door for her.
“Yeah,” She looks around the restaurant and sees that it’s practically empty except for them. “Uh…you sure this place is open?”
“Yeah it’s owned by—Vaughn!” Logan turns to walk to Vaughn coming out of the kitchen and gives him a hug.
“Logan!” Vaughn exclaims as he returns Logan’s hug and looks over to where Ellie is standing. “Woah, you brought your girlfriend? I thought you were bringing Ellie over.”
Ellie tries to rein in the blush on her cheeks but fails miserably as Logan stands next to her.
“This is Ellie,” He turns to look at her with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about him, he’s clueless when it comes to anything other than cooking.”
Ellie smiles as she steps forward and offers her hand. “Nice to meet you Vaughn. Are you Logan’s friend?”
“Cousin more like it,” Logan corrects with a fond smile.
“We ain’t actually related. But we’re family. Known each other for a long time,” Vaughn replies as he motions to the empty restaurant. “Pick a seat! I’ll have the specials right out.”
Logan turns to look at Ellie expectantly as he points to the table hidden away from the glass windows. They take their seats across each other and Ellie is only now realizing how much all of this feels like a date. She banishes those thoughts as quickly as they came, this is just a casual hanging out with a potential friend and co-worker. That’s all there is.
“So, do you always clear out restaurants when you bring girls out for lunch?”
Ellie cringes at herself and groans internally. She was thinking it of course but she didn’t expect herself to outright say it.
“Not often,” Logan replies with a smile. “This place is pretty popular. I had to ask some serious favors from Vaughn so we could have it for ourselves today.”
Ellie smiles a little. “You didn’t have to, you know. I would’ve been fine either way.”
“I was thinking that a thousand pair of eyes constantly glancing at you while you eat would be uncomfortable.”
Ellie chuckles as she tucks her hair behind her ear. “You overestimate how much I get recognized in public. People rarely ever notice.”
“Liar,” Logan grins. “I would’ve noticed you from a thousand miles away.”
Ellie grimaces a little as she looks at him teasingly. “Not to be rude but are you always this…flirty?”
Logan laughs as he looks at her face earnestly. “Can’t help myself I guess.”
Ellie rolls her eyes a little. Perhaps that’s why it’s so difficult for her to stick to the rules and guidelines she’s set up for Logan when he seems to be so adept at making her break them.
The ping of Logan’s phone cuts through the silence and he grabs it from the table, astonishment and awe taking hold of his face.
“Woah,” Logan says as he turns his phone to her. “Looks like Candy has 80 million views on PlayMe now.”
“Seriously?!” Ellie exclaims as she takes his phone and stares at the number below the video. “This is insane.”
“Yeah I didn’t think it would be this popular…” Logan says in awe before his face softens.
“I did,” Ellie grins as she hands him his phone back. “And not just because of me by the way. The song is really great Logan. You should write your own stuff more often.”
“After this, maybe I’ll finally be able to,” Logan looks at her gratefully. “Thanks Ellie. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this.”
“No problem. I really meant what I said back then. About how I can help you out and be your friend. If you ever need help just hit me up and—” Ellie’s eyes flick to the ringing of her phone and her eyebrows shoot up in surprise when she sees Mona’s name flashing on the screen. She had already informed Mona that she’ll be taking the day off so this call must be important. “Sorry it’s my manager. I’ll be quick.”
Logan nods. “Take your time.”
Ellie nods as she grabs her phone and moves a little ways away from their table before she takes the call.
“Mona hi, what’s up?”
“Are you with Logan?”
Ellie’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and absolute fear. She hadn’t said anything about why she wanted a day off. Was Mona just this good? Was someone tailing her?
“Uh…yes,” She replies as she looks around the restaurant in apprehension in case she’ll see Mona suddenly pop out of nowhere. “But its just lunch I swear! And we’re both sober and we’ll stay sober. I’m not up to trouble—”
“I don’t care about that, put me on loud speaker. I need to talk to you both and make sure you’re alone.”
“To us…both?” Ellie asks as she confusingly makes her way back to the table. Logan looks at her with a question in his eyes just as she takes her seat again. Ellie shrugs before she pulls the phone away from her ear, puts in on loud speaker and places it in the middle of the table. “You’re on loud speaker Mona.”
“Good. Logan, can you hear me?”
“Uh yeah I can,” Logan looks to Ellie for answers but Ellie merely shakes her head signaling that she doesn’t know either. “What can I do for you?”
“I’ll cut right to the chase. With how popular Candy’s release is, the company has approved the music video. We’ll start production in two weeks.”
“Seriously?!” Ellie exclaims as she shares an excited and happy look with Logan. “That’s great news Mona!”
“Yeah and one more thing. We need you both in a fake relationship to drum up the release of the music video. I already went through this with your manager Logan. He should be calling you about this soon.”
“Woah wait,” Logan looks at Ellie’s phone apprehensively before he glances at Ellie. “Fake relationship? This isn’t. I mean I wasn’t—”
“Mona you know how I feel about fake relationships,” Ellie cuts in, annoyance lacing her voice. “Why can’t we just promote the song the normal way?”
“This isn’t just about the song Ellie, it’s to clean up your image as well. Everyone loves you with Logan, he’ll basically become your Cadence.”
Ellie frowns.
“If Ellie isn’t comfortable with this then I won’t do it,” Logan replies sternly.
“Fine then, you both have until the end of the day to give me your final decision,” Mona pauses for a moment before her voice drops down to something soft and caring. “This is good for you Ellie. I wouldn’t have suggested this unless I knew it was going to work. Have I ever led you wrong?”
Mona doesn’t afford Ellie the time to reply as she drops the call. Ellie lets out a heavy sigh and takes the phone and shoves it into her pocket, hoping that she won’t have any more calls to ruin her day.
“Shit. This is fucked up,” Logan says as anger and annoyance takes hold of his voice.
“Yeah but not uncommon,” She sighs and leans back on her seat as she thinks about it.
When Cadence revealed to her that the first time Raleigh and her started to date was actually just a fake relationship, she had vowed herself to never take that route. Mainly because she wanted to spare herself from the drama of being in a fake relationship with someone she had no feelings for. Pretending to kiss and fawn over a guy she’ll barely talk to outside of a few convincing texts to screenshot and post on Twitter to parade their relationship around like a prized horse.
She wants to be authentically herself because she owes it to the fans that love and support her.
“What do you think Logan?”
“I mean what I said Ellie,” Logan says as he leans forward a little and gazes into her eyes. “If you don’t want this then I don’t want this.”
A small smile tugs on her lips. “So if I was okay with this…you’d do it?”
Logan chuckles a little. “I mean…would any fan pass up the opportunity to fake date their idol?”
Ellie laughs a little as she takes the table napkin in her hands and twists it around nervously. She weighs her options. Mona wasn’t lying about the image clean up. It’s no doubt that once her new album drops in the coming months, it’ll be used to comb through all of her relationships in the past. So much of the songs she plans to record in the album revolves around heartbreak and recovering from that heartbreak that she knows full well that her critics will unfairly attach a guy to every track in that album. If she gets into a fake relationship with Logan and they “break up” amicably, then all of it will just bounce back to Logan alone. Maybe they could even spin the story so that she’s the dumpee which would then earn her sympathy and support for getting dumped by a truly great guy.
Plus, if she’s being honest with herself, it’ll give her a test run on the tiny crush she has on him without all the pesky strings of getting attached in a real relationship.
It’s all just positives at this point so how could she say no?
“Okay, I’ve made up my mind,” She glances up at Logan shyly before she steels her confidence and clears her throat. “So uh Logan, will you be my very first fake boyfriend?”
The way his eyes sparkle and the way the smile stretches on his lips makes Ellie momentarily forget how to breathe.
“I’ll make you so happy Ellie,” He promises, more truthfully than he had initially intended before he reaches forward and offers his hand. “It’ll be an honor to have you as my first fake girlfriend.”
Ellie laughs a little as she takes his hand, his palms warm against hers, and shakes on the deal just as Vaughn comes arrives with his specialties and sets it the down on the table with a big grin before he goes back into the kitchen.
“Okay, so how did it happen?”
Logan looks at her curiously just as he’s about to take a bite from his burger. “How did what happen?”
“I mean how did we start dating? Why did we start dating?”
He blinks at her, confusion clear on his face. “Because you like me and I like you back?”
“Not good enough,” Ellie says as she takes a bite from chicken sandwich. “It has to be authentic and it has to be meaningful.”
Logan chuckles a little nervously, not really expecting her to be this thorough about the whole thing. After all, he was just planning to post a Pictagram post about it and leave it at that.
“Love at first sight then?”
Ellie coughs and thumps her chest as she looks at him in disbelief. “Seriously? That’s so cliché!”
“It’s plausible,” He smiles and looks at her pointedly as Ellie rolls her eyes.
“How about this. We hung out a lot after the recording, we talked and realized that we had a lot in common and we ended up liking each other.”
“Why is this so important?” Logan frowns as he throws a French fry into his mouth. “Why is it anyone’s business how we got together? Isn’t it enough that we’re dating?”
Ellie scoffs as she takes a sip of her glass of water. “You’ve clearly never been in a fake relationship before.”
“Neither have you,” Logan replies as he playfully bumps her knee under the table.
“Yeah but I got references,” She grins as she raises her phone and waves it a little. “People always love the backstory and we’ll probably get asked about it a lot so it’s better to get our stories straight to really sell it.”
“Right…speaking of selling it, is kissing allowed?” Logan asks cheekily. “What are my boundaries? What are the things I can and can’t do?”
Ellie chuckles a little. “Kissing should be allowed in public. I mean, how else would we make it convincing? Hugging and touching is fine too—as long as it’s in public.”
“Got it,” Logan smiles.
“How about you? What are my boundaries?”
Logan tilts his head to the side with a playful smile. “No food in the Devore?”
Ellie laughs. “Is that all? You’re easy to please.”
“I’m a simple guy I guess,” Logan hands her some tissues when some of the sauce clings to the side of her lips. “We should probably also lay out all of our bad habits while we’re at it. Get it all out in the air so we don’t annoy each other.”
Ellie nods. “You’re right. I’ll go first. I’m cranky during mornings and I hate food that feels mushy no matter how good it tastes.”
“Hmm…” Logan perches his elbow on the table and leans his cheek on his closed hand. “No one drives the Devore but me and I’m really particular about my hair products.”
“You should tell me what you use in your hair. I don’t know how you got it to be so soft,” An embarrassed flush takes hold of her cheeks when she realizes that she just brought up the night she had undoubtedly buried her fingers in his hair.
“I could take you out shopping,” Logan offers with a knowing smile. “Part of the fake boyfriend experience.”
“And I’ll make sure to drag you around multiple stores,” Ellie smiles teasingly. “Part of the fake girlfriend experience.”
Logan pretends to groan as he tilts his head back. “I feel like I’m getting the short end of this deal.”
“Hey!” She bumps her knee against his underneath the table. “You get to fake date the Ellie Wheeler, not many can say they had the privilege.”
“You’re right,” Logan answers honestly, his eyes gazing into hers. “I’m really lucky.”
Ellie smiles softly as a bubble of worry start to form itself in her stomach. “Do you think…we’ll be fine? I mean, nothing bad is gonna happen right?”
“What’s the worse that could happen?” Logan asks with a shrug as he leans back on his chair. “We get along and we make great music together. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Ellie nods a little, her fears disappearing with his words. With how crazy her life has been in the past few months, this could very well be the first break she’ll get since the Colt scandal. In theory, nothing bad should happen if she just keeps her crush as just a crush and cruise through the next few months until their eventual breakup.
Everything is going to be great.
~*~
“I’m calling Mona right now.”
“Babe, come on. This is Ellie’s decision—”
“Shut up Raleigh,” Cadence leaves it at that as she moves to the kitchen of their penthouse and starts a heated discussion with Mona.
Ellie looks towards Cadence direction a little guiltily. After she had lunch with Logan and after ironing out the last of the details for their fake relationship, she decided to drop by Cadence and Raleigh’s penthouse so she could give them the news herself rather than the subtle and suggestive Pictagram posts they’ll both be dropping within the week.
Raleigh sighs and runs his hand through his brown and messy hair before he looks at Ellie sitting on their plush couch. “So how long is this going to go on?”
“About three months or so,” Ellie says as she takes some of the candy they usually leave out on their coffee table. “Until I’m almost finished with my album I think. Mona still hasn’t told me the specifics.”
“Hmm…” Raleigh acknowledges as he observes her quietly. “Want some advice?”
“Uh, I didn’t know you’d have some Raleigh, you did say I should fake date him to promote the song,” Ellie grins as Raleigh glares at her lightly. “But alright, give it to me.”
“Take it from someone who got fucked up from a fake relationship,” He motions his head towards the kitchen. “If you have even the slightest feelings for him, don’t do it or you’re going to end up hurting yourself.”
Ellie frowns. “But you two worked out though…”
“Yeah but the shit we went through?” Raleigh sighs as he shakes his head, his voice a little pained. “I had to watch her get dragged by the media and I couldn’t do or say shit because we “broke up”, then I had to pretend like I was over her and pretend like I didn’t give a shit when I saw her kiss another guy. Even if it was a fake rel. That shit messes with your head, you know?”
Ellie nods sadly. “I won’t develop feelings for Logan. I promise.”
“Good, keep it that way,” Raleigh shrugs before the familiar playful and teasing smile makes its way to his lips. “But if you start to feel like it’s there, it’s a good indication that its time to bounce.”
Ellie grins just as Cadence makes her way back into the living room with a huff and deep furrow on her eyebrows.
“I talked to Mona.”
“Sounds more like it was yelling babe.”
Raleigh merely smiles at the glare Cadence sends his way before she sits next to Ellie and takes Ellie’s hands into hers.
“I understand why you did this. I’m not going to say it’s easy but if this is what you really want then I won’t stop you. Just…be careful okay?”
“Yeah and have fun!” Raleigh says as he reaches out to the bowl of candy and throws it towards Ellie who clumsily catches it. “I’ve met Logan, he’s a nice guy.”
“Aren’t they all?” Cadence sighs as she leans back on the couch. “I’m not saying that it won’t be fun. Sure, it will be but it’s also going to difficult when the real and fake just…blur together and that’s when it starts to get less fun.”
“When did it start to blur for you Cadence?” Ellie asks innocently as Raleigh’s eyes sparkle in absolute delight as he leans forward and looks at his fiancée with curiosity and affection.
“Yeah Cadence when did it start to blur for you?”
Cadence rolls her eyes as a small smile tugs her lips. “The charity function when we sneaked away.”
“Ah,” Raleigh leans back with a fond smile. “That’s a good one.”
Ellie’s eyes bounce between them and she already knows that she’s effectively been shut out. Not that she minds, she’s practically used to the two of them so attached and magnetized to each other that it’s not uncommon for her to feel like the perpetual third-wheel.
“Right, I’m going home guys,” Ellie announces as she stands from the couch and unconsciously pockets the candy Raleigh had thrown to her. “I still have songs to write.”
“Keep up us updated!” Cadence calls out as Ellie makes her way to the penthouse elevator. “About the album and Logan!”
“Always,” Ellie calls out just as the elevator doors close in front of her. She sighs and leans back on the elevator and lets her mind wander. It’s not like she didn’t have her apprehensions, after all she’s well aware of the things she could be risking if she ends up falling for Logan.
But a part of her is undoubtedly curious. What kind of boyfriend would Logan be? Would he be just as cheesy and flirty or would she see a different side to him? Would she be able to pull some inspiration from their fake relationship for her album?
The last question makes her flush a little as she gets into the cab and makes her way back to her penthouse. It wouldn’t be weird for her to write a song about Logan, after all an artist is supposed to get inspiration from the influence and their environment right? It would be weirder if she didn’t have any songs about Logan on her album if they plan to fake date for three months or so.
Ellie doesn’t have time to fully delve into those thoughts when she reaches the building her penthouse and she hurriedly makes her way to her floor. She goes through the motions of putting away her keys and flicking on the lights before she makes her way to her bedroom and flops down on the mattress.
She takes a minute to stare at the nonsense patterns of her ceiling before she reaches into her pocket to pull out her phone when her hands close in on a small round object. She pulls it out and looks at the red candy with confusion before she realizes that it’s from Raleigh and Cadence’s place.
An idea suddenly hits as she quickly scrambles to sit up on the bed and takes out her phone. She tears open the wrapper and presses the candy on her lips. She turns the camera of her phone to her before she snaps twenty or so pictures before settles on one and places a filter to make it look a little bit aesthetically pleasing. A wide smile takes hold of her lips as she pulls up her Pictagram account and posts the picture with the caption:
Boy I’m your candy. Tell me what you’re waiting for.
It’s subtle and suggestive, just like they agreed on, after all it’s just part of the lyrics for their single ‘Candy’ and people could even say that Ellie is simply promoting the song—but with no link to the actual single nor the usual words of “stream Candy” attached anywhere, the comments that rush in quickly figure out what she’s hinting on.
I knew it! I fucking knew it!
This is folks, this is the sign we needed that they’re dating.
Oh my god I’m so happy but I’m so sad?? But I’m so happy too omg
If she breaks his heart, I’m gonna kill her.
I heard that there’s gonna be an MV dropping. Will we get a kiss scene???
Ellie laughs a little as she lays back down on the bed and continues to scroll through the comments that come in. She skips through the hate comments, already immune to them at this point, and focuses on the love and support of their “relationship”. She feels a little tinge of guilt that she’s fooling her fans like this but at the end of the day, it’s her life and she’s allowed to live it according to how she wants to.
A notification pops up in her screen and her heart races when she sees that Logan has posted something. She navigates to his page and when the picture loads, the little squeal of delight she lets out is both embarrassing and well-earned.
The picture is a shirtless selfie of Logan with a piece of candy trapped tantalizingly between his teeth as he looks into the camera with playful smile and sparkling brown eyes. The caption at the bottom reading:
Girl I’m your candy. All I want is you my love.
It’s far from the “subtle” that they had agreed on but it’s not like she dislikes it. In fact, it puts a silly smile on her face that she can’t wipe away. Now, she’s wondering if this truly is his first fake relationship because he just seems too good at it.
Ellie goes to look at the picture again, carefully trying to commit to memory everything about it, before she closes her phone and tosses it next to her. She knows that tomorrow, every celebrity gossip blog is going to start writing articles about their Pictagram posts and she’ll feel the full effects of their fake relationship once dawn breaks.
But for now, she allows herself to get lost in her thoughts and lets the exhaustion of the day pull her to sleep. Because tomorrow, she’ll be going through an experience she’s never had before.
An experience that, that she hopes, will bring more good than bad.
~*~
“Helloooo? Earth to Ellie?” Ingrid huffs as she crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Look if you’re too busy to hang out with me and get pics for my Pictagram, we can always reschedule.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Ellie replies sheepishly as she places her phone on the table. “My bad Ingrid, what were you saying?”
“I was saying,” Ingrid says as she gestures her hand to Ellie, her sparkly pink nails glinting under the florescent lights of the café. “What’s up with you and Logan?”
“Nothing’s up.”
Ellie’s phone pings with a new message and Ingrid narrows her eyes suspiciously as she leans in and swipes Ellie’s phone from the table. Ellie scrambles to get it back but Ingrid is too quick and she’s already inputting Ellie’s password and seeing the new message.
“Still up for date night, El?” Ingrid reads in delight and shock before she turns to Ellie with a dramatic gasp. “Ellie Wheeler you’re dating Logan and you didn’t tell me? What, are we not friends anymore or something?”
“Shh!” Ellie moves across the table between them and grabs her phone as she nervously looks around the semi-crowded space of the café. “And he’s exaggerating. It’s not date night, we’re just watching a movie.”
“Yeah because that’s soooo not a date,” Ingrid rolls her eyes as she picks up her cup of tea and takes a sip. “Whatever. I’m happy for you, he’s definitely an upgrade from all the assholes you’ve dated in the past.”
“I told you we’re not dating,” Ellie says as she takes a peek at her phone and almost melts a little at the list of movies he’s already curated for them to watch later tonight. “At least not officially, not until we announce it in three days.”
“Announce? Officially?” Ingrid narrows her eyes at Ellie before she lowers her voice. “So it’s a fake rel?”
“Yeah,” Ellie picks one of the movies from his list and sends him a quick message. “It’s just that—fake. So we aren’t actually dating.”
“Then what’s with his Picta posts?” Ingrid pulls out her own phone and navigates to Logan’s page. “In the past week he’s either posting about his car, his upcoming album or cryptic posts about you. I mean look at this,” Ingrid clicks on a picture and turns the phone to Ellie. “It’s a picture of him in a field of flowers. The caption literally has the lyrics to your song. Dude sounds like his halfway in love already!”
Ellie blushes a little as she looks at the picture Ingrid’s showing her. She really does love that photo, it’s probably one of her favorite ones his posted. In the past few weeks, they’ve both been trying to be “subtle” about slowly enticing the public with their supposed relationship but Ellie has gradually learned that there is nothing subtle about Logan. All of his posts leave no room for speculation or doubt while she tries her best to be subtle when she posted a picture of her wearing a yellow and black dress.
“He’s just really good at the whole fake dating I guess,” Ellie shrugs as her phone pings with another new message from Logan. She glances at her phone and a small smile tugs on her lips when she sees his message.
Nice, I wanted to watch that one. Your place or mine?
Yours, she replies with a small smile.
Ingrid frowns. “I feel like a third wheel and he’s not even here.”
“Okay, phone down now. Let’s take the picture because I need to go and finish up one more song for my album.”
Ingrid rolls her eyes as she motions with her fingers for Ellie to come closer so they can take the picture together over their array of untouched desserts on the table. Ellie smiles prettily, the kind of smile she’ll only ever use when she’s taking pictures to be posted, as Ingrid tilts her head down a little and pouts her lips a little.
After twenty or thirty pictures with different angles, Ingrid is finally satisfied and flicks through the pictures before she finally settles on one.
“What should the caption be?” Ingrid says as her nails tap on screen. “Girls day out? One in a Million reunion?” Ingrid looks up from her phone and frowns when she sees Ellie grinning at her phone before Ingrid sneakily takes a candid photo. “When your friend can’t get off of her phone because she can’t stop talking to her fake boyfriend?”
Ellie glances up at Ingrid with a small frown. “One in a Million reunion sounds better.”
“You think?” Ingrid scoffs as she types out the phrase and posts it first. She then pulls up the candid photo she took of Ellie, writes down a caption and posts it. She leans back and observes Ellie and waits patiently for her response.
Ellie furrows her eyebrows before she looks up at Ingrid with blank face. “Really Ingrid?”
“It’s not a lie,” Ingrid smirks knowingly.
Ellie sighs as she reads the caption again under her picture.
Guess what’s making El smile so much? Hint: it’s a date.
Ingrid is right at least, it’s not a lie that she’s genuinely excited for her not-a-date with Logan. In the past week or so, they’ve gotten closer. A lot closer than she’d expect them to be and she’s starting to see how…charming, caring and genuinely nice Logan can be. It has come to the point where they’ve been talking late into the night until she’s basically fallen asleep on the phone.
And that terrifies her. Ellie doesn’t want to admit it but the feelings she’s starting to catch from him are starting to spiral into a dangerous territory and if she was smarter, a little more cautious, she’d cut her losses and ask for this fake relationship to be cancelled and, as Raleigh advised, bounce.
But she doesn’t want to. Not when she really likes the feeling of being able to unironically say that the Logan is her boyfriend.
“Anyway, I need to go,” Ellie pockets her phone and stands up from the chair. “Let’s meet up again next week if you’re free.”
“Sure,” Ingrid waves her way and flips her blond hair over her shoulder. “But next time actually pay attention to me, okay?”
“Roger that,” Ellie grins as she places her sunglasses, makes her way to the door and out of the café.
~*~
The ping of Logan’s phone sounds loud in the empty space of his makeshift studio in his apartment. He looks at it curiously before he moves the guitar to the side and reaches for the black device. A wide smile pulls on his lips when he sees the picture of Ellie grinning at her phone, his eyes flit to the caption below the picture and the smile on his face starts to physically hurt his cheeks.
He goes to message Ellie, his fingers typing out his thoughts before he can stop them.
I’m excited too troublemaker. He pauses, deletes the message and tries again.
You look cute in the picture. He pauses again and decides fuck it—he’ll send both.
I’m excited too troublemaker, you look cute in the picture.
He waits with anticipation when he sees the three dots appear and disappear. When he reads her message, he’s sent into a fit of laughter as he lays down on the carpeted floor and holds his phone inches from his face.
Oh my god shut up. She follows up the reply with a cute sticker of a tiny bunny character repeatedly thumping on the chest of a taller bunny.
He grins lazily as he types out his next message. Are you bringing snacks?
Better, I made something.
Logan raises a curious eyebrow. He can confidently call himself an Ellie fan and he, embarrassingly, knows a lot about her. Her knowing how to cook though, somehow, escaped his radar.
Didn’t know you could cook. Are you any good?
The reply is instant, almost as if she already knew that he would ask that question.
Of course I am. Don’t you trust me?
I do. Because strangely enough, he really does. Careful troublemaker, you know what they say about a way to a man’s heart.
Logan, I don’t need to be good at cooking to get through your heart.
Logan’s eyes widen, his heart picking up in speed, and he’s finding it a little difficult to come up with a reply. But his few seconds of silence must’ve set her in a panic when she hurriedly follows it up with another message.
I mean, I’m already your fake girlfriend, right?
Right, he replies before he gathers what little is left of his self-control to finish his message. I’ll see you later El. I gotta finish up the last song before you come.
Okay, see you later!
Logan lets out a heavy sigh and drops his phone on his chest and lays his forearm across his eyes. His mind swims and he can’t stop himself from finally admitting that he has the biggest crush on Ellie Wheeler.
And it’s not just a fan-crush either but a real, tangible, heart-stopping crush.
Not that this is a recent development or anything, he’s noticed that in the past few days—he’s finding it increasingly difficult when he’s nowhere near his phone. Even when he’s recording the newer songs he wrote for his album that finally got approved (due to Candy’s success), he always goes to his phone after each session so he can reply to whatever message she’s left for him.
That’s never happened to him.
Whenever Logan gets himself involved with a girl, he’s usually fine if they don’t talk for a couple days. Hell, he even prefers it since he values his solitude. But with Ellie, it feels as if he’s going to miss out on something important if he doesn’t reply to her messages or talk to her at the end of the day.
It’s a terrifying feeling for him. They haven’t even properly stared to fake date and he’s already catching this pesky crush that he can’t seem to shake out. And Logan knows himself well. No matter how hard he’s going to try to mask it, it’s going to be obvious on his face when the Paps take their pictures.
He sighs and pushes himself off of the floor and grabs his guitar. He’s been having trouble with composing his last song for the album since he’s been instructed to make it the kind of heartbroken love-pining that he’s known for—except make it R&B pop. He was excited at first, finally being able to blend what he’s known for and what he loves to create, but these days he just can’t seem to write down a single word or strum out a single note.
The subject is about heartbreak after all but all he’s been feeling is flutters of butterflies in the past few days.
He strums out the first few notes and looks to his notebook to test out the words he’s able to somehow to write down.
“Tell me once again, tell me you love me like you did that moment,” Logan pauses, reaches out to crush out a word, and he tries again. “Tell me once again, tell me you love me like you did that—time? Fuck!”
Logan places his guitar down and weaves his hand through his hair in frustration. He’s well aware that if he doesn’t finish this song within the month, it’s going to get handed to ghost writers. He’s also scarcely aware how important this album is. If the reception is good, he’ll be able to continue to release songs that he’ll actually love to sing on stage for once. No more grumpy producers telling him to cry in the booth and no more forced interviews where he has to pretend that the song is about a girl who broke his heart once.
It’s finally going to be only him, his music and his own art.
The distant and muted sound of his apartment buzzer reaches his ears and at first, he’s a little annoyed that someone’s here to interrupt his session but the annoyance is immediately wiped away when he remembers that it’s most likely Ellie.
He pushes himself off of the floor and takes quick and long steps towards the front door and yanks it open. He can’t help the smile that breaks out on his face when he sees her standing in front of him with a light peach sundress and a Tupperware of something in her arms.
“Hey, I’m here for movie night.”
“Date night you mean,” He corrects with a grin before he moves to the side and motions for her to enter the apartment. “Make yourself at home. I’m sure you already know where everything is.”
Ellie rolls her eyes with a smile before she makes her way to his kitchen. “How’s the song going?”
“Awful. I’ve got a mental block I can’t get over,” Logan sighs as he leans on the doorframe of the kitchen and observes her quietly as she pulls out plate and puts it on the counter. “Anyway, what did you make?”
“Cookies!” She smiles with pride as she tilts the Tupperware full of cookies to him before she starts to place them on the plate. “I hope you like peanut butter cookies.”
“I love them,” If Logan is being honest with himself, his feelings towards any flavor of cookie is about average. He neither likes them nor hates them but if Ellie is the one that made them, somehow he can find himself to love them. He walks to the counter and plucks one cookie from the plate and takes a bite. His eyes widen a little as the flavor hits his tongue. “Damn, these are good.”
“Told you I’m good,” Ellie beams with pride as she takes the plate and motions towards the living room. “Also, what’s blocking you from the song?”
“You” is what he’d like to say but he’s not sure if he can survive to the aftermath of that conversation. So he shrugs and follows behind her as they make their way to the living room.
“Don’t know, guess it’s just one of those days.”
“Want me to help?” Ellie abruptly stops walking and turns around, almost sending Logan crashing into her. “I also want to bounce off some lyrics with you for a song I’m working on.”
Logan thinks for a moment at the proposition. If he’s being honest, he’d rather not revisit the song until he’s let it sleep for a few days. But he does want to hear the new song she’s working on and there is one song he’s been meaning to let her listen to.
“I have a better idea. I have this song I want to run by you, get your feel for it.”
Ellie’s eyes light up as she looks around a little to try and locate the direction of his studio. “Raincheck on movie night then?”
“Sure,” Logan chuckles softly as he points to the door down the hall. “Bring the cookies though, something to keep our brain going.”
Ellie nods as she walks towards the door he points to and enters his studio. It’s a lot smaller than the one in her penthouse but it’s enough provide a good space for creating music. She places the plate of cookies on the table before she sits on the carpeted floor, crosses her legs, and pulls out her phone from her purse so she can find the instrumentals for the song.
Logan chuckles as he takes sits next to her. “I was going to offer you a chair.”
“No way, I think better when I’m sitting on the floor.”
Logan smiles softly, the little string of his heart tugging at the thought that it’s the same for him too.
“Okay here are the instrumentals,” Ellie starts, her voice serious, commanding and—for Logan—extremely sexy. “I’ve got the chorus down and the bridge but the first verse still sounds clunky.”
“Sing it for me.”
Ellie nods as she presses play, latches on to the lyrics on her phone and starts the song with a few adlibs of soft and raspy ohs.
When I see you, I feel a sense of familiarity
After a moment of thinking, I approached you
Besides us, everything else has vanished
Please trust this experience
Match my tempo babe
She finishes and looks at Logan expectantly but he only looks back at her with awe.
“I still can’t get over how good your voice sounds,” He chuckles softly when Ellie glares at him slightly. “Hand me the lyrics.”
Ellie hands him the phone. He rewinds the song a couple of times and mumbles through the lyrics a little before his eyes catch on to the part where it feels a little clunky.
“Here, this part sounds a little off the beat,” Logan moves her phone closer to her, his shoulders touching hers. “Maybe something with one more syllable to hit the last note?”
“Hmm…” Ellie takes her phone and hums through the lyrics, her eyes intensely trained on the words, as Logan observes her with a soft smile. “How about this? Please trust this moment to me.”
“Sing it for me.”
Ellie nods and she gets through the first part quickly before she slows down at the end of the first verse and sings the new lyrics.
Besides us, everything else has vanished
Please trust this moment to me
Match my tempo babe
“That’s it,” Logan says as he unconsciously moves closer to her, his face so close he can see the light peach blush on her cheeks. “Sounds like a hit already.”
She turns to him with a smile but quickly looks away when she realizes how close their faces are. She distracts herself by typing in the new lyrics to the song. She goes through the entire song again a couple of times, just to make sure that there’s nothing else he needs to comment on, before she’s finally satisfied with the results.
“Okay, I’m done with mine. Let me hear yours.”
Logan chuckles softly as he pushes himself off of the floor and moves to the keyboard in the corner of the room. He takes a seat just as Ellie follows him and stands behind him. Logan looks over his shoulder at her with a smile before he pats the space next to him.
Just as she takes a seat, his fingers fly over the keys and the soft and slow start of the song fills the studio. Although the actual song will have more layers to it, this is the best he can do for now. He drops his voice down a little as he tries to achieve the emotions he’s wanted to inject into this song the moment he composed it—sultry and enticing.
It’s a little stuffy when I make eye contact with you
I’d like to dive deep into your eyes
I’d like to look into them but I can’t
If your fingers touch me,
I feel like I’m losing my mind.
He goes through the first verse with ease, the emotions in his heart easily flowing out and mixing with the beat and lyrics of the song and he’s terrified of how easily all these emotions come to him when he’s singing for her.
He glances at her knowingly as he reaches to the second verse, the lyrics of the song starting to jump out of the page and into what little space is left between them.
I think I’m drunk
Try mixing in another blue sapphire
Let me know if there’s an island for me in your sea
It’s like I’ll explode
The blue spreads through all of me.
You can fall for me, if you want.
He reaches the bridge and belts out a sustained high note and finishes the song with a few adlibs of ohs and lets the last of the note ring out in the studio.
“Wow,” Ellie says as she looks up at him with wonder and awe. “That’s an amazing song Logan. I feel like I already have a favorite song from your album.”
Logan grins as he gazes into her eyes. “No changes then?”
“None. Absolutely none,” Ellie unconsciously plays with the edge of her dress. “You should sing for me more often. I like being your only audience.”
Logan laughs a little, his body unconsciously moving closer to hers. “Does this mean you’re now a Logan fan?”
“Release the full album first,” She replies teasingly as she tilts her head to him. “I’ll decide then.”
“Ellie…” Logan whispers softly, his brown eyes searching hers, as he starts to move lean forward but he catches himself—his brain catching up to his erratic heart. He pulls away abruptly and tries to internally shake away the haze that she’s brought on him. Anymore than this and he’ll be helplessly falling into her arms. “Anyway, it’s getting late, don’t you think? Don’t want Mona to chew your ass out.”
“Oh,” Ellie says, the disappointment clear in her voice, before she turns to look at the clock on the wall and is shocked that two hours had run by without her knowledge. “You’re right, I should go.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Logan stands from the chair and grabs the plate from the table. “I’ll pack this up too.”
“You can keep it, it was supposed to be our snacks anyway,” She chuckles as she makes her way out of the studio.
Logan follows dutifully behind her as they walk down the hallway and reach his front door.
“Thanks for helping me with the song Logan. Too bad I can’t give you the credits for it.”
Logan grins as he reaches over and opens the door for her. “Make it up to me by giving me a signed album.”
“Careful, that’s how other artists end up taking advantage of you,” Ellie warns with a playful smile before she steps out of the door and looks at him a little apprehensively. “Our fake relationship is going to start in three days. Are you ready?”
“I am,” Logan says honestly, maybe even a little excitedly. “I doubt anyone’s going to be surprised though.”
“That’s your fault, I told you to be subtle,” Ellie chuckles softly before she turns to leave. She looks over her shoulder and gives him a small smile. “Goodnight Logan.”
“Goodnight Ellie. Message me when you get home.”
Elli gives him a small wave goodbye and watches her carefully to make sure she gets to the elevators without the any problems. When the elevator closes, he closes the front door and presses his forehead against the wooden surface. He squeezes his eyes shut and runs through everything that happened so far.
He groans a little when he realizes how close he was to kissing her after he finished singing his song. If he was a weaker man, he would’ve done it. But she already set her boundaries. No kissing, hugging or touching—unless it’s in public. And he’s going to keep that promise.
Although, embarrassingly, he’s already running through the best date spots for their first official date as a fake couple.
A date, he’s hoping, will end with a kiss.
~*~
“Ellie! Come here!”
Ellie turns to look at the director in her chair as the make-up artist continues to touch up her make up for the music video shoot.
“Coming!” Ellie replies as she stands from the chair and smooths out the orange and black jacket she’s wearing before she makes her way to the director.
Once she reaches him, he gives a quick rundown of the scene needed for the shoot. She follows him around the set, an explosion of yellow, pastel neon and soft orange lights and décor that mimics old 90s arcades, as he points out the different places she’ll be shooting her solo scenes. One where she’ll be inside a tube like structure, another is in front of a makeshift brick wall and the last one is a raised platform with fairy lights dotted in the background and foreground.
“We’ll shoot your parts first then we move on to Logan’s,” The director motions to where Logan is sitting in his chair having his final run through from the assistant director for his own scenes. “The props should be in the tube.”
Ellie’s eyes light up when she turns to look at the tube structure and sure enough, there on the bottom is where a myriad of different shaped and colored candies in aesthetically pleasing glass jars wait for her. It’s already pretty rare for her to eat anything too heavy days before a music video shooting so having the opportunity to eat on the actual shooting is a blessing she’ll never have again. Unless she titles all of her songs to something food-related.
“Can I eat it?” Ellie asks as she crawls into the center of the tube, takes the glass jars and puts it on her lap as she takes a seat. She twists open the lid and takes out a blue dice-shaped candy and holds it up to the light.
The director laughs. “Just try not to eat all of it. We start in five everyone!”
“You okay over here?”
Ellie looks up and smiles when she sees Logan approaching her in a red and white hoodie, his white pants hugging is legs in the most distracting of ways. He reaches the tube structure and takes a seat on the entrance of the tube.
“Good, you?”
Logan smiles as he motions to run his hand through his hair before he stops himself when he remembers that his hairstylist has already spent hours on his hair.
“Ready to eat something, I’m hungry.”
Ellie grins as she offers him the candy she’s holding. “Want a bite then?”
Logan raises an eyebrow before he leans forward and takes the candy between his teeth, his eyes never leaving hers as his lips touch the tips of her fingers.
Ellie is immensely thankful to her makeup artist for making her makeup just a little thicker today so it can survive the harsh lights. It turns out it has a dual purpose today—survive the lights and hide away the blush on her cheeks.
“Delicious,” Logan comments with a cheeky smile as he runs his thumb over his bottom lip. “Save some for me later.”
Ellie doesn’t have time to reply, not that she had any coherent words to reply with, when the director calls out for the first take. Logan stands from where he’s sitting and gives her a little thumbs up before he walks out of the frame of shoot.
Ellie takes a minute to get her beating heart to settle before she turns to the camera, her demeanor already changing, as she hears Candy playing in the background.
“And action!”
~*~
“Good job Ellie, let’s take a five minute break and reset,” The director calls out as Ellie hops off of the platform.
Just as she’s about to go back to her seat somewhere behind the cameras, Logan intercepts her and offers her a water bottle. She smiles gratefully and drinks almost half of the bottle. Maybe being under the lights and nibbling on candy for forty minutes made her more dehydrated than she thought.
“Want me to get you another one?” Logan chuckles as she shakes her head no.
“I’m good for now,” Ellie twists the bottle cap close and hands it back to him. “Ready for our shoot?”
“Yeah,” Logan’s eyes flit to somewhere over her shoulder and he moves to her side, wraps an arm around her waist and guides her away a little. “Careful, there’s a camera behind you.”
“Huh? Oh thanks,” Ellie looks behind her just as she sees the huge black device hovering near where she had been standing. A memory comes to her and she laughs a little. “Ever hit your head on this?”
Logan winces at the thought and shakes his head no.
“I did, when I was shooting Easy,” Ellie chuckles as she unconsciously leans into him, his hand warming up the skin on her waist. “Just as I was really feeling the music, I turn to the side and bam! The makeup team had to do some magic to hide the red bump here.”
Ellie points to her right temple and Logan snickers as he gazes into her eyes with a soft smile, giving her waist a reassuring small squeeze. “I’ll make sure we won’t get a repeat of that then.”
“Then you’re doing a fantastic job so far,” Ellie moves closer to him, the space between them nonexistent, and somewhere in the back of her mind—she’s aware that she shouldn’t be this close to him even if everyone knows that they’re “dating”.
“Logan and Ellie! Let’s start,” The directors voice booms around the space of the studio and the spell they’ve trapped themselves in breaks. Ellie is the first to move a little away from his hold and Logan, reluctantly, lets his arm fall away from her waist. When he’s no longer in her space, he can already feel the rush of cold air that envelopes him.
“Make sure you don’t get left behind,” Ellie comments as she looks up at him with a teasing smile.
Logan smiles and puts his hands in his pockets, the fire in her eyes both inspiring and addicting.
“Never troublemaker.”
~*~
Ellie takes a sip from her glass of wine, her back against the headboard of her bed, as she crosses her ankles and goes through the selection of movies on her TV for her next movie to watch. After the music video shoot that ran for close to three hours, she was finally able to relax for the rest of the day and she’s been spending it catching up on movies she’s wanted to watch for awhile. Although she wanted to hang out with Logan after the shoot, he had to quickly get to an interview with a popular podcast channel on PlayMe.
After she picks one from the thriller category, she blindly pats around for her phone on the bed. She goes through her Pictagram account and lazily scrolls through her timeline as the opening scene of the movie fills the silence of her bedroom. Since they’ve announced their relationship (with a cringy couples pose pic that had them laughing and wheezing the first few takes), most of her timeline has been full of their fans congratulating them and making compilation videos of whatever little interaction they had shown in public. Ellie doesn’t want to admit it out loud but she really does enjoy seeing people so happily supporting the both of them. In her past relationships, most of her fans and friends disapproved of her choice (with good reason too) but with Logan, all she’s getting is love and support.
It’s painful for her to admit it but Logan is just that good of a guy and he really is the Cadence to Ellie.
Ellie frowns a little at the idea that she’s the Raleigh of their relationship.
!!!!!!!!
El, watch this!
Ellie’s eyebrows furrow a little when she sees PlayMe link that Riya, her closest friend even before she became an artist, has sent her. She pauses the movie and places her glass of wine on her nightstand when she sees the thumbnail of the video. She can already tell that it’s Logan sitting in a podcast room and if she isn’t mistaken, it’s probably the interview he had to quickly run to after their shooting.
You sure this is all fake?
Ellie’s eyes widen a Riya’s message before she quickly locates her earphones, plugs it in and plays the video. It starts off innocently enough, just going through Logan’s music history and talking about his most popular songs. Then it delves into Candy and, naturally, to her.
“So, Candy and Ellie. What’s that like?”
Logan chuckles a little, a soft smile pulling on his lips. “Which one do you want me to talk about? Depending on how much time we have left, I don’t think we can get to both.”
The hosts laughs. “Ellie of course!”
“Yeah Ellie!” His co-host chimes in. “What’s it like working with her?”
“Amazing,” Logan grins as he leans back on his seat. “She’s passionate about her work. She doesn’t take any of my crap either.”
“And you guys are dating now! What’s that like?”
“It’s…” Logan pauses a little, a soft smile tugging on his lips. “Surreal you know? I mean dating your idol is probably number one on the list of things that doesn’t happen to guys like me.”
“I bet Ellie is just as lucky,” The co-host laughs.
“Nah, I’m the lucky one,” Logan’s voice drops down to something soft, something honest. “She’s sweet…way too sweet for someone like me. She knows how to have fun too and it’s never boring when I’m with her...it kinda feels like home sometimes.”
The host whistles. “Write her a song while you’re at it.”
Logan laughs. “Told you I’d only have time to talk about one.”
“If Ellie is listening in—hi Ellie!—what would you like to say to her?”
“Where’s the camera—oh there,” Logan smiles handsomely directly to the camera, his brown eyes sparkling with amusement and affection. “Miss you already troublemaker. Let’s reschedule that date night already.”
The whole room dissolves into awws and Ellie touches her cheek, feeling the warmth of her blush heating up her palm. She doesn’t even get the time to properly process what she just saw when Riya sends her a flood of messages.
Did you see it?
El tell me you’ve seen it. Was he really faking it?
And why does he call you troublemaker?
El!!! Reply already!!!
Calm down Riya! I just finished watching it.
Cool. Thoughts?
So many. Ellie probably has enough thoughts in her head to last her for the rest of the week. But how is she able to properly articulate all of them without giving away her crush for Logan? Nobody knows about it—not even Raleigh and Cadence, the two people she shares everything with.
I think…maybe it isn’t all fake?
I knew it! I freaking knew it!
The way he looked at the camera? The things he said?
Sorry but your boyfriend is hot El.
She wants to correct Riya. That Logan isn’t her boyfriend but rather her fake boyfriend but surprisingly, giddily, she doesn’t. So she immerses herself a little in the fantasy, in the belief that maybe there really is something more to them than just their fake relationship.
It won’t hurt right? After all, this is just a little crush. A feeling she won’t allow to grow into something more. After all, she promised Raleigh that it wouldn’t get to that—hell, she promised herself.
But a crush is something small and insignificant. Something she can easily overlook and abandon when things start to get sticky.
So Ellie flops down on her bed, a wide grin on her face, as she dials Riya’s number so they can properly gush over her extremely hot boyfriend and talk about all the things she’s excited to explore with her very much fake but not fake relationship with Logan.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#49 Giving them a tight hug that makes them lose their breath.
Colt reminds himself to breathe, that oxygen is needed for the human body to function and live.
But how can he?
When he looks down at the bundle cradled in his arms, all brain function is delegated to committing to memory the image of his son, Kai Kaneko.
Colt has never had intrusive thoughts, always having a control on every aspect of his body and mind but when Ellie was holding his hand in a vice grip as she gave birth to their son—he was suddenly filled with thoughts he couldn’t control, ranging from the worst case scenario of her dying during childbirth to the terrible case scenario of her and his son both dying during childbirth, which sent his emotions and his head into a dark place he’d only ever experienced when he saw his father’s car go up in flames.
But the first breath of air their son took followed by the strong wails (which he got from Colt) and annoying cries (which Colt knows he got from Ellie) he let out and Ellie’s happy sobs wiped his brain instantly. Relief so painful and instant it almost brought him to his knees.
And now, as Ellie lays asleep on the bed exhausted and worn, his brain and his heart is filled with nothing but love.
“Hey…”
Colt turns to Ellie with a big smile, her eyes blinking lazily as she looks up at the both of them. He sits next to her and pushes back the hair sticking to her forehead before he gently lays their son in her arms.
“You were great El,” Colt says, his heart expanding at the image in front of his wife cradling their son in her arms. “You also nearly tore my hand off.”
Ellie chuckles weakly, the little bundle fussing quietly in her arms. “You’re lucky it would’ve been only your hand.”
Colt grins, unbothered by her teasing threat of castrating him as he carefully lays down next to her. They let the comforting silence settle as the gentle coos of Kai fills the spaces between them.
Colt never imagined—never really bothered to imagine—that an image like this would be a reality for him. That he would be a husband to a woman he adores and a father to a son he loves. Shit like that just doesn’t happen to guys like him.
And yet it has and he’s desperate to keep it, to hold it tight in his hands and make sure it never slips away.
“My dad’s coming tomorrow,” Ellie comments, breaking through the silence as she gently rocks Kai in her arms. “Which means you’ll need to leave.”
Colt scoffs, a sliver of anger bubbling inside him. Turns out Detective Wheeler really wasn’t lying about his deal and his intentions. That all he wants is to reconnect with his daughter, which both baffled and relieved Colt. But ever since Ellie has met up with him once a week, she has become a lot happier and lighter so Colt has learned to put up with it (even though he still has someone tail Ellie during their meetings just in case something happens).
“Fine,” Colt relents, reaching forward to lightly poke Kai’s chubby cheeks. “But I’m not leaving the hospital. As long as we don’t meet then the deal’s still valid.”
Ellie chuckles softly, glancing at him lovingly. “What rules are you willing to follow?”
Colt grins brilliantly. “You know I’ve never been good at that.”
Ellie hums in agreement, her eyes settling back on the sleeping Kai. Her heart flutters with something so heavy, it feels a little suffocating. The kind of feeling where she’ll do anything for her son. Which gives her a brief moment to reflect, a little guiltily too, that this must be what her dad felt towards her. If she looks back at herself and imagines Kai in her position—well, no wonder her father reacted the way he did.
“Ellie I...” Colt starts and Ellie looks up at him, her eyes suddenly shining with tears at the expression on his face. She reaches up and gently cups his cheek, smoothing her thumb over a stray tear that escaped his eyes.
“The feeling’s amazing huh?” Ellie finishes for him and Colt lets out a choked laugh in agreement.
“I love you Ellie,” Colt starts, turning to her with misty eyes and a loving smile. “I love this kid too and I’ll do anything, everything, to keep you both safe and happy.”
“I know,” Ellie smiles brilliantly.
“No, you don’t,” Colt lays his hand on top of her hand, gripping lightly. His gaze is sure, his heart is set and his face is at peace.
“I’m leaving the crew, the shop, all of it.”
Ellie’s eyes widen suddenly, a wild panic thumping hard against her chest but Colt holds tight and signals with his eyes to listen—to understand.
“Not immediately, not until everything is safe for me to do so and after I make sure no one will even dare to come after us. I’ve also stashed away enough money for us to live off of for the rest of our lives,” Colt reassures, his brown eyes resolute. “It’ll take awhile but hey, it gives me the opportunity to stay home and help take care of Kai more.”
“Colt…” Ellie says, her eyes filling with tears as the weight of his decision finally dawns on her. That he’s willing to leave his crew, his shop, his legacy and walk away from all of it—for her and for their son.
“Are you sure?” Ellie asks playfully, her chest seemingly expanding from a weight that seems to have suddenly been lifted. “I don’t want you to regret it in the future. I don’t want you to end up hating me.”
She tries to make it come out as a tease, as their usual banter, but the fear latches on to her words without her permission. Because she is scared that he’ll regret her—regret them—and that as the years go by, the fiery love that they possess between them fizzles out into nothing but hate and apathy.
Colt smiles, picking up on the fear in her voice, as he grips her hand reassuringly. “I’ve told you Ellie. I never regret anything with you. Not then,” He looks at her pointedly, his eyes shining with mischief. “Not now,” His eyes flit down to Kai in her arms, his voice soft, before he raises her right hand and kisses the brilliant glint of gold on her finger. “And not in the future.”
Ellie lets out a choked laugh as she blinks back her tears. “You’re terrible, you know? Making a pregnant woman cry like this.”
“Oh no, you can’t use that on me El. You’re not pregnant anymore,” Colt pauses, a wicked smirk pulling on his lips as he looks at her suggestively. “Unless…?”
“You’re so annoying,” Ellie laughs, leaning her head on his shoulder as Colt immediately wraps her shoulders in a tight side-hug as his breath leaves him and he buries his face into her hair.
“Colt?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you,” Ellie says, her voice coming out shaky as she sniffs a little and her eyes flit back to their son in her arms. “Thank you for making this decision for me—for us.”
“Mm,” Colt acknowledges as he looks down at Kai, his head leaning against Ellie’s. “I’ll be a regular old boring dad now. Running a legit shop, beer with the guys, talking shit about sports. Looking forward to it El?”
Ellie chuckles, turning her head a little to kiss his cheek. “There’s nothing regular or boring about you Colt Kaneko,” Her eyes twinkle, her lips pulling into a teasing smile. “Old on the other hand…”
Colt grins, ready to retort with his own banter when Kai starts to fuss and cry loudly. Colt immediately takes him from Ellie’s arms as he stands up and bounces him around in his arms, his cries already starting to soften little in his father’s arms.
“I’ll take care of him, you’ve done enough for today.”
Ellie smiles in gratitude and relief, the exhaustion pulling at the edges of her consciousness again as she settles back on to the bed.
Her eyes start to flutter close but she tries to keep the image of Colt, cooing and bouncing Kai in his arms, in the forefront of her memories. So she can try to manipulate her dreams, in the hopes that the happiness, love and content she feels in this moment can be carried over into the depths of her soul and her consciousness will be filled with just Colt, the boy she has loved since her past and her present, and Kai, the child she will love until her future.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#50 Buying them a special treat when you go shopping.
“Troublemaker, are you busy?”
Ellie turns to look at the door from her vanity table, a smile pulling at her lips when she sees Logan peeking into the empty bridal room. She stands from her chair, the sleeves of her silk robe fluttering around her arms, as she meets him halfway.
“Oh, I don’t know if you’ve heard Logan but I’m actually supposed to get married today.”
Logan chuckles as he stands before her, his hands inside the pockets of his black dress pants, and he lets his eyes roam Ellie’s body. Seemingly looking at her as if it’s the first time. It’s still about a good hour or so before she starts putting on her wedding garb but knew that already.
“Yeah? He’s a lucky man then.”
Ellie laughs as she reaches up and encircles her arms around his neck. He settles his hand on her hips and they stand there for a moment, swaying a little to a song only they can hear.
“So what brings you here?” Ellie asks teasingly, her eyes never leaving his face. “I doubt Ximena allowed you to leave your room willingly.”
Logan chuckles a little. Ximena, as his best man, has been a complete lifesaver for Logan throughout the wedding planning. Practically jumping in and saving the day when things got particularly stressful with the vendors. But Ximena is the type of woman that rules with an iron fist and she’ll be damned if anything goes wrong so close to the ceremony.
“I got it covered don’t worry,” Logan winks before he takes a small step back from her. “I have something to give you. Well…somethings.”
Ellie’s eyes widen, immediately catching his meaning. “Logan you did not.”
“I did,” Logan grins as he reaches into his pocket for the first item. “First, something old. Here you go.”
Ellie lets out a small gasp, reaching out for the familiar silver spark plug necklace as tears start to prick her eyes. She looks up at him, her heart squeezing at the memory of when he gave it to her, and Logan grins brilliantly at her. She chuckles with a nod before she puts the necklace around her neck.
“Next something new,” Logan reaches up to the first button on his shirt and slowly starts to pop them open. Ellie’s eyes widen in shock before they turn mischievous.
“Oh wow, I’m getting a show now?” Ellie teases and Logan shakes his head with a grin as he pops the last button just below his heart. He pulls back the shirt on his left shoulder and Ellie lets out a loud gasp, immediately stepping forward to let her fingers run on the black ink on his skin.
“Logan!” She exclaims before she touches her own left shoulder, the design of the feathers identical and matching. “You got a tattoo of my feather?”
“Yeah, X did it too. Her wedding gift to me,” Logan explains with a proud smile and Ellie chuckles weakly as she shakes her head. The tears are now flowing freely down her face, her heart aching so wonderfully it feels as if she’ll burst.
“I’m so glad you did this before I put on my makeup,” Ellie comments as she reaches up to wipe some of the tears away.
“Yeah, that was part of the plan trouble,” Logan laughs, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “Next, something borrowed but I don’t have it here with me.”
Ellie furrows her eyebrows in confusion but Logan merely smiles.
“It’s your mother’s veil on her wedding day, your dad found it in the back of her closet and it’s with your bridesmaids.”
Ellie lets out a choked laugh, another batch of tears gathering in her eyes as she leans her head on his chest. Absolutely overwhelmed with the feelings of happiness, love and gratitude for the man before her.
“Logan…” She sniffs, wrapping her arms around her torso. “I don’t think I can take more, I really will burst.”
Logan lets out a loud laugh, his head tilting back from the force of it before he wraps his arms around her shoulders. “Not yet Troublemaker, there’s still the last one. Something blue.”
He untangles himself from her hold and takes her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together as he pulls her to the window facing the façade of the venue. She follows obediently, her heart thumping with excitement and curiosity on what could he have possibly planned for something blue. He looks at her with a grin before he leans on the window sill and points down. Her eyes follow to where he’s pointing and when she catches sight of the brilliant blue, a loud gasp escapes her.
“Ellie hi!” Vaughn, who is now wearing his groomsman suit, waves up at her with a wide grin before he slaps his hand on the hood of the Devore. “Doesn’t she look good in blue?”
“You painted the Devore blue?!” Ellie exclaims as she turns to Logan with wide eyes. Her heart squeezing in ache so tight, it hurts. She knows how important the Devore is to him. After all, it’s the only possession that he has meticulously taken care of during all these years. Even in the lowest points of Logan’s life, he has always made sure to keep the Devore safe, well-maintained and always always in it’s iconic yellow and black stripes.
“You’ve made me so happy Ellie and I know you’ll continue to make me happy,” Logan says as he takes her hands into his and squeezes tight. “For so long I’ve only ever had the Devore, the only thing I was willing to risk my life for…but then I met you and look at what I have now. The friends and family I’ve gained throughout the years. The little black tabby that’s probably giving your bridesmaid a headache,” Ellie lets out a choked laugh with a nod and Logan tilts her chin to his as he wipes away the tears running down her eyes. “And look at the girl I’ll marry and call my wife,” Logan gives her a shaky smile and lifts her hand to his lips, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “So forever Troublemaker, that’s the promise I’ll make with you today. Then, I’ll drive us away in the Devore—just like the first time.”
Ellie whimpers as she nods and pulls him into a tight and crushing hug, burying her face into the crook of his neck, before she pulls back and takes his face in between her hands to pull him down for a kiss.
“I love you Logan,” Ellie confesses, wiping away the tears that fall down his eyes.
“I love you too Ellie,” Logan confesses, his voice choked and strained as he places a kiss on her forehead and he squeezes his eyes shut. “So much.”
“Alright Logan. That’s enough. We need to get you into your suit jacket,” Ximena calls out from the door before she approaches the two holding a drink of matcha bubble tea in her hand. “Sweetie here. Logan told me you desperately needed this,” Ximena scoffs, shaking her head when she realizes that she’s just been trapped as she turns to Logan with an amused smile. “Is this why you wanted me out of the room so much?”
Ellie gasps, turning to Logan with a bright smile who merely winks at her before he turns to Ximena with a pleading smile as his arms tighten around Ellie.
“Can’t I get ten more minutes with my wife?”
Ximena chuckles softly as she places a hand on her hips. “She isn’t your wife yet.”
Logan sighs at the thought before he turns back to look down at Ellie, smiling brilliantly. “Doesn’t feel like it though.”
Ellie chuckles as she places a hand on his chest and gently pushes him back. “Go, I’ll see you later.”
“Mm,” Logan reluctantly agrees and steps back but not before he brushes his lips against her forehead in a loving and soft kiss. “See you there Troublemaker.”
Ellie watches the both of them leave the room with a soft smile and when the door closes behind him, her hand instinctively goes up to cradle the spark plug in her palm as she grips it tight. Maybe if she grips it tight enough, she can trap all the emotions of the day—happiness, love, excitement, bliss—into the necklace itself so it’ll become a time capsule of this day.
So when she looks back at the pictures and videos of their friends and family on her wedding day, all she needs to do is grip the necklace tight and she’ll be brought back to the moment where her best friend, her fiancé and the love of her life promised her forever.
And in a few hours she will say the words that she somehow knew she would say from the moment she realized that she fell in love with the boy with the yellow getaway car:
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#47 Staying up half the night to finish a game with them.
“Colt you just gotta…watch out for the slime—no! Serpent on the left! Colt Serpent on the left!”
“Ellie shut the fuck up!” Colt yells out, trying his best to run away from the green bug thing on the screen before he jumps into a black hole on the ground. “If you want me to reach floor 100, you need to shut up!”
“Don’t tell me to shut up, I'm trying to help you!”
“This is your game!” Colt rebukes, his heart thumping against his chest when he looks at the time left until 2:00 am and the amount of floors he still needs to get through. He’s so close, he just needs to get through twenty more floors and they can be done with this nightmare.
“I know but—” She gasps, the blue stone coming into view after a blast from the Mega Bomb. “Colt take the iridium! Take it!”
“Ellie if we want to get to floor 100 we need to leave the damn iridium behind!”
Ellie whimpers sadly. “But I need it for my watering can…”
Colt crumbles with a string of curses when he hears the sadness in her voice as her character on the screen, dutifully making her way to the black hole, does an about-turn. Colt repeatedly smashes the attack button to hack away at the slimes that come close before he quickly takes the iridium and sprints back to the black hole that, mercifully, drops him down fifteen floors.
“Five more floors! Colt five more floors!” Ellie yells excitedly, her voice high and frantic, before her eyes flick to the time and her heart pounds hard against her chest. “Just put down the stairs and drink the coffee! You have one hour left, hurry!”
Colt grits his teeth, the adrenaline pumping in his system akin to a race he’s about to win, as he quickly places stair after stair.
Floor 95, floor 96. Time: 1:10—his eyes are laser focused, his fingers quick and precise.
Floor 97, floor 98. Time: 1:30—two more, two more and he’s off to the finish line.
Floor 99. Time: 1:45—he can’t fuck this up when he’s so close, the time in the game literally seconds—until finally—fucking finally—floor 100. Time: 1:55.
“We did it! Colt oh my god! Floor 100!” Ellie squeals in excitement as she grabs his shoulder and shakes him.
“Damn right we did El!” Colt turns to her with a wide grin as they share a victorious high-five. He hands the controller back into her hands and Ellie excitedly takes it as she goes through the cutscene for the Secret room. Colt leans back on the couch, his heart still beating hard against his chest. “I get why you like this game so much now.”
Ellie chuckles, her eyes glued to their TV screen. “Trust me, it’s not always like this. Most days I just fish. Which is less exciting but still pretty difficult.”
Colt grins, his eyes latching onto the ceiling as a wicked idea takes hold of him. “You said there are infinite stairs right? Think we can get to floor 200?”
“Uh…Colt?”
“Maybe even floor 300,” Colt suggests, his mind already plotting and turning for his next adrenaline high. “Hell, let’s see if it really is infinite. We’ve got all night.”
“Colt you need to shut up for a moment,” Ellie says calmly, a little too calmly and Colt turns to look at her with a questioning look.
But when he sees the expression on Ellie’s face—calm, controlled, serene, happy—Colt knows, somewhere deep down he knows, the words she’s going to say next.
“My water just broke.”
Colt’s immediate reaction is panic but he smothers it in favor of pure control as he quickly goes through the routine he has been practicing for close to three months now.
First, he stands up from the couch and makes his way to their bedroom to take the hospital bag in their closet. Then, he makes his way back to the living room, patting down the essentials (keys, wallet, and phone), before he gently and easily leads Ellie out of the front door and down to the car he has specifically prepared for this moment.
“You’ll be fine, you’ll be okay,” He reassures himself. His hand is a tight grip on Ellie’s hand as he places her into the passenger’s seat and hurriedly clicks her seatbelt on before he runs to the driver’s seat, starts the engine, pulls out of their driveway in quick and practiced maneuvers and drives.
“Just be calm El and breathe. You’re going to be fine, everything is going great.”
“Pfft, tell yourself that idiot,” Ellie says teasingly, trying her best to sound casual and calm through her contractions. “I am—urgh—calm.”
Colt steps on the pedal a little harder.
“Hey Colt?”
“What? What do you need?” Colt asks nervously, trying his best not to fully turn his head to her and to keep his eyes on the road.
Ellie grins as she reaches out for his hand on the gear shift, her eyes pricking with tears. “Colt, we’re having a baby.”
Colt’s grip on the steering wheel tightens as his eyes sting with tears, a brilliant smile working its way on his lips. “We sure are Ellie.”
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#48 Getting them coffee just the way they like it.
“You’re up early Troublemaker.”
Ellie turns to him with a smile, pulling the bathrobe closer to her body to keep the morning chill away. Logan moves towards her on the balcony of their hotel room, two cups of coffee in his hand, before he takes a seat next to her with a big exhale of breath and hands her, her cup of black coffee. Just the way she likes it.
“Yeah, it’s the nerves I think,” Ellie gratefully takes the cup and presses her cold palms to the heat of the cup as she starts to take small sips. “How about you, not nervous?”
Logan chuckles, slinging his arm behind her on the loveseat as his eyes gaze into the vast expanse of ocean in front of him. “Nah, I’m excited. Why are you nervous?” He turns to look at her teasingly. “Thinking of running away from me?”
Ellie laughs and leans her head on his shoulder, cradling her cup of coffee in her hands. “Definitely not. A lot of things could go wrong you know? It’s Murphy’s Law.”
“Now you’re just jinxing it,” Logan teases, reaching down to lightly tickle the side of her waist as she lets out a small laugh and squirms away from him. “Even if it won’t be perfect, I’ll love it all the same.”
“Yeah?” Ellie grins, her voice teasing and happy. “What if an elephant gets out from a zoo and comes crashing in. You’ll still love it?”
“Definitely!” Logan laughs, wagging his eyebrows at her playfully. “Can you imagine the kind of story I’ll tell during parties? And the pictures El! Imagine showing that to our future kids.”
Ellie lets out a loud laugh, the nerves that were uselessly bouncing around her seemingly fading into nothing now. But it’s always like that with Logan, with him—all the little problems seem to just not matter anymore.
They sit in silence for a moment, their eyes to the horizon to watch the sun rise as they sip their coffee and time ticks by in a crawl.
Logan has never felt such serene peace before. It has been a long road to get here, a road paved with more obstacles than he ever thought he deserved, but it doesn’t matter because in the grand scheme of things—he still got here.
And on the way here, he was able to pick up little souvenirs from each stop. Some were, admittedly, not the best and caused him pain and grief but the best ones have brought him nothing but joy and love on his drive.
And the most important lesson that Logan learned throughout the years of his journey is that he could choose. It’s only when he was able to step back and look back at the road behind him that he realized that he gets to choose which of the souvenirs he gets to keep and which ones he gets to throw away.
That he has the power to welcome, accept and demand to the universe that he deserves a life where he is happy and loved. That the shitty life that he had been dealt in the beginning will always be a part of him but it will not weigh him down.
That the road initially laid out for him at birth was not and is not his future and it only takes the proper support system and an outpouring of love, patience and understanding from just one person to help turn the wheel to a better path.
One person. Just one.
His Ellie.
And that has made all the difference.
Three sharp knocks from their hotel room door breaks the soft and warm haze between them as they both turn to look at the door before they look at each other with big and bright smiles.
“Ready to get married, Troublemaker?”
Ellie nods, tears already pricking her eyes. “Let’s get married, baby.”
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#45 Rubbing the back of their hand with a thumb.
Colt looks nervous.
Which is a strange and new expression for him because he tries his best to never appear nervous because nervousness is a sign of weakness that can easily be exploited by the wrong people. But when he’s in this all-white room that’s surrounded with anatomical pictures of babies and the uterus—he can’t help but feel and look nervous.
Which Ellie easily catches on as she always does with his mannerism. She smirks a little at the look on her husband’s face, reaching out for his hand from where she’s half-sitting and half-laying on the chair and interlaces their fingers.
“Calm down. I can hear your nervousness now,” Ellie teases, squeezing his hand in reassurance which immediately makes Colt’s shoulders sag in relief.
“I can’t believe that out of the two of us, you’re the one that’s been rational and calm throughout the pregnancy,” Colt comments as he shakes his head at himself.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Ellie chastises him as she playfully hits his shoulder. “I think it’s very on-brand that you’re the nervous wreck and I’m the rational and calm one.”
Colt scoffs, ready to throw out his retort when the door opens and their OBGYN comes in with a cheery smile.
“Alright! Are you two ready to see your baby?” She asks as she takes her seat next to Ellie and starts to turn on the Ultrasound. “I’ll need you to lift your shirt Ellie and I’ll place the gel so we can start the scan.”
Ellie nods as she dutifully follows her instructions before the doctor spreads out the cold gel on Ellie’s bump. She then takes her little wand-like device and starts to press it against Ellie’s belly and moves it around while she narrates the process and what they’re seeing on the screen.
“Looks like you two will be welcoming a healthy baby boy!” The doctor announces excitedly.
Colt’s eyes latch on the screen, his own heart beating fast and hard against his chest, as he tries his best to make out the blurry grey that doesn’t seem like much of a baby to him. But suddenly the image changes and Colt takes a sharp inhale of breath when the doctor explains that this is the profile of the baby.
When he sees it, his eyes start to sting. There, on the screen, is the sight of their baby.
But it’s only when then the doctor flips a switch and the sound of a strong and steady heartbeat fills the air that Colt’s eyes redden as the reality finally hits him hard in the chest.
“Shit Ellie,” Colt comments, his grip of their intertwined hands tightening as his voice comes out choked and strained. “That’s our son.”
Ellie lets out a choked laugh, she already started crying way before the sound of the heartbeat. “Yeah, that’s him Colt.”
The doctor immediately starts to explain that everything looks fine and all of his vitals look great and Colt tries to listen in—he really does—but he’s too overwhelmed by the image of his son that everything just seems to fade away.
Eventually, the doctor turns off the ultrasound and leaves them alone for a while and Colt takes the opportunity to capture Ellie’s lips in a grateful, loving and relieved kiss. He pours his whole heart into the kiss. A kiss that speaks of everything in his heart from the day he met her to the moment he married her. A kiss that promises all the things he’s willing to do, to give and to sacrifice for her and their son.
When Colt breaks the kiss, Ellie looks back at him with a teary-eyed smile as she rubs lazy circles on the back of his hand, as their eyes never leave each other’s gaze.
That’s the best thing about Ellie, Colt knows. She never really needs his words when they can understand each other so completely with a glance and a touch.
Colt is terrible with his words, he knows that. Sometimes saying them without a filter or sometimes not saying them at all.
That’s why Colt prefers to channel his emotions through actions.
Tangible and visible actions.
And nothing shows that fully than the marks he has left on Ellie and the marks Ellie has left on him.
A symbiotic relationship that goes beyond words and language where their expression of love is fully visible on their bodies, on their hearts and on their souls.
So they both sit there in silence, everything already said between them, as Colt runs his fingers through her hair while Ellie leans into his touch with a soft and loving hum. While their eyes both settle on the son they’ll be welcoming soon into their home.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#46 Giving them a back massage when they flop on the couch or bed.
Logan closes the door of their bedroom with a soft click, stalks to the bed and practically flops the bed with a groan.
He’s tired but…in a good way.
A freeing kind of tired, the kind of tired where you’ve worked on a particularly difficult car and you’re finally done.
He raises up the single most important piece of paper of his life in his hand high up above his eyes, latching on to the name—his name—written so boldly and confidently above the words Bachelor of Engineering (Automobile).
Written in a way that shows that it belongs there, that it’s meant to be there.
“We can finally drink the expensive wine!” Ellie comes in with a giggle, holding a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and two wine glasses in her hands as she kicks the door shut behind her and climbs to the bed next to him.
Logan grins, letting the paper in his hand flutter down as he reaches out for the bottle. Ellie hands it to him as she crosses her legs and sits next to him with a huge grin.
“How do you feel?”
“…Tired,” Logan says honestly, cradling the bottle in his arms. “But I feel good too, I don’t know I guess it just feels like a big ‘oh it’s over’ type of feeling.”
Ellie laughs as she reaches for the bottle and nestles it between her crossed legs. “You’ll feel the full effects when the first bill of your student loan comes in.”
Logan groans at the thought, the number flashing in his head, as he turns his body and presses his face against the mattress. That’s probably the one thing Logan absolutely hates about the entire experience and although Ellie and him have already budgeted their expenses and made a concrete plan on how to pay it all off—it still sucks that they’ll be in debt for a while longer.
Which also almost made them forego the wedding entirely and opt for a courtroom wedding but Detective Wheeler offered, insisted really, that he’ll pay for the wedding his damn self if it means he can see his only daughter in a wedding dress and walk her down the aisle. He’s waited long enough.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Ellie reassures him as she places the wine glasses on the nightstand before she smooths her hands over his back, letting the heels of her palms dig and knead into the tight muscles. “We’ll be fine, just as we’ve always been.”
Logan chuckles and turns his head to her with a small smile. “Has anyone ever told you, you’re an optimist trouble?”
Ellie quirks an eyebrow, her hands going down his lower back as she kneads and rolls the heels of her palm and he lets out an appreciative moan. “Not an optimist but confident. In us. We’ve gone through so much Logan, this is just another hill we need to climb together.”
Logan sits up from the bed, crossing his legs in front of her, and gazes into her eyes. Ellie looks back at him confusingly but happily nonetheless before he leans and captures her lips in a slow and loving kiss. He takes his time, savoring every last drop of her lips on his. He breaks the kiss to take the bottle of wine between her thighs and places it on the nightstand before he gently pushes her down the bed, hovering over her with his palms pressed into the mattress.
“When I’m with you Ellie,” He says with an honest smile, his eyes sparkling with affection at the woman below him. “The hills feel like nothing but flatlands.”
“Pfft,” Ellie lets out a giggle, a wild blush spreading across her cheeks. “Who taught you that one?”
Logan clutches his chest in mock hurt. “That was a Logan-original Troublemaker, I’m hurt that you think I would plagiarize my words of love to you.”
“You would do a lot of things for me,” Ellie confesses honestly, clasping her hands behind his neck as she pulls him down closer. “That’s why I keep you around.”
“Mm,” Logan hums in agreement as he brushes his lips against hers in a featherlike touch, his voice teasing and enticing. “Among other things, I’m sure.”
Just as he’s about to close the distance between their lips, an incessant scratching and sad meowing makes itself known just behind their bedroom door. Logan groans in disappointment and drops his head to the crook of Ellie’s neck as Ellie herself laughs at the interruption.
“Is this what it’s going to be like when we adopt and foster kids?” Logan laments sadly.
“Worse,” Ellie chuckles, delving her fingers into his soft hair. “With kids, we’ll actually have to open the door.”
Logan’s eyes widen for a moment before he pushes himself up and looks down at her with a wide grin. Ellie merely looks back at him with a smile, waggling her eyebrows at him suggestively and Logan lets out a laugh that bounces off the four corners of their bedroom before he leans down to capture her lips in a passionate, hard and loving kiss.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#43 Holding shopping bags that are too heavy for them.
“Hmm…” Ellie holds up two tubs of ice cream, her mind pulling up her mental list of pros and cons between Cherry Garcia and Half Baked. “Which one should I get?”
“El just choose one,” Colt sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “We’ve been at this for five minutes.”
“Shush. If I choose wrong, you’ll have to come back here and get the other flavor.”
That effectively shuts him up as he grumbles under his breath and crosses his arms in front of him.
But after about three more minutes with Ellie no closer to her decision, Colt finally just plucks both tubs of ice cream and drops them in the cart. “There. New option, we get both.”
Ellie huffs, trying to look annoyed but realizing that it’s a brilliant solution since she wants to eat them both anyway. “Is this the kind of problem solving you use at the shop?”
“No, just for you,” Colt grins as he reaches around and pats her ass lightly to get her to move, earning him a small glare from Ellie, before he pushes the cart and scrolls through his phone to see what else they need from their list.
Usually, Colt does this on his own but Ellie has been complaining about being cooped up in the house. With her maternity leave fast approaching, most of the tasks she’s been given has been delegated to the other employees in her office so she doesn’t really need to take home her work now. Which is strange for Ellie because she’s not used to being not busy so she’s getting a little antsy and since Colt has no other plans other than this—he thought it would be a great idea to take her out somewhere that’s safe, near their house and doesn’t involve a lot of stairs.
But he’s usual thirty to forty minute grocery run has effectively been stretched out into an hour now because whenever Ellie sees something she likes, she pauses to contemplate whether she should buy it or not.
Which always confuses Colt. Ellie can buy the whole fucking shelf if she wants to and it won’t even leave a dent on his income so what does it matter if she should or shouldn’t buy it?
But he tries to be patient, understanding and…less cranky. After all, he brought her here so he needs to put up with it. And he loves her. She’s his wife and partner, the mother of his child, the light and love of his life—
“Oh Colt! Wait hold on, what fruits should we buy? I really like pineapples but those apples look so good! Hmm…”
Colt sighs.
All in, All in, All fucking in…
~*~
Colt gives a handful of cash at the counter, his body and his mind going in full auto mode as he waits for their items to be bagged. Ellie stands next to him silently as she scrolls through her phone, humming a little song that he can’t quite pick up on. Once their grocery bags are ready, he reaches out to take them when a sudden blur from his peripheral view shoots pass him.
Ellie takes one of the bags and Colt’s eyes immediately widen, the pace of his heart picking up speed as he quickly takes the bag from her hands before she can start to carry them.
“What the hell are you doing El?” Colt looks at her, his eyes narrowing in disapproval.
Ellie furrows her eyebrows, confused by the anger in his voice. “I’m taking one of the bags, why?”
“You’re pregnant, you can’t just be carrying heavy things,” Colt sighs, taking the other bags before she gets to them first as he gestures to his leather jacket and starts to walk out of the store. “Take the keys and open up the trunk.”
Ellie rolls her eyes with a smile, rummaging around his pockets to find the keys as they make their way to the One-77 parked close to the main doors.
“You’re so fussy now.”
Colt scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief at the idea of not wanting his wife hurt can be categorized as “fussy”.
“One of us has to be.”
Colt hauls the grocery bags into the trunk and closes it with a loud thud. Ellie sends him a wide grin before she takes her place in the passenger seat while Colt takes the driver's seat, starts the engine and pulls out of the parking space.
“It’s so weird seeing you in a car sometimes, I kinda miss you on the Cavalieri.”
Colt chuckles with a wide grin, his eyes looking forward. “I would’ve taken the Cavalieri if a certain someone wasn’t complaining about being bored in the house.”
Ellie looks at him in disbelief. “Where would you even put all those bags on the bike huh?”
“There wouldn’t even be that many bags if you just make up your mind!”
Ellie opens her mouth, ready to refute his accusations when she realizes that yeah, he’s right.
“Fine, my bad,” She relents easily, knowing when to quit when she’s been beat.
Colt grins at his victory as he reaches over to her to intertwine their hands together. She easily takes his hand, placing soft kisses on his knuckles before she intertwines them and lays it on her lap.
“Think we can run by McDonalds for some fries?”
“Mm,” Colt agrees, already mentally mapping out the nearest McDonalds as he squeezes her hand lightly. “Sure we can El.”
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#44 Standing between them and a busy road.
“Pfft,” Ellie lets out a tipsy laugh, her steps a little uneven on the sidewalk. “I can’t believe it’s been that long since I’ve been to a...to a college party!”
“Yeah?” Logan laughs a little as he tries to keep her steady by linking their arms together and plucking her purse from her pliant hand so she won’t accidentally drop it. “Glad you could make it trouble, it’s probably going to be our last one.”
“Mmmmm,” Ellie agrees with an exaggerated nod. “I gotto hang out with all of your friends and classmates too. ‘Twas nice.”
“Yeah it was,” Logan snickers when he hears her slurred words. His eyes suddenly catch the car driving down the road too close to where Ellie is walking. He easily, almost effortlessly, maneuvers her to his spot as he takes the side near the road. “Although I don’t know how I feel about you inviting them all to our wedding.”
“Yeaaah, that might’ve been the beer talking,” Ellie laughs, leaning her body against his as she tightens her hold on his arm. “Think they’ll still come though?”
“Oh definitely,” Logan confirms with a small smile, genuinely happy that his guest list has gotten longer now. “If the beer pong competition of who my best man will be was any indication.”
“Pfft,” Ellie lets out a loud laugh, shaking her head. “Why didn’t you tell them that Ximena’s already your best man?”
Logan chuckles and looks down at her with a playful grin. “And deprive myself the joy of seeing them drunkenly battle it out for the honor? Never Troublemaker.”
Ellie lets out another tipsy laugh, almost edging to a drunken laugh, as they finally reach the Devore. Logan carefully leads her to the passenger seat and buckles her seatbelt as he gestures for her to take off her heels, knowing full well that Drunk Ellie will loudly complain about her painful ankles the entire drive home. He takes his own seat on the driver’s side and tucks her purse next to her thigh near the gear shift before he starts the engine, pulls out into the road and starts his drive home.
Ellie looks out of the window, her eyes heavy as she watches the lights passing by in a blur and she turns to look at Logan. His features are obscured by the low light but every once in a while they pass by a lamppost and it illuminates the absolute joy and content on his face.
Ellie leans her head against the window with a drunken smile, the question slipping past her lips before her mental filters can stop them.
“Logan are you happy?”
Logan’s eyes widen, glancing briefly at Ellie at the sudden question. He has never been asked that question by her. Hell, he doesn’t even ask that question himself. But now that it’s posed, it suddenly sends him into a state of introspection.
In the past few years, he has been so busy living and enjoying life that he’s completely forgotten what it felt like to be on the run with the Devore as his only companion, to be lonely in temporary beds with no one to wake up to, and to be scared of a future he wasn’t sure he had.
Now; he has a home he can instinctually drive to, he has a string of people in his life that he doesn’t need to leave behind when shit gets rough, and he has a future and a goal that he’s actively working towards.
Hell, he even has a cat now.
And at the center of it, the core of it, is his Ellie.
The driving force that has propelled him to a destination that he never thought he would reach.
And he knows the answer deep in his heart, an answer that he can’t believe he can say with his entire being and know that it’s the absolute truth.
“Yeah Ellie,” he smiles, his eyes glistening with tears. “I’m happy.”
“Good,” Ellie lets out a huge yawn, her eyes shutting close as she feels the familiar pulls of alcohol induced sleep before she murmurs her next words. “I’m happy too.”
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#41 Giving them space when they express wanting to have some time alone.
Colt kicks the front door close, checks the security system quickly, and makes sure the door is locked before he makes his way to their bedroom.
He stops for a moment behind the bedroom door, his hand ready to turn the doorknob, when he freezes at the sound of soft sniffles and cries just behind the door.
His heart shatters, aches in ways he’s only felt a handful of times in his life. He hates that he can’t do anything right now, broken in the thought that in some way, he is responsible for her pain.
“…Colt?”
Colt drops his head on the door, his eyes squeezing shut. “I’m here Ellie,” He curls his hand into fists, his nails digging into the palms. “And I’ll always be here but baby please, let me in. I can’t stand not being able to do anything.”
A soft chuckle then a sniff. “Yeah you can come in now.”
Colt immediately pushes the door open as he takes long strides towards her on the bed before he engulfs her in a careful but tight hug. A fresh batch of tears prick Ellie’s eyes as she buries her face in his shoulder and she allows herself to cry.
She clings to him, just for a moment, lost in the sea of her emotions as Colt rubs her back soothingly while he whispers comfort and love into her ear.
~*~
Colt wipes off the last of the stubborn tears that cling to her cheeks, letting his thumb linger for a moment to caress and soothe away the invisible trails that they’ve left.
“Thanks for giving me the space I asked for,” Ellie comments, reaching out to hold his hand in a limp but heartfelt grip. “I know it must’ve been difficult.”
Colt chuckles weakly. Difficult is an understatement. He damn near lost his mind when he got that text from her, a text telling him that her dad had ambushed her at the end of her shift and they had gone to a coffee shop to talk that lasted about two hours.
“I think I drove up and down along the coast at least three times.”
Ellie lets out a choked laugh as she lays her head on his shoulder and he immediately moves to support her body as he mindfully makes sure her five-month old bump doesn’t accidently hit anything. He leans his back against the headboard while Ellie sits beside him as she tangles their legs on the bed.
“What did your dad say to you?” He tries his best to keep the anger out of his voice, to sound neutral and calm, but he fails when it comes out cold and clipped.
Ellie definitely catches the tone of his voice and she chuckles, sniffing a little before she gestures for the box of tissues on the nightstand. Colt reaches for it and hands it to her and she blows her nose before she starts to speak.
“Nothing much. He misses me. I told him I missed him too,” Ellie shrugs, trying her best to not seem bothered. “I told him about the wedding and of course,” She lays her hand on her stomach, caressing gently. “He noticed the bump.”
Colt acknowledges her words with a hum, trying his best to keep his thoughts to himself for now and opts to listen instead. She certainly doesn’t need the extra stress of dealing with his emotions.
“…He wants to be part of my life now, part of his grandchild’s life.”
Colt furrows his eyebrows, his eyes narrowing in anger, annoyance and confusion. “And that’s it? No ultimatums?”
Ellie lets out a weary chuckle. “You clearly forgot what type of person my dad is.”
Colt remembers. He remembers perfectly because even until now, he still has regular run-ins with Detective Wheeler. Although he doesn’t directly deal with him and he has never seen Colt’s face—Colt has heard enough stories from his associates and crew that he can guess what his ultimatum is.
And suddenly Colt is scared, terrified. Clearly, if it meant nothing to Ellie she wouldn’t be in here crying and sniffling about it.
Or asking him to leave her alone for an hour.
“…And what did you say?”
Ellie glances up at him, trying to sound playful and teasing. “You’re not even gonna ask what he said?”
Colt shrugs lightly, trying to sound unbothered and nonchalance. “I can guess.”
“Apparently not,” Ellie lets out a small laugh, moving her head closer to his chest so she can hear the steady beat of his heart. “He won’t tell me to break up with you and he won’t tell me how to live my life but you two can never meet. If I want to see him and if he wants to spend time with our baby, you can’t be there.”
“Seriously?” Colt breathes out, clearly not expecting this at all. In fact, it’s a great deal. Colt certainly doesn’t want to meet or engage with Detective Wheeler in any way, shape or form and with this, Ellie can rebuild her relationship with her dad…although he’s a little bit on the fence with his child meeting his cop Grandpa. But he can bring up that discussion later. One problem at a time for now.
“Yeah seriously,” Ellie confirms, fitting her hand into his as she starts to play with his fingers. “Should I…should I agree?”
Colt looks down at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why wouldn’t you agree?”
“Well what if this is a trap?” Ellie asks worriedly, her eyes watering. “And he’s using me to get to you just like Jason? And I end up putting the entire crew in danger, put you in danger and I ca-can’t…” her voice breaks a little and Colt immediately rubs her back, trying to soothe out the emotions that overwhelm her as if they were a physical ache that he can simply massage away.
“Let me look into it first. If it’s safe, then you should do it. I know how much you miss him El.”
“But…but Colt what if—”
Colt cuts her off, tilting her head to him before he captures her lips in a searing and bruising kiss. When he pulls away, he swipes his thumb over her bottom lip with his eyes that shine with confidence.
“Anything, remember? All you gotta do is ask Ellie.”
“I want to,” Ellie finally replies, the last of her resolve breaking as she sniffs and tears up when the memories of her father suddenly rushes into her in flashes and montages. “I want to Colt. I miss him so much, I hate that I miss him so much.”
Colt chuckles and places a kiss on her forehead. “Then you’ll have it. Give me a month to look into it.”
Ellie nods, pressing her eyes to his shoulder as she encircles her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you El,” Colt promises as he places a lingering kiss on her temple. “Always.”
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#42 Holding their hand while walking, even if there isn’t a crowd.
“That’s where I take my Design Engines class and over there is Vehicle Dynamics.”
Ellie listens intently to Logan as she swings their intertwined hands a little, her eyes latching on to every building that he points out while he tells stories about his classes, professors and classmates. Every once in a while, she glances over to him just to take the time to observe his face.
The way his smile stretches so wide, the way his eyes sparkle with excitement and joy, and the way he chuckles once in a while when he tells a particularly funny story. Ellie loves this look on him. The kind of look that’s free, happy and content.
A look she hopes to see more from him.
It took awhile for him to show her around his campus, mainly because their schedules kept clashing but by the grace of someone reporting in with the mumps at her office and it being extremely contagious, everything needed to be disinfected and sanitized before employees could return. So their schedules finally lined up and thus the campus tour.
“So what do you think Troublemaker?” he finally asks, looking at her expectantly.
Ellie looks up at him with a big smile. “It’s great Logan. At least I can finally picture out the places from all of your stories.”
Logan chuckles as they continue to walk a bit more, his hands tightening a little in gratitude as she continues to swing their hands together.
Ellie might not know it, seeing this as just a simple (maybe even a little boring) campus tour, but it means a lot for Logan to have her here with him. To be able to show her a part of his life that he’s been dying to show her for so long now.
After all, she’s his most important person and he always wants to share everything with Ellie (sometimes to the point of oversharing but she never seems to complain). Most likely because it comes from his deep-seethed feeling of wanting her to understand him in ways no else will. From the deep-seethed feeling of continuing to lay out a welcoming mat for her to scuff her shoes and leave her mark on.
Sometimes he realizes how dangerous these feelings are. That if she were to suddenly decide one day to get up and walk out the door, he might not be able to leave out a welcoming mat for anyone else ever again.
But thoughts like those never linger long in his head, sometimes they overstay but never long enough to cause him distress. After all, Logan sometimes catches Ellie staring at him when she thinks he isn’t looking, and the look of love, admiration and joy on her face—well, he’s confident that she too has her own welcome mat for him to scruff his shoes on and leave his own marks.
“Logan!”
Logan and Ellie turn to the voice calling out to him and Logan breaks out into a smile as he welcomes one of his friends and classmate, James, with a fist bump.
“Woah,” James exclaims, suddenly noticing the person next to Logan. “Is this Ellie?”
“Yeah, that’s me. Hi,” Ellie smiles, extending her hand as James excitedly shakes her hand.
“Man, Logan does not shut up about you,” James merely snickers at the disapproving look Logan sends his way. “It’s always Ellie this and Ellie that with this guy. Feels like I already know you tbh.”
“Okay I think that’s enough introductions. We need to go and have lunch,” Logan hurriedly interjects before James starts to spill out his worst secrets as he angles Ellie away from him and starts to walk away.
Ellie giggles and looks over her shoulder as she waves goodbye at James and calls out, “Bye! It was nice to meet you!” before she turns to look at Logan and playfully nudges his shoulder.
“Does not shut up about me eh?”
“What can I say, trouble?” Logan shrugs, throwing his arm over her shoulder and pulling her closer. “It helps that I have an amazing fiancée and I gotta make sure everyone knows.”
Ellie chuckles as she reaches for his arm and pulls it down from her shoulder so she can hold his hand as they make their way back to the Devore as Ellie continues to tease him and Logan merely takes it all with a big smile.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#39 Giving them your dessert when you eat out because it’s their favorite.
“No.”
Ellie balks at her husband, her partner, the love of her life as she clutches her chest in utter betrayal.
“You would say no to your wife? Your pregnant wife?”
“I told you to order the cobbler El and you said no, this is on you,” Colt huffs, almost stabbing his fork into the slice of cobbler on his plate.
Sam, one of Colt’s oldest crew member/MPC’s unofficial second-in-command/official unlicensed medic, stares at the couple in front him. His eyes bounce wearily and nervously at the exchange, the soft ambient and calm background music of the restaurant a stark contrast to what’s happening on their table.
“Look. If you guys are going to fight, I can just leave.”
“We’re not fighting,” Colt says before he leans in towards Sam, his voice a whisper but not really. “Even if I tell her to order her own slice right now, she’s not going to do it.”
“Because I won’t be able to finish it!” Ellie argues back, her initial feelings of betrayal turning into annoyance now. “I just want a bite Colt, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Yeah? A bite of what? The entire slice? Because that’s what you always do El. You can’t fool me.”
Sam groans and tries his best to drown out the voices of the two idiots in front of him so he can go back to enjoying his own. He’s pretty much used to the idiotic dynamic between his two friends and although on most days he can tolerate it, even finding it funny, he foolishly thought that this dinner invite was going to be different because maybe a public space would calm them both down and urge them to be in their best behavior.
But he was wrong and Sam is now mentally putting on his clown makeup.
“I’ll order the cobbler and you can eat from my plate Ellie,” Sam offers a peace treaty, earning a look of shock from both of them.
“That’s not the point Sam but thank you,” Ellie replies.
“Yeah and if my wife’s going to eat dessert off of someone’s plate, then it’s going to be mine.”
“Then give me a bite already!”
“No you need to learn to just order when I tell you to so this doesn’t become a problem!”
Sam drops his head into his hands, the feeling of physical exasperation heavy on his whole body. In moments like these, Sam sometimes forgets how absolutely brutal and terrifying Colt can be. Away from Ellie and in the crew and during business deals, Colt is truly a force to be reckoned with. Akin to a fire that burns with the legacy of the Kaneko name, it’s absolutely frightening to see Colt work and plot. It’s no wonder that no matter how many attempts have been made on his life, on his crew and on Ellie’s life (that Ellie doesn’t even know of) no one has been able to touch him.
But when he’s with Ellie, god, it seems like he’s nothing but a child that likes to bicker and tease the girl he likes just to get a rise out of her.
Ellie narrows her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her as she uses her final and ultimate Hail Mary.
“I’m not the only one who wants a bite, you know?” She places a gentle hand on her four-month old bump. “Our baby wants it too.”
Colt pauses, the scowl on his face deepening before he finally relents and drops the plate in front of Ellie with a huff. “You’re so fucking annoying.”
Ellie grins in triumph and turns to Sam with a thumbs up, as if to say ‘we did it’ before she proceeds to—just as Colt predicted—eat more than just “one” bite.
Sam looks at the two with a small smile. It’s ridiculous how these two can “fight” but by the next five minutes or so, go on as if nothing ever happened. As if the great cobbler debacle never even transpired and they’re back to their usual selves.
Sam guesses that this is why they bicker so much. They never really find a solution to their bickering so when the problem comes up again, they’ll just be stuck in the same loop.
But they’ve never really had a major fight before. When Colt senses an oncoming problem between them, he drops everything in the crew and goes straight to her to resolve it. He never lets it reach a boiling point, Colt had said to him when they were planning for a job together, because when small problems aren’t fixed early on it becomes bigger down the road.
And Sam fondly guesses that the bickering is actually their expression of love for each other. It’s admirable even. That they’re so comfortable and sure about their feelings for each other that they can bicker as much as they want and know that it won’t affect their relationship and still love each other as if no time has passed at all.
It truly is one of the better aspects of their relationship.
“…Colt?” Ellie speaks up, looking up at Colt sheepishly. “Could you uh…order me another slice?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
Sam immediately takes back all of his assumptions.
He realizes that no, they’re both just idiots and there’s nothing admirable about their bickering at all as he goes back to his own dessert and tries to pretend he doesn’t know the two people in front of him when Colt angrily waves over the waiter to order another slice of cobbler for his wife.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#40 Making a goofy face until they notice and laugh.
“Since Logan wants to get his degree first, we decided to push back the wedding,” Ellie concludes as she takes a sip of her green tea before she gives Brooke, former classmate in Langston/former study partner/still a great friend, a proud and brilliant smile.
“Wow,” Brooke acknowledges with an impressed smile. “Not gonna lie, when you said I should visit you in Chicago, I genuinely thought I would need to bring a box of tissues and a tub of ice cream.”
Ellie laughs, leaning back on the chair of the coffee shop they were currently meeting in. “Yeah, my dad was the worst to break the news to. He genuinely sounded so heartbroken and upset before I told him the reason. And to think he absolutely hated Logan before!”
Brooke grins, taking a sip from a cup of coffee. “And how’s Logan doing in his classes?”
“Pretty good actually,” Ellie smiles, her heart swelling with pride and happiness. “And his professors love him but that’s not a surprise.”
Brooke snickers at the thought, recalling vague memories of Logan visiting Ellie in Langston so much and chatting up and befriending every person he’d meet that some of their professors were genuinely sad to hear that Logan was moving to Chicago with Ellie.
“Oh!” Ellie exclaims, her eyes lighting up as she looks past Brooke’s shoulder. “It’s Logan!”
Brooke turns to look over her shoulder, trying to locate him when her eyes latch on to his familiar long hair (now a little shorter) and classic white t-shirt. He doesn’t seem to have noticed them as he talks and laughs to a guy next to him, a classmate most likely. Brooke turns back to Ellie, ready to ask if Logan and his friend is going to join their table, when her face twists in absolute confusion.
“Ellie what the fuck are you doing?” Brooke asks as Ellie starts to pull the most ridiculous of faces, opening her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
“Shh, I want him to see,” Ellie replies in-between faces before she starts again and Brooke is absolutely floored that they’ve been dating this long, engaged for this long, and she can still act like a child.
A sputter of laughter somewhere behind Brooke catches her attention as she quickly turns on her seat and stares in disbelief at Logan muffling a laugh with his hand, the other clutching his stomach. The friend with him, distracted at the counter, doesn’t seem to take notice and Logan raises a hand to wave at them both and Brooke can only manage to weakly wave back.
“You’re not gonna ask him to join us?” Brooke asks, watching Logan and his friend leave the coffee shop with their pastries in hand, and Brooke now realizes why Ellie had requested for them to meet in this specific coffee shop.
“Nah, he has a class. Even if I did, he probably can’t stay long,” Ellie explains, her eyes furrowing in confusion at the strange look Brooke seems to be looking at her. “What’s that look for?”
Brooke chuckles weakly, shaking her head at herself. “That I’m an idiot for thinking something could ever happen between you two.”
Ellie blinks for a moment before a grin takes hold of her lips, touched at Brooke’s words before they quickly change course on the conversation and start to share the latest gossip and ridiculous office politics in their respective offices.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#37 Making sure to be quiet while they’re taking a nap.
“El?”
Colt calls out into their dark bedroom, his fingers ready to switch on the lights when he stops himself. Ellie lays underneath their sheets, her body turned away from his side of the bed.
Colt takes long strides towards the bed and takes a seat next to her before he presses two fingers to her neck and lets out a small sigh of relief. He then runs his hands through her hair, pushing back the strands sticking to her forehead, before his hands wander down to her almost noticeable bump.
It always brings such a visceral and choking feeling when Colt touches her stomach, knowing that inside is his child growing. He tries to be nonchalant about it, maybe a little tough and angry to keep up his image in front of his crew and as a warning to people who might want to harm his family to get to him but nothing brings him so much joy and happiness than seeing Ellie, with their baby, and how beautiful she seems to be becoming everyday.
He knows that he loves Ellie, that will never change, but what he wasn’t prepared for was that so much of his love could also be poured into a person he has yet to meet or see. He even thought, briefly, that his love was going to be split between Ellie and their child. That love is something quantifiable and he’ll need to bring in a scale to make sure it’s always equal between the two most important people in his life.
But he’s learned that love isn’t quantifiable. That in him, there is an endless abundance and overflow of love that can cover and shroud the both of them. Maybe it’s even more than he ever thought he’d be able to give.
More than he ever thought he deserved to have.
Colt leans in and lays a soft kiss starting from her forehead and ending on her lips. Lately, Ellie has always been tired and has started to sleep at odd times. Which scared the living fuck out of him at first but after a thorough explanation and multiple reassurance from their OBGYN that it’s totally normal for pregnant women to take naps during the day especially if they sleep late or tend to wake up in the night, he has calmed down somewhat.
But even with the reassurance from their doctor; he still has that habit, a terrible habit he picked up from his line of work, where every time he sees Ellie asleep or unconscious at odd times of the day—his first instinct is to check her pulse.
It’s morbid and he hates that he’s picked it up and applied it to his home life and family…but he can’t help it. He’s seen too many things, lost too many people, to not be affected by it. It’s a primal reaction at this point.
Colt pushes himself off of the bed and pulls out his phone to set up a timer for himself. Her naps usually take about one to two hours and since it hasn’t been that long since he left to buy groceries, he’ll need to check back on her in half an hour.
He inputs the time on his phone, his feet already moving towards the door when—
“Fu—!” Colt clamps his mouth shut with his hand, his teeth biting down hard on his bottom lip it’s enough to draw blood. He turns to look at Ellie in a panic, relieved to see that she’s still asleep, before he glares at the offending nightstand that had stubbed his pinky toe. He unconsciously goes through the breathing exercises he learned with Ellie at her prenatal classes as he works through the absolute agony and pain that’s shooting up his system.
He hobbles out of the bedroom door, softly and quietly closing it behind him, and when he’s a good ways away from the bedroom—he lets out a string of curses that he pulls from the depths of his soul.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Logan x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Logan).
@troublemakerinspace @choicesarehard
#38 Letting them warm their cold hands under your shirt.
Ellie pulls her hands away from her laptop and rubs them together. She then blows air in between her palms, letting her warm breath try to chase away the small chill that has seeped into their apartment. Her eyes land on Logan, sitting across from her on the couch with his head buried in books and his own laptop.
A small smile tugs her lips when she takes the time to observe him for a moment. Logan has this small quirk when he studies. First, he mouths all the things he’s reading and he talks to himself to work out a problem that’s particularly difficult. Second, he basically tunes out everything else in his surroundings. Almost as if he’s entranced. So much so that sometimes it’s difficult for her to reach him when she calls out to him for dinner or to ask him to take small breaks in-between his studying.
A small meow on the floor interrupts her thoughts and Ellie looks down to see Jiji unsuccessfully trying to get her dad’s attention by rubbing her body against his leg. The look of hunger and feed me now so clear in her big doe eyes. Ellie snickers, feeling a little vindicated that Jiji now feels what it’s like to be ignored and deprived of attention before Ellie stands up and leans down to scoop Jiji into her arms.
“Come on, I’ll feed you,” Ellie reassures the black tabby as she makes her way to the kitchen. “You can’t disturb your dad right now, he has a big test tomorrow.”
Ellie quickly pours her cat food in her bowl and sets it down on the floor as Jiji practically lunges for her bowl. Ellie turns to the refrigerator, looking around for some snacks to prepare since she’s hungry and she knows Logan also needs to fuel up. Her eyes land on the leftover pizza yesterday night when they had Ximena over and takes the box along with a pan over to the stove.
She dumps in a little bit of oil, waits for it to heat up while she prepares a glass of water and a lid. She then places the slices into the pan, pours in a little water and lets it sizzle before she covers it with the lid. She repeats the process until she has four slices with her and she takes them back to the living room.
Ellie drops herself on the space next to him and, after multiple trials and errors of how to successfully gain Logan’s attention during his study session and finally finding the one solution that works, promptly places the plate right on top of the book he’s currently reading.
Logan blinks for a moment, trying to register the sudden appearance of a plate of pizza in his line of view, before he turns to the side with a wide an appreciative grin.
“Troublemaker.”
“Eat,” Ellie smiles and moves the plate away from his book and places it on his lap before she takes her own slice. “It’s a bad study habit to starve yourself.”
Logan chuckles and throws his pen on the coffee table, leaning back and taking his own slice. “You’re too good to me, trouble.”
Ellie scoffs playfully. “Says the guy who regularly gives me foot massages.”
Logan grins before he drops his hand on her knee, rubbing his thumb unconsciously, as he takes a slice and starts to eat. It’s only when he starts to chew that he realizes how truly hungry he really is.
Ellie drops her slice back on the plate and starts to rub her hands together again, feeling the chill start to prick the ends of her fingers. Logan quickly notices and shoves the rest of his pizza into his mouth before he takes her hands into his and frowns lightly when he feels how cold it is.
“We really need to fix the heater before winter really comes,” Ellie notes as Logan hums in agreement and guides her hands under his shirt to warm them up faster. He flinches for a moment when her cold palms touch the warm skin on his abdomen.
“I’ll fix it tomorrow after my test.”
Ellie grins. “See? Your future degree is already coming in handy.”
Logan chuckles as he reaches for her abandoned slice on the plate and starts to feed her. “Let’s hope that I’ll use it for more than just fixing broken heaters and changing light bulbs.”
Ellie chuckles as she chews through her pizza, scooting closer to him to steal more of his body warmth as she encircles her arms underneath his shirt and around his waist. Her eyes land on the multitude of books and papers on the coffee table and she’s suddenly reminded of how nostalgic the view is.
“You think in another life, if we met in some university or college and not at Brent’s party, you’d still like me?”
Logan doesn’t even have to think about it, doesn’t even hesitate. “Ellie in whatever life and in whatever form, I’ll always gravitate towards you. Even if I might not know why at first.”
“Yeah?” Ellie grins as she perches her chin on his shoulder. “Like magnets?”
“Yeah,” Logan agrees wholeheartedly before he briefly glances at the books on the coffee table, a teasing smile pulling on his lips. “Speaking of magnets…”
“Nooo!” Ellie groans, pulling her arms from under his shirt as she scoots back to the other end of the couch. Another new thing Ellie has learned about Logan is that he loves to talk about what he’s currently learning. Which is adorable and fun until he starts to throw out words and theories that make her head spin. Which is less adorable and less fun. “I already graduated! I don’t want to go through that again!”
Logan chuckles as he takes one more slice of pizza, quickly devours it, and puts the plate near the edge of the coffee table (he vaguely registers in his peripheral view a black paw sneakily patting around in search for rations but he swipes the plate in time to save the last slice and hands it back to Ellie) as they settle back into a comfortable and lulling silence between them with only the clicks and clacks of the keyboard, the sound of paper rustling and Logan’s soft mumbling filling the air.
Pairing: Ride or Die | Colt x Ellie
Summary: A highlight reel of the most important moments of their life.
A/N: Highly suggest reading this in order (all even numbers for Colt). @lovehugsandcandy @dancingboba @choicesarehard
#35 Running out in the middle of the night to get a food item they’re craving.
“…lt? olt…Colt!”
“Huh?” Colt blinks wearily, his eyelids heavy and slow before he squints blearily around looking for the source of the sound. When he sees Ellie’s apprehensive and guilty face looking down at him, he already knows why she’s chosen to wake him up in the middle of the night. He groans and covers his eyes with his forearm and repeats his usual mantra for nights like this. All in, All in, All fucking in.
“Alright, what do you need?”
Ellie smiles sheepishly, rubbing her two month-old bump. “Ice cream, peanut butter and bananas.”
Colt tries to mentally project himself out of the bedroom and into the kitchen so he can check the inside of their fridge and pantry. Ever since Ellie started to crave the most ridiculous of things, he has constantly kept a mental catalogue of the contents of everything in their kitchen so he can keep it stocked and ready to avoid nights like this.
“We still have peanut butter and bananas…” he sighs. “But no ice cream.”
“Yeah,” Ellie affirms, gently rubbing his arm to entice him. Although she never really needs to because Colt is a kind and loving husband. She knows how tiring it is to wake up at two in the morning to run to the nearest store just to satisfy her cravings. That’s why he’s really the best in moments like this because he always ends up giving in to her no matter what.
“Are you going back to sleep? Wake up Colt! I’m hungry!”
…Well, eventually. Eventually, he gives in.
“I’m up! I’m up!” Colt groans loudly and sits up, trying to rein in his consciousness as he weaves his hand through his messy hair. “Okay, what flavor?”
“Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,” Ellie confirms, then goes in to give him a hug because he deserves it for being such a great partner and husband. “You should get one for yourself too.”
“Is Uninterrupted 8-hours of Sleep a flavor I can buy—ow…” Colt sleepily rubs the shoulder that has, unfortunately, taken the hit although it never really hurts enough to warrant an injury. So far. Lately Ellie’s hits have become just a tad bit sharper.
Pregnancy superpowers, she reasoned.
Colt lazily kicks the blankets from his legs and goes through his routine—he’s done this so much he has a fucking routine now—of putting on some sweatpants, whatever shirt he grabs first and patting down his pockets for the essentials of wallet, keys and phone.
“Hey Colt?” Ellie calls out just as Colt is about to open the door and he immediately sighs, already anticipating another requested food item. “Thanks for doing this, I know it’s annoying.”
Colt melts, all the annoyance and sleep vanishing, before he pads towards her and encircles his arm around her head and lays a lasting kiss on her hair.
Yeah, it’s annoying but it’s not like he’s going to stop doing it.
“I’ll get you those sugary cookies you like too just in case.”
Ellie grins, laying a kiss on his collarbone in gratitude. “You’re the best.”
